Automatic Stop Start
- Thread starter z4forum
- Start date
deltasierra
Member
Just push the button and enjoy
Can be coded to remember last setting I think
Attleborough, Norfolk
E89 yes. Not so sure on later models?
You can code with bimmercode that the G29 remembers last setting or always off.
Last edited:
Doesn't it work well on Z4's? We have it on our Puma and its totally seamless, I can even do hill starts with it on. The only thing i don't like is that it often turns the engine off if you are stationary with the aircon running and it can get a bit warm!
North West Surrey
I can understand why you would want stop/start coded off permanently.
With hindsight I'm sure that is what killed the battery on my 123d in less than 5 years, because it also needed a new starter motor in less than 7 years. After that I just turned it off every time I used the car, although I sold it not long afterwards!
With hindsight I'm sure that is what killed the battery on my 123d in less than 5 years, because it also needed a new starter motor in less than 7 years. After that I just turned it off every time I used the car, although I sold it not long afterwards!
SV8Predator
Member
Did the starter motor actually fail? It would have been flagged for replacement when you had it serviced, before it got to that stage.
Starter motors either work or they don’t. There is no flagged for replacement.
Metro Atlanta
My Z4 is a 2026 Handschalter with the 6-speed manual transmission. Imagine sitting on a slight hill with an F250 precariously close to your rear bumper. The light turns green and just as you start to let out the clutch, the engine shuts off. Of course the moment the car senses the clutch pedal is being let out, it restarts the engine.
Now you might think the hill holding feature will keep your rear bumper and that gargantuan Superduty grill Blue Oval having a romantic moment, but there are a lot of dynamics working against you - particularly when Mr Blue Oval impatiently squirts the diesel go pedal maybe before the light turned green. And too, the jolt of adrenalin and instantaneous sheer terror that occurs while you are trying to figure what the heck just happened. This occurred to me twice in the first two months of ownership.
Knowing that BMW would have confronted this issue long ago and addressed in previous manual transmission cars, but decided against any passive default settings to disable this feature on my 2026 manual transmission car, I am pretty certain that an update is not coming from Munich. So what are my choices?
While it may be different for other year models, my factory setup requires you to remember to 1) mash the disable start/stop button after you start the car, or 2), change the drive mode to "Sport" after you start the car which disables start/stop. While failing to remember to select one of these two options in an automatic car is a minor annoyance, doing so on a manual car tends to spoil the Ultimate Driving Machine ethos.
Fortunately there are some BimmerCode options. You can 1) change the start up function so that start/stop is always disabled, 2) remember the last start/stop status for the next start cycle, or 3) change the default start-up drive mode from "Comfort" to "Sport" which disables the start/stop feature.
My experience with my particular 2026 manual transmission car is, and it may vary depending on year/engine/transmission) that 1) and 2) do not work (there is even a BimmerCode info note to this fact when you try to program it). But option 3) does, and this is what I selected using my OBDLinkCX programmer.
But here is my disclaimer. While unlikely, this mode "may be" excluded in the engine map as a default start-up operation routine. So it is not clear to me whether it interferes with emission control related cold start procedures since it "could be" an unsupported state.
Of course manually mashing the button at startup up is most definitely is supported.
Now you might think the hill holding feature will keep your rear bumper and that gargantuan Superduty grill Blue Oval having a romantic moment, but there are a lot of dynamics working against you - particularly when Mr Blue Oval impatiently squirts the diesel go pedal maybe before the light turned green. And too, the jolt of adrenalin and instantaneous sheer terror that occurs while you are trying to figure what the heck just happened. This occurred to me twice in the first two months of ownership.
Knowing that BMW would have confronted this issue long ago and addressed in previous manual transmission cars, but decided against any passive default settings to disable this feature on my 2026 manual transmission car, I am pretty certain that an update is not coming from Munich. So what are my choices?
While it may be different for other year models, my factory setup requires you to remember to 1) mash the disable start/stop button after you start the car, or 2), change the drive mode to "Sport" after you start the car which disables start/stop. While failing to remember to select one of these two options in an automatic car is a minor annoyance, doing so on a manual car tends to spoil the Ultimate Driving Machine ethos.
Fortunately there are some BimmerCode options. You can 1) change the start up function so that start/stop is always disabled, 2) remember the last start/stop status for the next start cycle, or 3) change the default start-up drive mode from "Comfort" to "Sport" which disables the start/stop feature.
My experience with my particular 2026 manual transmission car is, and it may vary depending on year/engine/transmission) that 1) and 2) do not work (there is even a BimmerCode info note to this fact when you try to program it). But option 3) does, and this is what I selected using my OBDLinkCX programmer.
But here is my disclaimer. While unlikely, this mode "may be" excluded in the engine map as a default start-up operation routine. So it is not clear to me whether it interferes with emission control related cold start procedures since it "could be" an unsupported state.
Of course manually mashing the button at startup up is most definitely is supported.
@c5z&mx5n1, I'm trying to remember how my 6MT does the stop start thingy, and I'm pretty sure that the car has to be in neutral and the handbrake engaged, I cannot remember in the 13,600 miles I've done, that with the car in gear and clutch down it has stopped. Let you know Monday.
The engine only ever stopped in my manual 123d if the car was in neutral, but I'm pretty sure it didn't matter whether the handbrake was applied or not.
If I had known then what I know now I'd have had stop/start coded permanently off - it's a hateful feature.
If I had known then what I know now I'd have had stop/start coded permanently off - it's a hateful feature.
Thanks sars, are you saying that you have to have the parking brake set (you said handbrake... I assume you are talking about a G29?) AND the transmission in neutral for the car to automatically start/stop? I never put the transmission in neutral when driving and never use the parking brake unless I am parking the car. If you discover that the parking brake is not required to activate auto start/stop and you meant clutch instead of neutral, then I think your car operates exactly as I describe.
@c5z&mx5n1, Parking brake, you've got a BMW not a Mercedes! I mean, have you ever heard of a parking brake turn 
So according to the manual (they call it a parking break too, hey ho, sissies), the auto stop start, the engine shuts down only when the car is in neutral and the clutch is pedal is not pressed, as soon as you depress the clutch engine should start
That's why I associate the start stop feature with the handbrake, as we don't have auto hold and if I'm stopped at traffic lights, then its into neutral, clutch out and yes parking brake on.
So it could be that the US specification is different or you have a fault
So according to the manual (they call it a parking break too, hey ho, sissies), the auto stop start, the engine shuts down only when the car is in neutral and the clutch is pedal is not pressed, as soon as you depress the clutch engine should start
That's why I associate the start stop feature with the handbrake, as we don't have auto hold and if I'm stopped at traffic lights, then its into neutral, clutch out and yes parking brake on.So it could be that the US specification is different or you have a fault