Outdated Handbrake
- Thread starter Avallon
- Start date
buzyg said:E89 a fine looking Zed, but it has some bits I don't think I could live with. I must be getting old love my old hand break. How the heck do you do a hand break turn without one.There still a teenager in there somewhere.
My dad uses the proper hand brakes in his BMs in the snow quite a lot to go round bends etc. I sometimes think he's just reliving his youth! However it's hard to imagine how the E89 centre interior would have looked with a proper hand brake. Think that's what people forget or don't realise is it wasn't done because BMW were introducing it across the whole range as a new bit of gadgetry but because a conventional hand break didn't suit the look of the interior.
I've had mines since January and I'm only just really remembering the down for off and up for on. Kept pulling it up like a switch expecting it to disengage it
Angie4m said:buzyg said:E89 a fine looking Zed, but it has some bits I don't think I could live with. I must be getting old love my old hand break. How the heck do you do a hand break turn without one.
I've had mines since January and I'm only just really remembering the down for off and up for on. Kept pulling it up like a switch expecting it to disengage it
I swear it's all back-to-front. The DCT forward for down shifts and back for up doesn't seem natural to me. Again the e brake (for electronic, not emergency :wink: ) would make more sense as a push to engage, as it's a quicker, more instinctive action in an emergency when you want to prevent the car from rolling. I suppose BMW would reason "you're more likely to accidentally engage it by pushing whilst on the move" which makes sense, but does it actually engage if you aren't stopped? Or does it have an emergency braking function whilst moving?
Interesting read this one.
I'm with the OP. In the last 9 years I've had five cars with electronic parking brakes.
In Order:
Renault Scenic, 2005
VW Passat, 2008
Landrover Discovery 3, 2008
Audi A8, 2011
and, the Z4.
Of these, only the Z4 requires you to operate it manually to release it. You can do so in the others if you wish but you don't need to.
I like the little lever and have no issue with using it, but because it's either on, or off, having to time the release of it on a hill start is a pain. It's not like the finesse you can achieve with a mechanical lever. It just feels cheap. Sorry.
I'm with the OP. In the last 9 years I've had five cars with electronic parking brakes.
In Order:
Renault Scenic, 2005
VW Passat, 2008
Landrover Discovery 3, 2008
Audi A8, 2011
and, the Z4.
Of these, only the Z4 requires you to operate it manually to release it. You can do so in the others if you wish but you don't need to.
I like the little lever and have no issue with using it, but because it's either on, or off, having to time the release of it on a hill start is a pain. It's not like the finesse you can achieve with a mechanical lever. It just feels cheap. Sorry.
I noticed when test driving an Evoque recently that the electronic handbrake released automatically. I commented about this to the salesman who obviously thought I was mad and didn't understand what I was talking about.
It was never an issue in my previous 35i though as the hill start assist (mentioned above) combined with the normal brake and DCT gearbox prevented any need for the handbrake.
In fact, due to parking the car on level ground at home I rarely ever it.
It was never an issue in my previous 35i though as the hill start assist (mentioned above) combined with the normal brake and DCT gearbox prevented any need for the handbrake.
In fact, due to parking the car on level ground at home I rarely ever it.
Thanks to Angie for clarifying.