[satz]

So I've been trying out the 'self steering' in my M40i

It works for a little while (a few hundred metres), then even on clearly line-marked roads, it will suddenly pull across a lane after a while.

It does this even if there's a car in the next lane, forcing me to manually correct quickly.

Is this really how it's meant to operate, or should you be able to drive for hours with just lightly resting your fingers on the wheel?

[Tokke]

It is an assistant, not autonomous driving. In perfect conditions you can Release the steering a couple of seconds, no more than that.
If you learn how the system works, learn were it strengths and weaknesses are it is a good system. Some things like road exits can confuse the system for example. It is mostly meant for use on the highway, not in city driving.
Another thing that has an impact on the system is that direct sunlight on the camera makes the system blind. Just like yourself. So if you drive into a low sun, the system will be suffering.

[SteveX3M40i]

Hi,
We have had our X3M40i for more than a year and have used the “auto steering” function faultlessly for that time.
When I say faultlessly - there are times when it will drop out but this is clearly indicated on the HUD and dash displays by the steering wheel icon going from green to yellow.
I have often driven from Abu Dhabi on the motorway at 140 km/h (87mph) for around 100 miles - with the system fully steering the whole distance.
But - I never take my hands off the steering wheel and just hold it loosely and keep a close eye on the HUD.
We are lucky that are motorways here are wide and the lane lines are well marked.
I would never describe the system as “dangerous” - I reserve that label for other drivers!
Cheers
Steve

[comber]

Originally Posted by SteveX3M40i

Hi,
We have had our X3M40i for more than a year and have used the “auto steering” function faultlessly for that time.
When I say faultlessly - there are times when it will drop out but this is clearly indicated on the HUD and dash displays by the steering wheel icon going from green to yellow.
I have often driven from Abu Dhabi on the motorway at 140 km/h (87mph) for around 100 miles - with the system fully steering the whole distance.
But - I never take my hands off the steering wheel and just hold it loosely and keep a close eye on the HUD.
We are lucky that are motorways here are wide and the lane lines are well marked.
I would never describe the system as “dangerous” - I reserve that label for other drivers!
Cheers
Steve

Same for me in Spain, no problem at all, even in "normal"roads with corners and not in motorways. It only seems to doubt in motorway exits, but if you have your hands on the wheel and one eye on the HUD to tell if green turns into yellow, it shouldn't be a problem.

[teaston]

Yep it is dangerous at speed, I only use it in traffic jams which is great to take away the monotony, especially if speed stays under 10mph as it will then steer for you indefinitely without needing to touch the steering wheel at all.

[clivem2]

I use it as an assistant on motorways (highways). It makes driving very relaxing when used with ACC. It is not supposed to be autonomous driving and we mustn't think it is. I find it's great on long journeys. It relies on radar and white pained lines on the road so line contrast with the road and line quality is important, traffic around you can help too with the radar. It is only an "assistant"....but it's great when cruising at speed or in traffic.

[asyvan]

It only becomes dangerous when you expect it to do something it was not designed to do.

I would call it useless though, given the poor quality of our roads here. It works excellent in slow moving traffic (traffic jams etc), but again where I live we don't have that either. So for me, useless.

[titomi]

If I'd experienced something like OP, I would probably also call it dangerous. But I didn't. As already said, it's an aid. So I use it as such and its working good. Not great, but good.

[BMWZ4]

It's not a Tesla. It's not meant to be used in this manner.

[spangle1980]

Originally Posted by teaston

Yep it is dangerous at speed, I only use it in traffic jams which is great to take away the monotony, especially if speed stays under 10mph as it will then steer for you indefinitely without needing to touch the steering wheel at all.

+1. - my use case is the same. If I ever get out of the house again that is :-|

It's generally useful as advertised 2-3 years back by that dude from BMW US. Like as said above for slight assist on long straight roads. It's bloody useless if you're expecting anything near autonomous driving.

[clivem2]

Maybe our reaction to how steering assist works is down to how much we personally need to feel in control. Some may not be comfortable sharing the driving responsibility. I find that on UK motorways I can use the steering assistance almost all the time. It's hard to estimate how much input I'm giving the steering - I "stay connected" most of the time. I'd say I'm putting 60% to 80% less input into the steering. I go with it when the car steers, it's hard to really know how much is my input vs the car doing the steering.

What I did notice recently was when the nav system took me off the M6 onto a local roads diversion. I suddenly had to switch to doing all the driving - it was a rapid wake-up call, I'd not realised how little I'd been steering the car and now I had to do it all. This told me that the car had been doing most of the work on the motorway.

[suby01]

Originally Posted by Tokke

It is an assistant, not autonomous driving. In perfect conditions you can Release the steering a couple of seconds, no more than that.
If you learn how the system works, learn were it strengths and weaknesses are it is a good system. .

This explains everything.

Its a driving aid not a replacement.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by clivem2

Maybe our reaction to how steering assist works is down to how much we personally need to feel in control. Some may not be comfortable sharing the driving responsibility. I find that on UK motorways I can use the steering assistance almost all the time. It's hard to estimate how much input I'm giving the steering - I "stay connected" most of the time. I'd say I'm putting 60% to 80% less input into the steering. I go with it when the car steers, it's hard to really know how much is my input vs the car doing the steering.

What I did notice recently was when the nav system took me off the M6 onto a local roads diversion. I suddenly had to switch to doing all the driving - it was a rapid wake-up call, I'd not realised how little I'd been steering the car and now I had to do it all. This told me that the car had been doing most of the work on the motorway.

I have found that it works much better on motorways, I have a feeling that motorways have somehow been programmed into the car's software.

Unfortunately for me there's no motorways in Norfolk though, so not often I get to try it.

[clivem2]

Originally Posted by teaston

I have found that it works much better on motorways, I have a feeling that motorways have somehow been programmed into the car's software.

Unfortunately for me there's no motorways in Norfolk though, so not often I get to try it.

I'd agree, driving on A or B roads would be a less comfortable experience. There are too many reasons to need to do something unexpected on such roads. As much as I love the system for motorways, I don't even try to use it when not on motorways.

[sor]

Just to echo everyone else, it's not self steering. You turn it on, and YOU continue to steer. It keeps people from drifting out of their lane, that's it. This is why it won't actually hold a turn on its own at freeway speed, it isn't designed to fully take over steering.

Tesla's isn't either, but it's a bit more capable and people try to use it this way. They have their own idiosyncrasies to deal with though. Truth be told I've used the BMW system that way (or rather abused it), by keeping a hand on the wheel but making it do most of the actual steering. It's called "lane keeping assistant".

It's meant to avoid those small accidents where people get distracted and go over the line or something. It's pretty common for people to look away for a moment, realize they're going out of their lane, over correct, and cause an accident.

[383vett]

I think self steering should be 100% safe and reliable or nonexistent.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by sor

Just to echo everyone else, it's not self steering. You turn it on, and YOU continue to steer. It keeps people from drifting out of their lane, that's it. This is why it won't actually hold a turn on its own at freeway speed, it isn't designed to fully take over steering.

Tesla's isn't either, but it's a bit more capable and people try to use it this way. They have their own idiosyncrasies to deal with though. Truth be told I've used the BMW system that way (or rather abused it), by keeping a hand on the wheel but making it do most of the actual steering. It's called "lane keeping assistant".

It's meant to avoid those small accidents where people get distracted and go over the line or something. It's pretty common for people to look away for a moment, realize they're going out of their lane, over correct, and cause an accident.

Actually it can on motorways/freeways, but you do have to touch the steering wheel once every 40 seconds, it can even change lanes by itself! (Long half press of the indicator in the direction of the lane you want the car to change to)

[clivem2]

Originally Posted by 383vett

I think self steering should be 100% safe and reliable or nonexistent.

But it's not self-steering. It's an assistant...it works fine as an assistant. Full autonomy would be great but that's not how it's positioned. You might as well insist our 4x4 X3s should be highly capable off-road...again that's not how the car is positioned.

[383vett]

Originally Posted by clivem2

But it's not self-steering. It's an assistant...it works fine as an assistant. Full autonomy would be great but that's not how it's positioned. You might as well insist our 4x4 X3s should be highly capable off-road...again that's not how the car is positioned.

I'll change that to assisted steering should be 100% safe and reliable or nonexistent.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by 383vett

I'll change that to assisted steering should be 100% safe and reliable or nonexistent.

No kind of vehicle will ever be 100% safe!

[383vett]

Originally Posted by teaston

No kind of vehicle will ever be 100% safe!

[satz]

Thanks all

Maybe 'dangerous' was a bit strong in my original post, but at times it felt like the steering was actually forcing me into the next lane (without me indicating).

I think it's really not much use even as an 'aid', if I can't trust it for even a few minutes.

I might get dealership to check if there's been any software update, or any calibration required for the camera.

I haven't tried the auto lane change yet. Seems like it wants to even without selecting!

Love the radar based active cruise control on the X3. My X2 only had the camera-based version which would cut out at the slightest bit of sunlight in front of the car!