21 replies to this topic

[bpirie1000]

Still think there should be an annual test. Or roadside test on highway code carried out by dvla.

Sure bmw/audi drivers need a reminder about the orange flashing light on the sides of their cars....

[DeadSquare]

Still think there should be an annual test. Or roadside test on highway code carried out by dvla.

Sure bmw/audi drivers need a reminder about the orange flashing light on the sides of their cars....

It is not the orange flashing lights that worry me.  It's the blue ones.

[sonikk4]

Electrically operated handbrake. Never had one thankfully but don't see the point. A colleague said he had to go to a main dealer (Vaux) to have it reset by laptop so he could change the rear pads (not sure how true this is...)

VAG cars have the same and you need to tell the car to retract the brakes. There is a function in Vagcom the proprietary software we can buy that does this. I’m sure all manufacturers who have E brakes fitted will have a similar operation system.

Now the crux of this is you need the ignition system on for the software to retract the brakes. IF you don’t change the pads quickly enough or the car suffers a spontaneous battery failure the brakes auto apply. If this happens the pistons come fully out rendering the callipers fubar. So that’s if the pads are not refitted. And those puppies are not cheap.

A small specialist garage I used to use in Peterborough used to put a battery charger on just in case something failed. And this was an ex VW tech.

I should do mine myself but I haven’t bought Vagcom as it ain’t cheap. There are other systems out there that do the same thing which are cheaper but to be honest I don’t do enough maintenance on my A6 to warrant buying anything.

[h9hpj]

I have an Audi S3 and to change the rear discs and pads I used Carista OBD gadget which has a function to release the rear electronic handbrake. Front brakes didn’t require anything special. 

[mab01uk]

Britain's second best-selling EV has a 'potentially dangerous' issue, warns Which?
On three occasions MG 4's lane keeping system steered car into danger.
"Product testing group Which? says it identified the problem with the UK's second best-selling EV, the MG 4, during controlled and repeated tests that it carries out on over 100 different cars each year.
It found that the £27,000 EV's lane-assist system - which is designed to keep the car in its lane to stop drivers veering over the white lines - pulled the vehicle onto the wrong side of the road, which potentially puts motorists at risk of driving head-on into oncoming traffic.
Last year, 21,715 were registered in Britain. Only the Tesla Model Y was bought in greater numbers in the EV marketplace.
'On one occasion where the tester drove on a narrow country road and had to pass another car travelling in the opposite direction, the MG4's lane-keep assistance system steered away from the nearside edge of the road and towards the centre – and the other vehicle,' Which? said.
The tester was forced to manually intervene to prevent the MG4 veering too close to the car travelling in the opposite direction, it claimed.
'On another occasion, this time on a wider road with a clearly defined centre line, the lane-keep assistance technology twice decided that the car had left its intended lane and pulled it onto the wrong side of the road.
'Using a sufficient amount of force, our tester had to manually steer the car back,' Which? says.
A software solution to resolve the issue is very near to completion and the MG dealer network will perform the work at no cost to the customer...
https://www.thisismo...arns-Which.html

 

Reading the reader comments below the above linked article, many other makes and models of car with 'Lane Assist' technology seem to have similar problems...I think I will keep my 2006 E90 BMW thankfully without any modern software driven driver aids for as long as possible!

 

Edited by mab01uk, 01 July 2024 - 09:07 PM.

[wilsonch]

I dont much car for ANY electronic aids.
I have a mk3 vrs ovtavia. It has a manual hand brake, and gear stick.
The vast majority of aids are really gimics.
So for me, fit all the gadgets and gimics you want AS LONG as i have the ability to turn them off.

[Steam]

Just about every gimmick can be acheived by physical manual means, but you dont sell cars when they dont break things or stop working.