[hsiaochinsan]

I've tried a couple times...but all failed. What i meant is that when i am coming to a red light and stop sign and need to stop completely, I couldn't get comfortable and gentle stop. The break on our car maybe is a little bit "sensitive"?? Anyone experiecned the same thing?

[ward]

there's supposed to be a "soft stop" feature on our cars,

as far as I know it's stupid and may be the reason you can't stop correctly

[hsiaochinsan]

but the problem it is not "soft" at all!

[jiggax23]

u'll get used to it, im at 3000 miles, got used to it about 1000-1500 miles ago

[RGB]

I´m going to buy one 325i auto. Touring (wagon) and one of the main reasons is its "always alert" overassisted way of breaking. It gives me a very nice feeling of control.

[Gnosis]

It has a "soft stop feauture".... You know the common learner mistake of not letting go of the brake pedal just before you come to a stop... Well - BMW has built away the need to release the brake pedal just before the stop... so now we can ALL be learners again.... HUURrahhh!!

[E90Fleet]

Just hold the brake pressure and see if the "soft stop" does its job

[Broken1]

hsiaochinsan
Junior Member

hsiaochinsan's Avatar

Drives: Subaru STi
Location: SF Bay Area
Join Date: May 2005

Posts: 9


It could be the fact that you are driving a subaru???

[RGB]

The Soft Stop feature is only in 330i and 325i models.

[Armen52]

Yeah this is sort of odd. I also thought the soft stop was not a great idea since anybody who's been driving a car for a little while that has reasonable brake pedal feel should be able to get their own soft stops with a tiny amount of work.

Of course I didn't have the kind of smooth stops in the 330i I test drove as I can in my Integra of four years but that's obvious. Once I get used to the car and its brakes then I should be able to have it there as well.

[hsiaochinsan]

Thanks guys! I will try to learn it

[quackman]

Yeah, instead of trying to be a good driver and lifting off the brake pedal a bit to get a smooth stop, I suggest not letting off the brake pedal and letting the "soft stop" feature do it's job.
I hope this feature does a nice job... I haven't heard anyone's opinion on it until this thread.

[thrill30]

Originally Posted by hsiaochinsan

Thanks guys! I will try to learn it

hsiaochinsan,

it would be great if you could try it out as suggested by quackman and others, and then provide some feedback on this thread. I had not heard any comments about it. It will be very interesting to know if it really works.

I don't plan to use this feature at all, but if it's there on the E90, it better work properly.

[skimo]

Originally Posted by Gnosis

It has a "soft stop feauture".... You know the common learner mistake of not letting go of the brake pedal just before you come to a stop...

I feel ignorant, what are you guys talking about? Am i supposed to let go off the break before coming to a stop? but then the car will not stop ??? Sorry i am really confused and really cant notice anything "unusuall" about the BMW breaking...

Skimo

[Gnosis]

It's simple. Take any normal car - preferebly one with manual transmisson since a automatic transmission will dampen the effect.

Drive at about 30 mph or higher, declutch and press the brake pedal. Now hold a constant pressure on the pedal and don't let go. Your car will begin braking as normal but if you don't ease off on the brake pressure right before the car stops the stop will be very abrupt. Heads rocking and all that... this is the effect we are talking about.

[DaveCM5]

I tried it tonight with mine, and there is no "soft-stop" feature. It brakes abruptly if allow to slow to a stop with continuous pressure.

I agree it's harder to do a soft-style stop in this BMW than any other car I've owned, but it doesn't bother me too much.

-Dave C. '06 330i

[hsiaochinsan]

After trying many times..i think the best way to get a gentle stop is to release the brake paddle slowly untile I feel the car almost stops..like 1mph to 0mph.

[onesixeight]

I've having similar issues with the 325i SP I just got for my younger sister. I'm not sure if my problem is related, but for me, as I let up on the brake pedal for a smooth stop, the car stops and goes again (car moves about an inch) and stops again. I noticed this on the other 325i (non-sport). I brought this issue to the attention of my shop foreman and he said he noticed it on both the 325 & 330's he's driven. They've filed a PUMA case, but BMW has no solution for the problem yet.

The brake pedal also feels very sticky. My car is a 745Li (with many problems) and this car feels similar to how the auto-park brake feature feels on the 7's. When you let up on the pedal, the pedal feels like it's sticky and doesn't quite follow your foot.

My 745Li is in the shop again for an emissions fault and I've been driving an X3 2.5i loaner that has much better brake feel compared to my E90 325i and 745Li.

I thought my MB E55 AMG with Sensotronic brakes were bad...but this new 3 has some of the worst brake modulation feel I've ever felt. BMW needs a lesson from Porsche on brake feel.

[hsiaochinsan]

Originally Posted by onesixeight

I've having similar issues with the 325i SP I just got for my younger sister. I'm not sure if my problem is related, but for me, as I let up on the brake pedal for a smooth stop, the car stops and goes again (car moves about an inch) and stops again.

Yup, onesixeight, this is exactly how i felt about the brake. So is this suppose to be the "soft stop" feature??

[onesixeight]

Hi hsiaochinsan....

I'm most certain that this is not the soft stop feature and if it is...it's certainly not a very soft stop! M-Benz has had this feature on the SBC Brake equipped cars (R230 SL's and W220 E-classes) in Europe and Asia. I have a E240 in Hong Kong with SBC soft stop and it stops as advertised, very softly in traffic.

I've brought this problem to the attention of BMWNA's engineering department. After owning a 745Li, you get to know the engineers in NJ quite well. I believe that this is a major issue that needs to be corrected as a number of the E90 3-series I've driven has this problem.

If you would, please have your service advisor at your BMW dealership file a PUMA case so BMW will address this problem ASAP.

Anyone else notice this will your E90? I'm quite certain this issue is limited to automatic transmission E90s.

[Armen52]

Freakin great! This is making me feel very stupid about my decision to purchase the car so early now. Soft-stops are broken, A/C and transmissions are falling apart. People's nav is all wacky. Half programmable features aren't available until September or later.

Shit, my car better not have these problems or I'm gonna be reeeaaally disappointed.

[onesixeight]

Armen,

To be honest, I'd wait if I could, but she needed a car ASAP and I figure I'd get the latest model. I hate to be negative about this car and I was really hoping it was going to be a lot more realiable of the new generation BMWs, but day-by-day I'm really starting to think BMW doesn't do enough testing pre-production.

I wish we had better news for you. But something that really bothers me is when people attempt to mask problems or dismiss them as normal. Get used to this and that. I can't understand with so much engineering and technology behind this car, BMW couldn't create brake feel that is linear and natural. Even this new 6-speed auto transmission is to me a step down from the old 5 speed GM unit. Try accelerating hard and feel the 1-2 shift...it's feels like it's slipping and it's also the case on my 745 and I've felt it on a 530 loaner. If it ain't broke...don't fix it!

But at the end of the day, I still like BMWs and they're overall driving dynamics can't be beat...I just wish they'd fix these small little problems before the car hits production.