Help: Annoying 'soft-stop' braking mechanism

Hi there,

I've purchased my E90 320i a month ago and from the start, I've been getting really annoyed with a 'jerky' sensation just before the car comes to a stop - from my research from the internet, i believe its called the 'soft stop' technology that BMW has. I went to PML and almost had a fight with them coz they said they can't do anything about it and that's how the car is manufactured. I CAN ANYONE PLEASE HELP ME SOLVE THIS PROBLEM???
 
Re: Help: Annoying 'soft-stop' braking mechanism

Perhaps...try braking at an earlier stage, apply intermittent braking technique so as not to depress the brake for long time before it comes to stop. Usually, only the owners themselves are familiar with the bahaviour of their cars and know even the slightest changes in the performance of their cars.
 
Re: Help: Annoying 'soft-stop' braking mechanism

curl your toes just before it stops, trust me it works. It releases the main braking pressure from the foot.
 
Re: Help: Annoying 'soft-stop' braking mechanism

hav the same problem many moons ago. dont think it is the soft stop feature as 320 does not have this feature, unless they put it in in the recent version.

basically, the problem is because as you are coming to a stop, the gear shifts from second to first, and with a first gear that has high torgue, you feel the jerk. some time the damn shift happens at a point when you are about to stop and when we normally release the brake pressure, the stupid car shift to the first and caused the car to leap forward.

i also spoke to them, and they tried to changed the programmin, but still not working out. now just living with it ; (

i even ride with the testing guy together, and he acknowledged the jerking, but still they cannot do anything. was told recently that they have some software upgrade, but i haven done so. not sure if it will help.

also, do u have the problem where the steering returns/spring back very slowly and does not returns all the way to the centre whenever you make a turn ?
 
Re: Help: Annoying 'soft-stop' braking mechanism

jojosnr,

That's the problem I am facing again. I used to have it then they reset the software but now it came back again. I think it has something to do with the way I drive. I happened to use engine brake once ie down shift in manual mode to slow down the car and now I get this super irritating jerk everytime I come to a standstill.

After they reset the software the 1st time, the drive was smooth but the jerkiness has returned. Are we not supposed to downshift to slow down the car?

Thanks
 
Re: Help: Annoying 'soft-stop' braking mechanism

jojosnr;218800 said:
hav the same problem many moons ago. dont think it is the soft stop feature as 320 does not have this feature, unless they put it in in the recent version.

basically, the problem is because as you are coming to a stop, the gear shifts from second to first, and with a first gear that has high torgue, you feel the jerk. some time the damn shift happens at a point when you are about to stop and when we normally release the brake pressure, the stupid car shift to the first and caused the car to leap forward.

i also spoke to them, and they tried to changed the programmin, but still not working out. now just living with it ; (

i even ride with the testing guy together, and he acknowledged the jerking, but still they cannot do anything. was told recently that they have some software upgrade, but i haven done so. not sure if it will help.

also, do u have the problem where the steering returns/spring back very slowly and does not returns all the way to the centre whenever you make a turn ?


Usually on defualt D Mode, your tranny DOES NOT shift to 1st gear.....Only 2nd Gear.....So it could be a case of rough shift from 3rd down to 2nd.....

Put your car in STEP mode and you will see that the shifting stops at 2nd when you come to a complete stop IF you let the car shift down by itself without interveing in the shifting.
 
Re: Help: Annoying 'soft-stop' braking mechanism

TobyNik;219905 said:
Usually on defualt D Mode, your tranny DOES NOT shift to 1st gear.....Only 2nd Gear.....So it could be a case of rough shift from 3rd down to 2nd.....

Put your car in STEP mode and you will see that the shifting stops at 2nd when you come to a complete stop IF you let the car shift down by itself without interveing in the shifting.
You sure about not going to 1st gear from a stop? I thought that was merely WINTER mode. Summer mode has 1st gear for sure. I may be wrong.
 
Re: Help: Annoying 'soft-stop' braking mechanism

Toby is right, 2nd gear in D or SD Mode unless u push you gear fwd to engage gear1 else in Auto mode, always 2nd gear.
 
Re: Help: Annoying 'soft-stop' braking mechanism

TripleM;219973 said:
Toby is right, 2nd gear in D or SD Mode unless u push you gear fwd to engage gear1 else in Auto mode, always 2nd gear.

My E90 does shift to gear 1 when in D. The feeling of starting off in gear 2 and in gear 1 on a E90 320i is very very different.

this feeling is there on both my X5 and E90. Just have to get used to it.
It probably is just the torque converter @ work. If u notice, on the "L/100km" meter, u can see that it will suddenly swing to 15-20L/100km right before u come to a complete stop.

curling your toes to slightly increase braking pressure will help u stop smoothly.

:)
 
Re: Help: Annoying 'soft-stop' braking mechanism

Tranny doesn't auto-shift from 2nd to 1st. U have to manually drop it to 1st when at a standstill. Same for my E46 and now for my E92!

Cheers!
 
Re: Help: Annoying 'soft-stop' braking mechanism

jooggie;218860 said:
jojosnr,

That's the problem I am facing again. I used to have it then they reset the software but now it came back again. I think it has something to do with the way I drive. I happened to use engine brake once ie down shift in manual mode to slow down the car and now I get this super irritating jerk everytime I come to a standstill.

After they reset the software the 1st time, the drive was smooth but the jerkiness has returned. Are we not supposed to downshift to slow down the car?

Thanks

the gear box adapts to your driving style, each time they flush out the memory it goes back to default.. it will be smooth... maybe you should stop using engine brake and see if that's the cause of it..

do let us know your results
 
Re: Help: Annoying 'soft-stop' braking mechanism

Hi Ferd,

I've yet to send my car for fixing. I know that the vehicle adapts to our driving style but if using engine brake is going to cause a jerky stop, then it means driving sedately is the order of the day.
Will give progress update once they fix it.

BTW, I tried doing the gearbox reset thing that works for 5series but it didn't have any effect on my car.

Thanks.
 
Re: Help: Annoying 'soft-stop' braking mechanism

it does go to 1st gear when stop in d mode. however when you change to steptronic, it automatically kick into 2nd for you. ( thus u think even in D mode it at 2nd. ) an easy way to confirm this is to try driving off your car in 2nd and then in 1st in steptronic mode, and then swith over to the d mode and drive off. you will feel the first gear torgue and not 2nd gear torque in d mode.



TobyNik;219905 said:
Usually on defualt D Mode, your tranny DOES NOT shift to 1st gear.....Only 2nd Gear.....So it could be a case of rough shift from 3rd down to 2nd.....

Put your car in STEP mode and you will see that the shifting stops at 2nd when you come to a complete stop IF you let the car shift down by itself without interveing in the shifting.
 
Re: Help: Annoying 'soft-stop' braking mechanism

no it goes to first. another is to count the gear change every time the gear changes by feeling the small jerk. you will be able to count five shfits

TripleM;219973 said:
Toby is right, 2nd gear in D or SD Mode unless u push you gear fwd to engage gear1 else in Auto mode, always 2nd gear.
 
Re: Help: Annoying 'soft-stop' braking mechanism

jooggie;218860 said:
jojosnr,

That's the problem I am facing again. I used to have it then they reset the software but now it came back again. I think it has something to do with the way I drive. I happened to use engine brake once ie down shift in manual mode to slow down the car and now I get this super irritating jerk everytime I come to a standstill.

After they reset the software the 1st time, the drive was smooth but the jerkiness has returned. Are we not supposed to downshift to slow down the car?

Thanks

Hi Guys,

I had this problem months back and was told its got to do with the program on the gearbox. I sent my car in for an update and the problem has not come back since (abt 6 months)

Maybe you could try to go back and check on the gearbox software version to see if its the latest. I was told lots of e90s have this problem and need the upgrade to overcome it.

Good luck.
 
Re: Help: Annoying 'soft-stop' braking mechanism

Just a thought, why don't you request an ATF change (auto trans fluid) and see how dirty it is? Although it lists lifetime, many people have found crappy gunk in their ATF for several MB and ZF gearboxes even after as little as 30k KM.
 
Re: Help: Annoying 'soft-stop' braking mechanism

Did u brake on D or shift to N then brake in-order to get this soft-stop feeling?
 
Re: Help: Annoying 'soft-stop' braking mechanism

I'm getting this shitty issue on my E90 too..

Will be pushing in to PML for check tmr and hope wil solve my prob.. Will update u guys.

Btw, mine is on D mode when the so call "soft-stop" feeling comez..
 
Re: Help: Annoying 'soft-stop' braking mechanism

Do the correct thing. Shift to neutral before you come to a stop. Yes, even for autos. That way you don't have to step on the brake during the stop, and that destroys the rotors as the pads continually in contact even if the rotors are only slightly hot.
 
Re: Help: Annoying 'soft-stop' braking mechanism

centurion;427787 said:
Do the correct thing. Shift to neutral before you come to a stop. Yes, even for autos. That way you don't have to step on the brake during the stop, and that destroys the rotors as the pads continually in contact even if the rotors are only slightly hot.
but wouldnt that wear off the gear/transmission box?
 

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