BMW (Active Steering) yes or no?

I may be buying a 135i coupe soon. I test drove one yesterday that did NOT have active steering. It drove great and the steering felt amazing to me. Anyone here have any experience with Active Steering or do any of you have an opinion on what would suit the 135i? I drove a 645i for a few days a few yrs ago that had Active Steering and I remember liking the feel, so now Im completely confused.

 

As a former BMW dealer...

I would say no at first... but it really depends on how you drive your cars. If you are going to be winging this car around and doing fun mountian roads and track days and really driving the car like an enthusiast I would pass. If this is your day commuter that you are buying to squirt in and out of traffic, actually beable to park at a grocery store without an autograph session then yes. It is super easy to manuever the car around in parking lots with the active steering, so if you are doing that alot... go for it. Otherwise, I think you will find it a somewhat waste of money... I don't think this is an option that you will ever miss, but I do think it is an option that you could regret. I hope that makes sense.

Also, one you get used to the steering of active steering you are going to hate when you switch into other cars.

Again if you are using the car to dive bomb corners etc... you are going to find yourself correcting your line and steering angles constantly.

hope i helped.

 

For a performance car/fun driving... no. Stuck in traffic? Money not a problem? You said you liked it? Then why not.

 

I like BMW's Active Steering and find it very intuitive.

 

I still don't get why BMW nickel and dimes for everything. Active steering (sensotronic steering) has been standard on Audis for years, and I have it say, it works great. Get it on the 135i. It helps in parking lots, and on the twisties, I would think it would help.

 

I don't have it on mine. I've driven one with it. It wasn't awesome, but it wasn't bad either. I don't find the steering feel too heavy. In fact I find I get so use to it that it feels loose. Then I drive a different vehicle, come back to mine and just say awesome.

The one thing I don't understand is that I had an alignment done the other day, but they don't(won't?) do an alignment if you have active steering. Wasn't sure why that is?

 

Thanks for the replies. Im still not sure what I'll do, but I think I'll have to find a dealer that has a car with each and drive them back to back. I wont ever track the car and it will be a city car with occasional canyon runs so I guess it's a toss up at this point.

 

I could be wrong, but I don't remember Audi ever offering steering with variable ratios such as BMWs active steering. Are you refering to variable power assist? If so BMW practically invented that and has been standard on them for years like Audi.

Please fill me in if I have missed the fact that Audi offered a variable ratio steering rack like BMWs where when you are in a parking lot... the steering rack is like an f1 car (not even One turn lock to lock)... and then when you are at speed it returns to a much more "normal" ratio (2 or 3 turns lock to lock)

 

It seems to work well but it wouldn't be a deciding factor for me. A lot of regular buyers seem to like it and view it as a huge safety feature which I'm sure delights BMW.

 

I passed on A/S on my 328C. Felt it was one more thing between me and the road. 1 year on I've had no complaints about the standard steering.

 

Yup, BMW's active steering is the system, where at low and mid speeds, it is much more direct, and then on the twisty roads, it becomes nimble. Audi system is the same, just that they don't charge or advertise the fact, that they have it. It's called the "servotronic" steering there. It's system is also speed-sensitive, just like BMWs.

I know this for a fact because my dad's Audi Q7 handles like a car at low speeds, but then it is very agile on the twisties. And the steering locks much quicker in parking lots. When we test-drove the X5 before buying the Q7, we tested one without active steering, and even at low speeds, it is heavy. Then we tested it with active steering, much bigger improvement, but the crappy treatment at the BMW dealer combined with the fact, that the X5 is much smaller, the Q7 just felt like the better SUV.

here's each of their descriptions;

Audi: Servotronic® is speed-dependent power steering in which the amount of servo assist provided is dictated by road speed. Thus it provides even more comfort and convenience for the driver. The amount of power assist is greatest at low speeds - when parking the car for example - making it easier to maneuver the car. At higher speeds, an electronic sensing system gradually reduces the level of power assist. In this way, the driver can control the car even more precisely than with conventional power steering.

BMW's innovative Active Steering enhances the driving experience. It varies the steering ratio based on vehicle speed. At low and medium speeds, the steering is more direct. The car is more agile and nimble, especially on twisty roads.

they sound the same to me.

 

They're not. Read again.

 

+1. BMW has been using ZF servotronic since at least 1988/9, that I can remember. IIRC, when Ferrari started regular use of power-steering, they also went with the ZF units in the mid 90s.

Active steering changes the turns-to-lock, not just the assist/boost.

 

If you read what you just wrote you can see the difference.

BMW varies the steering ratio according to the speed the vehicle is being driven.
Audi varies the amount of steering assist given according to speed. BMW has been doing this since 1988 if memory serves me correct. Varying steering ratio and steering assist are two completely different things.

When I left Audi I was a Certified Audi Specialist, which means I went through many, many hours of online study and testing and then going to Detroit to go through the last of the training and testing to become certified. I left Audi in 2004. I was the BMW National Product Knowledge Champion when I left BMW and went to Ferrari. I seem to remember a little of what I learned during that time.

 

So would you recommend getting active Steering or not in a new 135i?

 

If you do a lot of low speed manouvering as in parking lots or driving around city centres then get it - it's great. Above something like 40 mph there's not much difference to regular servotronic. I have it on my everyday drive 5 series together with dynamic drive and love it but I wouldn't want it on my Ferrari.

 

I would think hard about that. On something as small as the 135 it is questionable as to whether you would even benefit from the variable ratio steering. If you were looking to purchase a 7 series it would make more sense. I would probably not buy it. The variable assist will give you all the help you need on a 135.......But, that is just my opinion....