[SomeRandomer123]

The handbrake. It's a proper, traditional, mechanical lever. Lovely. In a manual. In an auto, not so good, as the car is constantly pushing against it so you have to jam it on hard. It's just clunky in one of the smoothest operating 'box's.

So look at the F10/F11. Electric handbrake. Convenient, easy, safer. Lovely. In an auto. In a manual, not so good as it is forgettable and you're never quite sure it's on until you look for the illuminated light.

So what frustrates me is that they can't offer a manual handbrake for manual cars and automatic handbrakes for automatic cars! That way the whole system works in harmony as the electric handbrake and Auto H system in the 5 Series works absolutely perfectly with the 8AT! In the F30 it's still foot firmly on the brakes or jamming on the handbrake or hunting between P, N & D.

Lazy and cost cutting. Not impressive. As are the little things that let you know it's a pre-LCI such as the single halogen bulb indicators - get some awesome LED tail ones in like my E90!! Lazy styling on the final touches.

Wonder if they will implement an electric handbrake in the LCI...
If they do, I hope it's not purely electric handbrake otherwise it will piss off 6MT drivers! Ooooh only if I had a say in BMW!

[DrivenByE30]

It goes to prove that: it is hard (difficult) to please everyone at the same time...

keep it Mechanical...
because I dont know anyone driving an automatic who even bothers to pull (whether mechanical or electric) the hand brake...

In a Manual, it is necessary and vital to have it (Mechanical i should add!), and furthermore, for drifting...
In an Auto, you can just leave the car in "P"... (altho for me, whenever i drive an autobox, i always "P" and pull the Handbrake out of habit.

Dont kill the 3 series the way BMW neutered the Z4...

[micknugget]

I don't see it this way at all. With the electronic automatic transmission, you need to have a manual parking brake. If the battery dies and you have to move the car, you have to manually (underneath the car ) shift the car into neutral. If this happens, the electric parking brake would not work and you couldn't keep the car from rolling. The manual parking brake would be necessary to hold the car. This is how I look at it from a mechanics/engineers perspective.

[francis_william]

keep it mechanic... i love the feel of a HANDbrake, not electric parking brake or stupid FOOTbrake...experienced with all of them...absolute hate to the foot parking brake...

[svache]

All I know is that I don't like the current F30 handbrake and that it is not working as good as it should... if I stand on a hill, pull the handbrake all the way and have the car in N, then it will slowly roll away.. Of course, putting the car in P solves this problem but I doubt that is how it should be. Of course, this could just be a setting lol.. never the less, I do miss my old X5's electric handbrake

Originally Posted by DrivenByE30

keep it Mechanical...
because I dont know anyone driving an automatic who even bothers to pull (whether mechanical or electric) the hand brake...

If I didn't bother to pull the small button thingie for the handbrake on my X5, it would do it for me as soon as I exited the car. Basically there is no need to remember it or bother with it, the car did it for me =)

[ric124]

Maybe they could offer the electric on the Luxury line and the mechanical on the Sport line. I for one do not want the electric if I did then might as well i went to a 5 series or a lexus.

[Elk]

Originally Posted by DrivenByE30

keep it Mechanical...
because I dont know anyone driving an automatic who even bothers to pull (whether mechanical or electric) the hand brake....

You will once you see the tiny prawl that holds the typical automatic transmission in park and learn how much it costs to replace if broken. This little pin makes a manual left in gear look like the immovable object.

[SomeRandomer123]

Originally Posted by ric124

Maybe they could offer the electric on the Luxury line and the mechanical on the Sport line. I for one do not want the electric if I did then might as well i went to a 5 series or a lexus.

The Line idea is a good one!

[clarence]

I'd rather BMW keep it mechanical, their system used in the X3/5er/6er/7er is quite inconvenient esp when stuck in traffic.

[SomeRandomer123]

Originally Posted by clarence

I'd rather BMW keep it mechanical, their system used in the X3/5er/6er/7er is quite inconvenient esp when stuck in traffic.

That's odd. With the Auto Hold engaged, I find the 5 Series to be extremely convenient and easy in traffic!

[Raspartan]

Is the F30 handbrake self adjusting? I remember doing this on previous cars (not BMW) where you apply the brake while slowly moving forward or back.

[Cam70]

Whenever changing cars there is always things i miss about the old car, and improvments in the new car that i like.

My old car is an Audi A4 B8 with electronic handbrake - I love it, and will miss it dearly.

Easy tto engange when stopped at lights, and it disengages automatically when you drive away.

[clarence]

Originally Posted by SomeRandomer123

That's odd. With the Auto Hold engaged, I find the 5 Series to be extremely convenient and easy in traffic!

Auto Hold won't let u creep, & if u don't use Auto Hold then the brake won't disengage itself if u move off.
There are also maintanence issues with these systems as the mechanism wears out as time goes by.

[clarence]

Originally Posted by Cam70

Easy tto engange when stopped at lights, and it disengages automatically when you drive away.

Admittedly Audi's execution is better than BMW's.

[SomeRandomer123]

Originally Posted by clarence

Auto Hold won't let u creep, & if u don't use Auto Hold then the brake won't disengage itself if u move off.
There are also maintanence issues with these systems as the mechanism wears out as time goes by.

Ahh, I see your view but I'm a big fan of the system and absolutely loved it! I guess it's each to their own regarding driving style though. As for the durability of it, I couldn't give a flying proverbial, as for me, it's a lease car on a full maintenance contract with BMW themselves, and a brilliant dealership with a workshop full of specialist mechanics.

[SomeRandomer123]

Originally Posted by francis_william

keep it mechanic... i love the feel of a HANDbrake, not electric parking brake or stupid FOOTbrake...experienced with all of them...absolute hate to the foot parking brake...

I agree the footbrake "handbrake" is completely stupid and I can't stand Mercedes' setup! And then another leaver under the lights switch to take it off it's like what the hell, just give me a fecking leaver!!

[TEAShea]

Keep it mechanical.

[Weaselboy]

Originally Posted by svache

All I know is that I don't like the current F30 handbrake and that it is not working as good as it should... if I stand on a hill, pull the handbrake all the way and have the car in N, then it will slowly roll away.

The parking brake uses a separate friction surface than the service brakes and needs to be bedded in. Run up to 40MPH or so and apply the parking brake with moderate pressure to slow the car. Do this three or four times. This will seat the parking brake pads and make it hold better. Helped a great deal with my car.

[svache]

Originally Posted by Weaselboy

The parking brake uses a separate friction surface than the service brakes and needs to be bedded in. Run up to 40MPH or so and apply the parking brake with moderate pressure to slow the car. Do this three or four times. This will seat the parking brake pads and make it hold better. Helped a great deal with my car.

I didn't know this, will try this when I go out again, thx =)