[omarnyc]

Hello,

I got 2019 530 in US which has the front collision warning(fcw), and it is enabled under the settings along with other safety features.
I never get visual/audible warning for it, even though there was an event when the traffic in front of me slowed down suddenly in a close distance on Florida highway.

There is no error messages on Idrive related to this atm. Bit of a back story. Idrive used to give warnings for other safety futures, which was repaired under warranty. I ve seen the visual warning for FCW before that but never afterwards.

I still have warranty time left but dealer says if they can't find the issue there is a labor fee. Is there a way that I can confirm if this feature is actually working or not before risk $$$ with the dealer?

Thanks!

[Hoa]

When you drive close to the car in front of you without stepping on the brake, do you get a picture of a red car like the photo? If you don't, it's not working. It could be very possible that they didn't code it into your new head unit when they replaced it.

[Chappers 71]

Try to drive into something, preferably something soft, you’ll know then if it works

[omarnyc]

Originally Posted by Hoa

When you drive close to the car in front of you without stepping on the brake, do you get a picture of a red car like the photo? If you don't, it's not working. It could be very possible that they didn't code it into your new head unit when they replaced it.

I do not, I used to though. To be clear, they only changed it something in steering wheel electronic unit and its control unit, at least thats what it states on the service notes, nothing about head unit.

[omarnyc]

Originally Posted by Hoa

When you drive close to the car in front of you without stepping on the brake, do you get a picture of a red car like the photo? If you don't, it's not working. It could be very possible that they didn't code it into your new head unit when they replaced it.

I could try, but technically it supposed to warn if there is a sudden brake in front of me at highway speeds, right?

[Hoa]

Originally Posted by omarnyc

I do not, I used to though. To be clear, they only changed it something in steering wheel electronic unit and its control unit, at least thats what it states on the service notes, nothing about head unit.

Ah, then that shouldn't matter.

Originally Posted by omarnyc

I could try, but technically it supposed to warn if there is a sudden brake in front of me at highway speeds, right?

I don't think so. At least it doesn't do it for me. If you have ACC active then it would slow down for you.

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by omarnyc

…but technically it supposed to warn if there is a sudden brake in front of me at highway speeds, right?

Yes and no…it depends on what distance you have selected for the alert and if the differential between your speed and the distance from the car in front of you is…as well as if your braking is sufficient.

If you’re really not an aggressive tailgater…you won’t see the red car warning because you are braking efficiently and the system has determined the distance between you and the car in front of you is sufficient. That’s a good thing because those of us that are truly aggressive drivers and are tailgating…do get to see the red car warning come up at times in congested traffic. (Yes, I’m guilty of this sometimes ).

There is lots of info about the intelligent safety feature in the owners manual embedded in iDrive…you should pull up that info to get a refresh of how the systems work (brake mitigation etc)…and there’s probably embedded videos that explain how the systems work.

Again, double check your settings to see if they are set like you want. If you had work done…the settings may have reset to a default that may be different than what you want.

I would also suggest to find a street that has cars parked along the side and drive at a reasonable speed where half of your car is inline with the cars parked along the side. Since the cars are parked and you’re moving at a differential higher than them (ie 24mph-35mph)…you should at least get the red car warning…and possibly the audible warning, too.

Examples of what is in the embedded owners manual: