When I collected my '2 recently, prior to actually driving anywhere I yanked the main fuse, which BMW assured me would totally the ABS.

I would NEVER have bought the car had it been an issue to bring the brakes to normal (safe) operating condition.

How many others have done this? ABS = Loss of Control

 

why did you yank the main fuse?

 

I have seen enough of ABS and the way it throws off handling and braking.

I will not own/drive a car with it. Ralph Nader could have been referring to ABS when he coined, "Unsafe at any speed"

I dumped a Chysler product (took a beating, too!) after 6 weeks upon discovering that my handling issues (720 in CA mountains) were CAUSED by the ABS, they operating as designed. I have too much snow experience to slam on the brakes! And rain...and ice.....:impatient

 

Not sure you understand how ABS works. It only kicks in if you're locking up a wheel - do you do that in normal driving? If you're not slamming on the brakes, you won't engage the ABS. It doesn't affect handling in the slightest.
We lived for plenty of years without ABS, so if you prefer not to have it, rock on.

 

ABS has saved my keester more than once when some bozo decided to intersect my path unexpectedly. I have NEVER seen it kick in during normal or even "spirited" driving. It only kicks in when a wheel speed goes to zero.

If your seeing issues during normal driving you are either driving way different than anyone else or you are confusing ABS with DSC.

I am quite familiar with ABS as they started on airplanes where they found tires lasted longer if they didn't skid, blowouts didn't happen (or rarely) if they didn't skid, and planes stopped faster (higher average braking coefficient) if they didn't skid.

I wouldn't consider buying a car without ABS. Period.

 

Better get used to it, I don't think you can disable it and I don't know of a car that doesn't have it standard now.

As for your "snow" experience, if you are hitting the brakes that hard for it to kick in on snow and ice, you need to re-evaluate your winter driving skills as you are already going too fast for the conditions.

Get them sneakers warmed up!

 

Rarely have I ever managed to get the ABS kick in. Only a couple of times on the road and only once on the track when a mini span out in front of me on a corner. Even then I had no issues as I manoeuvred around him with brakes applied. ABS lets you do that sort of stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3m24bjkfg0

 

I used ABS when a woman pulled out in front of me from a blind alley. I am fairly certain that I would have broadsided her if it wasn't for the ABS system pumping the brakes. My heart was pumping to hard and fear had taken over.

Overall it is a good system and if the driver has issues with it, then I recommend driving school.

 

This (the OP) is probably the most ridiculous post I have ever seen.

 

There were NO brakes to lock up! Coming over the peak i began cadence braking. After a few taps my foot went clear to the floor without any resistance. I had the dealer check out the vehicle, it was pronounced sound, until the next time I hit snow--with the exact same results!

I was then told that I confused the computer by taking an aggressive tack. IT WOULD NEVER OCCUR TO ME TO SLAM (AND HOLD) the brakes in an emergency situation. My snow driving skills are superior.

Cars with ABS have the same accident rate as those equipped w/o, with a greater fraction of single car run off the road collisions. :impatient

 

Which has repeatedly been attributed to people not using them correctly. If people would just read their damn owner's manuals........

 

Let me ask you about your experience with ABS in the above story? How did your ABS keep you from crashing into her??

I won't post more until I hear the rest of the story.

 

I like having the ABS and l don't drive my car much in the winter, but I understand where you are coming from. On snowy roads it seems really hard to stop with the ABS, and I feel a little helpless being at the mercy of the ABS system as it seems to take forever to stop, but in my Honda without ABS I can control the brakes much better and stop in a much shorter distance. Sometimes locking up the wheels a little bit does help. So in the snow I definitely prefer a car without ABS, but on dry or wet roads I prefer to have ABS. And it's not just the MINI, every car that I have had with ABS has had the same problem in the snow.

 

This makes no sense. Locked up wheels do not stop you, especially on snow and ice.

 

Yep, you are the reason I take defensive driving!

FYI, I would like to see your empiracal proof that ABS doesn't help curtail accidents. I worked for AIG and they seem to think it does.

Oh, and if you pressed the brake pedal and it went to the floor, you had a failure of some sort. Especially if you didn't feel the standard pulse feeling in it.

 

Easy...

Car jumped out in front of me and my reaction was to slam on the brakes. The car started to slide and I cut the wheel to try and go around her. If the ABS had not kicked in, I would have slid straight into her. However, the wheels continued to move thus breaking the slide and giving me back control.

In snow, ABS does not cause me any problems at all and I drive in snow every year here in Germany.

 

Locking them up for a second or so at time, then backing off, then locking again does help, at least in the slushy sort of snow we get here in Philly. Basically I'm doing what the computer does, modulating the brakes, but I'm allowing for the wheels to actually lock up and dig into the snow a little more than the ABS system would ever allow and it does work. I'm being completely honest here, I had the same experiences with my VW GTI as I did with the MINI, they just don't work well in the snow compared to the cars I have had without antilock brakes.

 

Why it sure does make sense. You will stop faster on snow & gravel/dirt roads without ABS. Period!

The only thing ABS does is gives you the ability to steer while at maximum braking. Now that is a huge benefit, but it does come at a cost. It does NOT shorted your stopping distances. In fact they are somewhat longer & in the case of snow & gravel dirt MUCH longer.

Sorry fact is most folks do not know how to use them. Stomp on them & steer where you want to go. Many folks feel the peddle kicking & actually try & pump them them selves. Or if they stay on the brakes they neglect to steer around what's in front of them....Bang/crash!

 

Great they worked the way they were supposed to & you did the correct thing....steered around the idiot .

I was wondering if you were going to say you stopped faster with them. We both know that's not the case.

EDIT... I use snow tires in the winter & don't have issues with my ABS locking. Traction is better than ABS.

 

Articles I have read through the years indicate that when stopping in deep snow or gravel that non-ABS may be a little better as the snow or gravel piles up in front of the car and stops it a little quicker. Don't ask for the citation as it was an old Road&Track or Car and Driver article from years ago.

The other side of that is that most people do not know how to modulate brakes and that in the majority of instances, ABS helps the car stop faster, retains steering control, and is generally better than not having it.

If the brake pedal went to the floor, something else must be wrong other than ABS.

I would not want a car today without out it and if I get another motorcycle, it will have it too.

 

In fact, you do stop quicker. Skidding rubber moves faster and farther than gripping rubber. This is the whole premise of ABS. And, regarding your response to me, I have had many occassions to stop on the snow with ABS. I have also witnessed on 2 different occasions non-ABS cars 180 and catapulpt into other cars.

 

The OP is correct. The expected decrease in car accident with ABS NEVER occurred. You can look it up on the net at www.iihs.org

However, ABS is used in conjunction with ESC systems and those cars DO have a decrease in fatal accidents.

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL can help avoid disaster; lowers risk of fatal single-vehicle crash by 56%
http://www.iihs.org/sr/pdfs/sr4001.pdf

Since the ABS is an integral part of how ESC works, there is no way you can safely modulate the braking of an individual wheel, as needed, without it (and even if there were, could a human be better than computer?).

Bottom line, if you have DSC, don't disconnect the ABS. It might save your life.

 

The OP is correct. The expected decrease in car accident with ABS NEVER occurred. You can look it up on the net at www.iihs.org

However, ABS is used in conjunction with ESC systems and those cars DO have a decrease in fatal accidents.

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL can help avoid disaster; lowers risk of fatal single-vehicle crash by 56%
http://www.iihs.org/sr/pdfs/sr4001.pdf

Since the ABS is an integral part of how ESC works, there is no way you can safely modulate the braking of an individual wheel, as needed, without it (and even if there were, could a human be better than computer?).

Bottom line, if you have DSC, don't disconnect the ABS. It might save your life.

As to ABS stopping shorter on normal surfaces?

See http://www.aaafoundation.org/resourc...utton=abs#stop

"slightly"

 

+1 for Chows again a person on the board (and there are few) that makes sense and has the facts. Now how do I get 500 whp?

 

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. ABS doesn't shorten your stopping distances. No way no how. Just because you saw someone pile into another on snow doesn't mean diddly do. What you witnessed was a bad driver not driving to the conditions present.

I agree ABS is a good thing. It's just not a substitute for drivers skill. These Nannies are OK, but driver skill is more important. I like the ABS on my MINI, but don't get me started about that piece of carp DSC.