[SweetPete]

Ok so I'm in love.
My petrol Clubman Cooper is fantastic. Better even than my F56 Cooper Hatchback.
However there is one 'feature' that has caught me out and continues to bug me a bit.

It has an electric handbrake. So what? I have had other cars with them AND it leaves a lot more room in the centre console for the standard armrest.

However it is beyond my comprehension as to why the handbrake does not automatically apply itself when the ignition is turned off. My Nissan does and so does some other non-BMW cars I have checked.

Is this a BMW feature and am I alone in not seeing the benefits of such a scheme? I didn't realise this was the case and it rolled very gently into the garage wall leaving a tiny nick in the front bumper trim. This has never happened before to me in 44 years of driving - I find the tiny lever too unobtrusive so I missed it! :crying:
Does anyone else find this a bit annoying and can it be disabled?

Tell me I'm not daft AND if such features can be changed!!!

 

[jeremybingham]

Personally detest electronic handbrakes but why would you want it to come on automatically?; be a disaster if it went on at the wrong time! You operate a mechanical handbrake why not an electronic one. i hate all this automation; it'll make driving far more dangerous as people are already stopping thinking-the amount of people i see driving on side or drls in fog because auto lights dont realise the fog prevents visibility; total nightmare!

 

[jeremybingham]

Seriously nice car by the way!

 

[isleaiw]

Personally detest electronic handbrakes but why would you want it to come on automatically?; be a disaster if it went on at the wrong time! You operate a mechanical handbrake why not an electronic one. i hate all this automation; it'll make driving far more dangerous as people are already stopping thinking-the amount of people i see driving on side or drls in fog because auto lights dont realise the fog prevents visibility; total nightmare!

I have a Mini and an Audi - latter has an electronic handbrake, with auto hold (it comes on automatically whenever you press the brake hard enough). Cant wait for that technology to reach Mini!! As you can imagine, swapping from and auto with electronic handbrake with auto hold to a manual with a manual handbrake, my hill starts in the Mini are sometimes not as smooth as they should be....

Ian

 

[Hat]

what i found odd when i test drove one was that it had the electronic brake but no hill assist, or at least not one that i could figure out in the couple of hours we had the car.

 

[jeremybingham]

Bit of a luddite me; never use hill assist either-worried about holding the car on disc brakes that are usually hot due to stopping prior to the hill and warping them! i use the handbrake!

 

[Hat]

yep but without a manual handbrake how are you supposed to do this? seems if the electronics are there for the e-brake then hill assist should be included also

 

[vetsvette]

I would speak to the dealer about the lack of hill assist. I wouldn't even attempt to use an electronic handbrake for this. The Mini is so easy to drive anyway that I seldom notice the hill assist kicking in anyway. Now, on my 20 year old Corvette things can get a bit sporty. You over-rev a little and come off the clutch too fast and you're left wondering what all the smoke and noise is about.

 

[KYDan]

I prefer a car with I drive, meaning I drive the car! I reminisce about former cars that I loved and the issues, changing points, plugs, side sump carburetors, etc. I knew the frustrating beast better and how to fix it, repaired the hydraulic clutch and carburetor linkage on my AH 100-6 multiple times. New cars are better, but if the car is going to do everything for us why not just go to Uber or some other mode of transport, modern aircraft are far better than older ones, but steering with an electronic joystick? No Thanks, I still like the venerable Cub, et. al.! The new mini is marvelous, but at some point it may quit becoming as marvelous to drive. A mechanical beast with mechanical inputs has more feel and feedback, and for me FUN! End of O.F. rant.

 

[SweetPete]

Ok just some clarification on my whitterings about the electronic handbrake.

My only problem is that it does not automatically come on when the ignition is turned off. My other car (a Nissan Qashqai) does. As the handbrake 'switch' is very unobtrusive this feature gave me a bit of a problem and I'm not sure why the factory would decide to have it work otherwise. That's all. I personally don't like electronic handbrakes but it's got one.

Oh yes - it has got hill assist so if it's not working I would suggest heading to the dealer.

 

[jeremybingham]

I can see your point; father in laws Citroen DS switches itself on and off; it confused him a lot initially BUT once used to it as long as it's reliable it's a good idea! (except like you, still dont like them-electric motors in the harsh environment of brakes-recipe for disaster-mum's avensis been back twice in 5 years for faulty electric handbrake-first time total replacement-wouldnt come off! yikes!

 

[lcapelm]

Ok so I'm in love.
My petrol Clubman Cooper is fantastic. Better even than my F56 Cooper Hatchback.
However there is one 'feature' that has caught me out and continues to bug me a bit.

It has an electric handbrake. So what? I have had other cars with them AND it leaves a lot more room in the centre console for the standard armrest.

However it is beyond my comprehension as to why the handbrake does not automatically apply itself when the ignition is turned off. My Nissan does and so does some other non-BMW cars I have checked.

Is this a BMW feature and am I alone in not seeing the benefits of such a scheme? I didn't realise this was the case and it rolled very gently into the garage wall leaving a tiny nick in the front bumper trim. This has never happened before to me in 44 years of driving - I find the tiny lever too unobtrusive so I missed it! :crying:
Does anyone else find this a bit annoying and can it be disabled?

Tell me I'm not daft AND if such features can be changed!!!

Yep, this has just caught me out as well...... Except done a lot more damage. It turns out that only the Manual Gearbox and e-Brake combination are prone to this. The Automatic Gearbox turns on the handbrake when the engine is stopped or the car is put into park. The problem is I am moving between cars that all have e-brakes, but only the mini does not automatically engage when the engine stops.... Gutted.

 

[sfortis]

personally i always loved the rachet sound of the mechanical handbrake! fortunatelly my f55 has still mechanical.
but i like also the automations, so a full automatic electornic handbreak will be pretty cool.
honestly i cant decide!

replying to OP, maybe is can be done with coding? all these things are controlled by BDC ( i guess).

it seems that electronic handbreak is automatically engaged only on vehicles with automatic transmission as this nice guy explains.

MINI USA | Electric Parking Brake

Gone are the days of motoring for miles only to realize you forgot to release the parking brake. Now select MINI models will automatically disengaged the ele...

www.youtube.com

 

[GavinR]

I've got a 2019 Cooper with DCT and a manual handbrake. Trouble is I can't operate the handbrake without doing contortions round the centre armrest.