Well...newest addition to the family is a Titanium Silver 325i- sport package, 6 speed manual, sunroof and active steering.
The only doubts we had for this car was wheter to get the active steering option or not. I'm the kind of person who (used) to take the "It should be just Car and Driver" view- I don't like computers, don't like traction control etc...so when the rep said Active Steering is a computer controlled $1,500 system that varies your steering ratio with speed- I was reluctant.
But it was my parents car- and BMW played it as a safety feature, and since I won't be the primary driver of this car (my mom would), they decided to override my suggestion of "you don't need it" and get it. Even though there was no active steering models availble to test drive.
So, my first experience with active steering was when we took delivery of the new car. Pulling out of the parking lot, I noticed that it was extremely easy to get out of the spot because I didn't have to make that much steering input. On the road, the first corner I took was a highway onramp. As I entered the corner and eased the wheel into the turn- the car responded- and I was hooked! Instead of having to make a huge turn with the wheel, all that was needed was a slight movement: more steering with less input- your getting more for less! At this point, I knew I would like this system. You get greater feel, and you can steer the car much much faster than with regular steering. This is great for drifting, or if your just lazy...
On the highway- the system settled down- and turned into a normal steering ratio car- you couldn't tell if it had active steering at highway speeds at all- so it's not one of those "sneeze proof" systems in which you can sneeze, jerk the wheel and still stay in the lane.
From this day, I was a forever changed man- new technology is truely better than the old days of just "Car and Driver". While I still don't like traction control and computers, give me all the active steering you have!
My verdict on active steering:
Linear Mode
