Probably Dumb Questions

[CaddyAg]

I'm a new owner of a '25 5V BW manual. It's a great car, and I could go on and on about all the things it does well. So don't take these as complaints, but a few questions which may just be ignorance of new car ownership.

1) Does the manual allow for cruise control that automatically maintains distance to car in front of you? I thought it didn't, but I see I have settings for adjusting gap distance to car ahead of me. Does the gap distance serve another purpose?

2) When I press my V-button on steering wheel, it puts the car into my preferred settings and shows it on the screen. That screen stays up until I manually hit the X in top left corner. Other screens seem to go back to what I was viewing before after some wait period. Is there a way to have the V-button screen automatically turn off without manually closing it out? I hit the V-button nearly every time I drive.

3) Good lord is the front crash alert sensitive! Probably means I get too close to cars in front of me, but my car is constantly alerting me (HUD warning and seat vibrate) that I am about to get in a wreck (so far, no wrecks). Is this setting adjustable?

 

[Bald Guy]

No dumb questions here. Everything serves a purpose and will answer additional people's questions that you were asking in advance so that's a good thing.

As far as your questions, you're asking some good and technical stuff and this vehicle has a lot of advanced technology. I simply don't have enough patience on a lot of the aspects so I just drive and go and learn as I go so I wouldn't be the right person to answer all your questions in detail but I'm sure we got some tech-minded enthusiasts on here who can probably attend to your questions here shortly and hopefully.

Good luck.

 

[BW56M]

I'm a new owner of a '25 5V BW manual. It's a great car, and I could go on and on about all the things it does well. So don't take these as complaints, but a few questions which may just be ignorance of new car ownership.

1) Does the manual allow for cruise control that automatically maintains distance to car in front of you? No.........manuals do not have adaptive cruise control. I thought it didn't, but I see I have settings for adjusting gap distance to car ahead of me. Does the gap distance serve another purpose? Yes.

Selecting the Alert Timing
The Collision Alert control is on the steering
wheel. Press[to set the FCA timing to
Far, Medium, or Near. The first button press
shows the current setting on the DIC.
Additional button presses will change this
setting. The chosen setting will remain until
it is changed and will affect the timing of
both the Collision Alert and the Tailgating
Alert features. The timing of both alerts will
vary based on vehicle speed. The faster the
vehicle speed, the farther away the alert will
occur. Consider traffic and weather
conditions when selecting the alert timing.
The range of selectable alert timings may
not be appropriate for all drivers and driving
conditions.

2) When I press my V-button on steering wheel, it puts the car into my preferred settings and shows it on the screen. That screen stays up until I manually hit the X in top left corner. Other screens seem to go back to what I was viewing before after some wait period. Is there a way to have the V-button screen automatically turn off without manually closing it out? I hit the V-button nearly every time I drive.

My 2024 reverts back to the previous screen.

3) Good lord is the front crash alert sensitive! Probably means I get too close to cars in front of me, but my car is constantly alerting me (HUD warning and seat vibrate) that I am about to get in a wreck (so far, no wrecks). Is this setting adjustable?

FCA can be disabled through vehicle
personalization. To view available settings
for this feature, touch the Settings icon on
the infotainment home page. Select
“Vehicle” to display the list of available
options and select “Collision/Detection
Systems”.

 

[GoldfishTX]

For 2, this is also how my 2025 is. You have to press the X to clear the screen which is a little annoying.

 

[jbawden]

LOL, tech minded people...I guess the fact that I read the owners manual makes me an IT expert!

 

[+ManifoldPSI]

While we are on the topic of "probably dumb questions"..

Is it just me (don't answer that ) or is it a lot harder to get the trunk to pop/open than it needs to be? Yesterday, I parked my 5VBW in the garage, made sure the unlock button had been pressed, turned the car off, got out and went to the trunk. Could not get the trunk to open by pressing the button on the trunk. I then pressed the trunk release button on the key fob 2x. Trunk still refused to open. I then pressed the standard unlock button on the key fob 2x and pressed the trunk unlock key fob button 2x (unnecessary, I know, car was already fully unlocked), same result. I then opened the driver's door and tried to press the trunk pop button there. It would depress but not unlock the trunk.

Finally, after getting irritated, I pressed the "start button" ( I hate these things btw) and got to what appeared to be accessory/steering unlock mode (not ignition/dash lights mode or engine running mode) and the dang thing unlocked/opened.

I admit I have not delved deep into the owner's manual (partly because I would much rather have a paper manual than stare at a screen any more than I have to).

Is this normal behavior?

What I wouldn't give for a cable actuated trunk release...

 

[Z28]

For 2, this is also how my 2025 is. You have to press the X to clear the screen which is a little annoying.

It’s super annoying because the X close box in the upper RH side seems to be need to be touched twice to get it to close.

 

[ngoni]

4BW trunk may be a manual open/close but I never have problems getting it open at least.

 

[CB34]

For 2 - if you are constantly pressing "V" mode, I would recommend you just configure "My Mode" instead. "My Mode" can be configured in the car settings and is just as customizable as V Mode. You can switch to "My Mode" by toggling your mode selector near the stick. The "V" mode is moreso meant for either short burst shenanigans on the street or using it on the track.

 

[CBH]

For 2 - if you are constantly pressing "V" mode, I would recommend you just configure "My Mode" instead. "My Mode" can be configured in the car settings and is just as customizable as V Mode. You can switch to "My Mode" by toggling your mode selector near the stick. The "V" mode is moreso meant for either short burst shenanigans on the street or using it on the track.

MyMode is also remembered when you get back into the car. V-Mode has to be manually started every time.

That's so ridiculous they ruined one of the car's best features for 2025 !!!

 

[T.O.Blackwing]

MyMode is also remembered when you get back into the car. V-Mode has to be manually started every time.

That's so ridiculous they ruined one of the car's best features for 2025 !!!

Which feature?

 

[leres]

For 2 - if you are constantly pressing "V" mode, I would recommend you just configure "My Mode" instead. "My Mode" can be configured in the car settings and is just as customizable as V Mode. You can switch to "My Mode" by toggling your mode selector near the stick. The "V" mode is moreso meant for either short burst shenanigans on the street or using it on the track.

This.

Also, my mode is the default mode. What I did (with my M6 2025) is set my mode to all track except suspension (sport) and exhaust (tour) and set V mode to all track.

 

[leres]

[something about my post was generating internal server error on the backend here's the rest]

My biggest annoyance (aside from wireless apple carplay choosing to mostly not work) is the ultrasonic cabin motion sensor. When I park in the garage I like to leave the driver window down so I can reach in. But now when I do this the freaking alarm goes off. Yes, I can disable this temporarily with the button in the overhead console but I don't always remember. Really, I'd like this feature to be geo-fenced so that it was disabled when I'm home.

 

[jwolf99]

While we are on the topic of "probably dumb questions"..

Is it just me (don't answer that ) or is it a lot harder to get the trunk to pop/open than it needs to be? Yesterday, I parked my 5VBW in the garage, made sure the unlock button had been pressed, turned the car off, got out and went to the trunk. Could not get the trunk to open by pressing the button on the trunk. I then pressed the trunk release button on the key fob 2x. Trunk still refused to open. I then pressed the standard unlock button on the key fob 2x and pressed the trunk unlock key fob button 2x (unnecessary, I know, car was already fully unlocked), same result. I then opened the driver's door and tried to press the trunk pop button there. It would depress but not unlock the trunk.

Finally, after getting irritated, I pressed the "start button" ( I hate these things btw) and got to what appeared to be accessory/steering unlock mode (not ignition/dash lights mode or engine running mode) and the dang thing unlocked/opened.

I admit I have not delved deep into the owner's manual (partly because I would much rather have a paper manual than stare at a screen any more than I have to).

Is this normal behavior?

What I wouldn't give for a cable actuated trunk release...

I have a '22 5BW and have had this happen a couple of times during my first year of ownership. But it has not happened since then in the subsequent 3 years. It is very odd. Same resolution for me. Started the car and trunk worked again. I chalked it up to electric gremlins.

 

[ArnoldJudasRimmer]

This.

Also, my mode is the default mode. What I did (with my M6 2025) is set my mode to all track except suspension (sport) and exhaust (tour) and set V mode to all track.

I have MyMode set to everything Track, except suspension is set to its softest setting since that is the mode I run when my wife is in the car. When she’s not I use VMode and switch it back to MyMode before shutting it off so I can have the loud exhaust next time I start it.

But I swear VMode is programmed so the throttle is a lot more linear and a hell of a lot more responsive than what can be set on MyMode. And it has more noticeable pops and burbles on overrun. I would like to be able to set up MyMode to be that responsive, but I don’t think that’s possible.

 

[ArnoldJudasRimmer]

2) When I press my V-button on steering wheel, it puts the car into my preferred settings and shows it on the screen. That screen stays up until I manually hit the X in top left corner. Other screens seem to go back to what I was viewing before after some wait period. Is there a way to have the V-button screen automatically turn off without manually closing it out? I hit the V-button nearly every time I drive

In my ‘23 I am able to completely turn that screen off so it will switch, but not populate on the infotainment screen. Are you able to do that in the ‘25?

 

[leres]

But I swear VMode is programmed so the throttle is a lot more linear and a hell of a lot more responsive than what can be set on MyMode. And it has more noticeable pops and burbles on overrun. I would like to be able to set up MyMode to be that responsive, but I don’t think that’s possible.

All things are possible when you have fly-by-wire throttle. Basically a game controller. What I'm curious about is how the electric brake system allows for different brake feel.

 

[sonny200]

But I swear VMode is programmed so the throttle is a lot more linear and a hell of a lot more responsive than what can be set on MyMode. And it has more noticeable pops and burbles on overrun. I would like to be able to set up MyMode to be that responsive, but I don’t think that’s possible.

Get a Soler Throttle Controller and you'll have near infinite throttle settings. Plus you can completely disable the throttle as an anti-theft feature. I have it on my '23 and love it.

 

[LF4472]

All things are possible when you have fly-by-wire throttle. Basically a game controller. What I'm curious about is how the electric brake system allows for different brake feel.

There are pedals with active force feedback for PCs. ActivePedal – Bigger update than a Direct Drive | Simucube

 

[dribs15]

But I swear VMode is programmed so the throttle is a lot more linear and a hell of a lot more responsive than what can be set on MyMode. And it has more noticeable pops and burbles on overrun. I would like to be able to set up MyMode to be that responsive, but I don’t think that’s possible.

Feel the same way about my '22