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Can somebody please explain E39 traction control to me?

22K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  Doyler09 
#1 ·
having trouble figuring it out and google isnt helping me
Can it be switched off completely?

when i start car, light comes on and goes out
any bit of slide and light flashes on and cuts power, fine so far

from stationary, when i press the button i can either turn the light on full time or off and traction control will still cut in at any bit of slip

and finally, i press and held in button for 10 seconds as per google advice, light goes out but still t/c cuts in

Any thoughts?

Its a handy tool, but i'd like to be able to turn it off when i want
 
#3 ·
Like David above, when I press the DSC button, the light illuminates on the dash and traction/stability control is disabled. The car will slide/spin no problem.

When you hold down for 10 seconds, the light on dash will briefly illuminate and then go off again (still holding button). Some people have coined it 'Easter-egg mode'. A bit more info on it here. The info on it is a little bit vague/unofficial, but I noticed a difference in DSC characteristics when I tried it.

But either way, if you press the button and the light comes on (which means DSC is off) then you shouldn't have traction control activating in any situation.
 
#5 ·
It must be different for the E46, only the DSC light is affected by the DSC button on the E39 ('01). When I press the button, everything is deactivated. Traction control, and stability control. Did it on track, I had no input from the DSC system - haven't had a chance to try out that easter-egg mode thing properly though to see exactly what it does. Maybe next time!
 
#6 ·
OK, thanks for the replies, turns out, my initial assessment was wrong, when you press the button and the light turns ON, the ASC turns OFF!! Thats not very smart!
Anyway, just glad to know that it can be turned off as i had a moment last week when i needed the power to pull me away and all i got was BAAAHHH...... Not good when you're not expecting it
 
#11 ·
Yeah when the light on the dash is on, it is telling you that its off. when it flash's at you, it is letting you know that it is working and stopping the car spinning or sliding. Like RPG said there is an Easter egg mode which allows a bit a wheel spin before it kicks in to control the car again. I have only used it a couple of times and never really seen too much difference. I have seen on other forums that the Easter egg mode is suppose to work well in snowy conditions but again I never tested it.
 
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