traction control

[pdiddy]

Hi there hope someone can help!!
I drive a 330d e46 manual and want to get it a bit sideways round some corners and roundabouts etc....
I turn the traction control off (so the orange light is up on the dash) but as soon as the back end steps out it is as though the traction control is still on and i get a loss of power and the slide stops!!

surely this cant be normal - any advice ?????????????

[titaniumbullet]

Try doing the same thing with the DSC off (no light on the dash) BUT there is a little difference in the DSC and the DTC the stability control will keep your car frm going bonkers... and the when you turn on the DSC I think you disable the DTC BUT you r engaging another control barier... so try it with it off and then beat on it... or get an LSD.

[drz]

I am not judging your knowledge of teh car, but please tell us: is the light on the dash on or off? If the light is on solid, that means that you have disabled stability control. If the light is off, stability control is enabled; the light will come on intermitently whenever teh system intervenes.

Now that the basics are out of teh way, here is the good stuff: simply pressing the DSC button once deactivates DSC (dynamic stability control), but leaves DTC (dynamic traction control) active. To deactivae DSC and DTC:

Pres teh DSC button as long as you need to until the indicator lamp and the brake warning lamp light up (both yellow), but no longer than 10 seconds.

[pdiddy]

I like the sound of that will give it a go and let you know results! that is of course assuming I dont wrap it neatly around a lamp post !

Just to confirm I was pressing the button once and only illuminating the one orange light (this is what I assumed was traction controll off)

Cheers for your help.

Regards,

Pete

[pdiddy]

By the way, what happens if you press button for more than 10 seconds ??

[drz]

Originally Posted by pdiddy

By the way, what happens if you press button for more than 10 seconds ??

I knew that was coming -- hahaha. I got that info from the manual. I know on my E36, if you hold it down for that long, the car enters a weird mode in which it has a less restrictive control, which is very useful for driving in th snow... however, I am not sure will happen on the E46.

[TRuckee]

Thanks, drz, for the poop on the DSC vs. Traction Control. I,too, like the thing sideways... when I want. I'm assuming that that system will revert to it's fail-safe mode upon engine off and back on. I live in BIG snow country and find the factory settings rendering the car about useless in the slop. I could drive a two-wheel drive p/u better through snow than my 325i. BTW, I have a 4WD F150 for when it's dumping.