Well that's a silly place for an additional starter button!
- Thread starter Old MrT
- Start date
Looks like after market to me, never seen anything like that before. Probably fitted by a previous owner?
The E89 has a “starter button” but unless you have a foot on the brake (manual models possibly have it on the clutch pedal) it doesn’t operate the starter motor. After market items usually don’t have this addition. But this is a good opportunity to point out leaving a car in gear is a bad idea.
Tony.
Tony.
Agreed, new to me also.
You can't just go pressing stuff. You'd have looked silly if it had been an ejector seat.
Could have been for the missiles in the front!
Is the E89 starter button removable? I'm not a fan of the starter buttons. My MB has one that can be prised out of the dash exposing the good old fashioned ignition key hole. Gives me somewhere to put my keys. I mean I have to put the keys somewhere don't I. So putting them right there in that hole and using the key to start the car is perfect. Wonder why they never thought of that before.The E89 has a “starter button” but unless you have a foot on the brake (manual models possibly have it on the clutch pedal) it doesn’t operate the starter motor. After market items usually don’t have this addition. But this is a good opportunity to point out leaving a car in gear is a bad idea.
Tony.
You have insert the fob into a port below the start/ stop button which switches the ignition on, then ( foot on the brake - in mine) you press the start/ stop button. It’s useful in so far as when you press the button it does its thing while you get your seatbelt on, you don’t need to hold a key in the ”start” position.
Tony.
Old MrT
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Leaving it in gear is a good idea, forgetting I left it in gear is a bad ideaThe E89 has a “starter button” but unless you have a foot on the brake (manual models possibly have it on the clutch pedal) it doesn’t operate the starter motor. After market items usually don’t have this addition. But this is a good opportunity to point out leaving a car in gear is a bad idea.
Tony.
you would have forgot- if you knew what the button was for- you didn't know- so didn't forget! Lucky you had space in front of the car lol
Old MrT
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I like your thinking
to be fair to myself I did have my foot on the clutch pedal and dipped it as soon as I felt the car move. Leaving cars in gear is a habit from work and seeing a few handbrake failures in my time too, we store up to 30,000 cars at work (when we can get them!) and leave the handbrakes off because they stick on if left too long.
Interesting thread and maybe venturing off topic a little here, but why is it a bad idea to leave the car in gear? I always leave mine parked in gear in case of handbrake failure or attempted push-away/tow-away theft...?
I often leave the handbrake off and car in gear when parked up in garage, especially when car has been driven in the wet.
Ask a driving instructor. You should always check a vehicle is in neutral before starting it.
Tony.
Tony.
I don't think it's a bad idea. I beleive it's recommended especially on a hill to engage first gear and turn the wheels towards the kerb. But then, as Tony said, the driving test requires you to put it into neutral before starting.
I'm sure the OP isn't a bad driver. He just didn't know that he was about to start the car otherwise I'm sure he'd have shifted into neutral before pressing the ejector seat button.
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- Model of Z
- 2.2i Sport
Valuable energy-saving advice there. Ms Thunberg will be pleased.
Driving instructors in the UK seem to teach that the car should always be left in neutral and the handbrake applied . . . ask anyone who has taken their test recently. I presume that this avoids therisk of the car moving forwards when the engine is started without checking it is in neutral.
Lots of people therefore think that this is good practice, and also ride the brakes going downhill, rather than changing down and using engine braking, as they are taught that 'Brakes are for slowing, and gears are for going!' Many people think that use of engine braking damages the gearbox!
Another awful habit is that of braking before every gentle bend - the Dutch bring this to an art form! No wonder a lot of people get through a set of discs and pads in a year . . .
I heard of two instructors who took a new MINI out for a test drive at Ocean BMW in Plymouth, parked the car, and went on their way. Later in the day, when the rear brake calipers had cooled down the car (in neutral) rolled across the dealership parking area, over a kerb, down grassy slope, across a pavement, down another kerb, across a busy road, up another kerb, down another grassy bank . . . and stopped a foot away from the wall of a Homebase store!
Lots of people therefore think that this is good practice, and also ride the brakes going downhill, rather than changing down and using engine braking, as they are taught that 'Brakes are for slowing, and gears are for going!' Many people think that use of engine braking damages the gearbox!
Another awful habit is that of braking before every gentle bend - the Dutch bring this to an art form! No wonder a lot of people get through a set of discs and pads in a year . . .
I heard of two instructors who took a new MINI out for a test drive at Ocean BMW in Plymouth, parked the car, and went on their way. Later in the day, when the rear brake calipers had cooled down the car (in neutral) rolled across the dealership parking area, over a kerb, down grassy slope, across a pavement, down another kerb, across a busy road, up another kerb, down another grassy bank . . . and stopped a foot away from the wall of a Homebase store!
The Chrysler Voyager had the same issues back in the 90s.
Tony.
Tony.