[RedFireBeemer]

Okay, am I reading my owners manual right? It sounds like our DTC is defaulted to off, and when you push the button on the dash, it turns the DTC on, is this right. Seems kinda backwards to me... Most car manufactures have the traction control defaulted to the on position, and you have to press a button to turn it off. Am I off my rocker??????

[AznBeemer23]

On my Supra...the default is off. So when I needed to be on....I had to press the trac button on the car.

[quackman]

No, the skid control an dtraction control are, by default, on.
To make the DTC come on later than usual and less sensitive, push the DTC button.
If you want to completely take off the driving aids, then you must hold down the button for a few seconds.

[RedFireBeemer]

Originally Posted by AznBeemer23

On my Supra...the default is off. So when I needed to be on....I had to press the trac button on the car.

I just sold my 2003 Ford Cobra to get the BMW. On the Ford, the default for the traction control was on. Had to push the button to turn it off. Maybe Ford did it this was cause of all the horsepower the car had.... 461 rear wheel horses.....

[e90fanatic]

Originally Posted by RedFireBeemer

Okay, am I reading my owners manual right? It sounds like our DTC is defaulted to off, and when you push the button on the dash, it turns the DTC on, is this right. Seems kinda backwards to me... Most car manufactures have the traction control defaulted to the on position, and you have to press a button to turn it off. Am I off my rocker??????

don't take this the wrong way but have you had DTC before in other cars? When the orange DTC logo is on, it means the DTC is disengaged. If the orange symbol is off, then DTC is on.

[RedFireBeemer]

Originally Posted by e90fanatic

don't take this the wrong way but have you had DTC before in other cars? When the orange DTC logo is on, it means the DTC is disengaged. If the orange symbol is off, then DTC is on.

You sure???? Page 59 of my owners manual says the following:

"Activating DTC"
Briefly press the button; the DTC indicator lamps in the instrument cluster comes on.

"Deactivating DTC again"
Press the button again; the DTC indicator lamps in the instrument clustor go out.

Sounds to me like your backwards.....

[e90fanatic]

Originally Posted by RedFireBeemer

You sure???? Page 59 of my owners manual says the following:

"Activating DTC"
Briefly press the button; the DTC indicator lamps in the instrument cluster comes on.

"Deactivating DTC again"
Press the button again; the DTC indicator lamps in the instrument clustor go out.

Sounds to me like your backwards.....

Maybe e90 is different from E46, E class, SLK, and Volvos...Becuase that's how those cars operate and I'm definite because that logo is to warn you that DTC is not on.

[RedFireBeemer]

Originally Posted by e90fanatic

Maybe e90 is different from E46, E class, SLK, and Volvos...Becuase that's how those cars operate and I'm definite because that logo is to warn you that DTC is not on.

Maybe the default on my car is different. When I start my car, the DTC light is not illuminated. How about yours?????

[e90fanatic]

hmm...nope DTC light is not illuminated so it should mean that DTC is on (as default)

[RedFireBeemer]

Originally Posted by e90fanatic

hmm...nope DTC light is not illuminated so it should mean that DTC is on (as default)

Can you check your manual. I'm not trying to be a pain in the ass, but does your manual say the same thing that mine does as I listed above. Wanna make sure I didn't get a fu--ked up manual. Again, mine says the traction control is on if the light is on, and it's off if the lights are off...

[Ponchoyu]

When there are no lights in your dash, you have full traction control. After the first push of the button, DTC will light telling you that the 1st stage is off. After holding down the button for 3 seconds, a circle with a exclamation mark will come on and this will mean the car has fully turned OFF traction control.

[e90fanatic]

sorry i can't check my manual dude, i believe my manual is still being printed and my car is still in pieces hehe....but that's how it works with other cars so im pretty sure that my answers are right

[Gnosis]

I think what the manual is trying to say is that WHEN the DTC is off and you put it back ON it briefly flashes a signal to show this.

No, the skid control an dtraction control are, by default, on.
To make the DTC come on later than usual and less sensitive, push the DTC button.
If you want to completely take off the driving aids, then you must hold down the button for a few seconds.

This is 100% correct. The default is ON. Otherwise a lot more Bee'ems would end up in ditches throughout the winter....

[Armen52]

Hey guys,

Let me try to clear up this confusion but explaining the really stupid thing that BMW has apparently done. The traction control and safety systems on the E90 are in two stages...

DSC, meaning Dynamic Stability Control, is the full and highest operating mode of the traction control systems. The DSC set of functions is what is on when you start the car by default.

DTC, Dynamic Traction Control, is only a subset of the DSC functionalities. That is, when they say you are turning DTC ON, by pressing the button on the dash, you are really turning the extra parts in DSC OFF.

The last stage of course is when you turn even DTC off by holding down the button on the dash.

The details of the differences between DSC and DTC can be found somewhere in the forum or in magazine articles on the car. All you need to know is that when DTC is on, the car's hand-holding systems will be less sensitive and will cut in at a later stage.

BMW, probably for liability reasons, tries to explain this by offering that you would need it in the snow when there is little traction and you don't want the system to be so sensitive. Of course you might want it to go around the track quicker, but they can't encourage that

I hope this clears things up for folks.

[onesixeight]

Yup...Armen has the right info.

DSC is always "ON" when you start your car. Even if you had it "OFF" when you last drove your car. It always reverts back to DSC ON when you first start up your car.

DTC allows for more wheelspin when using snow chains or in situations where some wheel spin can be helpful. Do not mistake DTC as a sportier DSC mode. I went to the BMW Performance driving school when I bought my E39 M5. I also got to drive a M3 CSL when I was in the UK last year and that car has a DSC M-Track mode which allows for sportier driving and is calibrated to allow more oversteer.

If you feel you have the skills to fully control your car to it's limits...turn DSC fully off by holding the DTC button for three (3) seconds.

So basically...here is the order...

DSC ON -> DTC mode -> DSC OFF

Hope that helps!

[Broken1]

Armen and onesixeight have got it correct.

When DTC is engaged, the car will allow the wheels to slip to some extent, but there will be full functunality of Corner Brake Contol (CBC) and the other built in DSC functions...with only the traction control being "dynamic" and not the stability systems

[E90Fleet]

Yup, its DSC - DTC - OFF

[johnfkitchen]

See pages 78-80 of the Owners Manual. But the wording is a little confusing.