In places like Alaska and Scandinavia they have proper winters and drive around with studded tyres which will have grip in the ice and snow so ABS should function well.

Over here in the UK (south of the border at least) we don't get such extreme conditions and drive around on normal tyres which is a completely different story. Our problems here are compounded by the fact that the authorities always seem to be caught out on the rare occasions that there is any significant amount of snow/ice and the roads are not correctly treated.

Are winter tyres used up there in Scotland?

>>Are winter tyres used up there in Scotland?

I guess some folks up in the Highlands might, but my complaint is there is never any useful snow in Scotland. Our skiing/snowboarding/Subaru sliding season up here is pitifully short and warm.

Sometimes get a good slide heading up to Glencoe, and the TVR boys like to go driving around the highlands around Christmas time to get some excitement.

OK, I will jump in, too

My experience with ABS agrees with yours, Doug, be it on ice, packed snow, wet leaves (frequent stuff in autumn), wet asphalt or dry (in other words, more or less everywhere). Of course, we are talking correctly working ABS with independent sensors and actuators for each wheel.

I noticed several times that ABS was 'fooled' into activating when I hit a large pothole, bump, tram tracks or something while braking (because the wheel gone airborne did slow down for a moment), but that was just for a fraction of a second and only on affected wheel (or at least that was how it felt).

My ABS does display a persistent quirk: sometimes, when the weather is wet and I pass very near a strong source of EM radiation (e.g. cellular tower) on my right side, ABS controller would declare inconsistent sensor data and switch itself off (leaving me with 'ordinary' brakes'). Engine restart (i.e. power-off reset) cures this.

Finally, didn't they ban ABS on F1 cars in order to slow them down (together with other measures like less grippy tires, no active suspension etc)?

Well lets put it this way does anyone have a spare set of wheels for a BMW so i can get some winter tyres

I tried pulling the fuse, but then the car wouldn't start. It says that this fuse is for the "instrument cluster/Anti-Lock Brake System." Is there any other way to shut off the anti-lock brakes?

Here I thought this would be taken care of since I thought that my warranty would still be in effect. However, turns out it is not. I bought my warranty on my used car when it had around 30000 miles. I bought the 5 year/ 75000 mile extended warranty. I thought it would be 75,000 miles after I bought it...however, the 30000 miles that were on the car when I bought it counted towards that 75000. So it really was a 5 year/ 40000 mile warranty... I know I may have already asked this, but how do you change the sensitivity of the brakes? I think that is what is causing this pain in the butt brake problem....I barely press on the brakes and they fully engage and the ABS kicks in....There is also a BIG screech when in the rear brakes, but i have been told by at least three different car "repair" places that there is nothing wrong with the brakes....argh!

, but how do you change the sensitivity of the brakes?

Change pads. Some are more aggressive than others. Go to your local auto palace/ NAPA store and ask for some less aggressive pads (usually organic instead of semi-metallic). You might have picked up a rock that embedded in you pad, making the screech. They must be disassembled (pads off) to check. Do it yourself, it's not too hard. Remove wheel, remove caliper bolts, lift calipers off, inspect. Lube the caliper slides, replace pads, press brake cylinder in, install new pads, reinstall caliper pins & wheel. Talk to the counter guy at the local auto parts place when they're not busy and they can probably help you out.

'Luck.

-Zeke

I am not sure if that is it...I just recently replaced the front pads and the back are drums, not pads.....

replaced the front pads and the back are drums, not pads.....


Ah! That opens up a new realm of possibilities.

Two things in particular to look for on your rear brakes:

Check for leaking wheel cylinders. If your rear brake shoes are saturated with brake fluid, this can cause the rear brakes to grab when applied.

Second, check that your rear brake mounting plate is properly secured to the rear axle. If the bolts that hold that plate in place (the plate is what your wheel cylinders and brake shoes are mounted on) are not tight, then when you apply the brakes the friction of the brake shoes on the brake drum will cause that plate to rotate slightly, and depending on the geometry of the attachment bolts can cause extreme brake grabbiness -- to the point of locking the rear wheels with the slightest application of the brakes.

tanstaafl.