[Zopal]

Hi,

I have 50i and had the same decision point. On my previous car I already had Active Steering.
The two system is totally different from the technical point of view. There is an electrical power steering and there is Active Steering with oil power. It is almost impossible to switch between the two after the production.

The electrical steering can turn the wheel, the oil based one with Active Steering can not.
This means you are not only loose the Parking Assistant, but the Traffic Jam Assistant as well.
On the other hand the handling of the wheel MUCH better with Active Steering. You get more feedback and you don't need to turn the wheel that much. ( the electrical one is like driving a truck )


I would strongly recommend you to try both before you buy the car.


My personal opinion: I had selected Active Steering at the end, for me handling was a preference over features. It's simply a way better for me to drive a car with Active Steering. Especially after I had driven X5 with both steering after each other.
I would never use Parking assistant, it requires 80 cm additional space, for me parallel parking is not a problem at all. I can park much more faster and easier with Active Steering.
Traffic Jam Assistant is a bit different story, it would be nice to have. The difference from Stop&Go (which I have), that it can make the steering as well at low speed on highways. I miss it a bit, but I use the wheel all the time and rarely would use TJA.