I purchased an 2017 R54 Mini Clubman with the optical active cruise control. To keep my sanity, I have come to regard it as entertainment. It will brake the car for crisp shadows, such as that of a bridge on a cement roadway or a car passing with strong sun from beyond that car. It will also brake for things that I cannot figure out. This is often quite startling for me, passengers and any following vehicles. The active cruise control will frequently de-activate itself. I have not been able to identify specifically what can cause this. Sometimes, it completely refuses to activate at all! I have posted four videos to youtube that showing the cruise control refusing to activate. These are:
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. Do not consider this to be real feature! It may work correctly under some set of circumstances, but I have not found them particularly often. Or, perhaps they just don't occur where I drive on the US east coast. My local dealer replaced the sensor unit last March, but it didn't change anything about its behavior.