This may be true for the coupe, but for those of us with the vert there are definite blind spots (especially for tall drivers) due to the small window opening in the rear and the large roof C-pillar. I have my mirrors adjusted correctly and this is the first car I've owned where that didn't solve the problem. I'm very glad I have the blind spot monitoring and the cross traffic alert.

 

Oops, did not think about the convertible.

 

Another reason to drive with the top down.

 

I have a MY 2015 V6S coupe in Lunar Grey same as WhatInTarnation is asking about, with the full Vision Pack, and this is the easy way to tell if the car has BSM (blind spot monitoring) or not.
I'm also one of those who says that if you adjust your mirrors correctly you effectively have full 360 degree vision and BSM becomes surplus to requirements, at least in the coupe. I find BSM more annoying than useful with all the flashing and flickering warning me of cars in my "blind spots" that are not blind spots at all and which I already know about. I could disable it but I choose to leave it on just in case I have missed a car in a "blind" spot due to slackness.
That said I would not do without the reverse traffic detection (RTD) AKA cross traffic warning, it is very useful and has saved my bacon many times when reversing out of tight spots where the 3/4 rear vision is non-existent.
I don't know for sure if the Vision Pack includes both BSM and RTD, my Topix build sheet doesn't say anything about Vision Pack or BSM but it does list "Rev Traffic Detection/CTA/LCMA" (no idea what LCMA means but I guess CTA = "cross traffic aid") and Front Parking Aid, Rear View Camera and Reverse Parking Aid.

 

MIne doesn't have BSM but a loaner I had for a while did and I found it very confusing and distracting. I guess I'd get used to it if I had it permanently, but for me it's a solution to a problem I don't have.

 

As I said it is configurable - you can turn it off if you don't want it - so if you ever change to a different (newer?) F-Type that has it just turn it off!

 

Does it stay off between restarts? It'd be a real pain if it didn't. And you still have the markings on the mirrors, which is bad for my OCD.

I'll keep what I've got, I think!

 

Yep it stays off permanently unless you turn it back on again.
And when it is off (or at least not active) the markings are barely noticeable.

 

This.

I've had this BSM system in three different Jags over the past 8 years and I never found the BSM particularly useful mainly because of all its false alarms and because you as a driver always have to check the angles anyway. I can see that it might be more useful in the vert though. If my coupé didn't have it I would never consider adding it.

Don't know if it's part of the vision pack also but this also reminds me about another seemingly pretty pointless feature - the automatic parallel park function. I think it's the only feature of my car that I still haven't tried out.

The RTD does sound more useful and mine has so far only gone off on a few occasions but I'm still to experience a situation where it really saves my bacon.

 

Went and looked at the car, didn't have the BSM but I bought it anyways, yay for that!

Are there any retrofit options out there for something like this, based on you guys' experiences? Would it be silly to even start such a project?

 

I'm pretty sure I've read that people have retrofitted the BSM but it's probably not worth the effort. IMHO it really doesn't add much value and is one of the least useful driver aids in the car, along with the lane keep assist and parallel park assistant.

 

For you Oz!
Lane Change Merge Aid

 

Thanks for that!
No idea what it is or does though, I reckon after 45+ years of driving and zero prangs in the last 41 years I have some idea how to change lanes and merge unaided!

 

I have the BSM option on my 2021 R Model. It also includes the rear cross traffic monitoring which not only detects vehicles but also pedestrians. A very useful feature when backing out of a parking space.
However, the execution of the BSM for the mirrors is poor in my opinion. According to the owners manual, the sensors are supposed to detect a range of up to 8.5 meters/28 ft from the rear of the vehicle. On mine, the mirror icons do not light up until the vehicle is almost completely parallel to me and fully in my blind spot.

I do have my mirrors properly adjusted so when a vehicle is no longer visible in my rearview mirror, it is starting to appear in the side mirrors. It is only my good driving habits from the last 50 years including always turning my head and looking before a lane change and constant situational awareness of other vehicles around me that makes the poor calibration of the BSM a rather moot issue.

Another problem is the Closing Vehicle Sensing feature. It is supposed to sense an rapidly closing vehicle up to 70 meters/230 ft behind the vehicle. I think it has only flashed a warning a couple of times and failed many other times when someone is approaching in the lane(s) next to me at speeds at least 10-15 MPH faster than I am travelling. Which on the California freeways means approaching at 85-90 MPH.

The LCA (Lane Keep Assist) feature is one that I switched off. I do a lot of driving on narrow mountain roads and I often am driving just over the center lane stripe or the shoulder stripes on the road (only when safe and with good visibility of course). The damn thing was vibrating the steering wheel much of the time. I also found it distracting when doing some spirited driving on the twisties. I didn't like the constant feedback to the steering wheel that I was exceeding the lane boundaries.

I have a 2019 Mazda CX 5 GT-Reserve SUV and their BSM and LCA system is much superior. The system can be adjusted for sensitivity of the distance and can also add an audible beep when triggered, which I have switched off and the steering wheel vibration warning is much less obtrusive. And it was a standard feature in the car and not a $500 option.

 

Dwight, it doesn't seem like your bsm is working as it should. Maybe you should have the dealer check it out?

 

You are probably right, I'll have the dealer check it. It seems like a software problem where it is not detecting the object as far out as it should.

 

Who did your heated seats for you? I'd love to add that to my F type.

 

Any auto or boat upholstery shop could add heated seats. inquire at a local place.
Wouldn't have the built-in controls inside the temperature dials though, I'd bet.