2002 BMW M3 CONVERTIBLE airbag

Contents

© 2001 BMW M GmbH
Munich, Germany
Reprinting, including excerpts, only with the
written consent of BMW M GmbH, Munich.
Order No. 01 41 0 156 249
US English VIII/01
Printed in Germany
Printed on environmentally friendly paper
(bleached without chlorine, suitable for recycling).
Overview
Controls and features

Cockpit14
Instrument cluster15
Indicator and warning lamps17
Steering wheel with multifunction
buttons21
Warning triangle22
First-aid kit22
Refueling22
Fuel specifications24
Tire inflation pressure24

Opening and closing:

Keys28
Central locking system28
Opening and closing Ð via the
door lock29
lOpening and closing Ð via the
remote control30
Opening and closing Ð from the
inside33
Luggage compartment lid34
Luggage compartment36
Alarm system37
Electric power windows39
Convertible top40

Adjustments:

Correct sitting position44
Seats44
Head restraints46
Entering the rear47
Safety belts48
Seat and mirror memory48
Seat heating49
Steering wheel50
Mirrors50

Passenger safety systems:

Airbags52
Transporting children safely54
Rollover protection system58
Vehicle Memory, Key
Memory60

Driving:

Steering/Ignition lock61
Starting the engine61
Switching off the engine62
Parking brake63
Manual transmission63
Sequential M gearbox SMG II64
Indicator/Headlamp flasher70
Washer/Wiper system/Rain
sensor71
Cruise control73

Everything under control:

Odometer75
Tachometer75
Engine oil temperature gauge75
Fuel gauge76
Temperature gauge76
Service Interval Display76
Check Control77
Clock77
Computer78

Technology for driving comfort
and safety:

Park Distance Control (PDC)80
Dynamic Stability Control
(DSC)81
Flat Tire Monitor82
M Engine dynamics control84

Contents

18n

Indicator and warning lamps

Red: an important reminder

Parking brake

l

Comes on when the parking
brake is engaged Ð an additional
acoustic signal sounds when starting
off. For additional information: refer to
page 63
Brake warning lamp for Cana-
dian models.
Lock backrest/Please fasten
safety belts

l

A warning signal will sound at
the same time. Flashes when the back-
rest is not locked. Lights up when a
safety belt is not fastened or until
passengers fasten safety belts.
For details on locking the backrest:
refer to page 47
For additional information on safety
belts: refer to page 48
Airbags

l

Please have the system
inspected immediately at your
BMW center.
For additional information: refer to
page 52

Red and yellow: continue to drive;
drive cautiously

The red brake warning lamp
lights up together with the
yellow indicator lamps for ABS
and DSC:
The entire ABS, CBC and DSC
control system


has failed.
Continue to drive; drive
cautiously and defensively and
avoid full brake applications. Please
have the system checked by your BMW
center as soon as possible.
For additional information: refer to
pages 81, 105
ABS, CBC and DSC indicator
and warning lamps for Canadian
models.

Orange: consult the nearest BMW
center

Sequential M transmission

*

SMG II
If the indicator lamp fails to go
out after the engine has been started,
or if it comes on during normal driving:
this indicates a malfunction in the
system. Please consult the nearest
BMW center.
Indicator lamp flashes: a system over-
load has occurred.
For additional information: refer to
page 69

44n
For relaxed and fatigue-free driving you
should select a sitting position that
reflects your personal requirements.
Correct position combines with safety
belts and airbags to enhance occupant
safety in the event of an accident. To
ensure that the vehicle's safety systems
provide you with optimal protection, we
request that you direct your careful
attention to the following section.
For supplementary information on
transporting children, refer to page 54.
Sitting correctly with airbags
Always maintain an adequate
distance between yourself and the
airbags. Always hold the steering wheel
by the rim to keep any chance of injury
to hands or arms to an absolute
minimum should the airbag be
deployed. Never allow any objects,
individuals or animals to obstruct the
areas between passengers and airbags.
Never use the front airbag's cover as a
storage tray or support for objects of
any kind. Never allow front passengers
to rest their feet or legs on the airbag
cover.<
For airbag locations and additional
information on airbags refer to page 53.
Safe with safety belts
Never allow more than one person
to wear a single safety belt. Never
allow infants or small children to ride in
a passenger's lap. Avoid twisting the
belt while routing it firmly across the
pelvis and shoulder, wear it as snugly
against your body as possible. Do not
allow the belt to rest against hard or
fragile objects in your pockets. Do not
route the belt across your neck, or run it
across sharp edges. Be sure that the
belt does not become caught or
jammed. Avoid wearing bulky clothing
and pull on the lap belt periodically to
retension it over your shoulders. In the
event of a frontal impact, a loose lap
belt could slide over the hips, leading to
abdominal injury. In addition, the safety
belt's restraint effectiveness is reduced
if the belt is worn loosely. Expectant
mothers should always wear their
safety belts, taking care to position the
lap belt against the lower hips, where it
will not exert pressure against the
abdominal area. Leave the rear safety
belts in the holders, if they are not
needed, to avoid unwanted movement
from the safety belts at high speeds.<
For information on using the safety
belts, refer to page 48.
When adjusting your seat, always
observe the following precautions
Never try to adjust your seat while
operating the vehicle. The seat
could respond with an unexpected
movement, and the ensuing loss of
vehicle control could lead to an acci-
dent. Never ride with the backrest
reclined to an extreme angle (especially
important for the front passenger to
remember). If you do so, there is a risk
that you will slide under the safety belt
in an accident, thus reducing the
protection provided by the safety belt.
With the wind deflector in place: never
push the front seats all the way back to
avoid damaging the wind deflector.<
Correct sitting position Seats

48n
Safety belts Seat and mirror memory

Drive with your safety belt onEven though there is an airbag, wear a
safety belt every time you get in the
vehicle, because airbags enhance
safety by providing added protection.
Before putting your safety belts on
in the rear, take them out of the
holder.< To closeMake sure you hear the lock engage in
the belt buckle. To open1. Press the red button in the belt
buckle
2. Hold the belt
3. Guide the belt back into its reel.
Safety belt height adjustmentThe front safety belt automatically
adjusts your body size via the setting of
the head restraint height, refer to
page 46.
If the safety belt system has been
subjected to the stresses involved
in an accident or otherwise damaged:
Have the entire safety belt mechanism
replaced by your BMW center,
including the safety belt tensioner. In
addition, have your BMW center
inspect the safety belt anchors. If a
child-restraint system was in the
vehicle during an accident, consult the
manufacturer's instructions regarding
replacement.<
You can store and recall three different
driver's seat and outside mirror posi-
tions.
The setting for the lumbar support
is not stored in memory. 2. Adjust your seat and outside mirrors
to the desired position.
3. Press the
M
EMORY button: the indi-
cator lamp in the button lights up
4. Press memory button 1, 2 or 3, as
desired. The indicator lamp goes out.

52n
Airbags 1 Front airbags on the driver and
passenger sides
2 Side airbags on the driver and
passenger sides (front and rear
*)
Protective effectThe front airbags protect the driver and
passenger in the event of a head-on
collision where the protection provided
by the safety belt alone would not be
adequate. The side airbags help
provide protection in the event of a
collision from the side. Each of the side
airbags is designed to help support the
seat occupant's upper body.
The side airbags in the rear
passenger area
* of your vehicle
may already have been deactivated
either at the time of manufacture or by a
BMW center. You may have them acti-
vated if you desire to do so. Please
contact your BMW center for additional
information.<
For information on the correct sitting
position, refer to page 44.
The airbags will not be triggered in
the event of a minor accident, a
vehicle rollover, or collisions from the
rear.<
Do not apply adhesive materials to
the cover panels of the airbags,
cover them or modify them in any other
way. Do not attempt to remove the
airbag restraint system from the
vehicle. In the event of a malfunction,
deactivation, or triggered actuation (as
a response to an accident) of the airbag
restraint system, consult your BMW
center for checking, repairs or removal.
Modifications may not be made on
either the wiring or the individual
components in the airbag system. This
includes the padded steering wheel
hub, the instrument panel, the side trim
panels of the front or rear doors and the
roof pillars or the sides of the front
headliner. Do not attempt to remove or
dismantle the steering wheel. To ensure
compliance with official safety regula-
tions, entrust disposal of airbag genera-
tors to a BMW center. Unprofessional
attempts to service the system could
lead to failure in an emergency or
undesired airbag activation, either of
which could result in personal injury. Do
not touch the individual components
directly after the system has been trig-
gered, as otherwise there is a danger of
burns.<

53n
OverviewControlsMaintenanceRepairsDataIndex
Airbags
At all times, occupants should sit
upright and be properly restrained
(infants and small children in appro-
priate child-restraint systems; larger
children and adults using the safety
belts). Never let an occupant's head
rest near or on a side airbag because
the inflating airbag could cause a
serious or fatal injury. Please note that
the word "Airbag" imprinted on the door
trim panel indicates the airbag's loca-
tion.
Accident research shows that the
safest place for children in an
automobile is in the rear seat. However,
a child sitting in the rear seat and not
properly restrained may place his or her
head on or near the side airbag, if so
equipped. For example, a child Ð even
though belted Ð may fall asleep with his
or her head against the side airbag. It
may be difficult for a driver to ensure
that children in the rear seat will remain
properly positioned at all times and not
place their heads on or near the side
airbag. Therefore, we recommend that
the rear seat side airbags, if provided,
be deactivated if you plan to transport
children in the rear seat.
The rear seat side airbags may already
have been deactivated, either at the
time of manufacture or by a BMW
center. Labels in the rear door opening
should indicate the status of your rear
seat side airbags. If you are uncertain of
their status, or wish to have the airbags
activated or deactivated, please
contact your BMW center.<
Even when all these guidelines are
observed, there is still a small residual
risk of injuries to the face, hands and
arms occurring from airbag deployment
in isolated instances. The ignition and
inflation noise may provoke a mild
temporary hearing loss in extremely
sensitive individuals.
Airbag warning information is also
provided on the sun visors. This is the right way a child should sit in
a child-restraint device when rear side
airbags (arrow) are provided.

54n
Airbags
Transporting children safely
This is the right way a larger child
should sit wearing the safety belt when
rear side airbags (arrow) are provided.
Operational status
The indicator lamp in the instru-
ment cluster shows the airbag
system status starting in ignition
key position 1.
System operational:
>The indicator lamp comes on briefly,
when the ignition key is turned into
position 1 or 2
System malfunction:
>The indicator lamp fails to come on,
when the ignition key is turned
>The indicator lamp fails to go out
after the engine has been started, or
it comes on during normal driving.
Please respond to any malfunctions in
the system by immediately having it
inspected at your BMW center; other-
wise the airbag could fail to respond to
an accident in which both the angle and
the severity of the impact would
normally trigger airbag deployment.
Commercially available child seats
complying with the legal standard are
designed to be secured with a lap belt
or with the lap belt portion of a combi-
nation lap/shoulder belt. Improperly or
inadequately installed restraint systems
can increase the risk of injury to chil-
dren. Always read and follow the
instructions that come with the system.

55n
OverviewControlsMaintenanceRepairsDataIndex
Transporting children safelyIf you use a child-restraint system with
a tether strap, two additional tether
anchorage points (refer to the arrows in
the illustration) have been provided.
They are located under the convertible
top compartment lid. Depending on the
location selected for seating in the rear
passenger area, attach the tether strap
to the corresponding anchorage point
to secure the child-restraint system.
Lift the respective head restraint and
pass the tether strap between the head
restraint and the seat back.
Adjust the tether strap according to the
child restraint manufacturer's instruc-
tions.
Before installing any child-
restraint device or child seat,
please read the following:
Never install a rearward-facing child-
restraint system in the front passenger
seat of this vehicle.
Your vehicle is equipped with an airbag
supplemental restraint system for the
front passenger. Because the backrest
on any rearward-facing child-restraint
system (of the kind designed for infants
under 1 year and 20-30 lbs/9-14 kg)
would be within the airbag's deploy-
ment range, you should never mount
such a device in the front passenger
seat, as the impact of the airbag against
the child restraint's backrest could lead
to serious or fatal injuries. If it is neces-
sary for a child (not an infant) to ride in
the front seat, certain precautions
should be taken. First, move the
passenger seat as far away from the
instrument panel as possible. This
important precaution is intended to
maximize the distance between the
airbag and the child. Older children
should be tightly secured with the
safety belt.
Younger children should be secured in
an appropriate forward-facing child-
restraint system that has first been
properly secured with a safety belt.
Never install a rearward-facing child-
restraint system in the front passenger
seat. We strongly urge you to carefully
read and comply with the instructions
for installation and use provided by the
child restraint's manufacturer when-
ever you use such a device.
Always ensure that all occupants (of all
ages) remain properly and securely
restrained at all times.c
All rear seating positions in your vehicle
meet the recommendations of SAE
J1819, an industry recommended prac-
tice for securing child-restraint systems
in motor vehicles.