2004 BMW 645CI COUPE tow

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Batteries
Never attempt to dismantle your
BMW portable phone or its battery.
Use only approved battery types – the
wrong battery can destroy your portable
phone.
To avoid possible short circuits, after
removing a battery you should never allow
it to come into contact with metallic sur-
faces of any kind.<
Disposing of used batteries
Return used batteries to a recycling
collection point or to your BMW cen-
ter.<
Care instructions
You can find what you need to know about
caring for your portable phone in the Caring
for your vehicle brochure and in the sepa-
rate portable phone Owner's Manual.
Operating options
You can operate the BMW portable phone*
with:
>The steering wheel, refer to page 11
>The Control Center, refer to page 146
>Voice control, refer to page 151.
Telephoning with car phone:
BMW Assist calls
You can use the car phone via the hands-
free system for BMW Assist calls.
When the status information "Car Phone" is
displayed in "Communication", only BMW
Assist calls are possible.
Activating the
BMW portable phone*
Requirements for portable phones with
SIM card:
>Enter a Personal Identification Number,
PIN, if necessary
>Remove all keypad locks, refer to sepa-
rate Owner's Manual.
Before starting off, place the BMW portable
phone in the cradle. If a connection to
BMW Assist has been established, you
cannot use the BMW portable phone until
this connection has been terminated.
Inserting portable phone
1.Press button 1
2.To adjust the cradle to the portable
phone:
Slide the switch 2 toward the front or
rear if necessary
3.If necessary, remove the protective cap
from the antenna connector on the back
of the portable phone
4.Insert the portable phone with the
antenna completely retracted
5.Press the cradle downwards.
When the status information "Portable" is
displayed in "Communication", you can
operate the BMW portable phone via the
vehicle.
Removing portable phone
Press button 1.
For information on operating your
portable phone, please consult the
separate Owner's Manual.<

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Temperature
The temperature grades are A, the highest,
B, and C, representing the tire's resistance
to the generation of heat and its ability to
dissipate heat when tested under con-
trolled conditions on a specified indoor lab-
oratory test wheel.
Sustained high temperature can cause the
material of the tire to degenerate and
reduce tire life, and excessive temperature
can lead to sudden tire failure. The grade C
corresponds to a level of performance
which all passenger car tires must meet
under the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard No. 109. Grades B and A repre-
sent higher levels of performance on the
laboratory test wheel than the minimum
required by law.
The temperature grade for this tire is
established for a tire that is properly
inflated and not overloaded. Excessive
speed, underinflation, or excessive load-
ing, either separately or in combination,
can cause heat buildup and possible tire
failure.<
RSC – run-flat tires
You will recognize run-flat tires by a circular
symbol containing the letters RSC on the
side of the tire, refer to page 168.
M+S
Winter and all-season tires.
These have better winter properties than
summer tires.
Tire condition
Before driving off, inspect your tires for
tread wear, signs of damage and foreign
objects lodged in the tread, and check the
tread depth.
Minimum tread depth
The tread depth should not drop below
0.12 in/3 mm, although, for example, Euro-
pean legislation only specifies a minimum
tread depth of 0.063 in/1.6 mm. At tread
depths below 0.12 in/3 mm there is an increased risk of high-speed hydroplaning,
even when only small amounts of water are
present on the road surface.
As winter tires display a noticeable loss in
their ability to cope with cold-weather driv-
ing conditions once the tread wears to
below 0.157 in/4 mm, to ensure continued
safety you should always have such tires
replaced.
Wear indicators at the tread-groove base,
refer to arrow, are distributed over the tire's
circumference and are marked on the side
of the tire with TWI – Tread Wear Indicator.
These indicators signal at a tread depth of
0.063 in/1.6 mm that the legal wear limit
has been reached. The tread is then no
longer visible at these points.
Tire damage
Due to low-profile tires, please note
that wheels, tires and suspension
parts are more susceptible to road hazard
and consequential damages.
Unusual vibrations encountered during
normal vehicle operation can indicate tire
failure or some other vehicle defect. This
can, for example, be caused by driving over
curbs. These kinds of problems may also
be signaled by other changes in vehicle
response, such as a strong tendency to pull
to the left or right.
In these cases, immediately reduce speed.
Drive cautiously to the nearest BMW center
or tire dealer or, if necessary, have the
vehicle towed there.
Tire damage, extending to sudden and
complete loss of pressure in extreme
cases, can pose a potentially lethal safety
hazard for the vehicle's occupants and
other road users alike.<

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Engine compartment
1Filler neck for engine oil, refer to
Topping up engine oil
2Brake fluid reservoir, located beneath
the microfilter cover, refer to page 173
3Dipstick for engine oil, refer to
Checking oil level
4Starting-aid terminal, refer to page 184
5Washer fluid reservoir of the headlamp
and windshield cleaning systems, refer
to page 62
6Expansion tank for coolant, refer to
page 172
Engine oil
Checking oil level
1.Park the vehicle on a level surface with
the engine at operating temperature
2.After approx. 5 minutes, pull the
dipstick 3 out and wipe it off with a
clean lint-free cloth, paper towel, or
similar material3.Carefully push the dipstick all the way
into the guide tube and pull it out again
4.The oil should extend to between the
two marks on the dipstick.
The engine oil consumption is dependent
on driving style and driving conditions.
The oil quantity between the centers of the
two marks on the dipstick, refer to arrows,
is approx. 1.6 US quarts/1.5 liters. Do not
fill beyond the upper mark on the dipstick.
Excess oil can damage the engine.

Replacing components
178
Replacing components
Onboard tool kit
The onboard tool kit 1, the screw-in tow
fitting 2 and spare fuses and a pair of plas-
tic tweezers 3 are stored in the luggage
compartment. Fold up the cover located
under the floor mat.
Windshield wiper blades
To replace, fold the wiper arm up and hold.
Press the locking lugs together while push-
ing the wiper blade out of the detent toward
the front.
Lamps and bulbs
Lamps and bulbs make an essential contri-
bution to vehicle safety. Therefore, comply
fully with the following instructions during
bulb replacement. If you are not familiar
with the specified procedures, have the
replacements carried out at your BMW
center.Never touch the glass on new bulbs
with your bare fingers, as even minute
amounts of contamination will burn into the
bulb's surface and reduce its service life.
Use a clean cloth, napkin etc., or hold the
bulb by its metal socket.<
You can obtain a selection of replacement
bulbs at your BMW center.
When working on the lighting system
you should always switch off the
lights affected to prevent short circuits.
To avoid possible injury or equipment dam-
age when changing bulbs, observe any
instructions provided by the bulb manufac-
turer.<
When performing maintenance on the
headlamps, comply with the instructions in
the separate Caring for your vehicle bro-
chure.
In the case of bulbs where the
replacement is not described, please
consult your BMW center.<
Xenon lamps
The service life of these lamps is very long
and the probability of a failure is very low,
provided that they are not switched on and
off an unusual number of times. In the
unlikely event that one of these lamps
should fail, you can continue driving under
poor visibility conditions by switching on
your fog lamps and proceeding carefully,
where allowed by law.
To avoid the risk of potentially fatal
injuries: owing to the extremely high
voltages at which these units operate, ser-
vice work on the xenon lighting system
should only be carried out by a BMW cen-
ter.<

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High beams, parking lamps
The illustration shows the front left side of
the engine compartment.
High beams
Bulb 55 watts, H 7
1.Remove the cover cap 1 by pressing
the tab and removing the cover cap
upward
2.Press the bulb holder from above to
release it
3.Remove the bulb holder
4.Remove and replace the bulb.
Parking lamps
Bulb 10 watts
Bulb holder and reflector are one unit
and are replaced together.<
1.Turn the bulb holder 2 to the right and
remove
2.Press the detent on the plug connector,
pull off the bulb holder and replace.
Front turn signal, sidemarker
Your BMW is equipped with two turn signal
lamps per side in the front. Turn signal
lamp 1 can be replaced via the engine
compartment, and turn signal lamp 2 via
the wheel well.
Turn signal lamp 1
Bulb 21 watts, WY 21 SV
The illustration shows the front right side of
the engine compartment.
1.The lever shown:
>Right turn signal: press downwards
>Left turn signal: press upwards
2.Remove the bulb holder towards the
rear
3.Remove and replace the bulb.
Turn signal lamp 2
Bulb 21 watts, WY 21 SV
The bulb of the turn signal lamp 2 can be
replaced via a cover at the front of the
wheel well.
The illustration shows the left side of the
vehicle.
1.Turn the steering all the way to lock to
obtain access to the cover, refer to
illustration
2.Remove the cover by unscrewing the
two bolts with an open-end wrench
from the onboard tool kit
3.Location of the bulb holder of turn sig-
nal lamp 2, refer to arrow

Replacing components
180 4.Turn the bulb holder to the left and pull
out
5.Remove and replace the bulb.
Sidemarker
Bulb 5 watts, WY5W ST
The bulb can be replaced via a cover at the
front of the wheel well, refer to the descrip-
tion for turn signal lamp 2.
1.The bulb holder of the sidemarker lamp
is located toward the outside of the
vehicle next to the bulb holder of turn
signal lamp 2
2.Turn the bulb holder to the left and pull
out
3.Remove and replace the bulb.
Side turn signals
Bulb 5 watts, WY 5 W
1.Press against the front edge of the lamp
with the tip of your finger, then push it to
the rear, release the detent at the front
and take it off the trim strip
2.Turn the bulb holder 905 to the left and
remove
3.Remove and replace the bulb.
Tail lamps
The roadside parking, rear and brake
lamps are LEDs. The backup lamps
are fitted with longlife bulbs. Please con-
tact a BMW center in case of a malfunc-
tion.<1Turn signal
2Roadside parking, rear and brake lamp
3Backup lamp
4Reflector
Rear turn signals
Bulb 21 watts, PY 21 W
The illustration shows the recess on the left
side of the luggage compartment.
1.Remove the cover
2.Unclip the bulb holder and remove
3.Apply gentle pressure to the bulb while
turning it to the left for removal and
replacement.
License plate lamps
Bulb 5 watts, WY 5 W

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Preparing
1.Check whether the battery of the other
vehicle has a voltage of 12 Volts and
approximately the same capacitance
in Ah. This information can be found on
the battery
2.Switch off the engine of the vehicle pro-
viding assistance
3.Switch off any consumer units in both
vehicles.
There must not be any contact
between the bodies of the two vehi-
cles, as otherwise there is a danger of
shorting.<
Connecting jumper cables
To avoid personal injury from sparks,
always observe this sequence when
connecting jumper cables.<
On your BMW, the so-called starting-aid
terminal in the engine compartment serves
as the battery positive terminal, also refer
to engine compartment essentials on
page 171. The symbol + is embossed on
the cover.
1.Fold open the cover of the BMW start-
ing-aid terminal. To do so, pull the tab
2.Attach one end of the jumper cable
plus/+ to the positive terminal of the
battery or a starting-aid terminal of the
vehicle providing assistance
3.Attach the second end of the cable to
the positive terminal of the battery or to
a starting-aid terminal of the vehicle to
be startedYour BMW has a special nut as body
ground or negative pole.
4.Attach one end of the jumper cable
minus/– to the negative terminal of the
battery or to an engine or body ground
of the vehicle providing assistance
5.Attach the second end of the cable to
the negative terminal of the battery or to
the engine or body ground of the vehi-
cle to be started.
Starting engine
1.Start the engine on the support vehicle
and allow it to run for several minutes at
increased speed
2.Start the engine on the other vehicle in
the usual way.
If the first start attempt is not success-
ful, wait a few minutes before another
attempt in order to allow the discharged
battery to recharge
3.Let the engines run for a few minutes
4.Disconnect the jumper cables by
reversing the connection sequence
If required, have the battery inspected and
recharged at your BMW center.
Never use spray fluids to start the
engine.<
Towing and tow-starting
Always observe all applicable towing
laws and regulations.<
Never allow passengers to ride in a
towed vehicle for any reason.<

Giving and receiving assistance
186
Using tow fitting
The threaded tow fitting is stored in the tool
kit mounted on the inside of the luggage
compartment under the floor mat, refer to
page 178, and should always remain in the
vehicle. It can be screwed in at the front or
rear of the BMW.
To avoid damage to the tow fitting
and the vehicle, observe the follow-
ing: only use the tow fitting that comes with
the vehicle and screw it in as far as possi-
ble. Only use the tow fitting to tow on the
roadway. Avoid heavy lateral loading of the
tow fitting, e.g. do not lift the vehicle by the
tow fitting.<
Access to screw thread
Rectangular cover in bumper:
Press the arrow symbol of the cover.
Front
Rear
Being towed
Even if there is a failure in the electri-
cal system, make sure that the igni-
tion key is in position 1, as otherwise the
steering wheel could lock and it would be
impossible to steer the vehicle. There is no
power assist with the engine stopped. This then requires increased effort for braking
and steering. The active steering is deacti-
vated; when stopped and in the low speed
range greater steering wheel movements
are required.<
Switch on the hazard warning flashers
depending on the local regulations. If the
electrical system fails, mark the vehicle to
be towed, e.g. with a sign or warning trian-
gle in the rear window.
Vehicles with manual transmission
Gearshift lever in idle position
Vehicles with automatic
transmission
Selector lever in position N.
Do not exceed a towing speed of
45 mph/70 km/h and a towing dis-
tance of 90 miles/150 km, as otherwise the
automatic transmission may be dam-
aged.<
Vehicles with SMG Sequential
manual transmission
With the ignition switched on, engage
selector-lever position N, then switch off
the ignition.
Towing methods
In some countries, towing with tow bars or
ropes in public traffic is not permitted.
Familiarize yourself with all regulations on
towing in the respective country.
With tow bar
The towing vehicle may not be lighter
than the vehicle to be towed, as oth-
erwise it will not be possible to control
vehicle response.<
The tow fittings used should be on the
same side on both vehicles. Should it prove
impossible to avoid mounting the tow bar
at an offset angle, please observe the fol-
lowing:
>Clearance and maneuvering capability
will be strictly limited in corners