5
Notes
Your individual vehicle
On purchasing your BMW, you have
decided in favor of a model with individ-
ualized equipment and features. This
Owner's Manual describes all models
and equipment that BMW offers within
the same group.
We hope you will understand that
equipment and features are included
that you might not have chosen for your
vehicle. You can easily identify any dif-
ferences with the aid of the asterisk
used to identify all optional equipment
and accessories.
If your BMW features equipment such
as a car radio or telephone, which is not
described in this Owner's Manual, Sup-
plementary Owner's Manuals are
enclosed. We ask you to read these
manuals as well.
Status at time of printing
BMW pursues a policy of continuous,
ongoing development that is conceived
to ensure that our vehicles continue to
embody the highest quality and safety
standards combined with advanced,
state-of-the-art technology. For this
reason, the features described in this
Owner's Manual could differ from those
in your vehicle. Nor can errors and
omissions be entirely ruled out. You are
therefore asked to appreciate that no
claims can be recognized on the basis
of the data, illustrations or descriptions
in this Owner's Manual.
For your own safety
Maintenance and repair
Advanced technology, e.g. the
use of modern materials and high-
performance electronics, requires spe-
cially adapted maintenance and repair
methods. Therefore, only have corre-
sponding work on your BMW carried
out by a BMW center or a workshop
that works according to BMW repair
procedures with correspondingly
trained personnel. If work is carried out
improperly there is a danger of conse-
quential damage and the related safety
risks.
<
6
Notes
Parts and accessories
Important safety information!
For your own safety, use genuine
parts and accessories approved by
BMW.
When you purchase accessories tested
and approved by BMW and Original
BMW Parts, you simultaneously acquire
the assurance that they have been thor-
oughly tested by BMW to ensure opti-
mum performance when installed on
your vehicle.
BMW warrants these parts to be free
from defects in material and workman-
ship.
BMW will not accept any liability for
damage resulting from installation of
parts and accessories not approved by
BMW.
BMW cannot test every product made
by other manufacturers to ascertain
whether it can be used on a BMW
safely and without risk to either the
vehicle, its operation, or its occupants.
Original BMW Parts, BMW Accessories
and other products approved by BMW,
together with professional advice on
using these items, are available from all
BMW centers.
Installation and operation of non-BMW
approved accessories such as alarms,
radios, amplifiers, radar detectors,
wheels, suspension components, brake
dust shields, telephones – including
operation of any portable cellular phone
from within the vehicle without using an
externally mounted antenna – or trans-
ceiver equipment such as a CB, walkie-
talkie, ham radio or similar, may cause
extensive damage to the vehicle, com-
promise its safety, interfere with the
vehicle's electrical system or affect the
validity of the BMW Limited Warranty.
Contact your BMW center for additional
information.
Do not use key or remote control to
lock doors or luggage compartment
with anyone inside the vehicle. Refer to
the Owner's Manual for more details.
<
Maintenance, replacement, or
repair of the emission control
devices and systems may be performed
by any automotive repair establishment
or individual using any certified auto-
motive part.
<
Service and warranty
This manual is supplemented by a Ser-
vice and Warranty Information Booklet
for US models or a Warranty and Ser-
vice Guide Booklet for Canadian mod-
els.
We recommend that you read this pub-
lication thoroughly.
Your BMW is covered by the following
warranties:
>
New Vehicle Limited Warranty
>
Rust Perforation Limited Warranty
>
Federal Emissions System Defect
Warranty
>
Federal Emissions Performance War-
ranty
>
California Emission Control System
Limited Warranty.
Detailed information about these war-
ranties is listed in the Service and War-
ranty Information Booklet for US mod-
els or in the Warranty and Service
Guide Booklet for Canadian models.
7
Notes
Reporting safety defects
The following only applies to vehicles
owned and operated in the US.
If you believe that your vehicle has a
defect which could cause a crash or
could cause injury or death, you should
immediately inform the National High-
way Traffic Safety Administration
NHTSA in addition to notifying BMW of
North America, LLC, P.O. Box 1227,
Westwood, New Jersey 07675-1227,
telephone toll-free 1-800-831-1117.
If NHTSA receives similar complaints, it
may open an investigation, and if it
finds that a safety defect exists in a
group of vehicles, it may order a recall
and remedy campaign. However,
NHTSA cannot become involved in indi-
vidual problems between you, your
dealer, or BMW of North America, LLC.
To contact NHTSA, you may either call
the Auto Safety Hotline toll-free at
1-800-424-9393 or 366-0123 in the
Washington, D.C. area, or write to:
NHTSA, U.S. Department of Transpor-
tation, Washington, D.C. 20590. You
can also obtain other information about
motor vehicle safety from the Hotline.
Contents
9
Passenger safety systems:
Airbags51
Transporting children safely54
Vehicle Memory, Key
Memory58
Driving:
Ignition lock59
Starting the engine59
Switching off the engine61
Parking brake61
Manual transmission62
Sequential manual gearbox
SMG*63
Automatic transmission with
Steptronic*67
Turn signal indicator/Headlamp
flasher70
Washer/wiper system/Rain
sensor*71
Cruise control*72
Everything under control:
Odometer74
Tachometer74
Energy control74
Fuel gauge75
Engine coolant temperature
gauge75
Service interval display76
Check Control76
Clock77
Computer78
Technology for safety and
driving convenience:
Park Distance Control (PDC)*80
Dynamic Stability Control
(DSC)81
Flat Tire Monitor*82
Brake force display84
Lamps:
Parking lamps/Low beams85
Adaptive headlights*86
Instrument lighting86
High beams/Standing lamps87
Front fog lamps87
Interior lamps88
Controlling the climate for
pleasant driving:
Air conditioning90
Automatic climate control*94
Roller sun blind*98
Interior conveniences:
Premium sound system*99
Glove compartment99
Storage compartments100
Microphone*101
Ashtray, front*102
Ashtray, rear*102
Clothes hooks103
Loading and transporting:
Through-loading system104
Ski bag*105
Cargo loading106
Roof-mounted luggage
rack*109
Controls and features
21
Buttons in steering wheel*
These buttons let you operate the fol-
lowing functions quickly and without
being distracted from traffic conditions:
>
Selected radio functions
>
The cruise control
>
Selected telephone functions
>
The voice recognition system.
The controls are active only when
the corresponding systems and
accessories are switched on.
<
Press briefly:
Receive a phone call, initiate dialing,
terminate a call.
Extended pressure:
Switch voice recognition on and off.
Display/hide telephone book. Display
the entries one after another with the
forward/backward buttons.
Forward:
>
Radio
Press briefly: next station in station
memory
Extended pressure: station search
>
CD
Press briefly: jump to next track
Extended pressure: search function
in track
>
Cassette
Press briefly: jump to next track or
stop fast forward
Extended pressure: fast forward
>
Phone
Scan personal phone book.
Rewind: same functions as forward.
Volume.
Cruise control: select a stored setting.
Cruise control: store and accelerate +
or decelerate and store –.
Cruise control: activate/interrupt/deac-
tivate.
OverviewControlsMaintenanceRepairsDataIndex
101
Rear center armrest*The rear center armrest includes a bev-
erage holder and a litter bag holder.
>Beverage holder: press.
Storage package*For your convenience, there are:
>Two flip-out sockets on the rear cen-
ter console
>An eyeglasses storage compart-
ment*, not shown, in the center con-
sole.
Microphone*Hands-free systemOn vehicles that are wired for a tele-
phone* or equipped with a Voice Input
System*, the cover for the hands-free
microphone is located in the headliner
near the interior lamp.
For further information on using your
cellular phone or the Voice Input Sys-
tem, refer to the separate Owner's
Manual.
Storage compartments
OverviewControlsMaintenanceRepairsDataIndex
114
Inclines:
To prevent overheating and, as a
result, diminished braking effec-
tiveness, drive down long or steep
downhill grades in a gear which
requires the least braking. Otherwise,
even light but consistent pedal pres-
sure can lead to high temperatures,
brake wear and possibly even brake
failure.<
The braking power of the engine can be
further enhanced by downshifting the
automatic transmission in manual
mode, if necessary, into first gear. This
helps avoid placing excessive loads on
the brake system.
Do not coast with the clutch
depressed or with the transmis-
sion or selector lever in Neutral. Do not
coast with the engine switched off. Oth-
erwise, the engine provides no braking
effect while the transmission is in idling
position, and there is no power-assist
for braking or steering when the engine
is off.
Floor mats, floor carpets or other
objects must not be in the area near the
brake or accelerator pedal, as this
could impair the movement of the ped-
als.<
Corrosion on the brake rotorsLimited vehicle use, extended periods
with the vehicle parked or in storage,
and operating conditions in which brak-
ing is restricted to gentle, low-pressure
applications will all increase the ten-
dency for corrosion to form on the
rotors and contamination to accumulate
on the brake pads. This occurs because
the minimal pressure which must be
exerted by the pads to clean the rotors
by brake applications is not reached.
If the brake rotors are corroded, they
will tend to respond to braking with a
pulsating effect that even extended
brake applications will fail to cure.
Brake pads
For your own safety: use only
brake pads that BMW has
released for your particular vehicle
model. BMW cannot evaluate non-
approved brake pads to determine if
they are suitable for use, and therefore
cannot ensure the operating safety of
the vehicle if they are installed.<
Portable phone in the vehicle
BMW advises against using
mobile equipment, e.g. cellular
phones, inside the vehicle without con-
necting them directly to an outside
antenna. Otherwise, it cannot be ruled
out that vehicle electronics and the
mobile equipment interfere with one
another. In addition, it is not ensured
that the radio waves emitted during
transmission are directed outside of the
vehicle interior.<
General driving notes
146Giving and receiving assistance
Receiving assistanceThe BMW Group's Mobile Service
offers you 24-hour assistance in the
event of a breakdown, even on week-
ends and holidays.
The telephone numbers of the Mobile
Service control center in your country
are listed in the BMW Dealer Directory.
If your vehicle has the necessary equip-
ment, you can contact the Mobile Ser-
vice or issue an emergency call using
buttons in the interior rearview mirror.
When an emergency call is initiated, a
telephone connection is established
with the BMW Assist response center.Fold down the cover.
1Emergency call
2Mobile Service
Requirements for initiating an emer-
gency call or contacting Mobile Service:
>Ignition key in position 1 or higher
>The car phone must be registered
with a mobile network
>The emergency call system must be
operational.
Initiating an emergency call*Press button 1 for at least 2 seconds.
The indicator lamp above the buttons
lights up. As soon as a telephone con-
nection has been set up to the BMW
Assist response center, the indicator
lamp flashes.
If the situation permits you to do so,
wait in the vehicle until the voice con-
nection is established. You can then
provide detailed information to the
response center.
If your vehicle is equipped with an acti-
vated BMW Assist and the current loca-
tion of the vehicle can be determined,
this location is transmitted to the BMW
Assist response center.
If the navigation system has failed,
the current location of the vehicle
is not transmitted.<
If the indicator lamp is flashing but you
cannot hear the BMW Assist response
center over the hands-free system, it is
possible that e.g. the hands-free sys-
tem is malfunctioning. The BMW Assist
response center can still hear you,
however.
If certain requirements are met, an
emergency call is automatically initiated
after a serious accident. The automatic
emergency call will not be hindered by
pressing the button.
For technical reasons, the emer-
gency call function cannot be
guaranteed in certain unfavorable con-
ditions.<