
At a glance
 19Reference
Controls
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
Operating principle at a glance
The following is a general description of opera-
tions using iDrive.For an exemplary step-by-step application refer 
to Setting the time, page77.
1Select a menu item:
>Turn the controller; the highlight marker 
moves
>Menu items in white can be selected by 
highlighting them
2To activate a menu item:
>Press the controller
>New menu items are displayed or the 
function is executed
3Select a menu item: refer to14To switch between fields:
>Briefly move the controller to the left, 
right, forward, or backward
>Release the controller
>The active field is brighter in color
5To adjust settings:
>Turn the controller
>Graphic display, numerical value or text 
displays can be changed
>Confirm by changing the field 

iDrive
20
Status information
1Display for:
>Entertainment: 
Radio, CD or
>Telephone
* in "Communication": 
Name of the connected mobile phone, 
network search or no network
>"BMW Assist"
*:
Active voice connection with a 
BMW Assist service
2Entertainment audio output off
3Display for:
> New entries present in "Missed calls"
*
> Roaming active
4 It is possible to make calls
* if the mobile 
phone is paired with the vehicle
 Reception strength of mobile phone 
network, depending on mobile phone
5Time
Other displays:
Status information is temporarily hidden during 
Check Control message displays or entries via 
the voice command system
*.
Assistance window*
Additional information can be displayed in the 
assistance window:
>The computer or the trip computer
*
>The arrow or map view in vehicles with nav-
igation system
*
>The current position*
Selecting display
1.Move the controller to the right to change to 
the assistance window and press the con-
troller.
2.Select a menu item.
3.Press the controller. 

Controls
 29Reference
At a glance
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
Take the adapter out of the bracket on the 
inside of the glove compartment and slide the 
spare key into the adapter before using it.
Personal Profile
The concept
You can set many of your BMW's functions to 
suit your personal needs and preferences. 
Without any action on your part, Personal Pro-
file ensures that most of these settings are 
stored for the remote control currently in use. 
When you unlock the car, the remote control 
used for the purpose is recognized and the set-
tings stored for it are called up and imple-
mented.
This means that your personal settings are 
active when you return to your BMW, even if the 
car was used in the meantime by someone else 
with a remote control of their own and the set-
tings were changed accordingly.
You can configure a maximum of three remote 
controls for three different people. The prereq-
uisite for this is that each person has his or her 
own remote control.
Personal Profile settings
For more information on specific settings, refer 
to the specified pages.
>Response of the central locking system 
when the car is unlocked, refer to page30
>Automatic locking of the vehicle, refer to 
page32
>Automatic call-up
* of the driver's-seat and 
exterior-mirror positions after unlocking, 
refer to page44>Functions assigned to the programmable 
buttons
* on the steering wheel, refer to 
page47
>12h/24h mode of the clock, refer to page78
>Date format, refer to page79
>Brightness of the Control Display, refer to 
page82
>Language on the Control Display, refer to 
page82
>Units of measure for fuel consumption, dis-
tance covered/remaining distances, and 
temperature, refer to page73
>Show visual warning for Park Distance Con-
trol PDC
*, refer to page83
>Automatic climate control: AUTO program, 
activating/deactivating cooling function and 
automatic recirculated-air control, setting 
temperature, air flow rate and distribution, 
refer to page98 ff
>Audio volume, refer to page145
>Tone control, refer to page145
>Speed-dependent volume control, refer to 
page145
Central locking system
The concept
The central locking system is ready for opera-
tion whenever the driver's door is closed.
The system simultaneously engages and 
releases the locks on the following:
>Doors
>Luggage compartment lid
>Fuel filler door
Operating from outside
>Via the remote control
>Via the door lock
>In cars with convenient access
*, via the 
handles on the driver's and front passen-
ger's doors 

Opening and closing
34 compartment is locked, the luggage compart-
ment lid cannot be opened. This is an advan-
tage when valet parking, for example.
Unlocking separately
Push the switch in the direction of arrow 2.
Emergency release
Pull the lever in the luggage compartment. The 
luggage compartment lid is unlocked.
Closing
The handle recesses on the interior trim of the 
luggage compartment lid make it easier to pull 
down.
Make sure that the closing path of the 
luggage compartment lid is clear, other-
wise injuries may result.<
Alarm system*
The concept
The vehicle alarm system responds:
>When a door, the hood or the luggage com-
partment lid is opened>To movements inside the vehicle: Interior 
motion sensor, refer to the information fur-
ther below
>When the car's inclination changes, for 
instance if an attempt is made to jack it up 
and steal the wheels or to raise it prior to 
towing away
>When there is an interruption in the power 
supply from the battery
The alarm system signals unauthorized entry 
attempts for a short time by means of:
>An acoustic alarm
>Switching on the hazard warning flashers
>Flashing the high beams
Arming and disarming
When you lock or unlock the vehicle, either with 
the remote control or at the door lock, the alarm 
system is armed or disarmed at the same time.
Even when the alarm system is armed, you can 
open the luggage compartment lid by means of 
the   button on the remote control, refer to 
page31. When you subsequently close the lug-
gage compartment lid, it is again locked and 
monitored.
Switching off an alarm
>Unlock the car with the remote control, refer 
to page30, or
>insert the remote control all the way into the 
ignition lock.
Indicator lamp displays
>The indicator lamp under the inside rear-
view mirror flashes continuously: the sys-
tem is armed. 

Everything under control
72 1.Open the start menu.
2.Call up "Navigation".
3.Select "Car Data" and press the controller.
4.Select "Trip computer" and press the con-
troller.
>Departure time
>Driving time
>Distance traveled
>Average speed
>Average fuel consumption
Switching trip computer on/off and resetting all 
values to zero:
1.Select "Set" and press the controller.
2.Select the desired menu item and press the 
controller.
Display options
You can display the computer or the trip com-
puter in the assistance window.
1.Move the controller to the right to change to 
the assistance window and press the con-
troller.
2.Select a menu item:
>"Onboard info"
>"Trip computer"3.Press the controller. 

Everything under control
82
Starting, stopping or resetting
>Select "Start" and press the controller. 
The stopwatch starts at the displayed time.
>Select "Reset" and press the controller. 
The stopwatch is reset and restarts if it was 
running beforehand.
>Select "Stop" and press the controller. 
This stops the timer.
Taking an interim time reading
Select "Interim time" and press the controller. 
The interim time appears below the ongoing 
primary stopwatch count.
All of the remaining functions remain 
available at all times while the stopwatch 
is running. The stopwatch continues operation 
in the background.<
Altering settings
Language on the Control Display
The language on the Control Display can be set, 
refer to the concept on page16. The setting is 
stored for the remote control currently in use.
1.Open the start menu.
2.Press the controller to open the   menu.
3.Select "Display settings" and press the 
controller.
4.If necessary, move the highlight marker to 
the uppermost field. Turn the controller 
until "Languages" is selected and press the 
controller.
5.Select "Text language" and press the con-
troller. You can switch to another language for the display texts and navigation mes-
sages.
6.Select and activate the desired language by 
pressing the controller.
Brightness of the Control Display
The brightness is automatically adapted to the 
ambient lighting conditions. Note, however, 
that you can change the basic setting while the 
low beams are switched on. The setting is 
stored for the remote control currently in use.
1.Open the start menu.
2.Press the controller to open the   menu.
3.Select "Display settings" and press the 
controller.
4.Select "Brightness" and press the control-
ler.
5.Turn the controller until the desired setting 
is selected. 

Technology for driving comfort and safety
88
Malfunction
The warning lamps for the brake sys-
tem light up in yellow. The drive-off 
assistant has failed. The car will not 
be held in place after the brake is 
released. Have the system checked as soon as 
possible.
Canadian models display these warn-
ing lamps.
Flat Tire Monitor FTM
The concept
The Flat Tire Monitor monitors tire pressures 
while the car is being driven. The system 
reports any significant loss of pressure in one 
tire in relation to another.
If a tire loses pressure, its rolling radius 
changes, and this in turn alters the speed of 
rotation. This change is detected and is 
reported as a flat tire.
Functional requirement
In order to assure the reliable reporting of a flat 
tire, the system must be initialized for the cor-
rect tire inflation pressure.
The system must be reinitialized each 
time a tire inflation pressure has been cor-
rected or a wheel or tire has been changed.<
System limitations
The Flat Tire Monitor is unable to warn 
the driver of sudden, severe tire damage 
caused by external factors, nor can it identify 
the gradual loss of pressure that will inevitably 
occur in all four tires over a lengthy period of 
time.<
In the following situations, the system could be 
delayed or malfunction:
>System has not been initialized
>Driving on snowy or slippery road surface
>Performance-oriented style of driving: slip 
in the drive wheels, high lateral acceleration>If snow chains are attached
Initializing the system
The initialization is completed during driv-
ing, which can be interrupted at any time. 
When driving resumes, the initialization is con-
tinued automatically. 
Do not initialize the system while snow chains 
are attached.<
iDrive concept, refer to page16.
1.Press the   button.
This opens the start menu.
2.Press the controller to open the   menu.
3.Select "Vehicle settings" and press the 
controller.
4.If necessary, move the highlight marker to 
the uppermost field. Turn the controller 
until "FTM" is selected and press the con-
troller.
5.Start the engine, but do not start driving.
6.Select "Set tire pressure" and press the 
controller.
7.Select "Yes" and press the controller.
8.Start to drive.
"Status: FTM active" reappears in the Con- 

Controls
 99Reference
At a glance
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
side windows, towards the upper body area and 
into the footwell for you. The air flow rate and 
your temperature specifications will be adapted 
to outside influences as a result of seasonal 
changes, e.g. sunlight or window condensation.
The cooling is switched on automatically with 
the AUTO program.
Intensity of the AUTO program
You can set the intensity of the air supply in the 
AUTO program. This changes the duration of 
time during which the vehicle interior is heated 
or cooled.
1.Open the start menu.
2.Call up "Climate".
3.Select "Automatic programs" and press the 
controller.
4.Select the desired field.
5.Press the controller to set the desired inten-
sity.
 The selected intensity level of the auto-
matic program is switched on.
Adjusting air flow rate manually
Press the left side of the button to 
reduce airflow. Press the right side 
of the button to increase it.
You can reactivate the automatic mode for the 
air flow rate with the AUTO button.
Switching the system on/off
With the blower at its lowest setting, press the 
left side of the button to switch off the auto-
matic climate control. All indicators go out.
Press any button except REST to reactivate the 
automatic climate control.
AUC Automatic recirculated-air 
control/Recirculated-air mode
Switch on the desired operating 
mode by pressing this button 
repeatedly:
>LEDs off: outside air flows in continuously.
>Left-hand LED on, AUC mode: a sensor 
detects pollutants in the outside air. If nec-
essary, the system blocks the supply of out-
side air and recirculates the inside air. As 
soon as the concentration of pollutants in 
the outside air has decreased sufficiently, 
the system automatically switches back to 
outside air supply.
>Right-hand LED on, recirculated-air mode: 
the supply of outside air is permanently 
shut off. The system then recirculates the 
air currently within the vehicle.
If condensation starts to form on the 
inside window surfaces during operation 
in the recirculated-air mode, you should switch 
it off while also increasing the air flow rate as 
required. 
The recirculated-air mode should not be used 
over an extended period of time, otherwise the 
air quality inside the car will deteriorate contin-
uously.<
Via the button* on the steering wheel
You can switch between operating modes via 
an individually programmable button
 on the 
steering wheel, refer to page11:
>When outside air is coming in, you can use 
the button on the steering wheel to switch 
between outside air and recirculated-air 
mode.
>When recirculated-air mode or AUC mode 
is switched on, you can use the button on 
the steering wheel to switch between recir-
culated-air mode and AUC mode.
Residual heat
The heat stored in the engine is 
used to heat the passenger com-
partment, e.g. while stopped at a 
school to pick up a child.