
328i
328i xDrive
335i
335i xDriveOwner's Manual for Vehicle
Congratulations, and thank you for choosing a BMW.
Thorough familiarity with your vehicle will provide you with 
enhanced control and security when you drive it. We therefore 
have this request:
Please take the time to read this Owner's Manual and familiarize 
yourself with the information that we have compiled for you 
before starting off in your new vehicle. It contains important data 
and instructions intended to assist you in gaining maximum use 
and satisfaction from your BMW's unique range of technical fea-
tures. The manual also contains information on maintenance 
designed to enhance operating safety and contribute to main-
taining the value of your BMW throughout an extended service 
life.
This manual is supplemented by a Service and Warranty Informa-
tion Booklet for US models or a Warranty and Service Guide 
Booklet for Canadian models.
We wish you an enjoyable driving experience.
BMW AG 

iDrive
20 1.Move the controller to the right repeatedly 
until the split screen content is selected.
2.Select the display.
Programmable memory keys
Certain iDrive functions can be stored on the 
programmable memory keys and called up 
directly, e.g. radio stations, navigation destina-
tions, phone numbers and entry points into the 
menu.
Storing functions
1.Highlight the function via the iDrive.
2. ...   Press the desired key for 
longer than two seconds.
Example for programmable memory 
keys
Switch the voice instructions for the navigation 
on/off.
1."Navigation"
2."Map"
3.Select the   symbol using the controller.
4. ...   Press the desired key for 
longer than two seconds.
Executing a function
 ...   Press the button.
The function is executed immediately. This 
means, for example, that the number is dialed 
when a phone number is selected.
Displaying memory key assignments
Touch the button with a finger. Do not wear 
gloves or use objects.
Displaying brief information
 ...   Touch the button.
The key assignment is displayed at the top 
edge of the screen.
Displaying detailed information
 ...   Press the button for an 
extended period. 

Controls
 45Reference
At a glance
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
transporting anyone on that seat. Otherwise, 
the passenger will be without protection from 
the head restraint.<
Front active head restraints
In a rear collision of a sufficient strength, the 
active head restraint reduces the distance to 
the head.
Do not use seat or head restraint covers 
that could impair the function of the active 
head restraint. Otherwise, the protective func-
tion of the active head restraint will not be 
ensured and its full potential in reducing the risk 
of injury in the event of a rear collision may not 
be realized.
In the event of malfunctions, deactivation or 
triggering of the active head restraints, have the 
testing, repair and removal executed only by a 
BMW center or a workshop that works accord-
ing to repair procedures of BMW with corre-
spondingly trained personnel and that has the 
required explosives licenses. Unprofessional 
attempts to work on the system could lead to 
failure in an emergency or to undesired airbag 
activation, either of which could result in per-
sonal injury.<
For technical reasons, the head restraint 
cannot be removed.<
Front seats
Coupe: height adjustment
>To raise: pull up.
>To lower: press the button, arrow1, and 
slide the head restraint down.
Convertible: height adjustment
>To raise: press the button upward.
>To lower: press the button downward.
Convertible: adjusting the distance to 
the back of the head
>Forward: pull.
>Back: press the button and push the head 
cushion toward the rear.
Do not insert objects behind the head 
cushion; otherwise, the head restraint 
may not function properly.<
Coupe: rear seats
Height adjustment
>To raise: pull up. 

Transporting children safely
52
Transporting children safely
The right place for children
Do not leave children unattended in the 
vehicle, otherwise they could endanger 
themselves and/or other persons by opening 
the doors, for example.<
Children always in the rear
Accident research has shown that the safest 
place for children is on the rear seat.
Children under the age of 13 or smaller 
than 5 ft/150 cm may be transported only 
in the rear in suitable child-restraint systems 
appropriate for their age, weight and size. Oth-
erwise there is an increased risk of injury in the 
event of an accident.<
Children 13 years of age or older must be buck-
led in with a safety belt as soon as there no 
longer is any child-restraint system that is 
appropriate for their age, size and weight.
Exception for front passenger seat
Should it be necessary to use a child-
restraint system on the front passenger 
seat, the front and side airbags for the front pas-
senger must be deactivated. Otherwise, a child 
traveling on that seat will face a significant risk 
of injury if the airbags are triggered off, even 
with a child-restraint system.<
For more information on automatic deactivation 
of the front passenger airbags refer to page90.
Installing child-restraint 
systems
Observe the child-restraint system man-
ufacturer's instructions when selecting, 
installing and using child-restraint systems. 
Otherwise the protective effect may be dimin-
ished.<
Standard child-restraint systems are designed 
to be secured with a lap belt or with the lap-belt 
section of a lap-and-shoulder belt. Incorrectly or improperly installed child-restraint systems 
can increase the risk of injury to children. 
Always follow the installation instructions for 
the system with the greatest care.
On the front passenger seat
After installing a child-restraint system on 
the front passenger seat, make sure that 
the front and side airbags for the front passen-
ger are deactivated, otherwise there is an 
increased risk of injury if the airbags deploy.<
Backrest width*
The backrest width of the front passen-
ger's seat must be at its widest possible 
setting. Do not change the setting after install-
ing the child seat. Otherwise the child seat's 
stability on the front passenger's seat is lim-
ited.<
1.Adjust the backrest width to its widest set-
ting, refer to page44.
2.Install the child seat.
Child seat security
The rear safety belts and the front passenger's 
safety belt can be prevented from being pulled 
out in order to fasten child-restraint systems.
To lock the safety belt
1.Secure the child-restraint system with the 
belt.
2.Pull the belt strap all the way out. 

Controls
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At a glance
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Communications
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Mobility
3.Allow the belt strap to retract and pull it taut 
against the child-restraint system.
The safety belt is locked.
To unlock the safety belt
1.Open the belt buckle.
2.Remove the child-restraint system.
3.Allow the safety belt strap to retract all the 
way.
LATCH child-restraint fixing 
system
LATCH: Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHil-
dren.
To install and use the LATCH child 
restraint system, follow the operating and 
safety instructions provided by the manufac-
turer of the system, otherwise the protective 
function of the seat may be compromised.<
Before installing the child seat, pull the belt out 
of the area for the child-restraint fixing system.
Ensure that both lower LATCH anchors 
are correctly engaged and that the child 
restraint system is resting firmly against the 
backrest, otherwise the protective function of 
the seat may be compromised.<
The anchor points for the lower LATCH 
anchors are located behind the labeled protec-
tive caps.
Coupe: child-restraint system with 
tether strap
Use the top tether anchors to secure 
child-restraint systems only, otherwise 
the anchors could be damaged.
Coupe: placement of the tether strap
Make sure the upper retaining strap does 
not run over sharp edges and is not 
twisted as it passes to the top anchor. Other-
wise the strap will not properly secure the child-
restraint system in the event of an accident.<
1Direction of travel
2Head restraint
3Hook for upper retaining strap
4Anchor
5Rear window shelf
6Seat backrest
7Upper retaining strap of child-restraint sys-
tem
If necessary, fold the anchors upward before 
use.
1.Push the head restraint upward.
2.Guide the upper retaining strap between 
the head restraint holders.
3.Use the hook to clip the retaining strap to 
the anchor.
4.Push the head restraint into its lowermost 
position. 

Driving
58
Changing selector lever positions
>With the ignition switched on or the engine 
running, the selector lever can be moved 
out of position P: interlock.
>Before moving the lever away from P or N 
with the vehicle stationary, first depress the 
brake; otherwise the selector lever will 
refuse to move: shiftlock.
To prevent the vehicle from creeping 
after you select a driving position, 
depress the brake until you are ready to 
start.<
A lock prevents you from inadvertently engag-
ing selector lever positions R and P. To cancel 
the lock, press the button on the front of the 
selector lever, see arrow.
P Park
Select this only when the vehicle is stationary. 
The rear wheels are locked.
R Reverse
Select this only when the vehicle is stationary.
N Neutral
You can select this in a car wash, for example. 
The vehicle can roll.
D Drive, automatic position
Position for normal vehicle operation. All for-
ward gears are selected automatically.
Under normal operating conditions, fuel con-
sumption is lowest when you are driving in posi-
tion D.
Kick-down
Kick-down enables you to achieve maximum 
performance. 
Press the accelerator pedal beyond the full-
throttle resistance point.
Sport program and manual operation 
M/S
Move selector lever from position D toward the 
left into the M/S shifting slot:
The sport program is activated and DS is dis-
played in the instrument cluster. This position is 
recommended for a performance-oriented driv-
ing style.
To use the automatic mode again, move the 
selector lever to the right into position D.
Shifting gears via the selector lever
When you press the selector lever forwards or 
backwards, the manual mode is activated and 
Steptronic changes gear. M1 through M6 are 
displayed in the instrument cluster.
Upshifts and downshifts are executed only 
when they will result in a plausible combination 
of engine and vehicle speed; thus, for example, 
a downshift that would cause the engine to 
overrev will not be executed by the system. The 
gear selected is briefly displayed in the instru-
ment cluster, followed by the gear actually in 
use.
Shifting gears via shift paddles* on the 
steering wheel
The shift paddles allow you to shift gears 
quickly since both hands can remain on the 
steering wheel. 

Controls
 59Reference
At a glance
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
>When you use the shift paddles on the 
steering wheel to shift gears in automatic 
mode, the transmission switches to manual 
mode.
>If you do not accelerate or shift gears using 
the shift paddles for a certain amount of 
time, the transmission switches back to 
automatic mode.
If the selector lever is in the M/S gear 
plane, manual mode remains active.<
>To shift up: pull one of the shift paddles.
>To shift down: press one of the shift pad-
dles.
Upshifts and downshifts are executed only 
when they will result in a plausible combination 
of engine and vehicle speed; thus, for example, 
a downshift that would cause the engine to 
overrev will not be executed by the system. The 
gear selected is briefly displayed in the instru-
ment cluster, followed by the gear actually in 
use.
Overriding selector lever lock
Should the selector lever refuse to move out of 
position P although the button on the selector 
lever is pressed, the selector lever lock can be 
overridden:
1.Unclip the sleeve of the selector lever.
2.Pull the sleeve up over the selector lever 
until the sleeve is inside out.3.Using the screwdriver from the onboard 
tool kit, refer to page217, press the red 
lever while moving the selector lever to the 
desired position.
Turn signals/
headlamp flasher
1High beams
2Headlamp flasher
3Turn signals
Using turn signals
Press the lever beyond the resistance point.
To turn off manually, press the lever to the 
resistance point.
Unusually rapid flashing of the indicator 
lamp indicates that a turn signal indicator 
has failed.<
Indicating a turn briefly
Press the lever as far as the resistance point for 
as long as you wish to indicate a turn. 

Controls
 83Reference
At a glance
Driving tips
Communications
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Mobility
can drown out the PDC signal. Therefore, 
always drive cautiously, otherwise there is a risk 
of personal injury or property damage.<
Driving stability control 
systems
Your BMW has a number of systems that help 
to maintain the vehicle's stability even in 
adverse driving conditions.
Antilock Brake System ABS
ABS prevents locking of the wheels during 
braking. Safe steering response is maintained 
even during full braking. Active safety is thus 
increased.
The ABS is operational every time you start the 
engine. Braking safely, refer to page118.
Electronic brake-force distribution
The system controls the brake pressure in the 
rear wheels to ensure stable braking behavior.
Dynamic Brake Control DBC
When you apply the brakes rapidly, this system 
automatically produces the maximum braking 
force boost and thus helps to achieve the short-
est possible braking distance during full brak-
ing. This system exploits all of the benefits pro-
vided by ABS.
Do not reduce the pressure on the brake for the 
duration of the full braking application.
Dynamic Stability Control DSC
DSC prevents the driving wheels from losing 
traction when you pull away from rest or accel-
erate. The system also recognizes unstable 
driving conditions, for example if the rear of the 
car is about to swerve or if momentum is acting 
at an angle past the front wheels. In these 
cases, DSC helps the vehicle maintain a safe 
course within physical limits by reducing engine 
output and through braking actions at the indi-
vidual wheels.
The laws of physics cannot be repealed, 
even with DSC. An appropriate driving style always remains the responsibility of the 
driver. Therefore, do not reduce the additional 
s a f e t y  m a r g i n  a g a i n  b y  t a k i n g  r i s k s ,  a s  t h i s  c o u l d  
result in an accident.<
Deactivating DSC
Press the button for at least 3 seconds; the indi-
cator lamps for DSC in the instrument cluster 
light up. Dynamic Traction Control DTC and 
DSC have been simultaneously deactivated. 
Stabilizing and drive-output promoting actions 
are no longer executed.
328i, 335i: in the same way as with a differential 
interlock, even if DSC is deactivated, brake 
actions are still performed on the rear axle to 
enhance drive output if the drive wheels experi-
ence a significant loss of traction.
To increase vehicle stability, activate DSC again 
as soon as possible.
Activating DSC
Press the button again; the indicator lamps in 
the instrument cluster go out.
For better control
If the indicator lamp flashes: 
DSC controls the drive forces and 
brake forces.
If the indicator lamps are on: 
DSC is deactivated.
Dynamic Traction Control DTC
DTC is a version of DSC in which the drive out-
put is optimized for particular road conditions, 
e.g. unplowed snow-covered roads. The sys-
tem assures the maximal drive output, but with