
At a glance
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1Coupe: glass sunroof, electric with raise 
function
*42
2Coupe: microphone for hands-free mode 
for telephone
* and voice command 
system
*24
Convertible: microphone on steering col-
umn
3Reading lamps109
4Interior lamps108
5Coupe: initiating SOS emergency 
request235
6Indicator lamp
 for front passenger 
airbags97
7Convertible: initiating SOS emergency 
request
*235
8Control Display16
9Hazard warning flashers
10Central locking system34
11Automatic climate control11012Changing
>radio station164
>track175
13Ejecting
>navigation DVD
*134
>audio CD174
14Programmable memory buttons22
15Drive for navigation system DVD with Pro-
fessional
* navigation system134
16Drive for audio CDs174
17Entertainment sound output on/off 
and adjusting volume161
19Bracket for cup holder120
20Controller16 
Can be turned, pressed, or moved in four 
directions
21Opening start menu on Control Display18
22Dynamic Driving Control64
23Selecting AM or FM waveband
24Selecting radio, CD and CD changer Temperature setting, left/
right111
Automatic air distribution and 
volume111
Cooling function113
AUC Automatic recirculated-air 
control113
Recirculated-air mode113
Maximum cooling113
Residual heat mode114
Switching off automatic climate 
control114
Air volume112
Defrosting windows and removing 
condensation112
Rear window defroster112
18
Heated seats*55
PDC Park Distance Control
*87
DTC Dynamic Traction Control89
Convertible: opening the convert-
ible top44
Convertible: closing the convertible 
top44 

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Adjusting
Sitting safely
The ideal sitting position can make a vital con-
tribution to relaxed, fatigue-free driving. In the 
interaction with the safety belts, the head 
restraints and the airbags, the sitting position 
plays an important role in an accident. To 
ensure that the safety systems operate with 
optimal efficiency, we strongly urge you to 
observe the instructions contained in the fol-
lowing section.
For additional information on Transporting chil-
dren safely, refer to page58.
Airbags
Always maintain an adequate distance 
between yourself and the airbags. Always 
hold the steering wheel by its rim with hands at 
the 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions to mini-
mize the risk of injuries to your hands and arms 
in the event of airbag deployment.
No one and nothing is to come between the air-
bags and the seat occupant.
Do not use the cover of the front airbag on the 
front passenger side as a storage area. Make 
sure that the front passenger is sitting correctly 
and does not rest feet or legs on the instrument 
panel, otherwise leg injuries can occur if the 
knee and front airbags are triggered.
Make sure that occupants do not rest their head 
on the side or head airbags, otherwise injuries 
can occur if the airbags are triggered.<
Even if you adhere to all the instructions, inju-
ries resulting from contact with airbags cannot 
be fully excluded, depending on the circum-
stances. The ignition and inflation noise may 
provoke a mild hearing loss in extremely sensi-
tive individuals. This effect is usually only tem-
porary.
For airbag locations and additional information 
on airbags, refer to page95.
Head restraints
A correctly adjusted head restraint reduces the 
risk of spinal injury in the event of an accident.
Adjust the head restraint so that its center 
is approx. at ear level. Otherwise there is 
increased danger of injury in the event of an 
accident.<
Head restraints, refer to page52.
Safety belt
Before every drive, make sure that safety belts 
are being worn at all of the occupied seats. Air-
bags complement the safety belt as an addi-
tional safety device, but they do not represent a 
substitute.
Your vehicle has four seats that are each 
equipped with a safety belt.
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. Make sure that the belt lies low around the 
hips in the lap area and does not press on the 
abdomen. The safety belt must not lie across 
the neck, rub against sharp edges, be routed 
over solid or breakable objects or be pinched. 
Wear the safety belt without twisting, snugly 
across the lap and shoulders, as close to the 
body as possible. Otherwise the belt can slip 
over the hips in the lap area in a frontal impact 
and injure the abdomen. Avoid wearing clothing 
that prevents the belt from fitting properly and 
pull the belt in the upper body area periodically 
to readjust the tension, in order to avoid a 
reduction in the restraint of the safety belt.<
Safety belts refer to page54.
Seats
Note before adjusting
Never attempt to adjust your seat while 
the vehicle is moving. The seat could 
respond with unexpected movement and the  

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Front seats: adjusting distance to the 
back of the head
>Forward: pull up.
>Back: push the button and slide the head-
rest cushion toward the rear.
Do not place any objects behind the 
headrest cushion. Otherwise, you can 
impair the proper function of the head 
restraint.<
Convertible
Adjusting height
Move the switch up or down.
Front seats: adjusting distance to the 
back of the head
>Forward: pull up.>Back: push the button and slide the head-
rest cushion toward the rear.
Do not place any objects behind the 
headrest cushion. Otherwise, you can 
impair the proper function of the head 
restraint.<
Entering rear
Before starting to drive, fold backrests 
back, otherwise there is the danger of 
accident due to an unexpected movement of 
the seat.<
Coupe: releasing backrest
Pull the lever upward and fold the backrest for-
ward.
The lever is designed so that the safety belt can 
be hooked onto it. This enables you to fasten 
the safety belt more conveniently.
Convertible: releasing backrest
The belt system integrated in the seat makes it 
easier to get in back. 

Adjusting
54 1.Pull lever 1 up and fold the backrest for-
ward.
2.Press and hold button 2 until the seat has 
moved into the desired position.
3.After passengers have entered the rear, fold 
the backrest back and lock it in place.
4.Press and hold button 3 until the seat has 
moved back into its previous position. If you 
release button3 before this, the seat stops 
in its current position.
You can lock the backrest in place when it 
is folded forward. This is useful, for exam-
ple, when you get into the vehicle while it is 
parked on a hill. Press the backrest until it audi-
bly locks into place. To fold it back, you do not 
need to use lever 1 to release it.<
Lock backrest warning lamp:
Lights up when the backrest is not 
locked. At the same time, a message is 
shown on the Control Display.
Safety belts
To ensure that the safety systems con-
tinue to provide optimized protection, 
please observe the adjustment instructions on 
page49.<
Before every drive, make sure that safety belts 
are being worn at all of the occupied seats. Air-
bags complement the safety belt as an addi-tional safety device, but they do not represent a 
substitute.
Fastening
Make sure you hear the latch plate engage in 
the belt buckle.
Releasing
1.Grasp the belt firmly.
2.Press the red button in the buckle.
3.Guide the belt into its reel.
The shoulder strap's anchorage point will be in 
the correct position for adults of every build if 
the seat is correctly adjusted, refer to page49.
Safety belt reminder for driver's seat 
and passenger seat*
The indicator lamp lights up and a sig-
nal sounds. A message also appears on 
the Control Display. Please check 
whether safety belts are being worn correctly.
The safety belt reminder is operative at speeds 
above approx. 5 mph/8 km/h. It can also be acti-
vated if objects are placed on the passenger 
seat. 

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Damage to safety belts
When subjected to strain due to an acci-
dent or in the event of damage, replace 
the safety belts, the belt tensioners, and any 
child restraint systems and have the belt anchor 
points checked. Only have this work carried out 
at a BMW center or at a workshop that works 
according to BMW repair procedures with cor-
respondingly trained personnel. Otherwise cor-
rect operation of this safety equipment is not 
guaranteed.<
Heated seats*
Press once for each temperature level. The 
maximum temperature is supplied when three 
LEDs are lit.
The temperature is reduced and if need be, the 
heating is switched off in order to reduce the 
load on the battery. The LEDs remain lit.
To switch off:
Press the button longer.
Mirrors
Exterior mirrors
The mirror on the passenger's side is 
more curved than the driver's mirror. 
Objects reflected in the mirror are closer than 
they appear. Do not estimate the distance of 
following traffic based on what you see in the 
mirrors, otherwise there is an increased acci-
dent risk.<1Adjusting
2Switching to the other mirror or to the auto-
matic curb monitor
3Folding mirrors in and out
*
Storing the mirror positions, refer to Seat, mir-
ror and steering wheel memory on page51.
Adjusting manually
You can also adjust the mirrors manually by 
pressing against the outer edges of their mirror 
glass.
Folding exterior mirrors in and out
Pressing button3 allows you to fold mirrors 
in and out up to a speed of approx. 20 mph/
30 km/h. This is advantageous, for example, in 
car washes, narrow streets or for bringing mir-
rors that have been manually folded in back into 
the correct position. Mirrors that were folded in 
are folded out automatically at a speed of 
approx. 25 mph/40 km/h.
Before going through a car wash, fold the 
mirrors in manually, or with button 3, oth-
erwise they could be damaged, depending on 
the width of the car wash system.<
Automatic heating
Below a certain outdoor temperature, both 
exterior mirrors are heated whenever the 
engine is running or the ignition is switched on. 

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Follow the system manufacturer's 
instructions on installation and use of 
LATCH child restraint systems in order not to 
impair their protective function.<
Anchor points for LATCH mounts
Before attaching the LATCH child's seat, pull 
the belt away from the region of the child 
restraint fixing system.
Make sure that both of the lower LATCH 
mounts have properly clicked into place 
and that the child restraint system is resting 
snugly against the backrest. Otherwise, the 
protective action may be impeded.<
Rear seats
The mounting points for the LATCH anchors 
are located at the positions indicated by arrows 
in the gap between the seat and the backrest.
Coupe: child restraint system with 
tether strap
Only use the top tether-strap mounting 
points to secure child restraint systems, 
otherwise the mounting points could be dam-
aged.
to arrows.
Placement of tether strap
Make sure that the tether strap is not 
routed over sharp edges and does not 
twist on its way to the upper mounting point; 
otherwise, the belt may not properly secure the 
child restraint system in the event of an acci-
dent.<
1Direction of travel
2Head restraints
3Tether strap hook
4Mounting point
5Rear window shelf
6Backrest
7Tether strap of child restraint system
Before using the mounting points, fold the head 
restraint
* into its raised position.
1.Slide the head restraint into the bottom 
position.
2.Guide the tether strap over the head 
restraint.
3.Attach the tether strap hook to the mount-
ing point. 

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Operating state of front passenger 
airbags
The illustration here shows a possible arrange-
ment in the Coupe. With some vehicle equip-
ment packages or in the Convertible, the 
arrangement of the switches and indicator 
lamps may differ somewhat.
The indicator lamp for the front passenger air-
bags indicates the operating status of the front, 
knee and side airbags on the front passenger 
side depending on whether the seat is occu-
pied. The indicator lamp shows whether the 
front passenger airbags are activated or deacti-
vated.
>The indicator lamp lights up when a child in 
a child restraint system intended for the 
purpose is properly detected on the seat.
The front, knee and side airbags on the front 
passenger side are deactivated.
Most child's seats are detected by the 
system. Especially the child's seats 
required by the NHTSA at the time the vehicle is 
manufactured. After installing a child's seat, 
make sure that the indicator lamp for the front 
passenger airbags lights up. This indicates that 
the child's seat has been detected and the front 
passenger airbags are not activated.<
>The indicator lamp does not light up if, for 
example, the system detects a person of 
sufficient size seated correctly on the seat. 
The front, knee and side airbags on the front 
passenger side are activated.
>The indicator lamp does not light up when 
the seat is empty.
But the front, knee and side airbags on the 
front passenger side are still deactivated.
Operational readiness of airbag system
From radio readiness, refer to page60, the 
warning lamp lights up briefly, indicating the 
operational readiness of the entire airbag sys-
tem and the safety belt tensioners.
Airbag system malfunction
>Warning lamp does not light up from radio 
readiness.
>Warning lamp lights up continuously.
Have the airbag system checked immedi-
ately in case of a malfunction, otherwise 
there is a danger that the airbag system may not 
respond in the expected manner in an accident 
despite an impact of corresponding intensity.<
Convertible: rollover 
protection system
The rollover protection system is automatically 
activated in the event of an accident or a critical 
driving situation, extreme inclination on the lon-
gitudinal axis, or loss of ground contact. The 
rollover bars located behind the rear head 
restraints are deployed within fractions of a sec-
ond.
As a supplement to the rollover bar integrated 
into the windshield frame, the rollover protec-
tion system ensures that all vehicle occupants 
have the necessary headroom.
Always keep the path of movement of the 
rollover protection system clear.
In minor accidents, you are protected by the 
fastened safety belt and, depending on acci-
dent severity, by the safety belt tensioner and 
multi-phase airbag retention system.< 

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close the glove compartment immediately after 
use.<
Closing
Fold up the lid.
USB interface for data transmission
Port for importing and exporting data on USB 
devices, e.g. music collections.
Observe the following when connecting:
>Do not use force when plugging the con-
nector into the USB-audio interface.
>Do not connect devices such as fans or 
lamps to the USB-audio interface.
>Do not connect USB hard disks.
>Do not use the USB interface to recharge 
external devices.
Center armrest
A storage compartment is located in the arm-
rest between the front seats. This compartment 
is integrated into the central locking system and 
can also be locked separately using the hotel 
function, refer to page35.To open the cover:
Pull the left button. The cover opens and can be 
folded upward.
Depending on the version, the storage com-
partment can be equipped with a correspond-
ing cradle
* for the telephone or mobile phone.
Connection for external audio device
A connection for an external audio device is 
located in the storage compartment. You can, 
for example, connect a CD player or an MP3 
player, and play the sound via the vehicle 
speakers, refer to page180.
Adjusting height
The center armrest can be set in two positions.
Pull the right button:
Move the armrest upward or downward and 
lock it in the desired position.