
Reference
At a glance
Controls
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
Contents
The fastest way to find specific topics is to use 
the index, refer to page279.
Using this Owner's Manual
4Notes
7Reporting safety defects
At a glance
10Cockpit
16iDrive
21Letters and numbers
22Voice activation system
Controls
26Opening and closing
43Adjusting
55Transporting children safely
59Driving
71Everything under control
82Technology for comfort, convenience 
and safety
102Lamps
107Climate
115Practical interior accessories
Driving tips
130Things to remember when driving
Navigation
140Navigation system
141Destination entry
150Destination guidance
157What to do if …
Entertainment
160On/off and tone
163Radio
166Satellite radio
171CD/DVD player and CD/DVD changer
178Music collection
183External devices
187DVD system in rear
Communications
202Telephone
213Contacts
215BMW Assist
Mobility
224Refueling
229Wheels and tires
239Under the hood
244Maintenance
246Care
250Replacing components
261Giving and receiving assistance
Reference
268Technical data
273Short commands of voice activation 
system
279Everything from A to Z
ba8_e70ag.book  Seite 3  Freitag, 5. Juni 2009  11:42 11 

 5Reference
At a glance
Controls
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
The individual vehicle
When purchasing your BMW, you have decided 
in favor of a model with individualized equip-
ment and features. This Owner's Manual 
describes the entire array of options and equip-
ment available with a specific BMW model.
Please bear in mind that the manual may con-
tain information on accessories and equipment 
that you have not specified for your own vehicle. 
Sections describing options and special equip-
ment are marked by asterisks 
* to assist you in 
identifying possible differences between the 
descriptions in this manual and your own vehi-
cle's equipment.
If equipment in your BMW is not described in 
this Owner's Manual, please refer to the accom-
panying Supplementary Owner's Manuals.
Editorial notice
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, it is possible that the features described 
in this Owner's Manual could differ from those 
on your vehicle.
For your own safety
Maintenance and repairs
Advanced technology, e.g. the use of 
modern materials and high-performance 
electronics, requires specially adapted mainte-
nance and repair methods. Therefore, have cor-
responding work on your BMW performed only 
by your BMW Sports Activity Vehicle Center or 
a workshop that works according to BMW 
repair procedures with correspondingly trained 
personnel. If this work is not carried out prop-
erly, there is a danger of subsequent damage 
and related safety hazards.<
Parts and accessories
For your own safety, use genuine parts 
and accessories approved by BMW. 
When you purchase accessories tested and 
approved by BMW and Genuine BMW Parts, 
you simultaneously acquire the assurance that 
they have been thoroughly tested by BMW to 
ensure optimum performance when installed 
on your vehicle. 
BMW warrants these parts to be free from 
defects in material and workmanship. 
BMW will not accept any liability for damage 
resulting from installation of parts and accesso-
ries not approved by BMW. 
BMW cannot test every product made by other 
manufacturers to verify if it can be used on a 
BMW safely and without risk to either the vehi-
cle, its operation or its occupants. 
Genuine BMW Parts, BMW Accessories and 
other products approved by BMW, together 
with professional advice on using these items, 
are available from all BMW Sports Activity Vehi-
cle 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 mobile phone from 
within the vehicle without using an externally 
mounted antenna, or transceiver equipment 
such as CBs, walkie-talkies, ham radios, or sim-
ilar accessories may cause extensive damage 
to the vehicle, compromise its safety, interfere 
with the vehicle's electrical system or affect the 
validity of the BMW Limited Warranty. Refer to 
your BMW Sports Activity Vehicle Center for 
additional information.<
Maintenance, replacement, or repair of 
the emission control devices and sys-
tems may be performed by any automotive 
repair establishment or individual using any cer-
tified automotive part.<
ba8_e70ag.book  Seite 5  Freitag, 5. Juni 2009  11:42 11 

Cockpit
10
Cockpit
Around the steering wheel: controls and displays
1Rear window safety switch38
2Opening and closing windows37
3Folding exterior mirrors in and out
*52
4Adjusting exterior mirrors52
Automatic curb monitor
*53
5
Instrument lighting105
Fog lamps105
*
ba8_e70ag.book  Seite 10  Freitag, 5. Juni 2009  11:42 11 

At a glance
 11Reference
Controls
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
9BMW X6: upshifting or downshifting 
with automatic transmission65
10Instrument panel12
13Ignition lock5914Buttons on steering wheel
15Horn, entire surface
18Releasing hood239 6
Parking lamps102
Low beams102
Automatic headlamp control
*102 
Adaptive Head Light
*103 
High-beam assistant
*104
7
Head-Up Display
*100
8
Turn signals67
High beams, headlamp flasher67
High-beam assistant
*104
Roadside parking lamps
*104
Time, date, outside temperature, 
Check Control71, 78
Computer73
11
Windshield wipers67
Rain sensor68
BMW X5: rear window wiper68
12Starting/stopping engine and 
switching ignition on/off 59
Telephone*:
Accepting and ending calls, start 
dialing
* selected phone number, 
redialing if no phone number is 
selected
Volume
Activating/deactivating voice acti-
vation system
* 22
Changing the radio station
Selecting a music track
Scrolling through the redial list
Next entertainment source
Recirculated-air mode, 110
Steering wheel heating
*54
16
Steering wheel adjustment53
17
Cruise control
*69
ba8_e70ag.book  Seite 11  Freitag, 5. Juni 2009  11:42 11 

Voice activation system
22
Voice activation system
The concept
The voice activation system allows you to con-
trol operation of various vehicle systems with-
out ever removing your hands from the steering 
wheel.
Individual menu items on the Control Display 
can be spoken as commands. This frees you of 
having to use the controller.
The voice activation system transforms your 
oral commands into control signals for the 
selected systems and provides support in the 
form of instructions or questions.
The voice activation system uses a special 
microphone located in the area of the interior 
rearview mirror, refer to page14.
Precondition
Using iDrive, set the language that applies for 
the voice activation system in order to enable 
identification of the spoken commands. To set 
the language of iDrive, refer to page81.
Symbols in Owner's Manual
Voice commands
Activating voice command system
1.Press the  button on the steering wheel.
 This symbol on the Control Display and 
an acoustic signal tell you that the voice 
activation system can respond to com-
mands.2.Say the command. 
The command is displayed on the Control 
Display.
 This symbol appears on the Control Display 
when you can enter additional commands. 
If no other commands are possible, then oper-
ate the equipment via iDrive.
Terminating or canceling voice 
command system
Press the  button on the steering wheel 
or
In dialogs that call for a text of your choice, the 
procedure can only be canceled using the but-
ton on the steering wheel.
Possible commands
The commands available in each case depend 
on the menu item selected on the Control Dis-
play.
To have the available commands read aloud:
For example, if "CD/DVD" is selected, the com-
mands for operating CD/Multimedia are read 
aloud.
Running functions directly with short 
commands
With short commands you can carry out certain 
functions directly, regardless of which menu 
item is selected, refer to page273.
*
{...} Say the specified commands word for 
word. 
{{...}} Indicates responses of the voice acti-
vation system.
{Cancel}
{Voice commands}
ba8_e70ag.book  Seite 22  Freitag, 5. Juni 2009  11:42 11 

At a glance
 23Reference
Controls
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
Example: selecting the track of a CD
1.Switch on Entertainment sound output if 
necessary.
2.Press the  button on the steering wheel.
Setting the voice dialog
You can set whether the system should use the 
standard dialog or a shorter variant. In the 
shorter variant of the voice dialog, the prompts 
and responses from the system are abbrevi-
ated.
1."Settings"
2."Language/Units"
3."Speech mode:"
4.Select a setting:
>"Default"
>"Short"
Notes
To operate the phone by voice, refer to 
page209.<
For voice commands, bear in mind the follow-
ing:
>Do not use the voice activation system to 
initiate an Emergency Request. In stressful 
situations, the voice and vocal pitch can 
change. This can unnecessarily delay the 
establishment of a telephone connection.>Say the commands and numbers smoothly 
and at normal volume, avoiding excessive 
emphases and pauses. This also applies 
when spelling out and saying a full word 
during destination entry.
>When selecting a radio station, use the 
common pronunciation of the station name.
>For entries in the voice-activated phone 
book, only use names in the language of the 
voice activation system and no abbrevia-
tions.
>Keep doors, windows, and glass sunroof
*/
panorama glass sunroof
* closed in order to 
avoid unpleasant outside noise.
>Avoid making other noise in the vehicle 
while speaking. 3.Select the music track, e.g.: 
{C D track 4}
System says: 
{{Track 4}}
ba8_e70ag.book  Seite 23  Freitag, 5. Juni 2009  11:42 11 

Controls
 27Reference
At a glance
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
>12h/24h clock format, refer to page80
>Date format, refer to page80
>Lighting settings:
>Triple turn signal activation, refer to 
page67
>Welcome lamps, refer to page102
>Pathway lighting, refer to page103
>Daytime driving lamps
*, refer to 
page103
>High-beam assistant
*, refer to page104
>PDC Park Distance Control
*: optical warn-
ing, refer to page83
>Top View
*: optical warning, refer to 
page85
>Rear view camera
*:
>Selecting functions, refer to page86
>Type of display, refer to page87
>Head-Up Display
*: selection, brightness 
and position of display, refer to page100
>Automatic climate control: AUTO program 
and intensity, cooling function, and auto-
matic recirculated-air control/recirculated-
air mode, temperature, air distribution, ven-
tilation temperature, starting on page108
>Programmable memory buttons: selecting 
stored functions, refer to page20
>Positions of driver's seat, outside mirrors, 
and steering wheel
*, refer to page45
>Adaptive Drive
*: selected chassis and sus-
pension tuning, refer to page91
>Audio sources: volume and tone settings, 
refer to page160
>Radio:
>Display of stored stations, refer to 
page165
>Switching RDS Radio Data System on/
off
*, refer to page164
>Phone: volume setting, refer to 
pages205,210
Central locking system
The concept
The central locking system functions when the 
driver's door is closed.
The system simultaneously engages and 
releases the locks on the following:
>Doors
>liftgate
>Fuel filler door
Operating from outside
>using the remote control
>using the door lock
>with comfort access
* using the door han-
dles
The interior lamps and the courtesy lamps
* are 
also switched on and off with the remote con-
trol. The alarm system
 is armed/disarmed at the 
same time.
You can find more detailed information on the 
alarm system
 on page34.
Operating from inside
Using the button for central locking, refer to 
page30. The fuel filler door is not locked.
In an accident of sufficient severity, the central 
locking system automatically unlocks the vehi-
cle. In addition, the hazard warning flashers and 
interior lamps come on.
Opening and closing:
Using remote control
Persons or animals in a parked vehicle 
could lock the doors from the inside. 
Always take along the remote control when 
leaving the vehicle so that the vehicle can then 
be opened from the outside.<
Unlocking
Press the  button. 
This unlocks the vehicle.
ba8_e70ag.book  Seite 27  Freitag, 5. Juni 2009  11:42 11 

Opening and closing
34
Closing liftgate
Make sure that the closing path of the lift-
gate is clear, otherwise injuries may 
result.<
The liftgate closes automatically when you 
press the button on the inside of the liftgate.
To stop the closing process:
>Press the button on the inside of the lift-
gate.
>Press the button on the outside of the lift-
gate.
Closing is not canceled when you put the 
vehicle into motion.<
The liftgate also closes automatically 
without pressing the button if it is loaded 
with an additional weight of approx. 11 lbs./5 kg, 
e.g. snow or ice.<
Manually opening or closing
In case of an electrical malfunction:
1.Push out cover 1 on the liftgate with a 
screwdriver.
2.Push the catch 2 in the direction of the 
arrow.
3.Open or close the liftgate slowly and with-
out making sudden movements.
Alarm system
The concept
The vehicle alarm system responds:
>When a door, the hood, or the liftgate is 
opened
>To movements in the vehicle: interior 
motion sensor, refer to page35
>To changes in the vehicle's tilt if someone 
attempts to steal the wheels or tow the 
vehicle
>To interruptions in battery voltage
Unauthorized operations are briefly signaled by 
the alarm system:
>with an acoustic alarm
>by switching on
 the hazard warning flashers
>by flashing the high beams
Arming and disarming alarm system
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.
With the system armed, the liftgate can also be 
opened using the  button of the remote con-
trol, refer to page28. When the liftgate is 
closed, it is once again locked and monitored.
Switching off alarm
>Unlock the vehicle using the remote control, 
refer to page27.
>Insert the remote control all the way into the 
ignition lock.
ba8_e70ag.book  Seite 34  Freitag, 5. Juni 2009  11:42 11