
Reference
At a glance
Controls
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
Contents
The quickest way to find special topics is to 
consult the index, refer to page266.
Using this Owner's Manual
4Notes
7Reporting safety defects
At a glance
10Cockpit
16iDrive
21Letters and numbers
22Voice activation system
Controls
26Opening and closing
42Adjustments
51Transporting children safely
55Driving
71Controls overview
84Technology for driving comfort and 
safety
97Lamps
102Climate
107Practical interior accessories
Driving tips
122Things to remember when driving
Navigation
130Navigation system
131Destination entry
140Destination guidance
147What to do if …
Entertainment
150On/off and tone
153Radio
156Satellite radio
161CD/DVD player and CD changer
168Music collection
173External devices
Communications
180Telephone
193Contacts
195BMW Assist
Mobility
202Refueling
208Wheels and tires
225Under the hood
231Maintenance
233Care
237Replacing components
246Giving and receiving assistance
Reference
254Technical data
259Short commands for the voice activation 
system
266Everything from A to Z 

 5Reference
At a glance
Controls
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
The individual vehicle
When you ordered your BMW, you chose vari-
ous items of equipment. 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 in exceptional cases that 
features described in this Owner's Manual 
could differ from those on your vehicle.
For your own safety
Maintenance and repair
Advanced technology, e.g. the use of 
modern materials and powerful electron-
ics, requires specially adapted maintenance 
and repair methods. You should therefore have 
the corresponding work on your vehicle per-
formed only by your BMW center or at a work-
shop that works according to BMW repair pro-
cedures 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 Original 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.
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 accessories not 
approved by BMW, 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, for 
instance, CBs, walkie-talkies, ham radio 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. See your 
BMW 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 
certified automotive part.< 

Cockpit
10
Cockpit
Around the steering wheel: controls and displays
3Folding exterior mirrors in and out*48
4Adjusting exterior mirrors, automatic curb 
monitor
*48
1Safety switch for electric rear 
windows37 
2
Opening and closing windows36 5
Parking lamps97
Low beams97
Automatic headlamp control
*97
Adaptive light control
*98
High-beam assistant
*99
6
Fog lamps100 

At a glance
 11Reference
Controls
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
8Instrument cluster12
11Ignition lock5512Buttons on the steering wheel
14Horn, entire surface
15Adjusting the steering wheel50
17Releasing the hood225
18Opening the tailgate/trunk lid31 7
Turn signals60
High beams, headlamp flasher99
High-beam assistant
*99
Roadside parking lamps
*99
Computer73
Settings and information about the 
vehicle75
9
Windshield wipers61
Rain sensor
*61
Sports Wagon:
Rear window wiper62
10Switching the ignition on/off and 
starting/stopping the engine55
Telephone*:
Accepting and ending a call; dial-
ing
* the selected phone number; 
redialing if no phone number is 
selected
Volume
Activating/deactivating voice acti-
vation system
*22
Changing the radio station
Interrupting a traffic bulletin
Selecting a music track
Scrolling through the redial list
Next entertainment source
Recirculated-air mode104
13
Steering wheel heating
*50
16
Cruise control
*62
Active cruise control
*64 

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 removing your hands from the steering 
wheel.
Most menu items on the Control Display can be 
voiced as commands. It is not necessary 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
Via iDrive, select the language in which the 
voice activation system is operating, so that the 
spoken commands can be identified. Selecting 
the language for iDrive, refer to page83.
Symbols in the Owner's Manual
Saying commands
Activating voice activation system
1.Press the  button on the steering wheel. This symbol on the Control Display and 
an acoustic signal indicate that the voice 
activation system is ready to receive spo-
ken commands.
2.Say the command.
The command appears on the Control Dis-
play.
 This symbol appears on the Control Display 
when you can enter additional commands. 
If no further commands are possible, continue 
by operating the item of equipment via iDrive.
Terminating or canceling voice 
activation 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" is selected, the commands 
for operating CD/Multimedia are read aloud.
*
{...} Say the specified commands word for 
word. 
{{...}} Indicates responses of the voice acti-
vation system.
{Cancel}
{Voice commands} or {Help} 

At a glance
 23Reference
Controls
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
Calling up functions immediately via 
short commands
Short commands enable you to perform certain 
functions immediately, irrespective of which 
menu item is selected, refer to page259.
Example: selecting the track of a CD
1.If necessary, switch on entertainment audio 
output.
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.To select the setting:
>"Default"
>"Short"
Notes
To operate the phone by voice, refer to 
page189.<
For voice commands, bear in mind the 
following:
>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.
>Pronounce the commands and digits 
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 
standard 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 the doors, windows and glass roof/
panorama glass roof closed to prevent 
interference from outside noise.
>Avoid ambient noise in the vehicle while 
speaking. 3.Select the music track, e.g.: 
{C D track 4}
System says: 
{{Track 4}} 

Controls
 33Reference
At a glance
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
Sedan
Sports Wagon
Sports Wagon: opening and closing the 
rear window
Small items can be loaded and unloaded 
quickly when the rear window is opened sepa-
rately.
When the button on the roller cover is 
pressed, refer to page115, the roller 
cover is raised. Before closing the rear window, 
press the roller cover downward until it 
engages.<
Press the button: the rear window opens 
slightly. It can now be swung upwards.
Press the window shut to close it.Make sure that the corners of any pointed 
or sharp-edged cargo are padded if they 
could bump against the rear window while the 
vehicle is in motion; otherwise, the heating ele-
ments of the rear window could be damaged.<
Alarm system*
The concept
The vehicle alarm system responds:
>When a door, the hood or the trunk lid/tail-
gate is opened
>To movements inside the vehicle: Interior 
motion sensor, refer to page34
>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 has been an interruption of 
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.
You can open the trunk lid/tailgate even when 
the alarm system is armed, by pressing the 
button on the remote control, refer to 
page28. The lid is locked and monitored again 
as soon as you close it.
Panic mode*
You can trigger the alarm system if you find 
yourself in a dangerous situation:
Press the  button for at least three seconds.
To switch off the alarm: press any button. 

Opening and closing
34
Switching off an alarm
>Unlock the car with the remote control, refer 
to page27.
>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.
>The indicator lamp flashes after locking: 
doors, hood, trunk lid/tailgate or rear win-
dow are not properly closed. Even if you do 
not close the alerted area, the system 
begins to monitor the remaining areas, and 
the indicator lamp flashes continuously 
after approx. 10 seconds. The interior 
motion sensor and the tilt alarm sensor are 
not activated.
>The indicator lamp goes out after unlocking: 
your vehicle has not been disturbed while 
you were away.
>If the indicator lamp flashes after unlocking 
until the remote control is inserted in the 
ignition, but for no longer than approx. 
5 minutes: your vehicle has been disturbed 
while you were away.
Tilt alarm sensor
The tilt of the vehicle is monitored. The alarm 
system reacts, e.g. to attempts to steal a wheel 
or tow the vehicle.
Interior motion sensor
In order for the interior motion sensor to func-
tion properly, the windows and glass roof must 
be completely closed
*.
Avoiding unintentional alarms
The tilt alarm sensor and interior motion sensor 
may be switched off at the same time. This pre-
vents unintentional alarms, e.g. in the following 
situations:
>In duplex garages
>During transport on car-carrying trains, 
boats/ships or on a trailer
>When animals are to remain in the vehicle
Switching off tilt alarm sensor and 
interior motion sensor
Press the  button on the remote control 
again as soon as the vehicle is locked.
The indicator lamp lights up briefly and then 
flashes continuously. The tilt alarm sensor and 
the interior motion sensor are switched off until 
the next time the vehicle is unlocked and subse-
quently locked again.
Comfort Access*
Comfort Access enables you to enter your vehi-
cle without needing to hold the remote control 
in your hand. All you need to do is wear the 
remote control close to your body, e.g. in your 
jacket pocket. The vehicle detects the corre-
sponding remote control within the immediate 
vicinity or in the passenger compartment.
Comfort Access supports the following 
functions:
>Unlocking/locking the vehicle
>Unlocking the trunk lid/tailgate separately
>Engine starting
>Convenient closing