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 page258.
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
52Transporting children safely
55Driving
75Controls overview
88Technology for driving comfort and
safety
101Lamps
106Climate
111Practical interior accessories
Driving tips
126Things to remember when driving
Navigation
134Navigation system
135Destination entry
144Destination guidance
151What to do if …
Entertainment
154On/off and tone
157Radio
160Satellite radio
165CD/DVD player and CD changer
172Music collection
177External devices
Communications
184Telephone
196Contacts
198BMW Assist
Mobility
206Refueling
208Wheels and tires
222Under the hood
227Maintenance
229Care
233Replacing components
238Giving and receiving assistance
Reference
246Technical data
251Short commands for the voice activation
system
258Everything 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.<
7Reference
At a glance
Controls
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
Reporting safety defects
For US customers
The following only applies to vehicles owned
and operated in the US.
If you believe that your vehicle has a defect
which could cause a crash or could cause injury
or death, you should immediately inform the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
NHTSA, in addition to notifying BMW of
North America, LLC, P.O. Box 1227,
Westwood, New Jersey 07675-1227,
Telephone 1-800-831-1117.
If NHTSA receives similar complaints, it may
open an investigation, and if it finds that a safety
defect exists in a group of vehicles, it may order
a recall and remedy campaign. However,
NHTSA cannot become involved in individual
problems between you, your center, or BMW of
North America, LLC.
To contact NHTSA, you may call the Vehicle
Safety Hotline toll-free at 1-888-327-4236
(TTY: 1-800-424-9153); go to
http://www.safercar.gov; or write to: Adminis-
trator, NHTSA, 400 Seventh Street, SW.,
Washington, DC 20590. You can also obtain
other information about motor vehicle safety
from http://www.safercar.gov
For Canadian customers
Canadian customers who wish to report a
safety-related defect to Transport Canada,
Defect Investigations and Recalls, may call 1-
800-333-0510 toll-free from anywhere in Can-
ada or 1-613-993-9851 from the Ottawa region
and from other countries, or contact Transport
Canada by mail at: Transport Canada, ASFAD,
Place de Ville, Tower C, 330 Sparks Street,
Ottawa, ON, K1A 0N5.
You can also obtain other information about
motor vehicle safety from http://www.tc.gc.ca
At a glance
11Reference
Controls
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
9Instrument cluster12
12Ignition lock5513Buttons on the steering wheel
15Horn, entire surface
16Adjusting the steering wheel51
18Releasing the hood222
19Opening the trunk lid31 8
Turn signals64
High beams, headlamp
flasher103
High-beam assistant
*103
Roadside parking lamps
*103
Computer76
Settings and information about
the vehicle79
10
Windshield wipers65
Rain sensor
*65
11Switching 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
activation system
*22
Changing the radio station
Interrupting a traffic bulletin
Selecting a music track
Scrolling through the redial list
Next entertainment source
Recirculated-air mode108
14
Steering wheel heating
*51
17
Cruise control
*66
Active cruise control
*68
At a glance
15Reference
Controls
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
1Coupe: microphone for voice activation
system
* and for telephone* in hands-free
mode
Convertible: microphone on steering col-
umn
2SOS: initiating an Emergency Request
call
*238
3Reading lamps105
4Coupe: glass roof, electric
*37
5Interior lamps105
6Passenger airbag status lamp
*99
7Control Display16
8Hazard warning flashers
9Dynamic Traction Control DTC90
10Central locking system30
11Automatic climate control
12CD/DVD drive
*16513Changing the audio and entertainment
sources
14Selecting AM or FM waveband
15Changing
>Radio station157
>Track165
17Controller16
Can be turned, pressed, or moved in four
directions
18Buttons on the controller16
Selecting menus directly
20Programmable memory keys20
21Switching entertainment audio sources on/
off and adjusting volume154
22Ejecting a CD/DVD
*165 Air distribution to the
windshield107
Air distribution to the upper body
area107
Air distribution to the footwell107
Automatic air distribution and flow
rate107
Cooling function108
Automatic recirculated-air control
AUC and recirculated-air
mode108
Maximum cooling107
ALL program108
Air volume108
Defrosting windows108
Rear window defroster108
Heated seats
*47
16
Park Distance Control PDC*88
Coupe:
Roller sun blind
*114
Coupe:
Hill Descent Control HDC
*90
19Convertible:
Opening and closing retractable
hardtop38
At a glance
17Reference
Controls
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
Buttons on the controller
Operating principle
With the ignition at radio readiness or beyond,
refer to page55, the following message is dis-
played on the Control Display:
To hide the message:
Press the controller.
The main menu is displayed.
The message is automatically hidden after
approx. 10 seconds.
Opening the main menu
Press the MENUbutton.
The main menu is displayed.All iDrive functions can be called up via the main
menu.
Selecting a menu item
The menu items shown in white can be
selected.
1.Turn the controller until the desired menu
item is highlighted.
2.Press the controller.
A new menu is displayed or the function is exe-
cuted.
Menu items in the Owner's Manual
In the Owner's Manual, menu items that can
be selected are set in quotation marks,
e.g. "Settings".
Changing between panels
After selecting a menu item, e.g. "Radio", a new
menu is displayed on a panel. The panels can
overlap.
ButtonFunction
MENU Open the main menu
RADIO Open the Radio menu
CD Open the CD/Multimedia menu
NAV Open the Navigation menu
TEL Open the Telephone menu
BACK Display the previous menu
OPTION Open the Options menu
At a glance
19Reference
Controls
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
4.Turn the controller until "Time:" is high-
lighted, and then press the controller.
5.Turn the controller to set the hours and
press the controller.
6.Turn the controller to set the minutes and
press the controller.
Status information
1Time
2Display for:
>Reception strength of the wireless
network, depends on the mobile phone
>Incoming, outgoing or missed call
>SMS
* received
3Display for:
>Entertainment:
Radio, CD/DVD, external devices
>Telephone
*:
Name of the mobile phone paired with
the vehicle4Sound output is switched off or
display for traffic bulletins
*:
>"TI":
Traffic bulletins are switched on.
>No display:
Traffic bulletins are switched off.
Other displays:
Status information is temporarily hidden during
Check Control message displays or entries via
the voice activation system
*.
Switching the Control Display
off/on
1.Press the OPTIONbutton.
2."Switch off control display"
Press the controller to switch on.
Professional navigation system: split
screen
Additional information, e.g. from the computer,
can be displayed on the right side of the split
screen.
On the split screen, this information remains
visible even when you change to another menu.
Switching the split screen on and off
1.Press the OPTIONbutton.
2."Split screen"
The split screen is activated.
iDrive
20
Selecting the display for the split
screen content
When the split screen is switched on, you can
select the content displayed on the screen.
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
... Touch the button for an
extended period.