2011 BMW 550I XDRIVE GT light

Lamps
At a glance
1
Rear fog lamps*
2 Front fog lamps*
3 Automatic headlamp control / adaptive light
control* / high-beam assistant* / welcome
lamps / daytime running lights
*
4 Lamps off / daytime running lights*
5 Parking lamps / daytime running lights*
6 Low beams / welcome lamps / high-beam
assistant*
7 Instrument lighting
Parking lamps/low beams,
headlamp control
Parking lamps
Switch position : the vehicle lamps light
up on all sides, e.g., for parking.
Do not use the parking lamps for extended pe‐
riods; otherwise, the battery may become dis‐
charged

and it would then be impossible to start
the engine.
When parking, it is preferable to switch on the
one-sided roadside parking lamps, refer to
page 86.
Low beams
Switch position with the ignition switched
on: the low beams light up. Welcome lamps
When parking the vehicle, leave the switch in
position or : the parking and interior
lamps light up briefly when the vehicle is un‐
locked.
Activating/deactivating
1. "Settings"
2. "Lighting"
3. "Welcome light" The setting is stored for the remote control cur‐
rently in use.
Headlamp courtesy delay feature
The

low beams stay lit for a short while after the
ignition is switched off, if the lamps are switched
off and the headlamp flasher is switched on.
Setting the duration
1. "Settings"
2. "Lighting"
3. "Pathway light.: s" 4.
Set the duration.
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Reference Mobility Communication Entertainment Navigation Driving tips
Controls At a glance

The setting is stored for the remote control cur‐
rently in use.
Automatic headlamp control
Switch
position : the low beams are switched
on and off automatically, e.g., in tunnels, in twi‐
light or if there is precipitation. The indicator
lamp in the instrument cluster lights up.
A blue sky with the sun low on the horizon can
cause the lights to be switched on.
The low beams always stay on when the fog
lamps are switched on.
Personal responsibility
The automatic headlamp control cannot
serve

as a substitute for your personal judgment
in determining when the lamps should be
switched on in response to ambient lighting
conditions.
For example, the sensors are unable to detect
fog or hazy weather. To avoid safety risks, you
should always switch on the lamps manually un‐
der these conditions.◀
Daytime running lights*
With the ignition switched on, the daytime run‐
ning lights light up in position 0, or .
After the ignition is switched off, the parking
lamps light up in position

.
Activating/deactivating
1. "Settings"
2. "Lighting"
3. "Daytime running lamps" The setting is stored for the remote control cur‐
rently in use. Roadside parking lamps
The vehicle can be illuminated on one side.
Switching on
With the ignition switched off, press the lever
either up or down past the resistance point for
approx. 2 seconds.
Switching off
Briefly press the lever to the resistance point in
the opposite direction.
Adaptive light control*
The concept
Adaptive light control is a variable headlamp
control system that enables dynamic illumina‐
tion of the road surface.
Depending on the steering angle and other pa‐
rameters, the light from the headlamp follows
the course of the road.
In tight curves, e.g., on mountainous roads or
when turning, an additional, corner-illuminating
lamp is switched on that lights up the inside of
the curve when the vehicle is moving below a
certain speed.
Controls
Activating
Switch position
with the ignition switched
on.
The turning lamps are automatically switched
on depending on the steering angle or the use
of turn signals.
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Lamps

To avoid blinding oncoming traffic, the adaptive
light control directs light towards the front pas‐
senger side when the vehicle is at a standstill.
When
driving in reverse, only the turning lamp is
active.
Self-leveling headlights
The self-leveling headlights feature adapts the
light distribution to the contours of the road.
The light distribution is lowered on hilltops to
avoid blinding oncoming traffic and tilted in de‐
pressions to increase visibility.
Malfunction
A Check Control message is displayed.
Adaptive light control is malfunctioning or has
failed. Have the system checked as soon as pos‐
sible.
High-beam Assistant*
The concept
When the low beams are switched on, this sys‐
tem automatically switches the high beams on
and off. The procedure is controlled by a sensor
on the front of the interior rearview mirror. The
assistant ensures that the high beams are
switched on whenever the traffic situation al‐
lows. The driver can intervene at any time and
switch the high beams on and off as usual.
Activating the High-beam Assistant 1.
Turn the light switch to or .
2. Press the button on the turn signal lever, ar‐
row. The indicator lamp in the instrument
cluster lights up.
When the lights are switched on, the
high beams are switched on and off automati‐
cally.
The system responds to light from oncoming
traffic
and traffic driving ahead of you, and to ad‐
equate illumination, e.g., in towns and cities.
Switching the high beams on and off
manually ▷
High beams on, arrow 1.
▷ High beams off/headlamp flasher, arrow 2.
To reactivate the High-beam Assistant, press
the button on the turn signal lever.
System limits
Personal responsibility
The high-beam assistant cannot serve as
a substitute for the driver's personal judgment
of

when to use the high beams. Therefore, man‐
ually switch off the high beams in situations
where this is required to avoid a safety risk.◀
The system is not fully functional in situations
such as the following, and driver intervention
may be necessary:
▷ In very unfavorable weather conditions,
such as fog or heavy precipitation.
▷ In detecting poorly-lit road users, such as
pedestrians, cyclists, horseback riders and
wagons; when driving close to train or ship
traffic; and at animal crossings.
▷ In tight curves, on hilltops or in depressions,
in cross traffic or half-obscured oncoming
traffic on freeways. Seite 87
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Controls At a glance

▷
In poorly-lit towns and cities and in the pres‐
ence of highly reflective signs.
▷ At low speeds.
▷ When the windshield in front of the interior
rearview mirror is fogged over, dirty or cov‐
ered with stickers, etc.
Camera The camera is located on the front of the interior
rearview mirror.
Keep the area in front of the interior rearview
mirror clear.
Fog lamps
Front fog lamps*
The parking lamps or low beams must be
switched on.
Press the button. The green indicator
lamp lights up.
If the automatic headlamp control, refer to
page 86, is activated, the low beams will come
on automatically when you switch on the front
fog lamps.
Instrument lighting
Adjusting
The parking lamps or low beams
must
be switched on to adjust the
brightness.
Adjust the brightness using the
thumbwheel. Interior lamps
General information
The interior lamps, footwell lamps, entry lamps
and courtesy lamps are controlled automati‐
cally.
The brightness of some of these lamps is influ‐
enced by the thumbwheel for the instrument
lighting.
1
Interior lamps
2 Reading lamp
Switching the interior lamps on and off Press the button.
To switch off permanently: press the button for
approx. 3 seconds.
To clear this setting: press the button.
Reading lamps Press the button.
Reading lamps are located at the front and rear
next to the interior lamps. Seite 88
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Lamps

▷
Keep the dashboard and window on the
front
passenger side clear, i.e., do not cover
with adhesive labels or coverings, and do not
attach holders such as for navigation instru‐
ments and mobile phones.
▷ Make sure that the front passenger is sitting
correctly, i.e., keeps his or her feet and legs
in the footwell; otherwise, leg injuries can
occur if the front airbag is triggered.
▷ Do not place slip covers, seat cushions or
other objects on the front passenger seat
that are not approved specifically for seats
with integrated side airbags.
▷ Do not hang pieces of clothing, such as jack‐
ets, over the backrests.
▷ Make sure that occupants keep their heads
away from the side airbag and do not rest
against the head airbag; otherwise, injuries
can occur if the airbags are triggered.
▷ Do not remove the airbag restraint system.
▷ Do not remove the steering wheel.
▷ Do not apply adhesive materials to the air‐
bag cover panels, cover them or modify
them in any way.
▷ Never modify either the individual compo‐
nents

or the wiring in the airbag system. This
also applies to steering wheel covers, the
dashboard, the seats, the roof pillars and the
sides of the headliner.◀
Even when all instructions are followed closely,
injury from contact with the airbags cannot be
ruled out in certain situations.
The ignition and inflation noise may lead to
short-term

and, in most cases, temporary hear‐
ing impairment in sensitive individuals.
In the case of a malfunction, deactivation
and after triggering of the airbags
Do not touch the individual components imme‐
diately after the system has been triggered; oth‐
erwise, there is the danger of burns.
Only have the airbags checked, repaired or dis‐
mantled and the airbag generator scrapped by
your service center or a workshop that has the
necessary authorization for handling explosives. Non-professional attempts to service the sys‐
tem

could lead to failure in an emergency or un‐
desired triggering of the airbag, either of which
could result in injury.◀
Warnings and information on the airbags are
also found on the sun visors.
Functional readiness of the airbag
system
When the ignition is switch on, the warn‐
ing lamp in the instrument cluster lights
up briefly and thereby indicates the op‐
erational readiness of the entire airbag system
and the belt tensioner.
Airbag system malfunctioning
▷ In radio ready state, the warning lamp does
not come on.
▷ The warning lamp lights up continuously.
When there is a malfunction, have the air‐
bag system checked immediately
When there is a malfunction, have the airbag
system checked immediately; otherwise, there
is

a risk that the system does not function as ex‐
pected in the event of an accident despite cor‐
responding severity of the accident.◀
Automatic deactivation of the front
passenger airbags
The system determines whether the front pas‐
senger seat is occupied by measuring the re‐
sistance of the human body.
The front, knee, and side airbag on the front
passenger side are activated or deactivated ac‐
cordingly.
Leave feet in the footwell
Make sure that the front passenger keeps
his or her feet in the footwell; otherwise, the front
passenger airbags may not function properly.◀ Seite 90
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Safety

Child restraint fixing system in the front
passenger seat
Before
transporting a child on the front passen‐
ger seat, see the safety notes and instructions
under Children on the front passenger seat.◀
Malfunction of the automatic
deactivation system
When transporting older children and adults, the
front passenger airbags may be deactivated in
certain sitting positions. In this case, the indica‐
tor lamp for the front passenger airbags lights
up.
In this case, change the sitting position so that
the front passenger airbags are activated and
the indicator lamp goes out.
If it is not possible to activate the airbags, have
the person sit in the rear.
To make sure that the occupied seat cushion
can be evaluated correctly
▷ Do not attach covers, cushions, ball mats or
other items to the front passenger seat un‐
less they are specifically recommended by
the manufacturer of your vehicle.
▷ Do not place any objects on the front pas‐
senger seat.
▷ Do not place objects under the seat that
could press against the seat from below.
Indicator lamp for the front passenger
airbags The indicator lamp for the front passenger air‐
bags indicates the operating state of the front
passenger airbags.
The lamp indicates whether the airbags are ac‐
tivated or deactivated. ▷
The indicator lamp lights up
when a child who is properly
seated in a child restraint fix‐
ing system intended for that
purpose is detected on the
seat
or the seat is empty. The
airbags on the front passen‐
ger side are not activated.
▷ The indicator lamp does not light up when,
for example, a correctly seated person of
sufficient size is detected on the seat. The
airbags on the front passenger side are ac‐
tivated.
The system generally detects children seated in
a child seat, especially in the child seats that
were required by NHTSA when the vehicle was
manufactured.

After installing a child seat, make
sure that the indicator lamp for the front pas‐
senger airbags lights up. This indicates that the
child seat has been detected and the front pas‐
senger airbags are not activated.
Strength of the driver's and front
passenger airbag
The strength with which the driver's and front
passenger airbags are triggered depends on the
position of the driver's and front passenger
seats.
To maintain the accuracy of this function over
the long-term, calibrate the front seats when a
corresponding message appears on the Control
Display.
Calibrating the front seats
A corresponding message appears on the Con‐
trol Display.
1. Move the respective seat forward all the
way.
2. Move the respective seat forward again. It
moves forward briefly.
3. Readjust the seat to the desired position.
The calibration procedure is completed when
the
message on the Control Display disappears.
If the message continues to be displayed, repeat
the calibration. Seite 91
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Reference Mobility Communication Entertainment Navigation Driving tips
Controls At a glance

For Canadian models: additional
information
The status display additionally shows the cur‐
rent tire inflation pressures and tire tempera‐
tures.
When correcting the tire inflation pressures,
note the following:
The tire pressure increases as the tire temper‐
ature increases.
Therefore, only correct the tire inflation pres‐
sure
when the tire is at the ambient temperature.
Compare the displayed tire temperature with
the external temperature in the instrument clus‐
ter.
Resetting the system
Reset the system after each correction of the
tire inflation pressure and after every tire or
wheel change.
1. "Vehicle Info"
2. "Vehicle status"
3. "Reset"
4. Start the engine - do not drive away.
5. Reset the tire pressure using "Reset".
6. Drive away.
The tires are shown in gray and "Resetting
TPM..." is displayed.
After

driving for a few minutes, the set tire infla‐
tion pressures are applied as set values. The re‐
setting process is completed automatically dur‐
ing driving. The tires are shown in green and
"TPM active" is shown on the Control Display.
The trip can be interrupted at any time. If you
drive away again, the process resumes auto‐
matically.
If a flat tire is detected during a reset, all tires are
displayed in yellow.
Low tire pressure message
The yellow warning lamp lights up. A
Check Control message is displayed.
▷There is a flat tire or a major loss in
tire inflation pressure. ▷
The system was not reset after a wheel
change and thus warns based on the infla‐
tion pressures initialized last.
1. Reduce your speed and stop cautiously.
Avoid sudden braking and steering maneu‐
vers.
2. Check whether the vehicle is fitted with reg‐
ular tires* or run-flat tires*.
Run-flat

tires, refer to page 249, are labeled
with a circular symbol containing the letters
RSC marked on the tire sidewall.
When a low inflation pressure is indicated, DSC
Dynamic
Stability Control is switched on if nec‐
essary.
Actions in the event of a flat tire
Normal tires*
1. Identify the damaged tire.
Do this by checking the air pressure in all
four tires.
If the tire inflation pressure in all four tires is
correct, the Tire Pressure Monitor may not
have been initialized. In this case, initialize
the system.
If an identification is not possible, please
contact the service center.
2. Rectify the flat tire.
Use

of tire sealant, e.g., the Mobility System,
may damage the TPM wheel electronics. In
this case, have the electronics checked at
the next opportunity and have them re‐
placed if necessary.
Run-flat tires*
You
can continue driving with a damaged tire at
speeds up to 50 mph/80 km/h.
Do not continue driving without run-flat
tires
Do not continue driving if the vehicle is not
equipped with run-flat tires; continued driving
may result in serious accidents.◀ Seite 93
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Continued driving with a flat tire
If continuing to drive with a damaged tire:
1.
Avoid sudden braking and steering maneu‐
vers.
2. Do not exceed a speed of 50 mph/80 km/h.
3. Check the air pressure in all four tires at the
next opportunity.
If the tire inflation pressure in all four tires is
correct, the Tire Pressure Monitor may not
have been initialized. In this case, initialize
the system.
Possible driving distance with complete loss of
tire inflation pressure:
The possible driving distance after a loss of tire
inflation pressure depends on the cargo load
and the driving style and conditions.
For a vehicle containing an average load, the
possible driving distance is approx. 50 miles/
80 km.
When the vehicle is driven with a damaged tire,
its handling characteristics change, e.g., re‐
duced lane stability during braking, a longer
braking distance, and altered self-steering
properties. Adjust your driving style accord‐
ingly. Avoid abrupt steering maneuvers or driv‐
ing over obstacles, e.g., curbs, potholes, etc.
Because
the possible driving distance depends
on how the vehicle is used during the trip, the
actual distance may be smaller or greater de‐
pending on the driving speed, road conditions,
external temperature, cargo load, etc.
Continued driving with a flat tire
Drive moderately and do not exceed a
speed of 50 mph/80 km/h.
A loss of tire inflation pressure results in a
change in the handling characteristics, e.g., re‐
duced lane stability during braking, a longer
braking distance and altered self-steering prop‐
erties.◀
Final tire failure
Vibrations or loud noises while driving can
indicate the final failure of the tire. Reduce speed
and stop; otherwise, pieces of the tire could come loose and cause an accident. Do not con‐
tinue

driving, and contact your service center.◀
Message when the system was not
reset
A Check Control message is displayed.
The system detected a wheel change but was
not reset.
Warnings regarding the current tire inflation
pressure are not reliable.
Check the tire inflation pressure and reset the
system.
Malfunction The yellow warning lamp flashes and
then lights up continuously. A Check
Control message is displayed. No flat
tire can be detected.
Display in the following situations:
▷ A wheel without TPM electronics is fitted:
have

the service center check it if necessary.
▷ Malfunction: have the system checked by
your service center.
▷ TPM could not be fully reset. Reset the sys‐
tem again.
▷ Disturbance by systems or devices with the
same

radio frequency: after leaving the area
of the disturbance, the system automatically
becomes active again.
Declaration according to NHTSA/
FMVSS 138 Tire Pressure Monitoring
System
Each tire, including the spare (if provided)
should be checked monthly when cold and in‐
flated

to the inflation pressure recommended by
the vehicle manufacturer on the vehicle placard
or tire inflation pressure label. (If your vehicle has
tires of a different size than the size indicated on
the vehicle placard or tire inflation pressure la‐
bel, you should determine the proper tire infla‐
tion pressure for those tires.) As an added safety
feature, your vehicle has been equipped with a
tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) that il‐
luminates a low tire pressure telltale when one Seite 94
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Safety