2012 BMW X5 XDRIVE35I tow

Activating/deactivating via iDrive
1.
"Settings"
2. "Lighting"
3. "High beam assistant" The setting is stored for the remote control cur‐
rently in use.
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.
▷ 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.
▷ If the sensor view field is dirty. The view field of the sensor is located on the
front of the interior rearview mirror.
Do not cover this area with stickers, etc.
Clean

the sensor view field with a cloth mois‐
tened with a small amount of glass cleaner.
Front fog lamps*
The parking lamps or low beams must be
switched on. Press the button. The green indicator
lamp

in the instrument cluster lights up.
If the automatic headlamp control, refer to
page 82, is activated, the low beams will come
on automatically when you switch on the fog
lamps.
Instrument lighting Adjust the brightness using the thumbwheel.
Interior lamps
General information
The

interior lamps, footwell lamps*, exit lamps*,
cargo area lamps and courtesy lamps* are con‐
trolled automatically.
The courtesy lamps* have LED lights in the door
handles to illuminate the exterior area in front of
the doors.
To avoid draining the battery, all lamps inside
the car are switched off about 8 minutes after
the ignition is switched off, Start/Stop button,
refer to page 61. Seite 84
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Lamps

▷
During heavy brake application.
▷ When the turn signal flashes.
System limits Personal responsibility
The system cannot serve as a substitute
for
the driver's personal judgment of the course
of the road and the traffic situation.
In the event of a warning, do not jerk the steering
wheel; otherwise, you may lose control over the
vehicle.◀
The system may not be fully functional in the
following situations:
▷ In heavy fog, rain or snowfall.
▷ In the event of worn, poorly visible, merging,
diverging,

or multiple lane markings such as
in construction areas.
▷ When the demarcation lines are covered by
snow, ice, dirt or water.
▷ In tight curves or on narrow lanes.
▷ When the demarcation lines are covered by
objects.
▷ When driving very close to the vehicle in
front of you.
▷ When driving toward bright lights.
▷ When the windshield is fogged over, dirty or
covered by a sticker, etc., in front of the in‐
terior rearview mirror.
Malfunctions
Steering wheel vibration
Frequent

activation of the steering wheel vibra‐
tion causes the system to overheat.
This causes the lane departure warning to be‐
come deactivated.
Let the system cool and reactivate it by pressing
the button. Camera
The camera is located on the front of the interior
rearview mirror.
Keep the area in front of the interior rearview
mirror clear.
Brake force display*
The concept
BMW X5
▷
During normal brake application, the outer
brake lamps light up.
▷ During heavy brake application, the inner
brake lamps light up in addition.
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Safety

Chassis and suspension tuning
Two chassis and suspension tunings are avail‐
able for selection.
▷
Normal:
The comfortable basic setting offers opti‐
mum comfort when traveling.
▷ Sport:
The sporty basic setting offers increased
driving agility.
Selecting chassis and suspension
tuning Press the button.
The system switches between the two chassis
and suspension tuning settings.
▷
Sport:
The
LED in the button lights up and SPORT
is displayed in the instrument panel.
▷ Normal:
The LED in the button goes out.
The selection of the chassis and suspension
tuning setting is stored for the remote control
currently in use.
Drive-off assistant
This

system supports driving away on gradients.
The parking brake is not required.
1. Hold the vehicle in place with the foot brake.
2. Release the foot brake and drive away with‐
out delay.
Depending on the vehicle load, the vehicle may
roll back slightly. Driving off without delay
After

releasing the foot brake, start driving
without delay, since the drive-off assistant will
not hold the vehicle in place for more than ap‐
prox. 2 seconds and the vehicle will begin rolling
back.◀
Self-leveling suspension*
The concept
The self-leveling suspension on the rear axle
assures a continuous ground clearance.
To do so, the height of the vehicle is measured
by sensors at both rear wheels.
If the actual height deviates from the defined
height, such as due to cargo in the vehicle, this
difference is compensated very quickly. In ad‐
dition, spring motions resulting from cornering
or irregularities in the road surface are reduced
to a minimum.
The system works automatically.
Malfunctions
Malfunctions are displayed via Check Control,
refer to page 76.
Active steering*
The concept
The active steering actively varies the steering
angle of the front wheels in relation to the steer‐
ing wheel movements. In addition, it also varies
the steering force required for steering depend‐
ing on the vehicle's speed.
When you are driving in the low speed range, for
instance in a town or when parking, the steering
angle increases, i.e., steering becomes very di‐
rect. In the higher speed range, on the other
hand, the steering angle is reduced more and
more. This improves the handling of your vehicle
over the entire speed range.
In critical situations, the system can make tar‐
geted corrections to the steering angle provided Seite 100
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Driving stability control systems

▷
Green: the system is active.
▷ Orange: the system is interrupted.
2 Selected desired speed appears briefly
If the display --- mph or --- km/h appears briefly,
conditions may not be adequate to operate the
system.
Call up Check Control messages, refer to
page 77.
Malfunction The
warning lamp comes on when the
system has failed.
A message appears on the Control
Display. More information, refer to page 76.
Park Distance Control PDC*
The concept
In addition to the PDC Park Distance Control, the
backup camera*, refer to page 112, can be
switched on.
PDC supports you when parking. A slow ap‐
proach to an object in front of or behind your ve‐
hicle is announced by:
▷ Signal tones.
▷ Visual display.
Measurement
Measurements
are made by ultrasound sensors
in the bumpers.
The range is approx. 6 ft/2 m.
An acoustic warning is first given:
▷ By the front* sensors and two rear corner
sensors at approx. 24 in/60 cm.
▷ By the rear middle sensors at approx. 5 ft/
1.50 m.
System limits Check the traffic situation as well
PDC cannot serve as a substitute for the
driver's personal judgment of the traffic situa‐
tion.

Check the traffic situation around the vehi‐ cle with your own eyes. Otherwise, an accident
could result from road users or objects located
outside of the PDC detection range.
Loud

noises from outside and inside the vehicle
may prevent you from hearing the PDC's signal
tone.◀
Avoid driving quickly with PDC
Avoid approaching an object quickly.
Avoid driving away quickly while PDC is not yet
active.
For technical reasons, the system may other‐
wise be too late in issuing a warning.◀
Limits of ultrasonic measurement
The detection of objects can reach the physical
limits of ultrasonic measurement, for instance:
▷ With tow bars and trailer hitches.
▷ With thin or wedge-shaped objects.
▷ With low objects.
▷ With objects with corners and sharp edges.
Low objects already displayed, e.g., curbs, can
move
into the blind area of the sensors before or
after a continuous tone sounds.
High, protruding objects such as ledges may not
be detected.
False warnings
PDC may issue a warning under the following
conditions even though there is no obstacle
within the detection range:
▷ In heavy rain.
▷ When sensors are very dirty or covered in
ice.
▷ When sensors are covered in snow.
▷ On rough road surfaces.
▷ In large buildings with right angles and
smooth

walls, e.g., in underground garages.
▷ In heavy exhaust.
▷ Due to other ultrasound sources, e.g.,
sweeping machines, high pressure steam
cleaners or neon lights. Seite 110
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Driving comfort

Climate
At a glance
1
Air toward the windshield and side windows
2 Air for the upper body
3 Air to footwell
4 Automatic climate control with 2-zone con‐
trol  120
Automatic climate control with 4-zone con‐
trol  124
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Reference Mobility Communication Entertainment Navigation Driving tips
Controls At a glance

Selecting program
Press the button repeatedly until the
desired
program is shown on the Con‐
trol Display. 1
Air toward the windshield and side windows
2 Air for the upper body
3 Air to footwell
Pressing the AUTO button cancels the manual
air distribution settings.
The

automatic mode for the air volume remains
effective with manual air distribution.
Cooling function
The passenger compartment can only be
cooled with the engine running.
Press the button.
The air is cooled and dehumidified and
– depending on the temperature setting –
warmed again.
The cooling function helps to prevent conden‐
sation on the windows or to remove it quickly.
Depending on the weather, the windshield may
fog up briefly when the engine is started.
The cooling function is switched on automati‐
cally with the AUTO program.
When using the automatic climate control, con‐
densation water, refer to page 144, develops
that exits underneath the vehicle.
Maximum cooling
Press the button.
The system is set to the lowest
temperature, maximum air volume
and recirculated-air mode. Air flows out of the vents for the upper body re‐
gion. Open them for this purpose.
Air is cooled as quickly as possible:
▷
At an external temperature of approx. 32 ℉/
0 ℃.
▷ When the engine is running.
Automatic recirculated air mode/
recirculated air mode
You can respond to unpleasant odors or pollu‐
tants in the immediate environment by tempo‐
rarily suspending the supply of outside air. The
system

then recirculates the air currently within
the vehicle.
Press the button repeatedly to select
an operating mode:
▷ LEDs off: outside air flows in continuously.
▷ Left LED on, automatic recirculated-air con‐
trol: a sensor detects pollutants in the out‐
side air and controls the shutoff automati‐
cally.
▷ Right LED on, recirculated air mode: the
supply of outside air into the vehicle is per‐
manently blocked.
If the windows are fogged over, switch off the
recirculated-air
mode and press the AUTO but‐
ton to utilize the condensation sensor. Make
sure that air can flow onto the windshield.
Continuous recirculated-air mode
The recirculated air mode should not be
used for an extended period of time, as the air
quality inside the vehicle deteriorates steadily.◀
Residual heat
The heat stored in the engine is used to heat the
interior.
Functional requirement
▷ Up to 15 minutes after the engine has been
switched off.
▷ Warm engine.
▷ The battery is sufficiently charged.
▷ External temperature below 77 ℉/25 ℃. Seite 122
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Climate

▷
Activating heating and distributing air in
footwell:
Turn toward front
▷ Distributing air in storage compartment
area between seats:
Turn toward rear
2 Button for switching on the blower: LED is lit
The heating is not ready for operation without
switching on the blower. After the heating is
switched
off, the blower can be used to recircu‐
late the air within the vehicle, for instance at high
temperatures. To do this, turn thumbwheel 1 to‐
ward the rear and switch on the blower, button 2.
Microfilter/activated-charcoal filter
The microfilter traps dust and pollen in the in‐
coming air.
The activated-charcoal filter removes gaseous
pollutants from the outside air that enters the
vehicle.
The service center replaces this combined filter
during routine maintenance.
More information can be found in the service re‐
quirements display, refer to page 75.
Automatic climate control
with 4-zone control*
Front operation
Corresponds to the operation of automatic cli‐
mate control with 2-zone control, refer to
page 120.
Rear operation
The control unit is located in the center console
in the rear. 1
Temperature, left rear seating area
2 AUTO program
3 Display
4 Temperature, right rear seating area
5 Seat heating, right rear seat
6 Air volume, manual
7 Seat heating, left rear seat
The current setting for the temperature and the
air flow rate is shown on display 3.
Activation/deactivation
1. "Settings"
2. "Climate"
3. "Rear climate control"
4. Select the desired settings. The rear automatic climate control cannot be
operated

if the front automatic climate control is
switched off. With the defrost windows and
eliminate condensation function activated, the
rear automatic climate control is also not ready
for operation.
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Climate

AUTO program
The AUTO program automatically
sets the air distribution toward the
upper body and in the footwell, as
well as the air flow rate. It also
adapts your instructions for the
temperature to outside influences throughout
the year.
Temperature
Set the desired temperature indi‐
vidually on the left and right side.
The automatic climate control achieves this
temperature
as quickly as possible regardless of
the season, using maximum cooling or heating
power if necessary, and then maintains it.
When switching between different temperature
settings in rapid succession, the automatic cli‐
mate control does not have sufficient time to
adjust the set temperature.
Air volume, manual
The air flow rate can be varied by press‐
ing on the corresponding side. The au‐
tomatic mode for the air flow rate can be
switched on again using the AUTO button.
Switching off rear automatic climate
control
With the blower at its lowest setting,
press the left side of the button to
switch off the automatic climate control.
The automatic climate control can also be
switched off with iDrive. To switch on the auto‐
matic climate control again, the system must
first be reactivated, refer to Activating/deacti‐
vating.
The system is switched on again by pressing
any button of the rear automatic climate control. Ventilation in rear
1
Use the thumbwheels to smoothly open and
close the air vents
2 Thumbwheels to adjust temperature in up‐
per

body region; can be adjusted separately
for left and right:
▷ Blue: colder
▷ Red: warmer
3 Use the lever to change the direction of the
air flow
BMW X5 1
Use the lever to change the direction of the
air flow
2 Thumbwheel to smoothly open and close air
vents
For ventilation of the 3rd row seats, refer to
page 123.
Parked-car ventilation*
The concept
The parked-car ventilation blows air into the
passenger compartment to lower interior tem‐
peratures.
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Reference Mobility Communication Entertainment Navigation Driving tips
Controls At a glance