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Owner's Manual for
Vehicle
The Ultimate Driving Machine
THE BMW 3 SERIES SEDAN.
OWNER'S MANUAL.
ContentsA-Z
Online Edition for Part no. 01 40 2 926 810 - X/13
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3 SeriesOwner's Manual for Vehicle
Thank you for choosing a BMW.
The more familiar you are with your vehicle, the better control
you will have on the road. We therefore strongly suggest:
Read this Owner's Manual before starting off in your new BMW.
Also use the Integrated Owner's Manual in your vehicle. It con‐
tains important information on vehicle operation that will help
you make full use of the technical features available in your
BMW. The manual also contains information designed to en‐
hance operating reliability and road safety, and to contribute to
maintaining the value of your BMW.
Any updates made after the editorial deadline for the printed or
Integrated Owner's Manual are located in the appendix of the
printed quick reference for the vehicle.
Supplementary information can be found in the additional bro‐
chures in the onboard literature.
We wish you a safe and enjoyable drive.
BMW AG
Online Edition for Part no. 01 40 2 926 810 - X/13
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© 2013 Bayerische Motoren Werke
Aktiengesellschaft
Munich, Germany
Reprinting, including excerpts, only with the written
consent of BMW AG, Munich.
US English X/13, 11 13 490
Printed on environmentally friendly paper, bleached
without chlorine, suitable for recycling.Online Edition for Part no. 01 40 2 926 810 - X/13
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Addendum
ADDENDUM TO BMW 3 SERIES SEDAN
OWNER’S MANUAL 1402926810
We wanted to provide you with some
updates and clarifications with respect to
the printed BMW Owner’s Manual.
These updates and clarifications will
supersede the materials contained in
that document.
1.Where the terms “service center,”
“the service center,” “your service
center,” “service specialist,’ or
“service” are used in the Owner’s
Manual, we wanted to clarify that
the terms refer to a BMW dealer’s
service center or another service
center or repair shop that employs
trained personnel that can perform
maintenance and repair work on
your vehicle in accordance with
BMW specifications.
2.Where the text of the Owner’s
Manual contains an affirmative
instruction to contact a “service
center” or “your service center,” we
wanted to clarify that BMW
recommends that, if you are faced
with one of the situations addressed
by that text, you contact or seek the
assistance of a BMW dealer’s
service center or another service
center or repair shop that employs
trained personnel that can perform
maintenance and repair work on
your vehicle in accordance with
BMW specifications.
While BMW of North America LLC,
at no cost to you, will pay for repairs
required by the limited warranties
provided with respect to your
vehicle and for maintenance under
the Maintenance Program during
the applicable warranty and
maintenance coverage periods, you
are free to elect, both during those
periods and thereafter, to have
maintenance and repair work
provided by other service centers or
repair shops.
3.Where the Owner’s Manual makes
reference to parts and accessories
having been approved by BMW,
those references are intended to
reflect that those parts and
accessories are recommended by
BMW of North America LLC. You
may elect to use other parts and
accessories, but, if you do, we
recommend that you make sure that
any such parts and/or accessories
are appropriate for use on your
vehicle.
4.At page 7, under the warranty
section’s discussion of
homologation, where it states that
you “cannot lodge warranty claims
for your vehicle there,” the text
should read that you “may not be
able to lodge warranty claims for
your vehicle there.”
5.At page 7, under the “Parts and
Accessories” section, in the fifth
sentence, the word “cannot” should
read “does not.”
6.At page 53, in the “Checking and
replacing safety belts” section, the
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Addendum
text beginning, “Have the work
performed only by your service
center . . .” should be disregarded
and the following text should be
read in lieu thereof: “BMW
recommends having this work
performed by a service center as it
is important that this safety feature
functions properly.”
7.At page 90, under the heading:
“Special windshield,” the paragraph
beginning, “Therefore have the
special windshield . . .” should be
disregarded and the following text
should be read in lieu thereof:
“BMW recommends that you have
the special windshield replaced by
the service center.”
8.At page 168 under the heading:
“Objects within the range of
movement of the pedals” and at
page 226 under the heading:
“Carpets and floor mats,” the
paragraph that begins: “Only use
floor mats . . .” should be
disregarded and the following
language should be read in lieu
thereof: “The manufacturer of your
vehicle recommends that you use
floor mats that have been identified
by it as appropriate for use in your
vehicle and that can be properly
fixed in place.”
9.At page 195, under the heading:
“Mounting,” the paragraph
beginning, “Have mounting and
balancing . . .” should be
disregarded and the following text
should be read in lieu thereof:
“BMW recommends that you have
mounting and balancing performed
by your service center or a tire
mounting specialist.”
10.At page 196, under the heading:
“Approved wheels and tires,” the
term “Approved” should be
disregarded and in lieu thereof, the
term “Recommended” should be
read in its place. In addition, the
text of that section should be
disregarded and the following text
should be read in lieu thereof:
The manufacturer of your vehicle
strongly suggests that you use
wheels and tires that have been
recommended by the vehicle
manufacturer for your vehicle type;
otherwise, for example, despite
having the same official size ratings,
variations can lead to body contact
and with it, the risk of severe
accidents.
The manufacturer of your vehicle
does not evaluate non-
recommended wheels and tires to
determine if they are suitable for
use on your vehicle.
11.At page 197, under the heading:
“Snow Chains,” the text should be
disregarded and the following text
should be read in lieu thereof:
Only certain types of fine-link snow
chains have been tested by the
manufacturer of your vehicle and
are determined by the manufacturer
of your vehicle to be road safe and
are recommended by the
manufacturer of your vehicle.
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Addendum
Information about recommended
snow chains is available from a
service center.
12.At page 199, under the heading
“Hood,” the sentence beginning, “If
you are unfamiliar” should be
disregarded.
13.At page 202, under the heading:
“Approved oil types,” the references
to “Approved” should be read as
“Suitable.” Immediately preceding
the “Gasoline engine” chart, the
following sentence should be
inserted: “Add engine oils that meet
the following oil rating
standards: . . .”
14.At page 202, under the heading:
“Alternative oil types,” the text
preceding the chart should be
disregarded, and in lieu thereof
should be read as follows: “If an
engine oil suitable for continuous
use is not available, up to 1 US
quart/liter of an engine oil with the
following oil rating can be
added: . . .” The reference to
“specification” should be read as
“rating.”
15.At page 202, under the heading:
“Engine oil change,” the text should
be disregarded and in lieu thereof
should be read as follows:
BMW recommends that you have
the oil changed at your BMW
dealer’s service center or at another
service center that has trained
personnel that can perform the work
in accordance with BMW
specifications.
16.At page 204, under the heading:
“Service and Warranty Information
Booklet for US models and
Warranty and Service Guide
Booklet for Canadian models,” the
second paragraph should be
disregarded and the following text
read in lieu thereof:
The manufacturer of your vehicle
recommends that you have
maintenance and repair performed
by your BMW dealer’s service
center or another service center or
repair shop that employs trained
personnel that can perform
maintenance and repair work on
your vehicle in accordance with
BMW specifications. The
manufacturer of your vehicle
recommends that you maintain
records of all maintenance and
repair work performed on your
vehicle.
17.At page 207 and page 210, where it
reads: “Do not perform work/bulb
replacement on xenon headlamps,”
that text should be disregarded and
in lieu thereof the following text
should be read: “Xenon headlamp
work or replacement can cause
serious and fatal injuries.” In the
text that follows, where it reads:
“[h]ave any work on the xenon
lighting system . . . ,” the following
words should be read as preceding
that passage: “It is strongly
suggested that you . . . .”
18.At page 215, under the “Battery
replacement” section, the text
should be disregarded and in lieu
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Addendum
thereof the following text should be
read:
Use of recommended vehicle
batteries
The manufacturer of your vehicle
recommends that you use vehicle
batteries that it has tested and
recommends for use in your vehicle;
otherwise the vehicle could be
damaged and systems or functions
may not be fully available.
After a battery replacement, the
manufacturer of your vehicle
recommends that you have the
battery registered on your vehicle
by a service center to ensure that all
comfort functions are fully available,
and that any “check control”
messages of these comfort
functions are no longer displayed.