2014 BMW 3 SERIES SPORTS WAGON Technical

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 found 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 ride.
BMW AG

The Owner's Manual is available in many countries as an app.
For more information, go to
www.bmw.com/bmw_drivers_guide
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ContentsThe fastest way to find information on a partic‐
ular topic or item is by using the index, refer to
page 238.6Notes
At a glance
14Cockpit18iDrive26Voice activation system29Integrated Owner's Manual in the vehicle
Controls
34Opening and closing51Adjusting61Transporting children safely65Driving78Displays93Lights98Safety120Driving stability control systems125Driving comfort146Climate control153Interior equipment163Storage compartments
Driving tips
170Things to remember when driving173Loading176Saving fuelMobility186Refueling188Fuel193Wheels and tires201Engine compartment203Engine oil206Coolant207Maintenance209Replacing components221Breakdown assistance227Care
Reference
234Technical data238Everything from A to Z
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Updates made after the editorial
deadline
Any updates made after the editorial deadline
for the Owner's Manuals are found in the ap‐
pendix of the printed Quick Reference for the
vehicle.
For your own safety
Warranty
Your vehicle is technically configured for the
operating conditions and registration require‐
ments applying in the country of first delivery -
homologation. If your vehicle is to be operated
in a different country it might be necessary to
adapt your vehicle to potentially differing oper‐
ating conditions and permit requirements. If
your vehicle does not comply with the homolo‐
gation requirements in a certain country you
cannot lodge warranty claims for your vehicle
there. Further information can be obtained
from your Service Centre.
Maintenance and repairs
Advanced technology, e.g., the use of modern
materials and high-performance electronics,
requires suitable maintenance and repair work.
Therefore, have this work performed only by a
BMW center or a workshop that works accord‐
ing to BMW repair procedures with appropri‐
ately trained personnel.
If work is not carried out properly, there is a
danger of subsequent damage and related
safety hazards.
California Proposition 65 Warning
California laws require us to state the following
warning:
Engine exhaust and a wide variety of automo‐
bile components and parts, including compo‐
nents found in the interior furnishings in a vehi‐
cle, contain or emit chemicals known to the
State of California to cause cancer and birth
defects and reproductive harm. In addition,
certain fluids contained in vehicles and certain
products of component wear contain or emit
chemicals known to the State of California to
cause cancer and birth defects or other repro‐
ductive harm. Battery posts, terminals and re‐
lated accessories contain lead and lead com‐
Parts and accessories
BMW recommends using parts and accesso‐
ries approved by BMW for this purpose.
Your BMW center is the right contact for genu‐
ine BMW parts and accessories, other prod‐
ucts approved by BMW and related qualified
advice.
BMW has tested these products for safety and
suitability in relation to BMW vehicles.
BMW can assume responsibility for them.
However, we cannot assume any responsibility
whatsoever for parts and accessories that have
not been specifically approved by BMW.
BMW cannot evaluate whether each individual
product from another manufacturer can be
used with BMW vehicles without presenting a
safety hazard. This guarantee is also not appli‐
cable when country-specific government ap‐
proval has been granted. Testing of this kind
may fail to embrace the entire range of poten‐
tial operating conditions to which components
might be exposed on BMW vehicles. Such
products could conceivably fail to comply with
BMW's own stringent quality standards.

pounds. Wash your hands after handling. Used
engine oil contains chemicals that have caused
cancer in laboratory animals. Always protect
your skin by washing thoroughly with soap and
water.
Service and warranty
We recommend that you read this publication
thoroughly. Your vehicle is covered by the fol‐
lowing warranties:▷New Vehicle Limited Warranty.▷Rust Perforation Limited Warranty.▷Federal Emissions System Defect War‐
ranty.▷Federal Emissions Performance Warranty.▷California Emission Control System Lim‐
ited Warranty.
Detailed information about these warranties is
listed in the Service and Warranty Information
Booklet for US models or in the Warranty and
Service Guide Booklet for Canadian models.
Your vehicle has been specifically adapted and
designed to meet the particular operating con‐
ditions and homologation requirements in your
country and continental region in order to de‐
liver the full driving pleasure while the vehicle
is operated under those conditions. If you wish
to operate your vehicle in another country or
region, you may be required to adapt your ve‐
hicle to meet different prevailing operating
conditions and homologation requirements.
You should also be aware of any applicable
warranty limitations or exclusions for such
country or region. In such case, please contact
Customer Relations for further information.
Maintenance
Maintain the vehicle regularly to sustain the
road safety, operational reliability and the New
Vehicle Limited Warranty.
Specifications for required maintenance meas‐
ures:
▷BMW Maintenance system▷Service and Warranty Information Booklet
for US models▷Warranty and Service Guide Booklet for
Canadian models
If the vehicle is not maintained according to
these specifications, this could result in seri‐
ous damage to the vehicle. Such damage is
not covered by the BMW New Vehicle Limited
Warranty.
Data memory
Many electronic components on your vehicle
are equipped with data memories that tempo‐
rarily or permanently store technical informa‐
tion about the condition of the vehicle, events
and faults. This technical information generally
records the state of a component, a module, a system or the environment:
▷Operating mode of system components, fill
levels for instance.▷Status messages for the vehicle and from
its individual components, e.g., wheel rota‐
tion speed/vehicle speed, deceleration,
transverse acceleration.▷Malfunctions and faults in important sys‐
tem components, e.g., lights and brakes.▷Responses by the vehicle to special situa‐
tions such as airbag deployment or engag‐
ing the stability control system.▷Ambient conditions, such as temperature.
This data is purely technical in nature and is
used to detect and correct faults and to opti‐
mize vehicle functions. Motion profiles over
routes traveled cannot be created from this
data. When service offerings are used, e.g., re‐
pair services, service processes, warranty
claims, quality assurance, this technical infor‐
mation can be read out from the event and
fault memories by the service personnel, in‐
cluding the manufacturer, using special diag‐
nostic tools. You can obtain further information
there if you need it. After an error is corrected,
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the information in the fault memory is deleted
or overwritten on a continuous basis.
With the vehicle in use there are situations
where you can associate these technical data
with individuals if combined with other infor‐
mation, e.g., an accident report, damage to the
vehicle, eye witness accounts — possibly with
the assistance of an expert.
Additional functions that are contractually
agreed with the customer - such as vehicle
emergency locating - you can transmit certain
vehicle data from the vehicle.
Event Data Recorder EDR
This vehicle is equipped with an event data re‐
corder EDR. The main purpose of an EDR is to
record, in certain crash or near crash-like situa‐
tions, such as an air bag deployment or hitting
a road obstacle, data that will assist in under‐
standing how a vehicle’s systems performed.
The EDR is designed to record data related to
vehicle dynamics and safety systems for a
short period of time, typically 30 seconds or
less.
The EDR in this vehicle is designed to record
such data as:▷How various systems in your vehicle were
operating.▷Whether or not the driver and passenger
safety belts were fastened.▷How far, if at all, the driver was depressing
the accelerator and/or brake pedal.▷How fast the vehicle was traveling.
These data can help provide a better under‐
standing of the circumstances in which
crashes and injuries occur.
EDR data are recorded by your vehicle only if a
nontrivial crash situation occurs; no data are
recorded by the EDR under normal driving
conditions and no personal data, e.g., name,
gender, age, and crash location, are recorded.
However, other parties, such as law enforce‐
ment, could combine the EDR data with the
type of personally identifying data routinely ac‐
quired during a crash investigation.
To read data recorded by an EDR, special
equipment is required, and access to the vehi‐
cle or the EDR is needed. In addition to the ve‐
hicle manufacturer, other parties, such as law
enforcement, that have the special equipment,
can read the information if they have access to
the vehicle or the EDR.
Vehicle identification
number
The vehicle identification number can be found
in the engine compartment.
The vehicle identification number can also be
found behind the windshield.
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 in‐
jury or death, you should immediately inform
the National Highway Traffic Safety Adminis‐
tration NHTSA, in addition to notifying BMW of
North America, LLC, P.O. Box 1227, West‐
wood, New Jersey 07675-1227, Telephone
1-800-831-1117.
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SymbolMeasureThe vehicle lights up red: prewarn‐
ing.
Brake and increase distance.The vehicle flashes red and an
acoustic signal sounds: acute warn‐
ing.
You are requested to intervene by
braking or make an evasive maneu‐
ver.
Prewarning
This warning is issued, e.g., when there is the
impending danger of a collision or the distance
to the vehicle ahead is too small.
The driver must intervene actively when there
is a prewarning.
Acute warning with braking function
Warning of the imminent danger of a collision
when the vehicle approaches another object at
a relatively high differential speed.
The driver must intervene actively when there
is an acute warning. If necessary, the driver is
assisted by an automatic braking intervention
in a possible risk of collision.
Acute warnings can also be triggered without
previous prewarning.
Braking intervention The detection of objects can be influenced by
technical system limitations, e. g. pedestrians
or stationary objects. Limitations of the detec‐
tion range and functional restrictions are to be
considered.
The warning prompts the driver himself/herself
to react. During a warning, the maximum brak‐
ing force is used. Premise for the brake boos‐
ter is sufficiently quick and hard stepping on
the brake pedal. The system can assist with
automatic braking intervention if there is risk of
a collision. The intervention can bring the vehi‐
cle to a complete stop.
Manual transmission: During a braking inter‐
vention up to a complete stop, the engine may
be shut down.
The braking intervention is executed only if
DSC Dynamic Stability Control is switched on
and Dynamic Traction Control DTC is acti‐
vated.
Above approx. 130 mph/210 km/h the braking
intervention occurs as a brief braking pressure.
No automatic delay occurs.
The braking intervention can be interrupted by
stepping on the accelerator pedal or by ac‐
tively moving the steering wheel.
Tow-starting and towing
For towing the vehicle turn, switch off the
Intelligent Safety systems; otherwise malfunc‐
tions of the individual braking systems might
lead to accidents.◀
System limits Be alert
Due to system limitations, warnings may
be not issued at all, or may be issued late or
improperly. Therefore, always be alert and
ready to intervene; otherwise, there is the risk
of an accident.◀
Detection range The system's detection potential is limited.
Thus a warning might not be issued or be is‐
sued late.
E. g. the following situations may not be de‐
tected:▷Slow moving vehicles when you approach
them at high speed.▷Vehicles that suddenly swerve in front of
you, or sharply decelerating vehicles.▷Vehicles with an unusual rear appearance.▷Two-wheeled vehicles ahead of you.Seite 112ControlsSafety112
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Driving comfortVehicle features and options
This chapter describes all standard, country-
specific and optional features offered with the
series. It also describes features that are not
necessarily available in your car, e. g., due to
the selected options or country versions. This
also applies to safety-related functions and
systems.
Active Cruise Control withStop & Go function, ACC
The concept Use this system to select a desired speed that
the vehicle will maintain automatically on clear
roads.
To the extent possible, the system automati‐
cally adjusts the speed to a slower vehicle
ahead of you.
The distance that the vehicle maintains to the
vehicle ahead of you can be varied.
For safety reasons, it depends on the speed.
To maintain a certain distance, the system au‐ tomatically reduces the speed, applies the
brakes lightly, or accelerates again if the vehi‐
cle ahead begins moving faster.
If the vehicle ahead of you brakes to a halt, and
then proceeds to drive again within a brief pe‐
riod, the system is able to detect this within the
given system limits. Your own vehicle will
brake automatically and then accelerate again.
If the vehicle ahead of you drives away again
after a prolonged period, briefly press the ac‐
celerator pedal or press the appropriate button
to reactivate the system. The vehicle will auto‐
matically accelerate.
As soon as the road is clear, the vehicle accel‐
erates to the desired speed.The speed is also maintained downhill, but
may not be maintained uphill if engine power is
insufficient.
General information Depending on the driving settings, the features
of the cruise control can change in certain
areas.
Hints Personal responsibility
Even an active system holds the driver
responsible for his or her driving, particularly
for staying in your lane, adjusting your speed,
keeping your distance and for your driving
style all in relation to traffic.
Technically the system has its limits, it cannot
independently react to all traffic situations.
Monitor your driving, be on the alert, observe
the vehicle surroundings and other traffic and react when needed, e.g. through braking,
steering or make evasive maneuvers - risk of
accident.◀
Unfavorable weather conditions
In the event of unfavorable weather and
light conditions, e. g. if there is rain, snowfall,
slush, fog or glare, this may result in poorer
recognition of vehicles as well as short-term
interruptions for vehicles that are already de‐
tected. Drive attentively, and react to the cur‐
rent traffic situation. Intervene actively when
necessary, e.g., by braking, steering or making
an evasive maneuver, otherwise, there is the
risk of an accident.◀
Before leaving the vehicle, secure it
against moving on its own.
Before leaving the vehicle with the engine run‐
ning: set the parking brake and ensure that theSeite 125Driving comfortControls125
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▷By the rear middle sensors at approx.
5 ft/1.50 m.
To ensure full functionality:
▷Do not cover sensors, e.g., with stickers,
bicycle racks and the like.▷Keep the sensors clean and free of ice.▷When using high-pressure washers, do not
spray the sensors for long periods and
maintain a distance of at least 12 in/30 cm.
Hints
Personal responsibility
Even an active system does not relieve
the driver from personal responsibility while
driving.
Technically the system has its limits, it cannot
independently react to all traffic situations.
Monitor your driving, be on the alert, observe
the vehicle surroundings and other traffic and
react when needed - risk of accident.◀
Avoid driving fast with PDC
Avoid approaching an object too fast.
Avoid driving off fast while PDC is not yet ac‐
tive.
For technical reasons, the system may other‐
wise be too late in issuing a warning.◀
At a glance
With front PDC: button in vehicle
PDC Park Distance Control
Switching on/off
Switching on automatically With the engine running, engage lever in posi‐
tion P R.
Automatic deactivation during forward travel
The system switches off when a certain driving
distance or speed is exceeded.
Switch the system back on if needed.
With front PDC: switching on/off
manually
Press button.▷On: the LED lights up.▷Off: the LED goes out.
Display
Signal tones When approaching an object, an intermittent
sound indicates the position of the object. E. g.
if an object is detected to the left rear of the
vehicle, a signal tone sounds from the left rear
speaker.
The shorter the distance to the object, the shorter the intervals.
If the distance to a detected object is less than
approx. 10 in/25 cm, a continuous tone is
sounded.
With front PDC: if objects are located both in
front of and behind the vehicle, an alternating
continuous signal is sounded.
The signal tone is switched off:
▷When the vehicle moves away from an ob‐
ject by more than approx. 4 in/10 cm.▷When selector lever position P is engaged
on vehicles with Steptronic transmission.Seite 134ControlsDriving comfort134
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