THE ORIGIN OF EMISSION-FREE
DRIVING: POWER FROM RENEWABLE
RESOURCES.
With zero local emissions while driving, the BMW i3 helps reduce air
pollution in urban areas. When charged with clean power – generated
from renewables – the positive impact is greater still. This is because,
throughout the entire product life cycle, driving the new BMW i3 on
energy from renewable sources can potentially reduce emissions (CO2
equivalents) by up to 50%, when compared to a highly efficient vehicle
of the same class with a combustion engine. That’s why BMW i rec-
ommends clean energy producers, to help make an even bigger differ-
ence. Further details can be found online at bmw-i.com/sustainability.
As if that weren’t enough, the innovative eDrive technology of the
BMW i3 also features all sorts of efficiency enhancers: from state-of-
the-art brake energy recuperation to range-increasing ECO PRO+
driving mode, which can boost the driving range by up to 40km at the
touch of a button.
03. UTILIZATION
BMW_i3_Bedienungseinleger_210x138mm_us_lektoriert_RZ.indd 822.01.14 15:19 Online Edition for Part no. 01 40 2 960 865 - II/15
Addendum
by it as appropriate for use in your vehicle
and that can be properly fixed in place.”
9. At page 155, under the heading: “Have
maintenance carried out,” the sentence
beginning, “The maintenance should be
carried out …” should be disregarded and
the following text should be read in lieu
thereof: “BMW recommends that you have
the maintenance carried out by your service
center.”
10. At page 161, under the heading “Make sure
that the charging device is in flawless oper-
ating condition,” the word “flawless” should
read “proper.”
11. At page 173, under the heading “Tire infla-
tion specifications,” the sentence begin-
ning, “Tire inflation pressure specifications
apply to approved tire sizes … .” should be
disregarded.
12. At page 176, under the heading: “Mount-
ing,” the paragraph beginning, “Have
mounting and balancing …” should be dis-
regarded and the following text should be
read in lieu thereof: “BMW recommends
that you have mounting and balancing per-
formed by your service center or a tire
mounting specialist.”
13. At page 177, 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 sec-
tion should be disregarded and the follow-
ing 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; other-
wise, 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.
14. At page 181, 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.
Information about recommended snow
chains is available from a service center.
15. At page 182, under the heading “Hood,” the
sentence beginning, “If you are unfamiliar”
should be disregarded.
16. At page 185, under the heading: “Adding or
changing engine oil,” the text should be dis-
regarded and in lieu thereof should be read
as follows:
If necessary, BMW recommends that you
have oil added 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.
17. At page 189, 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 recom-
mends that you have maintenance and
repair performed by your BMW dealer's ser-
vice 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.
Online Edition for Part no. 01 40 2 960 865 - II/15
equipment that is offered in the model series.
Therefore, in this Owner's Manual, we also de‐
scribe and illustrate features that are not avail‐
able in your vehicle, e.g., because of the se‐
lected optional features or the country-specific
version.
This also applies to safety-related functions
and systems.
The respectively applicable country provisions
must be observed when using the respective
features and systems.
On right-hand drive vehicles, some controls
are arranged differently from what is shown in
the illustrations.
Status of the Owner's
Manual
Basic information
The manufacturer of your vehicle pursues a
policy of constant development that is con‐
ceived to ensure that our vehicles continue to
embody the highest quality and safety stan‐
dards. In rare cases, therefore, the features de‐
scribed in this Owner's Manual may differ from
those in your vehicle.
Updates made after the editorial deadline
Any updates made after the editorial deadline
can be found in the appendix of the printed
Owner's Handbook for 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.
Working on the vehicle, maintenance
and repairs
Advanced technology, especially the use of
high-performance high-voltage electronics
and modern materials such as carbon, requires
special knowledge when making modifications
to and working on the vehicle, as well as cus‐
tomized maintenance and repair work.
BMW recommends to have modifications and
work on the vehicle, especially maintenance
and repairs to the high-voltage system and
carbon body as well as the retrofitting of ac‐
cessories only be carried out by an authorized
BMW i service center or one that operates ac‐
cording to BMW i specifications with personnel
trained accordingly.
Body work and working on the high-volt‐
age system
Do not perform any modifications or work on
the vehicle, especially maintenance and repair
work on the high-voltage system and the car‐
bon body and avoid retrofitting accessories.
If work is not carried out properly, there is the
risk of fire and fatal injury from electrocution
due to the high-voltage system's high voltage.
BMW recommends to have modifications and
work on the vehicle only be carried out by an
authorized BMW i service center or one that
operates according to BMW i specifications
with personnel trained accordingly.◀
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‐Seite 7Notes7
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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 does not apply
when country-specific government approval
has been granted. Testing of this kind may fail
to embrace the entire range of potential oper‐
ating conditions to which components might
be exposed on BMW vehicles. Such products
could conceivably fail to comply with BMW's
own stringent quality standards.
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‐
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.
Seite 8Notes8
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Data memoryMany 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,
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.
Seite 9Notes9
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Function is deactivated.
Touchpad Some iDrive functions can be operated using
the touchpad on the controller:
Selecting functions1."Settings"2."Touchpad"3.Select the desired function.▷"Speller": enter letters and numbers.▷"Interactive map": viewing the interac‐
tive map.▷"Browser": enter Internet addresses.▷"Audio feedback": pronounces entered
letters and numbers.
Entering letters and numbers
Entering letters requires some practice at the
beginning. When entering, pay attention to the
following:
▷For the input of upper/lower case letters
and numbers, it may be necessary to reel
via the controller to the corresponding In‐
put mode, refer to page 24, e.g. when the
spelling of upper and lower case letters is
identical.▷Enter characters as they are displayed on
the Control Display.▷Always enter associated characters, such
as accents or periods so that the letter can
be clearly recognized. Possible input de‐
pends on the set language. Where neces‐
sary, enter special characters via the con‐
troller.▷To delete a character, slide to the left on
the touchpad.▷To enter a blank space, slide to the right in
the center of the touchpad.▷To enter a hyphen, slide to the right in the
upper area of the touchpad.▷To enter an underscore, swipe to the right
in the lower area of the touchpad.
Using interactive map and Internet
Via touch-pad move the interactive map in the
navigation system and Internet sites.
FunctionControlsMove interactive map or
Internet sites.Swipe into re‐
spective direc‐
tion.Enlarge/shrink interactive
map or Internet sites.Drag in or out on
the touchpad with
fingers.Display the menu or open
a link in the Internet.Tap once.
Changing settings
You may change control display settings via
touchpad. Swipe left or right accordingly.
Example: setting the clock Setting the clock
On the Control Display:
1. Press button. The main menu is dis‐
played.2.Turn the controller until "Settings" is high‐
lighted, and then press the controller.3.If necessary, move the controller to the left
to display "Time/Date".Seite 21iDriveAt a glance21
Online Edition for Part no. 01 40 2 960 865 - II/15
▷Range map indicates the action range on
the navigation map, refer to Integrated
Owner's Manual.▷Charging assistant under special destina‐
tions in navigation, helps to find and possi‐
bly include a public charging station in the
desired route, refer to Integrated Owner's
Manual.
During driving
▷General driving tips, refer to page 154, for
increasing the range.▷Use the eDRIVE system efficiently, refer to
page 148, for an optimized driving style.▷ECO PRO driving style analysis, refer to
page 157, for driving style analysis.▷ECO PRO and ECO PRO+ mode, refer to
page 155, for increasing the range.▷Display of the Fuel consumption history,
refer to page 77.▷Display of secondary functions and the po‐
tential range, refer to page 78.
After the trip
▷Charge vehicle, refer to page 160, and
plan next trip.▷Prepare for long downtimes, refer to
page 203.
BMW i Remote app
A special BMW i Remote App allows to control
and display certain vehicle functions using a
smartphone.
Safety information Read the information on safe handling of the
high-voltage system, refer to page 34.
Long-term Follow the instructions for vehicle storage and
for longer idle periods, refer to page 203.
Seite 33BMW eDRIVEAt a glance33
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LockingLocking from the outside
Do not lock the vehicle from the outside
with people inside the car, as the vehicle can‐
not be unlocked from inside without special
knowledge.◀
The driver's door must be closed. Press button on the remote control.
All doors and the tailgate are being locked.
The alarm system, refer to page 49, is armed.
Switching on interior lights and
courtesy lights
Press button on the remote control with
the vehicle locked.
This function is not available, if the interior
lamps were switched off manually.
If the button is pressed again within 10 sec‐
onds after vehicle was locked, the interior mo‐
tion sensor and tilt alarm sensor of the anti-
theft warning system, refer to page 50, are
turned off. After locking, wait 10 seconds be‐
fore pressing the button again.
Unlocking hood Press button on the remote control for
approx. 1 second.
Depending on the features and the country
version, it is also possible to have door un‐
locked. Create the settings, refer to page 48.
If the doors were not unlocked, the hood is
locked again as soon as it is pushed closed.
Do not place the remote control under
the hood
Take the remote control with you and do not
leave it under the hood; otherwise, the remote
control is locked inside the vehicle when the
hood is closed.◀Without alarm system: unlocking the
tailgate
The Tailgate function must be set for the re‐
mote control button. For Settings, refer to
page 48.
Press button on the remote control for
approx. 1 second.
The tailgate opens slightly, regardless of
whether the vehicle was previously locked or
unlocked.
Depending on the features and the country
version, it is also possible to have door un‐
locked. Create the settings, refer to page 48.
If the doors were not unlocked, the tailgate is
locked again as soon as it closes.
Do not place the remote control in the
cargo area
Take the remote control with you and do not
leave it in the cargo area; otherwise, the re‐
mote control is locked inside the vehicle when
the tailgate is closed.◀
Provide edge protection
Sharp objects or those with edges can
hit the rear window while driving and damage the heat conductors of the rear window. Pro‐
vide edge protection.◀
Without alarm system: switching the
headlamp courtesy delay feature on
The headlight courtesy delay feature function
must be set for the remote control button. For
Settings, refer to page 48.
Briefly press the button on the remote
control.
The duration can be set in the Control Display.
With alarm system: panic mode You can trigger the alarm system if you find
yourself in a dangerous situation.Seite 42ControlsOpening and closing42
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