engine BMW 3 SERIES ACTIVE HYBRID 2015 Owners Manual

Addendum
thereof:  “BMW recommends that you have
the maintenance carried out by your service
center.”
10. At page 192, under the heading “Tire infla-
tion specifications,” the sentence begin-
ning, “Tire inflation pressure specifications
apply to approved tire sizes …” should be
disregarded.
11. At page 197, 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.”
12. At page 197, 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.
13. At page 202, 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.
14. At page 204, under the heading “Hood,” the
sentence beginning, “If you are unfamiliar”
should be disregarded.
15. At page 207, 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 cen-
ter or at another service center that has
trained personnel that can perform the work
in accordance with BMW specifications.
16. At page 209, 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.
17. At page 212 and page 215, where it reads:
“Do not perform work/bulb replacement on
xenon headlights,” that text should be dis-
regarded and in lieu thereof the following
text should be read: “Xenon headlight work
or replacement can cause serious and fatal
injuries.” In the text that follows, where it
reads: “[h]ave any work on the xenon light-
ing system … ,” the following words should
be read as preceding that passage: “It is
strongly suggested that you …”
18. At page 220, under the “Battery replace-
ment” section, the text should be disre-
garded and in lieu thereof the following text
should be read:
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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 236.6Notes
At a glance
14Cockpit18iDrive27Voice activation system30Integrated Owner's Manual in the vehicle32BMW ActiveHybrid34Safety of the high-voltage system
Controls
38Opening and closing54Adjusting64Transporting children safely68Driving81Displays98Lights103Safety125Driving stability control systems130Driving comfort151Climate control157Interior equipment165Storage compartments
Driving tips
172Things to remember when driving177Loading180Saving fuelMobility188Refueling190Fuel192Wheels and tires203Engine compartment205Engine oil208Coolant209Maintenance211Replacing components222Breakdown assistance228Care
Reference
234Technical data236Everything from A to Z
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NotesSpecial features of the
hybrid system
High-voltage system
This BMW is a hybrid vehicle. In addition to the
combustion engine, the vehicle features a
high-voltage system that consists of an elec‐
tric motor and a high-voltage battery among
other things.
Using this Owner's Manual Orientation
The fastest way to find information on a partic‐
ular topic is by using the index.
An initial overview of the vehicle is provided in
the first chapter.
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.
User's manual for Navigation,
Entertainment, Communication
The topics of Navigation, Entertainment, Com‐
munication and the short commands of the
voice activation system are described in a sep‐ arate user's manual, which is also included
with the onboard literature.
Additional sources ofinformation
The service center will be happy to answer any
other questions you may have.Information on BMW, e.g., on technology, is
available on the Internet: www.bmwusa.com.
BMW Driver’s Guide App
The Owner's Manual is available in many coun‐
tries as an app. Additional information on the
Internet:
www.bmw.com/bmw_drivers_guide
Symbols
Indicates precautions that must be followed
precisely in order to avoid the possibility of
personal injury and serious damage to the
vehicle.
◄ Marks the end of a specific item of
information.
Refers to measures that can be taken to
help protect the environment.
"..." Identifies display texts in vehicle used to
select individual functions.
›...‹ Verbal instructions to use with the voice
activation system.
››...‹‹ Identifies the answers generated by the
voice activation system.
Symbols on vehicle components
Indicates that you should consult the
relevant section of this Owner's Manual for
information on a particular part or assembly.
Seite 6Notes6
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If work is not carried out properly, there is a
danger of subsequent damage and related
safety hazards.
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 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 systemSeite 8Notes8
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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.
If NHTSA receives similar complaints, it may
open an investigation, and if it finds that a
safety defect exists in a group of vehicles, it
may order a recall and remedy campaign.
However, NHTSA cannot become involved in
individual problems between you, your dealer,
or BMW of North America, LLC.
To contact NHTSA, you may call the Vehicle
Safety Hotline toll-free at 1-888-327-4236
(TTY: 1-800-424-9153); go to http://
www.safercar.gov; or write to: Administrator,
NHTSA, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washing‐
ton, DC 20590. You can also obtain other in‐
formation about motor vehicle safety from
http://www.safercar.gov.
For Canadian customers
Canadian customers who wish to report a
safety-related defect to Transport Canada, De‐
fect Investigations and Recalls, may call the
toll-free hotline 1-800-333-0510. You can also
obtain other information about motor vehicle
safety from http://www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety.Seite 10Notes10
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Front fog lights  101Parking lights  98Low beams  98Automatic headlight con‐
trol   99
Daytime running lights   99
Adaptive Light Control   99
High-beam Assistant   100Instrument lighting  1017Steering column stalk, leftTurn signal  73High beams, head‐
light flasher   73High-beam Assistant   100Roadside parking lights   99On-board computer  928Steering wheel buttons, leftStore speed  136,  130Resume speed   136,  130Cruise control on/off, inter‐
rupt   136Active Cruise Control on/off, in‐
terrupting   130Reduce distance   130Increase distance   130Cruise control rocker switch   136,  1309Instrument cluster   8110Steering wheel buttons, rightEntertainment sourceVolumeVoice activation  27Telephone, see user's manual for
Navigation, Entertainment and
CommunicationThumbwheel for selection lists   9211Steering column stalk, rightWiper  74Rain sensor   75Clean the windshields and head‐
lights   7512Starting/stopping the engine,
switching drive readiness modes
and the ignition on/off   6813Horn, total area14Steering wheel heating   6315Adjust steering wheel  6316Unlock hood  204Seite 15CockpitAt a glance15
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BMW ActiveHybridVehicle 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. The respectively applicable country
provisions must be observed when using the
respective features and systems.
Hybrid system Special features of the hybrid system
High-voltage system
This BMW is a hybrid vehicle. In addition to the
combustion engine, the vehicle features a
high-voltage system that consists of an elec‐
tric motor and a high-voltage battery among
other things.
Overview1Combustion engine2Electric motor3Control-system electronics4High-voltage cables (orange)5High-voltage battery6Auxiliary battery, combustion engineThe conceptThe hybrid system makes it possible to opti‐
mize fuel consumption and driving characteris‐
tics.
An electric motor assists the combustion en‐
gine. In certain driving situations, the vehicle
can also be driven using only electric power,
thereby reducing fuel consumption.
In addition to this, the electric motor acts like
an alternator: during braking and coasting, it
converts the vehicle's kinetic energy into elec‐ tricity. The current is stored in the high-voltage
battery and is used to drive the electric motor.
Functions
Electric driving: eDRIVE Under certain conditions, refer to page 71,
the vehicle is powered only by the electric mo‐
tor.
Acceleration boost Driving off and accelerating require a lot of en‐
ergy.
To optimize acceleration and to reduce fuel
consumption, the electric motor boosts the
combustion engine, refer to page 72. To do
this, the electric motor uses the energy saved
in the high-voltage battery.
Auto Start/Stop function The Auto Start/Stop function, refer to
page 70, switches the combustion engine off
when coasting, braking and while the vehicle is
stopped. Convenience functions such as the
automatic climate control are supplied by the
high-voltage battery and can remain switched
on.Seite 32At a glanceBMW ActiveHybrid32
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Driving with combustion engine:
DRIVE
The combustion engine, refer to page 72,
provides the primary performance to move the
vehicle. If necessary, the high-voltage battery is charged at the same time.
The hybrid system always starts the combus‐
tion engine automatically.
Energy recovery: CHARGE The high-voltage battery of the hybrid system
is charged through energy recovery while driv‐
ing.
The electric motor acts as a generator and
converts the kinetic energy of the vehicle into
electric current.
Charging can take place in various situations:▷When the vehicle is coasting if the acceler‐
ator pedal is not pressed.▷During vehicle braking.
When exerting gentle pressure on the brakes,
the vehicle is only braked by the electric motor.
When the brake pedal is depressed further, the
brake system is activated additionally. This is
why only part of the brake energy is used to
charge the high-voltage battery when exerting
firm pressure on the brake.
Foresighted driving and the early reduction of
speed are important to make full use of the hy‐
brid characteristics of the vehicle.
Coasting The engine is automatically switched off. This
driving condition of rolling is referred to as
coasting, refer to page 71.
Auxiliary functions of the automatic
climate control
The hybrid system makes it possible to oper‐
ate the automatic climate control prior to driv‐
ing off and with the combustion engine
switched off.
Using the auxiliary air conditioning and residual
cooling functions, the vehicle interior can be
cooled immediately prior to departure and if
the trip is interrupted.▷Residual cooling, refer to page 155.▷Auxiliary air conditioning, refer to
page 155
Adapting to the course of the road
When the navigation system destination guid‐
ance is active, the hybrid system uses the ex‐
isting navigation data. Hybrid operation adapts
to the specific route sections. These may be:
▷Steep gradients.▷Arrival in the destination zone.
Pay attention to the notes in Adapting to the
course of the road, refer to page 84.
Display
The displays of the hybrid system, refer to
page 82, provide information about the cur‐
rent state of hybrid operation and show the
system activity in a chart.
Energy-saving driving To save energy while driving, read the follow‐
ing information:
▷Saving fuel, refer to page 180.▷Using the hybrid system efficiently, refer to
page 172▷ECO PRO mode, refer to page 181.▷Adapting to the course of the road, refer to
page 84.
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 231
Seite 33BMW ActiveHybridAt a glance33
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Replacing the battery1.Remove integrated key from remote con‐
trol.2.Push in the catch with the key, arrow 1.3.Remove the cover of the battery compart‐
ment, arrow 2.4.Insert a battery of the same type with the
positive side facing up.5.Press the cover closed.
Take the used battery to a recycling
center or to your service center.
New remote controls New remote controls are available from the
service center.
Loss of the remote controls Lost remote controls can be disabled by your
service center.
Emergency detection of remote
control
Also in one of the following situations, the igni‐
tion can be switched on, engine started or
drive readiness activated:
▷Interference of radio transmission to re‐
mote control by external sources e.g., by
radio masts.▷Empty battery in remote control.▷Interference from radio transmissions
through mobile devices in close proximity
to remote control.▷Interference of radio transmission by
charger while charging items such as mo‐
bile devices in the vehicle.
A Check Control message is displayed if an at‐
tempt is made to switch on the ignition or start
the engine or activate engine readiness.
Starting the engine or activating drive
readiness with emergency detection
of the remote control
Steptronic transmission: if a corresponding
Check Control message appears, hold the re‐
mote control, as shown, against the marked
area on the steering column and press the
Start/Stop button within 10 seconds while
pressing the brake.
If the remote control is not recognized: slightly
change the height position of the remote con‐
trol and repeat the procedure.
Personal Profile
The concept Personal Profile provides three profiles, using
which personal vehicle settings can be stored.
Every remote control has one of these profiles
assigned.
If the vehicle is unlocked using a remote con‐
trol, the assigned personal profile will be acti‐
vated. All settings stored in the profile are au‐
tomatically applied.
If several drivers use their own remote control,
the vehicle will adjust the personal settings
during unlocking. These settings are also re‐
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Locking separatelyThe trunk lid can be locked separately with theswitch in the glove compartment. If the glove
compartment is locked, the trunk lid cannot be
opened.▷Trunk lid secured, arrow 1.▷Trunk lid not secured, ar‐
row 2.
Slide the switch into the arrow 1 position. This
secures the trunk lid and disconnects it from
the central locking system.
This is beneficial when the vehicle is parked
using valet service. The infrared remote con‐
trol can be handed out without the key.
Emergency unlocking
Pull the handle inside the cargo area.
The trunk lid unlocks.
Comfort Access
The concept The vehicle can be accessed without activat‐
ing the remote control.
All you need to do is to have the remote con‐ trol with you, such as in your pants pocket.
The vehicle automatically detects the remote
control when it is in close proximity or in the
car's interior.
Comfort Access supports the following func‐
tions:▷Unlocking/locking of the vehicle.▷Convenient closing.▷Open the trunk lid individually.▷Open trunk lid with no-touch activation.▷Start the engine.
Functional requirements
▷There are no external sources of interfer‐
ence nearby.▷To lock the vehicle, the remote control
must be located outside of the vehicle.▷The next unlocking and locking cycle is not
possible until after approx. 2 seconds.▷The engine can only be started if the re‐
mote control is in the vehicle.
Unlocking
Grasp the door handle on the driver's or front
passenger door completely, arrow.
This corresponds with pressing the button on
the remote control.

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