BMW X5 M User manual

BMW M
The Ultimate
Driving Machine
THE BMW X5 M
AND THE BMW X6 M.
OWNER'S MANUAL.
Contents
A-Z
Online Edition for Part no. 01 40 2 956 993 - X/14

X5 M
X6 M
Owner's Manual for Vehicle
Thank you for choosing a BMW X5 M/BMW X6 M.
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 X5 M/BMW X6 M. Also use the Integrated Owner's
Manual in your vehicle. It contains important information on ve‐
hicle operation that will help you make full use of the technical
features available in your BMW X5 M/BMW X6 M. The manual
also contains information designed to enhance operating relia‐
bility and road safety, and to contribute to maintaining the value
of your BMW X5 M/BMW X6 M.
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
Online Edition for Part no. 01 40 2 956 993 - X/14

© 2014 Bayerische Motoren Werke
Aktiengesellschaft
Munich, Germany
Reprinting, including excerpts, only with the written
consent of BMW AG, Munich.
US English X/14, 11 14 490
Printed on environmentally friendly paper, bleached
without chlorine, suitable for recycling.
Online Edition for Part no. 01 40 2 956 993 - X/14

Addendum
ADDENDUM TO BMW X5 AND X6
OWNER’S MANUAL 1402956993
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 sixth
sentence, the word “cannot” should
read “does not.”
6. At page 56, in the “Check and
replace safety belts” section, the

Addendum
text beginning, “This should only be
done . . .” 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 57, under the heading:
“Active head restraint,” the
paragraph beginning, “Only attach
accessories . . .” should be
disregarded and the following text
should be read in lieu thereof:
“BMW recommends that you attach
accessories approved by BMW to
the seat or head restraint.”
8. At page 74, under the heading
“Have the malfunction corrected,”
the text should be disregarded and
the following text should be read in
lieu thereof:
If the parking brake has been
released manually in response to a
malfunction, it is strongly
recommended that a technician
return it to operation and that you
have the malfunction corrected at
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.
9. At page 100, 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.”
10. At page 178 under the heading:
“Objects within the range of
movement of the pedals” and at
page 228 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.”
11. At page 194, under the heading
“Tire inflation pressure
specifications,” the sentence
beginning, “Tire inflation pressure
specifications apply to approved tire
sizes . . . .” should be disregarded.
12. At page 199, 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.”
13. At page 199, under the heading:
“Approved wheels and tires,” the
term “Approved” should be
disregarded and in lieu thereof, the
term “Recommended” should be

Addendum
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.
14. At page 203, under the heading:
“Fine-link 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 204, under the heading
“Hood,” the sentence beginning, “If
you are unfamiliar” should be
disregarded.
16. At page 208, under the heading:
“Approved engine oil types,” the
references to “Approved” should be
read as “Suitable.” Where it reads:
You can add oils with the following
specifications,” that text should be
disregarded, and the following text
read in lieu thereof: “Add engine
oils that meet the following oil rating
standards: . . .”
17. At page 208, under the heading:
“Alternative engine 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.”
18. At page 208, 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.
19. At page 211, 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:

Addendum
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.
20. At page 214 and page 215, where it
reads: “Do not perform work/bulb
replacement on xenon headlights,”
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 . . . .”
21. At page 218, under the “Battery
replacement” section, the text
should be disregarded and in lieu
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.

Contents
The 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
14 Cockpit
18 iDrive
26 Voice activation system
29 Integrated Owner's Manual in the vehicle
Controls
34 Opening and closing
52 Adjusting
63 Transporting children safely
68 Driving
84 Displays
101 Lights
106 Safety
129 Driving stability control systems
135 Driving comfort
150 Climate control
157 Interior equipment
168 Storage compartments
Driving tips
176 BMW X5 M and BMW X6 M Technology
177 Things to remember when driving
181 Loading
185 Saving fuel
Mobility
190 Refueling
192 Fuel
194 Wheels and tires
204 Engine compartment
206 Engine oil
209 Coolant
211 Maintenance
213 Replacing components
220 Breakdown assistance
225 Care
Reference
232 Technical data
236 Everything from A to Z
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Notes
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.
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.
Vehicle features and options
This Owner's Manual describes all models and
all standard, country-specific and optional
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.
For any options and equipment not described
in this Owner's Handbook, refer to the Supple‐
mentary Owner's Handbooks.
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.
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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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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 [phone]. You can also
obtain other information about motor vehicle
safety from http://www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety.
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At a glance
These overviews of buttons, switches and
displays are intended to familiarize you with your
vehicle. You will also become quickly acquainted
with the available control concepts and options.
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Cockpit
Vehicle 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.
All around the steering wheel
1Rear window safety reel 49
2Power windows 48
3Exterior mirror operation 59
4Opening and closing the tail‐
gate 40
5Unlocking central locking sys‐
tem 39
Locking central locking sys‐
tem 39
6Lights
Front fog lights 104
Parking lights 101
Low beams 101
Automatic headlight con‐
trol 102
Daytime running lights 102
Adaptive Light Control 102
High-beam Assistant 103
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At a glance Cockpit
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Instrument lighting 104
Night Vision, reel on/reel off heat
image 119
7Steering column stalk, left
Turn signal 75
High beams, head‐
light flasher 75
High-beam Assistant 103
Roadside parking lights 102
Computer 95
8Steering wheel buttons, left
M Drive 1 activation 62
M Drive 2 activation 62
Store speed 135
Resume speed 136
Cruise control on/off, interrupt‐
ing 135
Cruise control rocker reel 136
9Shift paddles 80
10 Instrument cluster 84
11 Steering wheel buttons, right
Entertainment source
Volume
Voice activation 26
Telephone, see user's manual for
Navigation, Entertainment and
Communication
Thumbwheel for selection lists 94
12 Steering column stalk, right
Wiper 75
Rain sensor 76
Clean the windshields and head‐
lights 75
BMW X5 M: rear window wiper in
Canadian models 77
BMW X5 M: rear window
wiper 77
BMW X5 M: clean rear win‐
dow 77
13 Start/stop the engine and reel the
ignition on/off 69
14 Auto Start/Stop function 70
15 Horn, total area
16 Steering wheel heating 61
17 Adjust steering wheel 61
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Cockpit At a glance
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18 Unlock hood 204
All around the center console
1Control Display 18
2Glove compartment 168
3Ventilation 153
4Hazard warning system 220
Intelligent Safety button 113
5Automatic climate control 150
6Radio/CD/Multimedia, see user's manual
for Navigation, Entertainment and Commu‐
nication
7Controller with buttons 18
8Drivelogic 80
9Parking brake 72
Automatic Hold 73
10 PDC Park Distance Control 137
Rearview camera 140
Top View 142
Parking assistant 146
Side View 144
HDC Hill Descent Control 132
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At a glance Cockpit
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