Braking safely – BMW M5 Sedan 2007 User Manual

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flammable materials such as hay, leaves, grass,
etc. Such contact could lead to a fire, and with it
the risk of serious property damage as well as
personal injury. Do not touch hot exhaust tail
pipes. Otherwise there is a risk of burns.

Mobile communications devices in
vehicle

BMW discourages the use of mobile
communications devices, e.g. mobile

phones, inside the vehicle without a direct con-
nection to an outside antenna. Otherwise, the
vehicle electronics and mobile communication
device can influence one another. In addition,
there is no assurance that the radiation which
results from transmission will be dissipated
from the vehicle interior.

Hydroplaning

When driving on wet or slushy roads,
reduce road speed. If you do not, a wedge

of water can form between tires and road sur-
face. This phenomenon is referred to as hydro-
planing, and is characterized by a partial or
complete loss of contact between the tires and
the road surface, ultimately undermining your
ability to steer and brake the vehicle.

The risk of hydroplaning increases as the tread
depth of the tires decreases, refer also to Mini-
mum tire tread on page

200

Driving through water

Do not drive through water on the road if it
is deeper than 1 ft/30 cm, and then only at

walking speed at the most. Otherwise, the vehi-
cle's engine, the electrical systems and the
transmission may be damaged.

Starting off

On slopes

The starting assistant enables starting off on
slopes virtually without rolling back.

Hold the vehicle with the footbrake.

Make sure that the handbrake is released.

Release the footbrake and drive off quickly.

The starting assistant holds the vehicle
for approx. 1 second after releasing the

footbrake. Depending on the load, the vehicle
may also roll back slightly during this time.
After releasing the footbrake, drive off quickly,
otherwise the starting assistant no longer holds
the vehicle after approx. 1 second and it begins
to roll back.

Start off quickly on slopes. Do not hold
the vehicle on a hill by pressing the accel-

erator, but apply the footbrake or handbrake
instead. Otherwise overheating and heavy wear
can result in the area of the Sequential Manual
Transmission.

To protect the clutch of the Sequential Manual
Transmission from overheating, the starting-off
behavior is changed under heavy loading, e.g. a
rapid succession of starts on slopes. This can
be noticed from shaking during starting off.

On a slippery surface

Select "P 400" program of M Engine
Dynamic Control, refer to page

Gently press accelerator pedal to prevent
wheels from spinning when starting off.

Clutch protection with manual
transmission

Be sure to avoid riding the clutch for longer peri-
ods.
Your BMW M5 is equipped with an overload
protection for the clutch. Riding the clutch for
longer periods is detected and the engine man-
agement system limits the engine speed to pro-
tect the clutch. This can result in the vehicle fail-
ing to accelerate when the clutch pedal is
partially depressed.

Braking safely

Your BMW is equipped with ABS as a standard
feature. In situations that require it, it is best to
brake with full force. Since the vehicle maintains
steering responsiveness, you can still avoid
possible obstacles with a minimum of steering
effort.
The pulsing of he brake pedal indicates that the
ABS is controlling braking.

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