Technology for driving comfort and safety, Vehicle equipment, Park distance control pdc – BMW 2012 3 Series M3 Сoupe User Manual

Page 97

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Technology for driving comfort and safety

Vehicle equipment

In this chapter, all production, country, and
optional equipment that is offered in the model
range is described. For this reason, descrip-
tions will be given of some equipment that may
not be available in a vehicle, for example due to
the special options or national-market version
selected. This also applies to safety related
functions and systems.

Park Distance Control PDC

The concept

The PDC assists you with maneuvering in tight
parking spaces. Acoustic signals and a visual
indicator warn you of the presence of an object
in front of or behind your vehicle. To measure
the distance, there are four ultrasonic sensors
in either bumper.
These sensors have a range of approx. 6.5 ft/
2 m. However, an acoustic warning does not
sound until an object is approx. 24 in/60 cm
from the front sensors and rear corner sensors,
or approx. 5 ft/1.50 m from the rear center sen-
sors.

PDC is a parking aid that can indicate
objects when they are approached

slowly, as is usually the case when parking.
Avoid approaching an object at high speed; oth-
erwise, physical circumstances may lead to the
system warning being issued too late.

Switching on automatically

With the engine running or the ignition switched
on, the system is activated after approx. one
second when you shift into reverse or move the
automatic transmission selector lever to
position R. Wait this short period before driving.

Switching off automatically

After approx. 55 yd/50 m of driving or above
approx. 20 mph/approx. 30 km/h, the system
switches off and the LED goes out.

Switching on manually

When parking in the forward direction, the sen-
sors must be switched on manually to enable
them to signal an approach to an object in front
of or behind the vehicle.

Press the button; the LED lights up.

Switching off manually

Press the button again; the LED goes out.

Signal tones

When nearing an object, its position is indicated
correspondingly by an interval tone. For exam-
ple, if an object is detected behind the vehicle,
the signal tone sounds from the rear. As the dis-
tance between vehicle and object decreases,
the intervals between the tones become
shorter. If the distance to the nearest object
falls to below roughly 1 ft/30 cm, then a contin-
uous tone sounds.
An interval tone is interrupted after approx.
3 seconds

If you remain in front of an object that has
been detected by only one of the corner
sensors

If you are driving parallel to a wall.