BMW 5 Series: System limits

Safety information

Warning

The system is designed to operate in certain conditions and circumstances. Due to conditions or other factors, the system may not respond.

There may be a risk of accident or risk of damage to property. Actively intervene as warranted. Refer to the information in this Owner's Manual regarding the scope of the system's operation and limitations.

Limits of ultrasonic measurement

Ultrasonic measurements might not function in the following situations:

• For small children and animals.
• For persons with certain clothing, for instance coats.
• With external interference of the ultrasound, for instance from passing vehicles or loud machines.
• When sensors are dirty, iced over, damaged or out of position.
• Under certain weather conditions such as high relative humidity, wet conditions, snowfall, extreme heat, or strong wind.
• With tow bars and trailer couplings of other vehicles.
• With thin or wedge-shaped objects.
• With moving objects.
• With elevated, protruding objects such as ledges.
• With objects with corners, edges, and smooth surfaces.
• With objects with a fine surface structure such as fences.
• For objects with porous surfaces.
• With small and low objects, for instance boxes.
• With obstacles and persons at the edge of the lane.
• With soft obstacles or obstacles covered in foam material.
• With plants and bushes.
• Low objects already displayed, for instance curbs, can move into the blind area of the sensors before or after a continuous tone sounds.
• Cargo that extends beyond the perimeter of the vehicle is not taken into account by the system.

False warnings

The system may issue a warning under the following conditions even though there is no obstacle within the detection range:

• In heavy rain.
• When sensors are very dirty or covered with ice.
• When sensors are covered in snow.
• On rough road surfaces.
• On uneven surfaces, such as speed bumps.
• In large buildings with right angles and smooth walls, for instance in underground garages.
• In automatic vehicle washes.
• Due to heavy exhaust.
• Due to other ultrasound sources, for instance sweeping machines, high pressure steam cleaners or neon lights.

To prevent false alarms, switch off automatic PDC activation on obstacle detection for instance in automatic vehicle washes.

Malfunction

A Check Control message is displayed.

White symbol is displayed, and the range of the sensors is dimmed on the Control Display.

PDC has failed. Have the system checked by a dealer's service center or another qualified service center or repair shop.

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