Buyer asked to pay £24 for BMW manual
■ Printed infotainment instructions no longer free on 5 Series
AS cars become increasingly sophisticated, there’s more need than ever for decent instruction manuals to help operate them.
Peter Allen from Ramsbottom, Greater Manchester, took delivery of his new BMW 5 Series and was surprised it was delivered without a paper copy of the infotainment system handbook – only a digital version held in his 530d’s idrive.
Peter was happy to consult this occasionally, but wanted a paper handbook so he could fully get to grips with his car’s systems.
He contacted his local dealer to ask if it could supply one, only to be told he’d have to pay £24 for it.
Unwilling to pay for something he felt should be included as standard, Peter turned to BMW’S head office, which could only provide a PDF copy. Frustrated, Peter turned to Auto Express.
We contacted BMW, and a spokesman confirmed a manual was available, and would be supplied free of charge.
A BMW spokesman said: “We are happy to provide Mr Allen with a copy of the manual. He’s a valued customer and we hope he enjoys using the full range of BMW Connecteddrive services.”
Peter said: “A big thanks to Auto Express.” He also urged BMW to “just include all the paper manuals”, because being asked to pay for them could “overshadow” the buying experience.