Jump directly to the content

DRIVERS have gone years without knowing that you can unlock your car's "hidden menu" with a dashboard push and hold trick.

A BMW E46 owner posted a TikTok clip demonstrating the little-known hack.

A little-known trick can unlock your dashboard's 'hidden menu'
2
A little-known trick can unlock your dashboard's 'hidden menu'
The trick involves pressing and holding your car's odometer reset button
2
The trick involves pressing and holding your car's odometer reset button

The driver said: "I actually thought this one was pretty cool - there’s so much in the hidden menus I didn’t know about."

He said that the trick can unlock a "digital rev counter" showing how many RPMs your car's engine is doing.

To access the rev counter and other "functions", you just have to press and hold the odometer reset button next to the bottom-left edge of the car's speedometer.

First, hold the odometer reset button to make a red "test screen" flash up on the display below the speedometer.

Read More Motors

Pressing the button again will scroll through the different functions on the dashboard's "hidden menu", each of which is represented by a different number.

Keep pressing until you reach number "19", then wait for ten seconds.

Then press the button again until you reach number "7", and wait for five seconds.

Finally, press the button until you reach number "7.2" - then you're all done.

The test screen will now show how many revolutions per minute your car's engine is doing.

Other BMW E46 owners shared their dashboard push and hold tricks on TikTok.

One driver said: "Yes - 7.0 is engine temp, 7.1 is oil temp, 7.2 rpm and 7.3 speed."

Another said: "I've had an E46 for five years and still find new things."

Drivers are only just realising what the button with the "weird squiggles" on your dashboard really does - and it's essential for winter.

Topics