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      03-28-2009, 02:21 PM   #1
dizman7
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Question Comfort Access question

For the last 2 or 3 weeks now at least once a day when I go to unlock or lock the doors or trunk the comfort acess doesn't work right away.

When it doesn't work, I usually have to try two or three times before it finally unlocks the doors or trunk and in a 1 rare case I finally had to pull out the fob to get it to unlock (god forbid, right ).

I can't imagine this is typical, it worked fine for the first month or so. Since the car was a demo with 900 miles I'm wondering if this just means the battery is going dead finally?

Usually when I unlock/lock the doors/trunk the fob is in my pants pocket with only my house keys no more than like 6" away or less, so I doubt it's interference.

Just thought I'd see if anyone had had this or knew anything about it.
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      03-28-2009, 02:39 PM   #2
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G'day mate,

My car is around a year old now and I have been using one of the keys for everything
(keeping the other as a spare at home).

A couple of weeks ago the key appeared to have reduced range, over the last few days the key needs a few presses to get things happening, and occasionally iDrive tells my that the key is not present while I am in the car with the key in my pocket.

The convenient access keys have a replaceable battery so I dropped into BMW to get a new one, they were surprised that the battery had run out after one year and are going to have a look at the key tomorrow...Will keep you posted...
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      03-28-2009, 02:41 PM   #3
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i've heard of this happening. if it doesn't open up right away, i think you have to wait 2 or 3 seconds before you can give it another input. don't just reach for the door handle right away. it doesn't seem that there is much of an explanation for why some CA systems work better than others.
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      03-28-2009, 02:43 PM   #4
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I know that in cars without CA that placing the key into the FOB that starts the car keeps the key charged. They recommend placing the key into the starter at least once a year. Not sure if this is the same for cars with CA? I would presume so. I would recommend placing the key into the ignition and driving around with it like that for a day, maybe that will recharge the battery and give you less problems. Hope this helps.
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      03-28-2009, 02:44 PM   #5
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It's not the same with CA. The CA fobs have replaceable batteries that are not rechargeable.
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      03-28-2009, 03:34 PM   #6
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Do you have tint at all? After I tinted my car the trunk is the only one that gives me a lot of trouble and I need to try a few times to open her up.

One of the sensors is on the rear windshield area, so it could be causing a problem.
I just learned to live with it as the front doors and ignition work fine
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      03-28-2009, 03:47 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Panda///Monic View Post
Do you have tint at all? After I tinted my car the trunk is the only one that gives me a lot of trouble and I need to try a few times to open her up.

One of the sensors is on the rear windshield area, so it could be causing a problem.
I just learned to live with it as the front doors and ignition work fine
No I don't have any tint, the car is completely stock
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      03-28-2009, 03:57 PM   #8
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im sorry but there is really nothing you can do about it other than replacing your key battery and see what happens....

You either have to live with it every now and then or just use the key fob buttons.
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      03-28-2009, 05:41 PM   #9
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2009 BMW  [10.00]
My 08 M3 worked flawlessly EVERY time. My new 09, it has many of the problems you guys been discussing on here. Delayed reactions, not working at all sometimes (quite embarrassing as it looks like the vehicle isn't mine), and reduced range of unlock/lock.
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      03-28-2009, 05:48 PM   #10
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My trunk sometimes takes a couple of presses to release, sometimes on the first go. I've had issues with the range (pressing the button to unlock) where I had normally unlocked it, but now it would not want to do it however many times I would press. I replaced the battery (normal CR2032 lithium) and it seems to work a little better.

The manual says that the car would tell you the batt is low (I imagine that's when it wouldn't easily detect the key in the car), but I've had no issues with the car sensing when I'm inside, only remote range, which is strange.
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      03-28-2009, 08:15 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dizman7 View Post
For the last 2 or 3 weeks now at least once a day when I go to unlock or lock the doors or trunk the comfort acess doesn't work right away.

When it doesn't work, I usually have to try two or three times before it finally unlocks the doors or trunk and in a 1 rare case I finally had to pull out the fob to get it to unlock (god forbid, right ).

I can't imagine this is typical, it worked fine for the first month or so. Since the car was a demo with 900 miles I'm wondering if this just means the battery is going dead finally?

Usually when I unlock/lock the doors/trunk the fob is in my pants pocket with only my house keys no more than like 6" away or less, so I doubt it's interference.

Just thought I'd see if anyone had had this or knew anything about it.
In addition to window tenting, I know that clothing or anything in the way of the keys in your pocket has an impact. Whenever I wear my thicker dress pants, I have to stand closer for it to work.
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      03-28-2009, 09:30 PM   #12
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hmm my comfort access never worked perfectly even before i got my tint. I always had to give it 2-3 tries before the car unlocked. I thought it was normal and lived with it since delivery. I guess I'll have to talk to my dealership about it
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      03-28-2009, 10:08 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JS11 View Post
hmm my comfort access never worked perfectly even before i got my tint. I always had to give it 2-3 tries before the car unlocked. I thought it was normal and lived with it since delivery. I guess I'll have to talk to my dealership about it
Same situation here...I thought it was totally normal and too much to expect it to work perfectly everytime.
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      03-29-2009, 05:10 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by drsnooz View Post
I know that in cars without CA that placing the key into the FOB that starts the car keeps the key charged. They recommend placing the key into the starter at least once a year. Not sure if this is the same for cars with CA? I would presume so. I would recommend placing the key into the ignition and driving around with it like that for a day, maybe that will recharge the battery and give you less problems. Hope this helps.
Unfortunately, CA keys don't charge when inserted.
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      03-29-2009, 06:49 PM   #15
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Hope I am not thread jacking, but does anyone know how long it takes for the car's electronics to shut down once you've stopped the engine?
I have convenience access, and today I noticed that once I pulled into the garage and shut off the car (navi and music were still on when I walked away), navi and music were still on after about 5-10 minutes I went back to the car.
I went back to the car to grab my phone and music was still playing and navi screen still showing...
I don't want to lock my car every time I pull into my garage...
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      03-29-2009, 07:33 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skim View Post
Hope I am not thread jacking, but does anyone know how long it takes for the car's electronics to shut down once you've stopped the engine?
I have convenience access, and today I noticed that once I pulled into the garage and shut off the car (navi and music were still on when I walked away), navi and music were still on after about 5-10 minutes I went back to the car.
I went back to the car to grab my phone and music was still playing and navi screen still showing...
I don't want to lock my car every time I pull into my garage...
You are not actually fully shutting your vehicle off. My father did this for years w/ his 330xi, and then would always complain how his car had a crappy battery that always died. When you shut your car off you have to hold the start/stop button until "BMW" is displayed in large letters across your Idrive screen.

As to the CA, I almost always have issues. Just about everything seems to interfere with mine on some level. My cell phone especially. I have to have my cell phone in either my back pocket, or have my key within 6" of my door, and not behind more than 1 layer of clothing (if I am wearing a long coat and the key is in my pants pocket it wont read no matter what). Hell, if my BMW Motorsports key chain is inbetween the fob and my car it wont unlock my doors . In the conversations I have had w/ the techs they all agree that cell phones are the biggest factor in the interference. Not much you can really do about that though I suppose.
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      03-29-2009, 07:56 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skim View Post
Hope I am not thread jacking, but does anyone know how long it takes for the car's electronics to shut down once you've stopped the engine?
I have convenience access, and today I noticed that once I pulled into the garage and shut off the car (navi and music were still on when I walked away), navi and music were still on after about 5-10 minutes I went back to the car.
I went back to the car to grab my phone and music was still playing and navi screen still showing...
I don't want to lock my car every time I pull into my garage...
you can either hold the start/stop button down for about 3 or 4 seconds or press it twice and everything will shut off.
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      03-30-2009, 12:00 AM   #18
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Heh, this is almost a replica of the CA thread I read a year and a half ago on e60.net. My wife's CA works very unreliably as far as locking and unlocking the car goes. The only thing we really use it for is to start the car without inserting the key, which I have to admit, I miss on the M. I figured things had improved in the 3 years since my wife's car was built, but I guess not. I don't understand how these things make it out of QA.
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      03-30-2009, 08:34 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lugnut View Post
You are not actually fully shutting your vehicle off. My father did this for years w/ his 330xi, and then would always complain how his car had a crappy battery that always died. When you shut your car off you have to hold the start/stop button until "BMW" is displayed in large letters across your Idrive screen.

As to the CA, I almost always have issues. Just about everything seems to interfere with mine on some level. My cell phone especially. I have to have my cell phone in either my back pocket, or have my key within 6" of my door, and not behind more than 1 layer of clothing (if I am wearing a long coat and the key is in my pants pocket it wont read no matter what). Hell, if my BMW Motorsports key chain is inbetween the fob and my car it wont unlock my doors . In the conversations I have had w/ the techs they all agree that cell phones are the biggest factor in the interference. Not much you can really do about that though I suppose.
There certainly seems to be a lot of CA issues. I am fortunate that I have not had any with mine. I would be surprised if BMW is not developing a second generation of CA that works on a more reliable frequency or technology. Hopefully gen 2 will alleviate these problems for future owners and make the system more dependable.
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      03-30-2009, 12:13 PM   #20
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Yeah dude, just turn off your car. Sounds lazy to not just press the button. Or when you walk awawy just press the door handle for 2 seconds. THe radio and all will stay on for half our. Why prematurely wear the electronics? There is no point
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      03-30-2009, 02:51 PM   #21
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as long as you have the key in your pocket, you don't have to push any buttons on it if it does not work right away. Just pull on the door handle and it will unlock the car.. Mine sometimes does NOT work when I touch the door handle so I have to pull the handle..
good luck!!
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      03-30-2009, 03:13 PM   #22
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OP: Do you have a Blackberry? I had CA in my prior 335i that worked almost perfectly until I got a Blackberry Storm this past December. I would keep the Storm and my keys in the same pocket of my jacket. More times than not after I started doing this, the CA wouldn't work properly and I would have to take the Blackberry out of my pocket to get it to open the door/trunk.

I just picked up my new M3 coupe this Saturday and I'll have to see if it reacts the same way to my Blackberry Storm.
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