[avalon652]

Have had my '24 X7 M60i for about 7 months and around 5K miles and had a first on X-mas day. Went to the movies with the family and no issues on the way over (about a 15 minute drive). When I came out, the car opened using my digital key but I couldn't start the vehicle. The iDrive (8.5), popped a message that said it could not recognize the digital key and to use the tray. Tried that of course and it didn't work. I didn't have a key on me (I haven't had one on me since I picked up the vehicle the first time) and I also did not have the key card set up to try either. Tried locking, unlocking, getting in, out, resetting idrive, taking my phone away and using my wife's, etc. Nothing worked.

Tried calling BMW Assist but evidently they cannot start the car remotely either. I also noticed there was an error on the driver's screen that said something to the effect of drive carefully, chassis stabilization malfunction (I forgot to take picture but it was something like that based on my google search history on my phone).

Grabbed a Lyft home, and returned with a key about 30 minutes later and everything started up fine, messages were gone, no record of notifications, etc.

Great that things seem to be fine, but do I just need to abandon the digital key "just in case" now? I can give the dealer a call but suspect I won't get much help without a current warning showing and it will be chalked up to a glitch or something. Also took a look in the manual but after a search in the PDF couldn't find any matches for Chassis Stabilization issues .

Anyone else run into anything like this?

Thanks in advance!

[77SU]

Following to see if anyone else chimes in. It only took six months, two service calls, and three geniuses working over an hour each to finally get my digital key plus set up. Luckily the last genius had spent a few years working for Verizon, so he was working from experience on both sides of the problem.

Digital key worked fine for a couple of weeks until around the week of Christmas and then the car would no longer recognize the phone (S23 Ultra) from a distance. The door would unlock when I placed the phone on the door handle, and of course, then I had to place the phone in the tray to start the car. I think I will be spending another morning with a genius in my near future.

[ren]

Same thing happened to my wife even when she had a key fob with her on top of the digital key (her iPhone). Luckily she was only a few minutes away from home. I got there and tried to start the car with my key fob, but that did not work either. Then I took both of our phones outside the range of the car, locked the car with the key fob, unlocked and finally was able to start the engine.

The error was "Key not recognized. Cannot switch to drive-ready mode. Place digital key in smartphone tray. See Owner's Manual..."

This was a couple months ago and has not happened since. Now I carry a key fob with me everywhere I go, and I make my wife carry the key card with her in addition to her phone and key fob.

[Vnoxdev]

I just got the exact same behavior today, same chassis stabilization warning and same key not recognized error. I have both my digital key and physical key with me but none of them worked…

[avalon652]

Just a bummer the feature isn’t more reliable. I really enjoyed leaving the key at home those first 6 months of ownership. I still leave it at home if I’m just heading up to grab the kids at school or the store (all less than a mile or so) but don’t venture out much beyond that. Guess “stuff” happens but would be really nice if there was a backstop through BMW Roadside Assisatnce over the air.