Weird FOB occurrence

[James T. Kirk]

I have a guy that does hand wash detailing at my office every week to keep my 1M shiny and new. When he arrives, I usually pull my keys off the FOB and hand him the FOB unit sans valet key. Super nice guy. Uses all of the best stuff. Very gentle and meticulous with his work.

One day I get my FOB back to see that my 1M is not responding to the lock or unlock function and that all of my settings and radio stations have been deleted.

Ok, so I figure the battery died and replace the battery with a new 2032 cell, but the lock/unlock buttons still don't work. So I then figure maybe the whole thing got wet and is broken, BUT the Comfort Access proximity start-up is still working along with the door handle sensors to lock and unlock.

What in the world is going on?
- New battery.
- Comfort access and auto door handles work.
- Lock/unlock and trunk buttons don't work.
- Settings programming gone forever.

I dissected the FOB to find no evidence of water.
Lastly, before anyone blames the car, my spare key works just fine.

Is it possible the FOB was "partially" damaged? What would cause that?
.

[tkbr0wn]

Originally Posted by James T. Kirk

I have a guy that does hand wash detailing at my office every week to keep my 1M shiny and new. When he arrives, I usually pull my keys off the FOB and hand him the FOB unit sans valet key. Super nice guy. Uses all of the best stuff. Very gentle and meticulous with his work.

One day I get my FOB back to see that my 1M is not responding to the lock or unlock function and that all of my settings and radio stations have been deleted.

Ok, so I figure the battery died and replace the battery with a new 2032 cell, but the lock/unlock buttons still don't work. So I then figure maybe the whole thing got wet and is broken, BUT the Comfort Access proximity start-up is still working along with the door handle sensors to lock and unlock.

What in the world is going on?
- New battery.
- Comfort access and auto door handles work.
- Lock/unlock and trunk buttons don't work.
- Settings programming gone forever.

I dissected the FOB to find no evidence of water.
Lastly, before anyone blames the car, my spare key works just fine.

Is it possible the FOB was "partially" damaged? What would cause that?
.

Where is your other key fob?

[Dackelone]

You know when I read your subject line I thought... wait a minute... is he deployed? FOB = Forward Operating Base. Then I read your story! lol


Btw... I think I would just have your dealer order you a new FOB/key.

[Artemis]

You got comfort access, so no reason to slide the key physically in the key slot next to the steering wheel. Neither do I (actually I only recently checked where that keylock was).

Without the comfort access option, the key fob recharges in the key slot. So no trouble in running out of juice. With the comfort access option, though, the key fob only relies on its battery (AFAIK the manual states that comfort access key fobs don't recharge in the keylock). So you got to keep a spare battery, just in case (or temporary take the (battery of) the spare key.

You replaced the battery to no avail. Your spare key fob works fine, though.

So if I were you I would fit the malfunctioning key fob in the key slot and have a drive. Although it will not recharge, maybe it initializes, kickstarts or restores some functionality (like computers: sometimes they block for no clear reason and the easy way out is a simple reboot).

My guess: battery of your key fob was empty and you replaced it. Only thing you still got to do is to initialize the key fob by sliding it in the key slot a couple of times and start the engine.

Found a video which seems to have solved your problem that way (see from 02:28 onwards) (as a video comment wrote: "thank you, BMW told my wife she would need to buy a new key 275 euro, got it working thanks to your video". Let us know if it's a "Pronto, baby!".

[tkbr0wn]

Originally Posted by tkbr0wn

Where is your other key fob?

The reason I asked this was in case you potentially have the other fob somewhere in the car. Sometimes the car acts weird (wont unlock/lock) if the other fob is in the car/trunk

[Dackelone]

NICE video find Artemis!

[Jezzer]

He didn't drop the key fob into his bucket of soapy water did he?

[b33g33]

Originally Posted by James T. Kirk

I have a guy that does hand wash detailing at my office every week to keep my 1M shiny and new. When he arrives, I usually pull my keys off the FOB and hand him the FOB unit sans valet key. Super nice guy. Uses all of the best stuff. Very gentle and meticulous with his work.

One day I get my FOB back to see that my 1M is not responding to the lock or unlock function and that all of my settings and radio stations have been deleted.

Ok, so I figure the battery died and replace the battery with a new 2032 cell, but the lock/unlock buttons still don't work. So I then figure maybe the whole thing got wet and is broken, BUT the Comfort Access proximity start-up is still working along with the door handle sensors to lock and unlock.

What in the world is going on?
- New battery.
- Comfort access and auto door handles work.
- Lock/unlock and trunk buttons don't work.
- Settings programming gone forever.

I dissected the FOB to find no evidence of water.
Lastly, before anyone blames the car, my spare key works just fine.

Is it possible the FOB was "partially" damaged? What would cause that?
.

I think your 'detailer' is joy riding in your car and also showing off to the ladies by locking/unlocking your car a million times.

Just let it get dirty like I do!!'

[///BYU]

[YVES1M]

I washed my key twice by mistake, and it still works

[Artemis]

A couple of years ago my car key fell out of my shirt pocket whilst bending over at a pool during a Summer holiday. Removed my mobile from my pocket and dived immediately after the key with my clothes on. Collected it from the bottom of the swimming pool and dried it in the Côte d'Azur sun. Of course both side windows and the sunroof of my M3 were all max open.

Before even thinking of what I could still do with the car key, I imagined myself being required to have my second key sent over, or take another car to meet half way to collect the spare key from a volunteer bringing it, or use public transport for the rest of the holiday (did not want to leave my "open" car unattended over there).

Then came the stress test: will the electronics of the key still work or am I toast for the rest of my holiday. No probs, worked as normal. It seemed to have survived its swimming pool baptism.

Ever since, I prefer not to put electronic devices in my shirt pocket anymore + always bring a spare key when on holiday with the car.

[rogbmw]

Sounds like a warranty issue to me. Let them mess with it

[James T. Kirk]

Originally Posted by Artemis

So if I were you I would fit the malfunctioning key fob in the key slot and have a drive. Although it will not recharge, maybe it initializes, kickstarts or restores some functionality (like computers: sometimes they block for no clear reason and the easy way out is a simple reboot).

My guess: battery of your key fob was empty and you replaced it. Only thing you still got to do is to initialize the key fob by sliding it in the key slot a couple of times and start the engine.

Great advice! Issue resolved. Although the fob didn't work fully once I installed a new battery, all was fixed once I placed it in the key slot and started the car.

Apparently there is an initialization that happens when you plug it in. All of my programming returned and the lock/unlock function came back to life.

Many thanks!
.

[ozinaldo]

Artemis is the next Dackelone

[Artemis]

Was just a wild guess,though. Nice that it resolved the issue. So now I know too if I encounter that situation.

Julius H. Comroe once described serendipity as "to look for a needle in a haystack and get out of it with the farmer's daughter".