[Zengineer]

Today I tried life without normal key and failed. Used digital key and everything was fine. Stopped for gas, turned car off, left phone on charger. After gas, attempted to restart car and it could not detect digital key. I tried everything I could think of between digital key and key card but none would work. Luckily my wife hadn’t left the house yet so she brought me the regular key and all is good.

I’ve noticed similar weirdness before when I turn the car off but don’t take my phone out with me. Seems like there is some glitch with leaving phone on tray and leaving the car.

So, be careful! Or, maybe someone can explain to me the proper sequence of operations?

[FMG20]

Why would you want to leave your valuables in de the car anyway?

But thanks for the heads up, think more people probably leave their phones in the car whilst getting gas or another quick stop.

Nothing beats a solid key imo.

[psulaw]

Originally Posted by Zengineer

Today I tried life without normal key and failed. Used digital key and everything was fine. Stopped for gas, turned car off, left phone on charger. After gas, attempted to restart car and it could not detect digital key. I tried everything I could think of between digital key and key card but none would work. Luckily my wife hadn’t left the house yet so she brought me the regular key and all is good.

I’ve noticed similar weirdness before when I turn the car off but don’t take my phone out with me. Seems like there is some glitch with leaving phone on tray and leaving the car.

So, be careful! Or, maybe someone can explain to me the proper sequence of operations?

Do you think it could be a safety feature? If someone was to accidentally leave their phone in their car and they have the digital key, that's effectively the same as leaving your key in your car. Perhaps BMW detects that someone left their phone in the car and exited the vehicle, and so they deactivate it as a key so someone else can’t just jump in and take the vehicle. Just a thought.

[cbagz]

Originally Posted by Zengineer

Today I tried life without normal key and failed. Used digital key and everything was fine. Stopped for gas, turned car off, left phone on charger. After gas, attempted to restart car and it could not detect digital key. I tried everything I could think of between digital key and key card but none would work. Luckily my wife hadn’t left the house yet so she brought me the regular key and all is good.

I’ve noticed similar weirdness before when I turn the car off but don’t take my phone out with me. Seems like there is some glitch with leaving phone on tray and leaving the car.

So, be careful! Or, maybe someone can explain to me the proper sequence of operations?

This happened to me also except I was locked out of the car. Was using the digital card key only when I go to the GYM and it was working flawlessly for months. My cell phone was located in the center glove box also. Long story short I walked home in the rain 3 miles away to get the key fob and a ride back. This also happened to me on my 2021 M340i (but it finally opened after a 100 swipes of the key card on the door handles).

[Zengineer]

Originally Posted by FMG20

Nothing beats a solid key imo.

I unfortunately agree with you now lol!

Originally Posted by psulaw

Do you think it could be a safety feature? If someone was to accidentally leave their phone in their car and they have the digital key, that's effectively the same as leaving your key in your car. Perhaps BMW detects that someone left their phone in the car and exited the vehicle, and so they deactivate it as a key so someone else can’t just jump in and take the vehicle. Just a thought.

I dunno about it being an on purpose safety feature… I mean one could just as easily leave their real key in the car so it just seems like the same risk to me, I wouldn’t think BMW would nerf the digital key to mitigate that risk at the expense of stranding the actual owner.

Originally Posted by cbagz

This happened to me also except I was locked out of the car. Was using the digital card key only when I go to the GYM and it was working flawlessly for months. My cell phone was located in the center glove box also. Long story short I walked home in the rain 3 miles away to get the key fob and a ride back. This also happened to me on my 2021 M340i (but it finally opened after a 100 swipes of the key card on the door handles).

Uuuggggg that sucks! I’ll stop complaining about my situation now hahaha.

Good to hear I’m not the only one who has had this problem! Occasionally I have to reconnect CarPlay when I leave the phone in the car also, makes me wonder if there’s some glitch with CarPlay / Bluetooth on power cycle.

I would love to live with phone or key card only but NOPE not yet!!

[psulaw]

I don't know if I agree with you that leaving your phone and your key in the car are the same thing. A key is intuitively something you don’t leave in your car. I don’t know if that’s the case with a phone. With a BMW, you don’t even need to take your key out of your pocket to lock/unlock and start your car. So, there is less chance of you leaving it in your car. I don’t think that is the case with a phone. And, are you sure you were stranded? I wonder what would have happened if you took the phone out of the car, walked (far enough) away from the vehicle, returned, and tried again? I’m genuinely curious if you did this. I wonder if it would fix the situation in the same way that the situation was likely fixed when you drove your vehicle home that day, took the phone out of the car, and then returned the next day, and the digital key worked again. But who knows.

I agree with you though, I’m ready for a time where I just use my phone or Apple Watch for everything. We need more US states to adopt the digital drivers license!

[Zengineer]

Originally Posted by psulaw

I don't know if I agree with you that leaving your phone and your key in the car are the same thing. A key is intuitively something you don’t leave in your car. I don’t know if that’s the case with a phone. With a BMW, you don’t even need to take your key out of your pocket to lock/unlock and start your car. So, there is less chance of you leaving it in your car. I don’t think that is the case with a phone. And, are you sure you were stranded? I wonder what would have happened if you took the phone out of the car, walked (far enough) away from the vehicle, returned, and tried again? I’m genuinely curious if you did this. I wonder if it would fix the situation in the same way that the situation was likely fixed when you drove your vehicle home that day, took the phone out of the car, and then returned the next day, and the digital key worked again. But who knows.

I agree with you though, I’m ready for a time where I just use my phone or Apple Watch for everything. We need more US states to adopt the digital drivers license!

All great points! One of these days when I have some free time I may do some experiments to see if I can reliably recreate what’s happening and determine a fix. Appreciate the thoughtful reply!

[psulaw]

I may do some experimentation as well because now I’m worried that I’m wrong and might actually get stranded!