My 330Ci never worked from too far away, my 645Ci worked from a good distance - 20m+ with line of sight, my Z4 is downright useless, despite being the newest.
They all had the same style key, but are the alarms/receivers the same between them?
Mine is absolutely rubbish, boh keys, compared to the roadster I used to have! Literally have to be within 2 metres of the car at times, really annoying when checking it is locked!
I have to be within a few feet with the Z4 (same with both fobs). With my VW and Audis they have all had a range over over 50 metres and up to 150 metres.
The BMW can be a PITA as I cannot blip the fob and find it in a dark car park when it is hidden behind a Chelsea tractor
+36 or however many on this! Both my keys have been rubbish from day one yet my similar aged Volvo can be triggered almost from the next county!!! Surely a Zed curiousity
Mine only works within a couple metres of the car, you really have to be standing pretty much right next to it with either key before they'll trigger the locks and I prefer it this way, because if anyone lifts my keys from my pocket whilst I'm in a restaurant or pub, whatever, and heads for the car park it'll take them a lot longer to identify which car they belong to. The wife's Focus works from miles away (slight exaggeration but you get my drift)
Also how easy/cheap is it to replace the plastic cover on the actual key itself as mine is beat up and i want a shiney new plastic case bit to make it look better