Key Problems

A

AndyMitton

Member
Hi guys,

I'm having a problem with my central locking. I've done a fair bit of searching on here.

Both my keys are not working most of the time for locking / unlocking. Sometimes they will work, but rarely. There will be the odd time when the key decides to work. This can be at the end of the day, opening the car in the work car park (so it woudn't work locking the car/ unlocking the car at the beginning of the day, but may do at the end of the day) - or any other time I use it.

Both keys worked fine when I got the car in February.

I've changed the battery in one of the keys. This worked a few times, then the lock button stopped working and now nothing works on it.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Andy
 
It sounds like the relays on your GM5 module have pretty much given up. It's a somewhat common problem. There's a bloke in the UK that replaces these for a reasonable fee. There's a link on here somewhere. Now that you know what to search for you should be able to find it.
 
Thanks mate I will look into this.

Sometimes it will let me lock the car. I'll try unlock the car with the remote. This won't work and the alarm will go off. Does the module control the alarm aswell ?

Cheers

Andy
 
Just thinking. The lock/unlock button inside the car always works. If it was the GM5, as I understand things, this would not work either?

Cheers

Andy
 
Maybe yes, maybe no. It's conceivable the remote locking operates a different relay than the interior lock button. Or not. I don't know the system at that level of detail.
 
Still struggling with this. They remote locking has been working on and off. Very randomly.

The locking button inside the car works OK.

Getting a bit frustrated with this now as I near always have to use the key.

Also when it locks with the key and I unlock with the key, this would suggest that the GM5 module may not be the culprit as I would expect the alarm to disarm with the button? I try to unlock with the remote button then unlock with the key and the alarm goes off.

Any ideas much appreciated

Cheers

Andy
 
I can't help with a solution, sorry... However if it were me I'd be taking it to my indy to have a look tbh.
 
Hi Andy,

I went through the same issues where I would sometimes be able to open the drivers door by key set the alarm off then silence this with the key fob, passenger door would not have opened and when I tried to open using the interior button by the hand brake this would not release it. If I then drove for less than 30 secs then it was able to be released. I had become so frustrated over time that my frequent pulling up of the driver door handle managed to break the plastic part within the door skin resulting a more expensive bill as the outer handle comes with the part and it is unpainted :headbang: I would definitely get it to an independent for diagnosis and repair, it will save you in the long run.
 
Sorry to hear you're still having trouble.

Have you tried simply reinitialising your keys?
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=20569&p=291559#p291558

Sounds like you may want to go directly to one of the alternate methods. If one of your keys seems more reliable, start with that one first.
 
Cheers,

Yea tried all the procedures for reinitialising the keys.

I'm starting to think it might be the amplifier with a bad earth or some faults with the amp. When i was trying the reinitialising procedures the doors would sometimes lock/unlock and if I held the open button the roof would start to open (I programmed this is NCS). Its just so random it really does strike me as an amp problem. Going to whip it off and test it. Maybe just purchase a new one.

As the car alarm won't engage / disengage this also points toward this I think.

Thanks guys, but I prefer to do the work myself. Don't mind spending the time doing it.

Cheers

Andy
 
csm180 said:
Hi Andy,

I went through the same issues where I would sometimes be able to open the drivers door by key set the alarm off then silence this with the key fob, passenger door would not have opened and when I tried to open using the interior button by the hand brake this would not release it. If I then drove for less than 30 secs then it was able to be released. I had become so frustrated over time that my frequent pulling up of the driver door handle managed to break the plastic part within the door skin resulting a more expensive bill as the outer handle comes with the part and it is unpainted :headbang: I would definitely get it to an independent for diagnosis and repair, it will save you in the long run.
Click to expand...

Oh....That's not ideal at all :headbang:
What a nightmate

What was the fault out of interest?

Cheers

Andy
 
The unit within the door receiving the key signal had failed, meaning it wouldn't unlock and my brute force then broke the small plastic catches that are part of the outer door handle release mechanism.
 
What a nightmare

I've bought a new diversity amp, the one located in the rear view mirror. It is all I can narrow it down to, so I'll give that a go and see what happens!
 
Well I've changed the diversity amp and tried re pairing the keys and it's still not working.

The interior lights don't come on when the lock button is pressed so it's just not getting a signal. And the alarm doesn't disarm. But the interior button works.

One thing I did note is that when you turn the ignition on, then off, then open the door, sometimes there is a beep and sometimes there isn't? Should there always be a beep to signal a key being left in the ignition?

If so I wonder whether this sensor is faulty and causing the key not to charge?

Although this would be a bit strange as I replaced the battery in 1 key, this worked for a few days then stopped working...it never got used in the ignition so never would have charged. Surely the battery would last longer though?

Cheers

Andy
 
And the nightmare continues. So sorry to hear this.

Yes, there should always be a key alarm under the proper conditions when the door is opened. Whether that is related to charging I don't know. It's possible, but you would think charging being triggered simply by turning the ignition from Off would suffice. It's implicit that the key is in place under that condition. Just my opinion, you may be right, and the key is not being charged if it is not sensed.

Have you tried the toothbrush charger trick to refresh the battery?

I'm not too surprised a new battery did not last long if it was never placed in the ignition. New batteries are often shipped in a minimal charged state and need to be fully charged before normal use. I don't know if that's the case here, but it is a common situation.
 
This may sound strange but I had something similar happen on my E36, the central locking became very erratic and would sometimes work and sometimes not with no logical pattern, and swapping keys had no effect

It turned out that my battery (car not key) wasn't charging properly, it was on its way out and causing the erratic behaviour, once the battery was replaced all was well again.
 
Cheers for the answers above

My mate at work also has a Z4

Just paired his car to mine and it works fine!

It must be a charging problem...Unless by coincidence the battery in the second fob has given up too. Although it has been intermittent which is strange.

Will have to try charging up the other fob (the one I changed the battery in) and see if it was just a case of the battery being supplied with a low charge

Cheers

Andy
 
Resurrecting this old thread because I read the whole thing thinking "this is exactly what my car is doing" before I realised that it is my car! I bought it from Andy a couple of months back and still having the same issues with the locking.

I can get a key working by ignition on>off then the first step from these instructions but it only works for a short while, I did it friday afternoon and by saturday morning it had stopped working again. The second two options in the instructions do nothing and the first only works on one key, not the other.

Any new ideas from anyone would be appreciated. I did want to get a Gaptech to install but there's not much point if I can't get a key working.
 
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