Spare key/remote not working

[ronfredwood]

Bought my Z4 2.0i G29 with 4k on the clock last month.
The spare key/remote does not have any effect on the car!
Tried the activation process (unlocked car then left key indoors) but when I place the spare key/remote on the indicated steering column position nothing happens.
Replaced the battery, no affect.
Anyone else faced this problem?
Otherwise it's back to the dealer to see if keys have been 'mixed up' or never worked from new.

 

[enuff_zed]

To be honest, if it were me with a car that new I would be heading to the dealer first.

 

[Jim S]

It's highly possible that you have a key to another car

 

[ronk]

It's highly possible that you have a key to another car

I heard of different number plates back v front from a Ford dealership many years ago!

 

[srhutch]

It's highly possible that you have a key to another car

I heard of different number plates back v front from a Ford dealership many years ago!

Volkswagen managed to put the wrong plates on one of our company cars recently. One digit wrong. Employee was driving round for 6 months before it was pointed out.

 

[ronfredwood]

To conclude this post it was a faulty key. New one provided under warranty.

 

[Jim S]

I have had to replace the battery in my remote keys four times, two times in each key since I bought the car new in April. I tested the old battery each time and it measured 3.00 volts. A new battery measures around 3.3 V so I have come to the conclusion that the g29 software needs to be updated to correct this fault. :roll:

I have reported this to my dealer but, as usual, I don't expect him to do anything about it. Just another problem that BMW will ignore. :headbang:

 

[Jim S]

Yet another remote key battery replaced. That makes it 5 in total and the car is only 13 months old with 3,400 miles on the clock. I think this is a software issue as the warning is going off far too early. The old battery still measured over 3 volts when I replaced it. The new Duracell 3V battery measured 3.3 volts. :thumbsdown:

I hope that someone in BMW Technical reads this as they need to arrange for the car software to be corrected. :headbang:

Is anybody else having this problem?

 

[ronk]

Yet another remote key battery replaced. That makes it 5 in total and the car is only 13 months old with 3,400 miles on the clock. I think this is a software issue as the warning is going off far too early. The old battery still measured over 3 volts when I replaced it. The new Duracell 3V battery measured 3.3 volts. :thumbsdown:

I hope that someone in BMW Technical reads this as they need to arrange for the car software to be corrected. :headbang:

Is anybody else having this problem?

Write to BMW customer service -
When I had issues with the dealer when I bought my new 35is in September ‘16 and was getting some BS from them, I wrote to customer services and the dealer service changed overnight!
The dealer wasn’t happy that I had done so but I got some “jumping thro hoops “ service afterwards!

 

[Jim S]

Yes Ronk, good suggestion, I will write to BMW Customer Services to highlight this issue.

I have reported this problem to my dealer several times but it appears that nothing gets logged into the BMW service system unless you specifically book the car in to the dealer service department for investigation. I don’t waste my time and just replace the battery myself. :headbang: :thumbsdown:

 

[ronk]

Yes Ronk, good suggestion, I will write to BMW Customer Services to highlight this issue.

I have reported this problem to my dealer several times but it appears that nothing gets logged into the BMW service system unless you specifically book the car in to the dealer service department for investigation. I don’t waste my time and just replace the battery myself. :headbang: :thumbsdown:

Have a good whine about the situation to BMW and ask them if the frequency of fob battery change is acceptable - I don’t think it is, I’ve never had to change a BMW fob Battery.

 

[Jim S]

Yes Ronk, good suggestion, I will write to BMW Customer Services to highlight this issue.

I have reported this problem to my dealer several times but it appears that nothing gets logged into the BMW service system unless you specifically book the car in to the dealer service department for investigation. I don’t waste my time and just replace the battery myself. :headbang: :thumbsdown:

Have a good whine about the situation to BMW and ask them if the frequency of fob battery change is acceptable - I don’t think it is, I’ve never had to change a BMW fob Battery.

Done; sent a strong email to Graeme Grieve, UK MD complaining about the problem. Let’s see how he responds. :headbang:

 

[ronk]

Yes Ronk, good suggestion, I will write to BMW Customer Services to highlight this issue.

I have reported this problem to my dealer several times but it appears that nothing gets logged into the BMW service system unless you specifically book the car in to the dealer service department for investigation. I don’t waste my time and just replace the battery myself. :headbang: :thumbsdown:

Have a good whine about the situation to BMW and ask them if the frequency of fob battery change is acceptable - I don’t think it is, I’ve never had to change a BMW fob Battery.

Done; sent a strong email to Graeme Grieve, UK MD complaining about the problem. Let’s see how he responds. :headbang:

I think we are all grown up to realise that things do go wrong - it’s how they correct the wrongs!
Let’s hope something Is sorted for you. After all it’s not your first complaint you’ve had to make is it?
You won’t be the flavour of the month in the dealership for a while but they will soon get the notion that they can’t take the ‘P’

In the early 80’s a service manager in a Ford dealership tried to lecture me on Mechanical Tolerances - I went in the next day with a big book of Ford Standards the next day and said show me?
It was lucky that the Co I worked for had a Ford project - I never saw him again.

 

[dr_john]

Sorry to resurrect this old thread but I recalled some discussion on key fob batteries and here it is.

The battery in mine has died according to a message on the control display, despite the fact that it was still working fine. An early warning perhaps. Anyway, simple to fix, I banged in a new battery and the message no longer appears.

I can't recall ever having to change the remote battery in any of my previous cars, this has failed after less then 2 years from new. It shows some sort of indication that there is a heavier drain on the battery in the G29 compared, say, to E89's.

 

[Jim S]

I have had five key fob battery replacements in the first 13 months of ownership of my Z4 g29. Got this checked out at my dealer who could not find any problem with my car or key fobs. However, since updating the car software to version 07/2020.54 I have not had any more problems. Fingers crossed as I have not been using car much over the winter. :thumbsdown:

In all eight of my previous BMW’s I only had to replace both key fob batteries in one car and it was because the car was four years old and a timeout warning appeared. So, it would appear that this is not a typical BMW problem.