hello

11 minutes ago
We just bought a 2017 REx and are in awe at the clever design and build
We have come late to the quirky i3 but since we can use our solar and Octopus E7 tariff to charge cheaply I reckon that if the car stays in good shape and doesnt depreciate much from £11k it wont cost me much to get my spaniels out to exciting walks.
We are working our way through the trials and tribulations too....remote key suddenly stopped working while in an underground carpark so no web access to figure it out. Wife panicked! Of course, I went up into the open and found a signal and youtube explanation of how to get started by holding the dead remote next to the steering column (and also replace remote batteries).
So I joined this forum in the hope of pre-empting such problems in the future. I also found wonderful Wisely on youtube to be very helpful.
I can offer, in return, advice re my own solar / house battery experience. (Im not an agent for it!)
cheers

need to replace tyres and have decided to bite the bullet as all are below 2mm tread and replace all four with Michelin ePrimacy 155/70 R19 front and 175/60R19 back - phew £600! but hopefully good for 30k miles....

Hello WatWin –

Just wanted to say "thanks" for registering here. The mix of members varies from some folk that stop by to ask a specific question to others that have been here for a decade, answering all kinds of queries.

And the reason why the iDrive error message asks the user to place the undetected key fob next to the steering column is because the i3 can then wirelessly supply power to a dead-battery fob via NFC (near-field communication).

Usually i3 key fobs don't stop working without warning as the car will give low-battery fob warnings via the iDrive display for at least a week (or more, depending on how often you drive).

One thing that's not often mentioned... as part of an attempt to thwart cloning the communications between a user's fob and car, newer fobs have a motion detection feature.

If you make a first approach to a newer i3 and quickly bring it to drive-readiness state you should have success.

If you make a first approach to a newer i3 and toss your wallet or purse (containing the fob) on the passenger seat and then take some time loading cargo, seating passengers, or spending more than a a minute or two between bringing your fob near the i3 and asking for drive-readiness, then the i3 will ask you to place the fob next to the steering column, regardless of how well-charged the batteries are in the fob.

In other words, you could have brand-new batteries in the fob and if you just leave it in range of the i3's detection – without moving it for 2-3 minutes, the i3 will act like the fob battery is dead. The solution is to pick up the fob and give it a good shake for one to two seconds, put your foot on the brake pedal, and press the Start button – and no need to place the fob next to the steering column.

This article gives a nice overview of the new (2019) technology but acknowledges that it needs future improvement.

https://www.driving.co.uk/news/moti...-fix-keyless-car-thefts-say-security-experts/

frictioncircle said:

One thing that's not often mentioned... as part of an attempt to thwart cloning the communications between a user's fob and car, newer fobs have a motion detection feature.

If you make a first approach to a newer i3 and quickly bring it to drive-readiness state you should have success.

If you make a first approach to a newer i3 and toss your wallet or purse (containing the fob) on the passenger seat and then take some time loading cargo, seating passengers, or spending more than a a minute or two between bringing your fob near the i3 and asking for drive-readiness, then the i3 will ask you to place the fob next to the steering column, regardless of how well-charged the batteries are in the fob.

In other words, you could have brand-new batteries in the fob and if you just leave it in range of the i3's detection – without moving it for 2-3 minutes, the i3 will act like the fob battery is dead. The solution is to pick up the fob and give it a good shake for one to two seconds, put your foot on the brake pedal, and press the Start button – and no need to place the fob next to the steering column.

This article gives a nice overview of the new (2019) technology but acknowledges that it needs future improvement.

https://www.driving.co.uk/news/moti...-fix-keyless-car-thefts-say-security-experts/

Click to expand...

I have never noticed this behavior on our 2019 i3. Maybe a motion detection feature was added to fobs for later model i3's. Do you know when motion detector fobs were included with i3's?

As I understand it, you only need motion detection for the keyless entry option. If you don't have that, the key doesn't need to use it.

IIRC, BMW chose to keep the remote/keyless entry part of the key separate from the immobiliser part, and tests done recently (sorry, can't find the article now as it was on FB) showed that even if a thief breaks the keyless entry part using a signal relay, they can get into the car, but not start it on an i3.

Without the keyless entry option, signal relay and/or replay is irrelevant.

alohart said:

I have never noticed this behavior on our 2019 i3. Maybe a motion detection feature was added to fobs for later model i3's. Do you know when motion detector fobs were included with i3's?

Click to expand...

Hello alohart!

It was only since acquiring my 2021 i3s that I noticed this motion detection feature.

frictioncircle said:

It was only since acquiring my 2021 i3s that I noticed this motion detection feature.

Click to expand...

Does your car have keyless entry? I've just tested my car (build date September 2021) and it doesn't seem to have motion detection in the key, unless it's very sensitive.

To test, I put the key in the arm rest, switched the car off and then left the car unlocked for 15 minutes. Then tiptoed back to the car, sneaked inside and put it into drive-ready mode. It worked straight away - no need to shake the key.

Of course, that's not conclusive. It's possible that just the small motion of me getting into the car might have woken the key up. And alternatively, some territories (e.g. the US) might get different keys than Europe.

I don't believe the fob works that way. I believe it automatically looks for the fob and wakes it up when a mode change (from ready to drive) is requested.

More than one person has been caught out by that however, as they have gotten into the car with the fob and turned it on, then for whatever reason got out and left the fob before driving off. The surprise comes after they shut off the car at their destination and are then stuck without the key!

As already said, I'm pretty sure (from information posted on another forum) that the behaviour of the fob is dependent on whether your car has the keyless entry option. My car does not - hence it does not need to have a motion-sensing function.

mojo said:

As already said, I'm pretty sure (from information posted on another forum) that the behaviour of the fob is dependent on whether your car has the keyless entry option. My car does not - hence it does not need to have a motion-sensing function.

Click to expand...

It's not clear what you mean by the "keyless entry option". No i3 requires a physical key to enter, so all i3's include keyless entry. All i3's require a key fob for entry and can be unlocked by pressing a key fob button. i3's with the Comfort Access option don't require a key fob button to be pressed to unlock an i3's doors. Is the Comfort Access option what you are describing as the "keyless entry option"?

The rationale behind the phrase "keyless entry" is that you don't actually have to do anything with the key to be able to open the door. Without the "keyless entry" option, you have to do something with the key (i.e. press a button).

The reason why I try to avoid using the words "Comfort Access" is that it's rather too similar to another of the car's functions, whereas "keyless entry" can't really be confused with anything else.

mojo said:

The rationale behind the phrase "keyless entry" is that you don't actually have to do anything with the key to be able to open the door.

Click to expand...

To many people, a "key fob" is an electronic device with buttons while a "key" is a small, metal blade inserted into a lock to lock/unlock it. The first car that I purchased that did not need a key to unlock its doors was described as having keyless entry even though I had to press a button on the key fob to unlock its doors. Different strokes for different folks…

However, I agree that "Comfort Access" doesn't mean much to most people.