hello

[MatWin]

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

 

[MatWin]

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....

 

[frictioncircle]

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.

 

[frictioncircle]

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/