comfort access - erm, how?

[LJ20]

I picked up my new REX yesterday and loving it so far.

I ordered with Comfort Access, but so far either it's not working, or I've not enabled it somehow, or I'm doing it wrong, or it's not actually there.

Get out of car, close doors, press magic spot on handle. Nothing.
With locked car, go up to it with key in pocket, pull handle, nothing.
This is at home, no obvious sources of interference etc.

Do I need to enable it somewhere on the computer? Is there a trick to how to grab the handle? Or has it somehow been missed off the spec?

Thanks!

 

[Boatguy]

It sounds like it's not working. I don't know of anything that has to be enabled, mine worked out of the box as I recall. I do find that it's not nearly as responsive as my Mercedes, but it does work.

Sounds like you need to go back to the dealer...

 

[Lincsat]

You can try holding the key next to the door while you grab the handle in case there is something shielding in your pocket but does sound like a Dealer Visit is in order. Surprised they didn't demonstrate it at the handover?

 

[jadnashuanh]

Is there a set of ridges on the door handle? That is the magic spot to lock the car. I've found that if I have the remote from my other car in the same pocket, the i3 doesn't recognize its own, but other than that, it works. It's a little slow to respond, but has always worked. Slow because there seems to be a slight delay.

 

[barrychan]

I too sometime found that i had to touch a few times then it locks, most times ok

 

[MikeS]

Definitely sound like a fault. If I touch the ridged section of the handle and the key is on me or very close (like in my golf bag!) the car locks immediately. To unlock is just as smooth as long as you use the part of the handle towards the front of the car - otherwise your hand is too close to the lock section and its confused!!

 

[LJ20]

Thanks folks! I'll check in with the dealer. I've not spotted any ridges on the handles... Maybe it got missed off the spec list somehow (in which case, money back for me, as I'm not too worried about having it really).

We didn't have a full tour when we picked up, because it seemed more fun to learn ourselves

 

[jadnashuanh]

I've not spotted any ridges on the handles... Maybe it got missed off the spec list somehow (in which case, money back for me, as I'm not too worried about having it really).

No ridges, no comfort access...the remote looks the same, but now you have to get it out of your pocket to lock or unlock the car. STill runs fine as long as it is in the vehicle, though. Makes it a bit more of a pain opening the rear hatch unless you code the car.

 

[PDXelectric]

I picked up my new REX yesterday and loving it so far.

I ordered with Comfort Access, but so far either it's not working, or I've not enabled it somehow, or I'm doing it wrong, or it's not actually there.

Get out of car, close doors, press magic spot on handle. Nothing.
With locked car, go up to it with key in pocket, pull handle, nothing.
This is at home, no obvious sources of interference etc.

Do I need to enable it somewhere on the computer? Is there a trick to how to grab the handle? Or has it somehow been missed off the spec?

Thanks!

The website is confusing, but I think that comfort access is only available as part of the Giga and Terra packages. Do you have a Mega?

 

[imolazhp]

As others stated, if your door handles (both of them) do not have the ridges/lines, your car does not have comfort access. If it does, then place a finger on the ridges to lock the car, place all 4 fingers inside of the handle to unlock. My car doesn't like 3 fingers, it wants all 4.

 

[MFNATIK]

FWIW, the CA on the i3 has worked the least well for me compared to my E60 M5 which was always spot on when I reach for the handle or when I lock by touching the "keyhole" area of the handle (on any door). On the i3 I often have to reach and pull and retry a few times sometimes before the CA system recognizes my hand and unlocks the car. And yes, I know that my cell phone can affect the signal but I notice this happens regardless of my phone being in my pocket with the key or not.

 

[imolazhp]

^ interesting. This is my first car with CA and after a very short learning curve I haven't had any issues with it. Mine likes all 4 fingers in the handle that was really about as much as there was for me to learn really.

 

[MFNATIK]

If anything, the CA in my E60 is much more sensitive and responsive. It seems to be react instantly when I reach for the handle whereas on a good day with the i3, there is always a slight delay on the hand grabbing the handle and my 2-3 attempts at pulling the handle before it unlocks. I'm not going to say its embarrassing, but geez, it looks like I don't know how to unlock my car or something or I'm messing with someone's car.

 

[imolazhp]

Mine has a delay, but it is ever so slight. I've trained myself to wait to pull until I hear the door unlock. I bet it would be difficult going between two cars that act differently.

 

[MFNATIK]

Yeah, thats exactly what it is. Its even worse when you have one car with CA and another without. Then you really start fooling yourself lol

 

[F10M5]

I have the same experience. It seems pretty much hit and miss when it works or not. Works well about 80% of the time. Works ok (have to try more than once) about 10% of the time and doesn't seem to work at all (locking and unlocking) about 10% of the time. F10 M5 and X1 both work 100% of the time with no problem whatsoever. Seems BMW saved some money with these because it really doesn't compare to my others.

 

[Lincsat]

Never had a problem getting mine to lock/unlock, just grab the door handle and it unlocks. There is a short delay opening the trunk if the car is locked but I guess there isn't the same sensor there.

 

[jadnashuanh]

I have it on two cars, and the i3 is less sensitive, but not by much. I think some of it is that the field transmitter is probably setup for less power, and doesn't actually sense your hand until it is almost fully in the door handle slot. On my other car, I'd bet that it sensed my hand approaching, and was ready to trigger the locks sooner, and that's why you notice the delay...it's already prepped to unlock. I notice on the other (non-i3) car that when washing it, it will lock/unlock much easier just wiping, so try to remember to put the fob somewhere. It does seem to like your whole hand in there, but again, I think part of it is the power output and therefore the size of the sensing field.

 

[i3Alan]

I have it on two cars, and the i3 is less sensitive, but not by much. ...

I have had CA on many of my last half dozen cars from multiple manufacturers. The i3 is the slowest to respond to opening and closing. It is also the slowest (by far) to respond to a horn press (so slow a tap will not register at all), window up/down, radio volume up/down from the wheel, and a few other things. I believe BMW just does a terrible job (by comparison) of working the internal data buses with poor software design to control these functions. The horn is dangerously inexcusable (and wimpy to boot!). The windows and CA door locks are just irritating. I also noticed that on the rare occasion when both the driver and the passenger try to move the passenger window in the same direction, it freezes! STUPID software. I'll not mention how horrible the sun visor is (!), but I will mention how much, in total, I completely love my i3 (in spite of these deficencies).

 

[jadnashuanh]

Power consumption on any microprocessor goes up radically with the clock speed. There are a lot of them in any modern car.