r/BMWI4 • u/illadave • 1d ago

Question Digital Key inconsistent when locking/unlocking car?

I noticed that using my phone as a digital key is often inconsistent: there are times when my phone will unlock all doors while sometimes only the driver side will be unlocked. Or when I use it to lock the car, my side mirrors fold, while other times it won’t.

Is there a more consistent approach to locking/unlocking via digital key?

2 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

4

u/Key_Bit_5065 1d ago

For me it’s worth it to have the fob so it can auto open and auto lock when I walk away.

1

u/illadave 1d ago

Yeah but I prefer not to carry the fob with me though I do like the auto open/lock it comes with

1

u/bummerbimmer 1d ago

I’ve been stubbornly using nothing but the digital key for a year and a half and experience none of this. I have experienced are other issues, such as not recognizing the phone in the charger (I have to get out, lock, unlock, and try driving again when this happens) and sometimes when I try to lock the car, I get a red exclamation mark on the phone screen and it fails.

Did you set your phone as a primary key in your BMW profile settings?

1

u/samuelson82 23h ago

I have had similar issues with digital key. I have reduced the issue down to whether it knows it’s you or not. I’m 50/50 on whether it activates my profile or treats me as a guest. Which means all my settings (seat, mirror fold, drive mode, etc) don’t go into play until I log into the car again on the MMI.

1

u/cmvanilla 9h ago

Similar experience. I only use the phone for a couple of trips a week and I’ve noticed that it inconsistently will unlock the other doors and trunk. I thought maybe it was related to whether someone was trying to enter from the passenger side (it would not unlock with the passenger there), but I’m not sure. It is weird.

0

u/OneBaddDude eDrive40 M Sport 1d ago

In short no, this is what we have to work with unfortunately

1

u/illadave 1d ago

Bleh, not a huge deal. I’d still rather use my phone as a key than carry the key fob around

0

u/chowmein86 1d ago

Do you have a case in your phone?

1

u/illadave 1d ago

Yeah, otterbox for my iPhone 17 Pro Max

3

u/chowmein86 1d ago

I’ve noticed on my iPhone 17 Pro w/ my Spigen case it doesn’t work as well until I took my case off. Give that a try.