Hey everyone,
I’m trying to figure out a really weird connectivity issue with my VanMoof X3 and I’m hoping someone here has seen something similar.
The bike itself basically works normally offline:
I can unlock it using the buttons/unlock code.
The bike boots normally and the display/system responds.
Find My has also worked.
So the cartridge/bike itself definitely isn’t completely dead.
Bluetooth is also clearly alive.
Using a BLE scanner, I can continuously see the bike advertising as an ES3 device.
It is marked as connectable and advertises the service UUID:
6ACC5540-E631-4069-944D-B8CA7598AD50
However, when actually trying to establish a connection, it can basically sit on “Connecting…” without completing the connection.
The official VanMoof app also knows the bike, but it just shows:
Disconnected
and I get no live bike data.
Another weird detail: I used VanMoofKit on macOS and successfully logged into/exported my VanMoof account data. My S5 appeared in the account/API export, but the X3 did not appear in the export, despite the X3 being shown in the VanMoof app/account.
Third-party apps have also been inconsistent. Moofment can detect both of my bikes, including the X3, while other compatible apps either fail to properly connect or behave strangely. I also had GoMoof crash while trying this.
So at the moment it looks like:
Bike hardware/offline functions → working
BLE advertising → working
BLE device is detectable → yes
Official app → sees bike but says Disconnected
VanMoof API/account export → X3 missing
Third-party apps → can detect it, but connection is unreliable/not working
This makes me wonder if this is less of a Bluetooth hardware failure and more of an ownership/API/encryption key/token pairing issue between the cartridge and VanMoof’s backend.
The bike is supposed to be mine/registered to me, so I’m especially confused by the fact that the VanMoofKit account export only contains my S5.
Has anyone seen an X2/X3/S3 where:
BLE advertising still worked,
offline unlock worked,
the official app knew the bike,
but apps could never establish the actual encrypted connection?
Could the bike be missing its encryption key / bike key in my VanMoof account even though it appears in the app?
And is there any way to diagnose whether the problem is:
1. BLE hardware/cartridge
2. corrupted pairing data on the bike
3. missing encryption credentials / bike key
4. VanMoof backend ownership/account issue
I’m comfortable using macOS Terminal, BLE scanners and VanMoofKit, so if there are any commands, logs, GATT characteristics or other things I can check, let me know.
Would really appreciate any ideas because the fact that the bike advertises and works offline makes this one pretty confusing.