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      12-17-2012, 06:54 AM   #1
slyfox
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Washing your car with the key in your pocket!

I was washing the car at the weekend and had the key in my pocket. (comfort access)

The funny thing was when I was pre-washing the car with the hose (wetting)and afterwards when rinsing the car again with the hose the car would lock then unlock it's self at random.

But after tinking about this the answer was obvious !

The comfort door handles work on the (capcitive resistance) of the human body. In other words your (your body completes the elelctrical circuit to the ground when touching the door handle.
The water flow from the hose was 'bridging" the small distance bewteen the outer door handle and the part we touch (inner door handle), causing the car to lock/unlock.

Has anyone else had this happen to them???
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      12-17-2012, 07:52 AM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by slyfox View Post
Has anyone else had this happen to them???
Yes. I also have comfort access. This happens every time I wash my X3 by hand, which, given the snow outside, won't happen again until about March.
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      12-17-2012, 09:25 AM   #3
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Leave the key in the car while you're washing it.
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      12-17-2012, 10:28 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by raleedy View Post
Leave the key in the car while you're washing it.
...or in the house.
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      12-17-2012, 10:52 AM   #5
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If you have coded your car, you might even see folding and unfolding of side view mirrors during washing
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      12-17-2012, 08:32 PM   #6
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This also happens to me. I always leave my key fob in the car. Until two weeks ago the car lock and I couldn't get it open. Had to run down my wife to get her to unlock the car because she had the other key in her purse. I didn't think the car would lock with the key fob in the car and know one in it. Any ideas?
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      12-17-2012, 09:11 PM   #7
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Yep, you have to pace the key away from the car when washing.

A couple other issues with this remote situation- the wife also accidentally restarted the car on a windy day near a busy road and didn't hear it running and went in the store for 30 minutes and left it running. She wondered why the lights were on when she was returning to it, she soon found out why.

Had a friend who rode with his dad to the airport to bring his car back. Dad hopped out of drivers seat, grabbed his suitcase, boy hopped in drivers seat and took off. He stopped to get gas, turned the car off and to his amazement did not have the key, it was still in Dad's pocket. Had to leave it sitting at the pump until Fedex delivered the spare the next morning. He was a couple hundred miles from home.

This system was not well thought out so be careful.
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      12-17-2012, 10:12 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by X3emist View Post
...accidentally restarted the car...
How do you accidentally restart the car?
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      12-18-2012, 04:14 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by noka View Post
...or in the house.
Get your better half to wash the car for you.
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      12-18-2012, 06:21 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by X3emist View Post
Had a friend who rode with his dad to the airport to bring his car back. Dad hopped out of drivers seat, grabbed his suitcase, boy hopped in drivers seat and took off. He stopped to get gas, turned the car off and to his amazement did not have the key, it was still in Dad's pocket. Had to leave it sitting at the pump until Fedex delivered the spare the next morning. He was a couple hundred miles from home.

This system was not well thought out so be careful.
My dad had a similar situation when he first got his Lexus a few years back. He went to a parking garage and left the car running with the key in his pocket. He had to pay a $50 penalty for them to move the car out of the way while he was out.
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      12-18-2012, 09:01 AM   #11
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Easy

If you don't remove your foot from the brake quick enough on the second shut down press of the start/stop button it restarts.
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      12-18-2012, 04:07 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by X3emist View Post
If you don't remove your foot from the brake quick enough on the second shut down press of the start/stop button it restarts.
Maybe I need to read the owner's manual (I haven't taken delivery yet), since I don't understand the start/stop procedures (2nd press and so forth ).
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      12-18-2012, 10:00 PM   #13
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Sadly, this always seems to "surprise" me...sort of a wtf moment before I realize what is going on. Even worse, it's x2 since the 1M is identical in this regard....granted no hand washing for awhile until I get my heated garage in March.
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      12-19-2012, 02:31 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by X3emist
Yep, you have to pace the key away from the car when washing.

A couple other issues with this remote situation- the wife also accidentally restarted the car on a windy day near a busy road and didn't hear it running and went in the store for 30 minutes and left it running. She wondered why the lights were on when she was returning to it, she soon found out why.

Had a friend who rode with his dad to the airport to bring his car back. Dad hopped out of drivers seat, grabbed his suitcase, boy hopped in drivers seat and took off. He stopped to get gas, turned the car off and to his amazement did not have the key, it was still in Dad's pocket. Had to leave it sitting at the pump until Fedex delivered the spare the next morning. He was a couple hundred miles from home.

This system was not well thought out so be careful.
You get a warning if you remove the key from the car don't you? I'm pretty sure I do.
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      12-20-2012, 03:02 AM   #15
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Sfax,

yeh your right.
If I for instance drive home up the garage door. (manual door ) i get out of the car (engine still running) open the door and get bcak in the car. There IS a message saying something like key not detected, you cannot restart the car!
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      12-20-2012, 08:57 AM   #16
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CA is designed so that if the key fob is in the car, the doors won't lock from the outside. If they do, it's the result of a malfunction.
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