[lawdude]

My wife told me she left the car running so her mother could enjoy the AC while she went into a store. She said after thinking about it for awhile, she wondered why the car didn't cut off since she had the fob on her person. I asked if there was any kind of alert and she said no.

Is there a way to turn on an alert in the event the person with the fob gets out while the car is running?

[02420X3]

There is a visual alert on the iDrive screen to the effect that the keyfob is not in the vehicle, and a Start cannot be done. There is no audible alert

[lawdude]

Originally Posted by 02420X3

There is a visual alert on the iDrive screen to the effect that the keyfob is not in the vehicle, and a Start cannot be done. There is no audible alert

Thanks 02420X3. I assume you are saying that if someone drives off without a fob, once the engine is stopped, it cannot be restarted without a fob.

[02420X3]

Originally Posted by lawdude

Thanks 02420X3. I assume you are saying that if someone drives off without a fob, once the engine is stopped, it cannot be restarted without a fob.

Correct.

That message should have been on the iDrive screen when your wife returned, but she may not have noticed it, or your MIL may have touched something which cleared the screen. It's easy enough to check to see if it appears. Start your X3, get out, close the door, open the door, get back in, and look at the screen.

[02420X3]

The absence of an audible warning in vehicles with keyless start/stop was the subject of a recent NY Times article. Modern cars are apparently so quiet at idle that people are sometimes forgetting to turn them off, and leaving an idling car running in their garage. The NY Times article reports 28 deaths and 45 injuries in the last 12 years. There is no mention in the article of keyed cars having contributed to the deaths and injuries, only keyless cars with a Start/Stop button. According to the article, different manufacturers approach the situation differently - Toyota gives an audible alert, and some manufacturers shut the vehicle off after 30 minutes.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/13/b...xide-toll.html

[pokerface]

Observed Behavior:

If the engine was running when you left the car, it should stay running. On later models the car will honk if you tried to lock it from the outside while the engine was running.

Also if engine was stopped (Automatic Stop Start), in Park, when you opened the drivers door, the engine will cut out completely - won't restart unless you repress the Start button (with key present).

[atarivers]

I get an audible alert.

Originally Posted by 02420X3

There is a visual alert on the iDrive screen to the effect that the keyfob is not in the vehicle, and a Start cannot be done. There is no audible alert

[lawdude]

Checked it out and forgot to post. I get the visual alert but no audible alert.

[najnad]

Why doesn't the engine stop when the vehicle does not detect the key fob? That is in case there is some disruption in detecting the signal while driving...sensor fails, key fob battery dies, electromagnetic interference, etc...so you dont find yourself suddenly stopped in the middle of the highway! It is a safety issue.

Could they program it to kill the engine if the vehicle is in park and does not detect the key fob, probably, but then you would lose the ability to leave the vehicle running when you run back inside because you forgot something, want the heater to warm up the vehicle, the ac to cool down the vehicle, or whatever you want to do without leaving the key fob behind. It is a convenience issue.

As for those people in the article who failed to turn off their vehicles before closing the garage door and going inside, their failure to properly use a tool is no reason to change how a tool works. Should we make the exhausts louder so no one getting out of the car could reasonably forget the vehicle was still running due to the noise? Of course not. So we should not mandate the manufacturers eliminate the convenience factors of the key fob to prevent a handful of operator errors either.

Remember when automatic seatbelts were a new safety feature on some cars? The idea was that people were not using seatbelts properly, if at all, so the manufacturer built a system to automatically strap in the driver and front passenger (screw the people in the back seats). This feature didnt last very long because people did not like the convenience that it eliminated...speed of getting in and out of the vehicle, unstrapping to reach out for drive up ATMs/etc, not wanting to strap in when just moving the vehicle a few feet, etc. If some manufacturers do modify how the key fob works, I doubt it will last very long.

Evolve or die!

[Bruce24]

Originally Posted by najnad

Evolve or die!

I personally would prefer to have the car evolve to possible prevent someone from dying.

To me it seems that for the same reason I get an audible alert if I start the car before putting my seat belt on, getting an audible alert if I open the drivers door while the car is still running make sense.

[najnad]

If the noise from the radio and from the exhaust and from the engine itself don't remind you the car is still running when you open the driver's door, then I doubt an extra audible alert will remind you of anything.

[Bruce24]

Originally Posted by najnad

If the noise from the radio and from the exhaust and from the engine itself don't remind you the car is still running when you open the driver's door, then I doubt an extra audible alert will remind you of anything.

My radio doesn't shut off until I lock the car and once I park my engine is almost always off because of ASS before I get the chance to turn it off.

[lawdude]

Several issues. One of which is you're the only one in your car and get out without turning it off. You'll never see the warning pop up on the screen. Maybe if the car had a peculiar beep warning of such.

Another issue is you have someone drop you off at work in your car, you get out with the key in your pocket. The warning that pops up is nice; combined with an audible beep would be nicer.

Neither scenario would take much engineering genius to handle.

[najnad]

Originally Posted by Bruce24

My radio doesn't shut off until I lock the car and once I park my engine is almost always off because of ASS before I get the chance to turn it off.

If your engine is off due to ASS, then you will not have the problem the original poster nor the article quoted is talking about...having an engine running in a closed garage and poisoning the people in the home.

[Bruce24]

Originally Posted by najnad

If your engine is off due to ASS, then you will not have the problem the original poster nor the article quoted is talking about...having an engine running in a closed garage and poisoning the people in the home.

If the ignition is left on, at some point ASS is going to restart the engine, sooner if say you have the A/C on because that will quickly draw down the lithium battery that powers accessories while the engine is off.

[Roundown]

Originally Posted by najnad

Why doesn't the engine stop when the vehicle does not detect the key fob? That is in case there is some disruption in detecting the signal while driving...sensor fails, key fob battery dies, electromagnetic interference, etc...so you dont find yourself suddenly stopped in the middle of the highway! It is a safety issue.

Could they program it to kill the engine if the vehicle is in park and does not detect the key fob, probably, but then you would lose the ability to leave the vehicle running when you run back inside because you forgot something, want the heater to warm up the vehicle, the ac to cool down the vehicle, or whatever you want to do without leaving the key fob behind. It is a convenience issue.

As for those people in the article who failed to turn off their vehicles before closing the garage door and going inside, their failure to properly use a tool is no reason to change how a tool works. Should we make the exhausts louder so no one getting out of the car could reasonably forget the vehicle was still running due to the noise? Of course not. So we should not mandate the manufacturers eliminate the convenience factors of the key fob to prevent a handful of operator errors either.

Remember when automatic seatbelts were a new safety feature on some cars? The idea was that people were not using seatbelts properly, if at all, so the manufacturer built a system to automatically strap in the driver and front passenger (screw the people in the back seats). This feature didnt last very long because people did not like the convenience that it eliminated...speed of getting in and out of the vehicle, unstrapping to reach out for drive up ATMs/etc, not wanting to strap in when just moving the vehicle a few feet, etc. If some manufacturers do modify how the key fob works, I doubt it will last very long.

Evolve or die!

Evolve, die or add an audible beep.

I have a RR that does exactly that. It's pretty simple. Get out of the car with the fob and it notifies you, once. It's not intrusive, but certainly more effective than a visual alert.