[d00b]

Hi,

We recently picked up a m40i for the wife and she (secretly, me too) has been enjoying it.

She recently had has a error message show on startup. Pic attached.

I will call the dealer in the next day or so but has anyone seen this?

Car started fine, no issues and drove normal.

Edit: Pic is blurry.. error msg says....."Remote control is missing or defective. Starting engine is not possible. See Owner's Manual for more information."


Cheers,

[Slalom]

Originally Posted by d00b

Hi,

We recently picked up a m40i for the wife and she (secretly, me too) has been enjoying it.

She recently had has a error message show on startup. Pic attached.

I will call the dealer in the next day or so but has anyone seen this?

Car started fine, no issues and drove normal.

Edit: Pic is blurry.. error msg says....."Remote control is missing or defective. Starting engine is not possible. See Owner's Manual for more information."


Cheers,


Attachment 1744928

Do you have the Display Key? If so, the battery in it may need charging. The message looks like the one you get when the battery in the regular key is low.

[d00b]

Originally Posted by Slalom

Do you have the Display Key? If so, the battery in it may need charging. The message looks like the one you get when the battery in the regular key is low.

Hi Slalom,

Thanks for the quick reply.

No, we just have the regular keys.

Cheers,

[Rbrown]

I get that message if the key has been taken out of range after I start the engine. Try keeping the key near the centre console and you will be fine.

I’m assuming the message just cleared itself?

[Dzo]

Hello,
I’ve already had a similar message in my 2er when the car did not detect «*quickly*» the key.
I think that the message simply stays until it’s manually closed.
Never had any problem with the car anyway.

I hope your problem is nothing serious.

[Max Well]

Originally Posted by d00b

We recently picked up a M40i and recently had an error message show on startup. "Remote control is missing or defective. Starting engine is not possible. See Owner's Manual for more information."
Car started fine, no issues and drove normal.

Greetings, d00b - we have seen that multiple times over the years with our 2012 X3 35i and 2015 LCI X3 35i. As others have suggested, it has always just been a case of not recognizing the key quickly enough for whatever reasons. Closing the error msg and then trying again has always worked for us, so I've never mentioned it to our Svc Ctr. Should it continue on a consistent basis, though - would run it by your team, especially if happens mainly with one key and not the other. Glad you both are enjoying your new M40i!

[JSY]

I have noticed that message more in this car than in my previous X3. That is, when I started putting my key fob in my left pants pocket instead of my right, the car seems to occasionally not detect my key as fast. That message has come up when I tried to start the car while not sitting in the seat. It does seem that this X3 is less forgiving if it thinks your fob is too far away, especially to start the car.

[Almaretto]

Originally Posted by JSY

I have noticed that message more in this car than in my previous X3. That is, when I started putting my key fob in my left pants pocket instead of my right, the car seems to occasionally not detect my key as fast. That message has come up when I tried to start the car while not sitting in the seat. It does seem that this X3 is less forgiving if it thinks your fob is too far away, especially to start the car.

Mine does it if phone and FOB is same pocket.

[edcrane]

Originally Posted by JSY

I have noticed that message more in this car than in my previous X3. That is, when I started putting my key fob in my left pants pocket instead of my right, the car seems to occasionally not detect my key as fast. That message has come up when I tried to start the car while not sitting in the seat. It does seem that this X3 is less forgiving if it thinks your fob is too far away, especially to start the car.

May be a good feature. Last week my wife drove off in our 2015 x3 without any key fob at all—she’d left hers in another coat. The car started based on proximity of my fob, which was never even close to being inside the car. Got a funny call 30 minutes later when she couldn’t lock the doors.

[Nitrium]

Tangential to your post, sorry to hijack your thread...

Does anyone know what is this warning on startup?



Goes away shortly after starting the engine, but I was wondering what it means.

[Slalom]

Originally Posted by Nitrium

Tangential to your post, sorry to hijack your thread...

Does anyone know what is this warning on startup?


Goes away shortly after starting the engine, but I was wondering what it means.

Rear seat passenger seatbelt lamp - something new to BMW's as far as I can tell. Other makes have doe it for years. Perhaps a regulatory requirement in some places and BMW decided to make life easier for themselves and add it everywhere.

[Nitrium]

Originally Posted by Slalom

Rear seat passenger seatbelt lamp - something new to BMW's as far as I can tell. Other makes have doe it for years. Perhaps a regulatory requirement in some places and BMW decided to make life easier for themselves and add it everywhere.

Huh, cool. Yeah, probably something they have yet to update in the manual. Couldn't find it mentioned there. Thanks.

[Ranger8]

Originally Posted by edcrane

May be a good feature. Last week my wife drove off in our 2015 x3 without any key fob at all—she’d left hers in another coat. The car started based on proximity of my fob, which was never even close to being inside the car. Got a funny call 30 minutes later when she couldn’t lock the doors.

Yup, happens at ramdom. Have not been able to detect a pattern in terms of where I keep the fob.

[Dzo]

Originally Posted by Slalom

Rear seat passenger seatbelt lamp - something new to BMW's as far as I can tell. Other makes have doe it for years. Perhaps a regulatory requirement in some places and BMW decided to make life easier for themselves and add it everywhere.

I have it on my 3,5 years old 220xd...

[Slalom]

Originally Posted by Dzo

I have it on my 3,5 years old 220xd...

Common in the EU - Had it on a Peugeot 307 too.

[Dzo]

Originally Posted by Slalom

Common in the EU - Had it on a Peugeot 307 too.

Yes, and I’m really surprised to read the differences between European and American BMW models !

[ND40oz]

Originally Posted by Nitrium

Huh, cool. Yeah, probably something they have yet to update in the manual. Couldn't find it mentioned there. Thanks.

They turn green when the seat belts are buckled. Kind of nice to know if you need to tell your kids to buckle up and which one to direct it at.

[Nitrium]

Originally Posted by ND40oz

They turn green when the seat belts are buckled. Kind of nice to know if you need to tell your kids to buckle up and which one to direct it at.

Hah, nice catch. I don't have kids yet, but now that you mention, that makes total sense.

[d00b]

Thanks for all the responses, much appreciated.

I agree with the majority there seems to be a delay but it does recognize the fob eventually.

That being said, no issues it starts up and doesn't throw any other errors. Unless the frequency increases, probably won't bring it up with dealership.

Cheers,

[Beemerbuster2]

Just over a week ago tried to start car with Display Key in car and nothing than a click noise when pushing the start button. Message on display tho confirm engine will not start consult handbook etc.
Eventually, after a couple of tries the car started ok and continued to do so during that day. Checked this forum and it was suggested the charge level of the display key might be low so I recharged it and next day no problem instant start.

Yesterday, nothing all dash displays light as normal but just an audible click having pushed the start button.
No engine will not start display as before. Tried to start using both the Display and normal keys but no go. Checked car battery and just 12.2volts so decided to charge it. Using CTEK 10 amp smart charger charged battery to full. Still no difference. Called assistance from Green Flag Breakdown services who tested battery and discovered it was actually faulty with insufficient capacity to start car.

Green Flag technician connected his battery pack to car but car still refused to start, just the same audible click on pushing the start button.

Technician had no idea as to what to suggest other than the electronics might have got screwed up by the low capacity battery and the abortive start attempts. His conclusion it needed a full BMW diagnosis so it's being recovered and taken to local dealer tomorrow.

Any body had similar with their X3's - mines a 2018 2.0D

Thanks

[satz]

Originally Posted by d00b

Hi,

We recently picked up a m40i for the wife and she (secretly, me too) has been enjoying it.

She recently had has a error message show on startup. Pic attached.

I will call the dealer in the next day or so but has anyone seen this?

Car started fine, no issues and drove normal.

Edit: Pic is blurry.. error msg says....."Remote control is missing or defective. Starting engine is not possible. See Owner's Manual for more information."


Cheers,


Attachment 1744928

Did you change the battery on the remotes? They don't seem to last long on mine (and I sometimes get a 'low remote battery' warning....I think). but not always.

[Beemerbuster2]

Remotes are being read ok by the car it appears, the Display Key has a charged level indicator built in and that's indicating near full charge - really strange situation.

I will feed back info once it's been seen by my dealer.