[xylodan]

Originally Posted by freshxdough

You have a trunk button on your driver door panel too you know.

Also it doesn't matter how much your vehicle costs, things will happen to any and all vehicles regardless of how much you paid for it.

Certain things engineers should design to make sure they almost never ever happen. The tailgate automatically opening during a car wash is one of them.

[TX3M]

Originally Posted by Turbocar

I now washed my car 2 times in a washbox by my self. My whole car was freaking out both times. Mirrors went in and out, trunk opend multiple times, sunroof closed etc.

My key was in my pocket but I was just standing so doubting if this is a problem with the car or strange enough the key in my pocket... One time the trunk opened when I was standing at the front...

So what is your advice? Leave the key in the car while washing it?

Yes, take the key out of your pocket when washing your car or doing anything outside of your car (maintenance, etc.). You can leave it inside the car or just place it somewhere as long as it's not in your pocket.

[DCC]

Originally Posted by Rob_G77

I found out today that even washing the car at the wand wash causes all kinds of issues with doors constantly locking/unlocking and the rear tailgate opening automatically (at least once). I would be very concerned about the tailgate opening in a touchless wash!

I think that the tailgate should also NEVER open when the engine is running because that is a possible safety hazard with carbon monoxide getting inside.

Rob

Try the wash again but this time with the key fob inside the car. Don’t keep the fob with you in your pocket while you are outside washing the car.

[Turbocar]

Originally Posted by DCC

Try the wash again but this time with the key fob inside the car. Don’t keep the fob with you in your pocket while you are outside washing the car.

Yes that's what I'm going to do the next time when I'm going to wash it. Put it in the drivers seat or so. Hopefully I won't lock myself out...
Let's see in a week or two.

Never had this with my previous 3 cars that had the same options (not BMW).

[Razel]

Originally Posted by Turbocar

Yes that's what I'm going to do the next time when I'm going to wash it. Put it in the drivers seat or so. Hopefully I won't lock myself out...
Let's see in a week or two.

Never had this with my previous 3 cars that had the same options (not BMW).

Get the "My BMW" app onto your smart phone. It has a door lock/unlock function. You know, just in case ...

[SamL]

Dealer tried twice but failed to fix the problem. Dealer hook up battery charger and scanned vehicle but fund no codes. The technician programed vehicle and set tailgate to unlock first and then press tailgate button to open. However, it didn't work. The tailgate still automatically opened when being pressure washed on right site of the vehicle. I had to get it through on my own. I resolved this issue by cutting communication between the fob and the vehicle by placing the fob in a small metal case that the radiation would not reach out. Yes, it works this way.

[MichiganMike]

Originally Posted by XGoober

HoustonEaDo I tend to agree with you that forums will attract more folks who are looking to troubleshoot a problem, but I also feel like this forum attracts a lot of enthusiasts interested in getting the most from their existing car and researching options for their next one. That is why I'm here for example. I still feel like that 30% reported failure rate is probably not too far from the truth.

"Voluntary response sampling is not advantageous or applicable in most studies as it is highly susceptible to bias and yields unreliable results."

https://www.voxco.com/blog/voluntary-response-sample/

While this form attracts many enthusiasts, there are a large number of posts and most readers will focus on topics they deem of interest. Based on articles concerning bias in voluntary surveys, someone experiencing the problem in the survey will have a strong opinion and be far more likely to take time to read a post and respond. If 3 out of 10 owners experienced this problem, I expect there would be a strong push for a recall and Consumer Reports reliability data would reflect the widespread nature. YMMV

[M40i4me]

Originally Posted by Turbocar

Yes that's what I'm going to do the next time when I'm going to wash it. Put it in the drivers seat or so. Hopefully I won't lock myself out...
Let's see in a week or two.

Never had this with my previous 3 cars that had the same options (not BMW).

I hand was both my 20 X5 and my 21 X3 and you can’t lock the keys in either vehicle. I tried it on purpose. The X5 is set for approach unlock and was driving me crazy with it unlocking and locking until I put the keys on the seat. Two years of hand washing and no issues.

[zillymc]

Re-opening a bit of a dead thread. Is this happening for anyone with a 2022 X3 MY?

[sunay27]

Originally Posted by zillymc

Re-opening a bit of a dead thread. Is this happening for anyone with a 2022 X3 MY?

It has happened to me couple of times, but I speculate it is because of the button on the key fob pressed accidentally. I could be wrong.

[zillymc]

Originally Posted by sunay27

It has happened to me couple of times, but I speculate it is because of the button on the key fob pressed accidentally. I could be wrong.

Thanks! Will look into coding or at a minimum get some key fob covers. Gives me nightmares thinking of wife parking this walking away with trunk open lol

[Mirage_77]

I am now going to resurrect this thread. I have a 2023 X3MC. Purchased April 21st, 2023.

I had this happen to me yesterday. Luckily, it was parked outside and not in my garage where it would have been damaged. The tailgate opened within 15 minutes or so prior to me walking outside to the vehicle. I know this because I could see it out my kitchen window before I left and the hatch was not opened. Things to note:

• I had the kick to open/close selected on my profile.
• The key fob was set to unlock all doors when pressed.
• It had been raining.
• Unknown if it is coincidental, but I just got my X3MC serviced the day prior for its 1200 brake in maintenance.

After reading up on this I immediately turned off the kick to open/closed feature and set the key fob tailgate button to only lock when pressed. Just in case the issue happened because the sensor was wet from the rain and/or the tailgate button was pressed in my pocket somehow. I will be pissed if this happens again and damage occurs. I will not tolerate the dealership telling me they cannot replicate the problem and refuse repairs. I am specifically posting this on this thread as documentation that it happened.

My other concern is that this is my third BMW. (I have had a 2020 330i and a 2022 M340i.) All of them have had programing problems with features being not selected and still working. For example, sometimes the mirrors will fold in when I specifically have the option not selected. When it happens and I check the settings, it shows as selected. This just happened when the tailgate issued occurred on my X3MC. I will be very upset if the tailgate features I disabled, re-able themselves magically like with the mirrors and cause this issue to happen again!

Rant over with... for now.

[jg05]

Originally Posted by Mirage_77

I am now going to resurrect this thread. I have a 2023 X3MC. Purchased April 21st, 2023.

I had this happen to me yesterday. Luckily, it was parked outside and not in my garage where it would have been damaged. The tailgate opened within 15 minutes or so prior to me walking outside to the vehicle. I know this because I could see it out my kitchen window before I left and the hatch was not opened. Things to note:

• I had the kick to open/close selected on my profile.
• The key fob was set to unlock all doors when pressed.
• It had been raining.
• Unknown if it is coincidental, but I just got my X3MC serviced the day prior for its 1200 brake in maintenance.

After reading up on this I immediately turned off the kick to open/closed feature and set the key fob tailgate button to only lock when pressed. Just in case the issue happened because the sensor was wet from the rain and/or the tailgate button was pressed in my pocket somehow. I will be pissed if this happens again and damage occurs. I will not tolerate the dealership telling me they cannot replicate the problem and refuse repairs. I am specifically posting this on this thread as documentation that it happened.

My other concern is that this is my third BMW. (I have had a 2020 330i and a 2022 M340i.) All of them have had programing problems with features being not selected and still working. For example, sometimes the mirrors will fold in when I specifically have the option not selected. When it happens and I check the settings, it shows as selected. This just happened when the tailgate issued occurred on my X3MC. I will be very upset if the tailgate features I disabled, re-able themselves magically like with the mirrors and cause this issue to happen again!

Rant over with... for now.

Yikes, that sucks. I wonder if they did a software update and that selected the folding mirrors and something else related to the tailgate??

[jeff3820]

I had this issue too and when I asked the dealer about it on my 2020, they said they had a fix. The paperwork says SI B51 30 16 and they did the software. Has been good since.

[X3rd Time Is a Charm]

It happened to me when I first got MY18 multiple times , opening and not knowing.The car was a CPO and it obviously happened previously because when I bought it, there was damage to the tailgate that the dealership repaired without a problem.I got BimmerCode and coded it to only open when unlocked and I have to do a long press on the fob for the tailgate of more then 5 seconds . Has never happened again since I coded it . I also keep my fob on the drivers seat while washing because the water hitting the door handles or kick to open would open the tailgate and lock and unlock the doors with the fob in my pocket .

[ArcSecond]

Welp, this just happened twice while my 21 x3 was in the garage. First time it has happened. I'm hoping I just sat on the keys wrong and it opened that way, but since this seems to be an issue I'm not confident that's the case...