[btks]

I have a 2020 X3 M Competition with 7900 miles. It has mostly been sitting for the the past month due to issues that the dealership has been unable to resolve after two service visits.

Problems I am Experiencing

Intermittent Comfort Access Malfunction

I am unable to unlock the vehicle with the door handles nor lock the vehicle via CA. After I use the key fob to unlock or lock the car, the CA begins to work again. There are no fault codes.

Intermittent "Key Not Detected"

After starting my X3MC, I will receive the warning, "Key Not Detected." It started fine and clearly detected the key, but then the message flashes and eventually goes away. However, after the "Key Not Detected" I am unable to connect to Bluetooth or Apple CarPlay. It keeps popping up with the "Retry" prompt. In order to get the car to connect to Bluetooth or CarPlay, I must turn off the car, exit the vehicle, lock the doors, and then re-enter the vehicle and everything works again. There are no fault codes.

BMW NA and their Engineers have been involved since the second service visit. At the first service visit, the dealership said they could not reproduce the problem and noted that my X3MC is working as designed. I contacted BMW NA to get them involved and met with a field engineer at a different dealership a few weeks ago to describe the issues to him. I also showed him videos of the problems I am experiencing since the first dealership was not even willing to acknowledge the problem.

At the second service visit, they did a full vehicle programming and replaced one key fob. It proved to be unsuccessful.

Today, the service manager informed me the next steps will be to replace the body domain controller and potentially both key fobs this time around.

I am curious if anyone on this forum has experienced similar issues.

[Agent 99]

I had the intermittent key fob not recognized issue - just like you, it was after the car was started, then told me that the key fob was not recognized and I could not drive the car, even though I could...but did not keep radio and satellite presets. I called the BMW Genius line and they had me do a simple reset- it was holding the on/off volume control in for I think 70 seconds( not sure, it was a fair amount of time) - the infotainment system blinked on and off a few times and it has worked since then. this was about a month ago at around 2000 miles.

[jmh]

Just a thought.
Do you happen to have a cover for your key fob(s), like a carbon fiber one or other ? Some of them can cause all of sorts of intermittent issues as they can reduce the ability to detect the key significantly.

[cfm56d7b]

This may be a good time to research Maryland Lemon Law. Just in case.

[btks]

Originally Posted by cfm56d7b

This may be a good time to research Maryland Lemon Law. Just in case.

I am starting to think so myself. I have owned several M cars and this is the first time I've really had a "lemon"

[btks]

Originally Posted by jmh

Just a thought.
Do you happen to have a cover for your key fob(s), like a carbon fiber one or other ? Some of them can cause all of sorts of intermittent issues as they can reduce the ability to detect the key significantly.

I do not. I experience the problem with every key fob I have had so far. I don't know why they are going to replace them again.

[Number_9]

Had both the problems you have stated above, they done some sort of software update at the garage and it seems to have worked. This was only completed a week or so ago, still time for it to come back.

I’m in the UK

[cfm56d7b]

Originally Posted by btks

I am starting to think so myself. I have owned several M cars and this is the first time I've really had a "lemon"

Lemon law protects you as a consumer from vehicles which - unfortunately - can have proverbial gremlins. One of my friends returned the vehicle to BMW after filing a lemon law claim and a replacement vehicle - same model and year - has zero problems.

[btks]

Originally Posted by cfm56d7b

Lemon law protects you as a consumer from vehicles which - unfortunately - can have proverbial gremlins. One of my friends returned the vehicle to BMW after filing a lemon law claim and a replacement vehicle - same model and year - has zero problems.

Interesting. In Maryland the "Lemon Law" applies if a dealership has your vehicle for 30 non-consecutive days for various issues or they fail to repair your vehicle after 4 attempts.

My X3MC is still at the dealership awaiting arrival of the body domain controller. It has now been at the dealership for a total of 22 days.

[btks]

Originally Posted by cfm56d7b

This may be a good time to research Maryland Lemon Law. Just in case.

I did a bit of research. I am eligible under Delaware Lemon Law as well since I purchased my X3MC from a dealership in Delaware.

My X3MC is still experiencing issues and I followed-up today with BMW Customer Relations. I am getting frustrated as my car has been in and out of the shop for the past month. I haven't been able to travel to the beach or go visit family in VA since the loaner vehicle has mileage restrictions and cannot be taken out of town.

One question I have is what does a buyback value typically consist of? Would the loyalty credits be deducted or included in the buyback value? I traded in two vehicles and only was comfortable doing so because the discount on the X3MC plus the loyalty credits were enough to cover my negative equity on my two trades. I paid $78,850 for the vehicle ($5K off in Nov 2019) but had an additional $4K in rebates. Also, I spent $3K (or $3,500, I forget exactly) on Xpel PPF.

[cfm56d7b]

Was Xpel PPF purchased at the same time as the vehicle? Is it listed as a line item on the sales invoice?

I suggest to contact a Delaware Lemon law attorney. If your case is accepted and you prevail, the manufacturer will pay for all costs.

[Salespunk]

I have had the same intermittent problem on multiple BMW vehicles. Many times it is a low battery voltage issue after the car is parked for a while not being used. The cars start throwing up all sorts of errors. Just this week I got in my M5 after it was parked for a few weeks and it threw up the "Key Not Found" warning and had to hold the key against the steering column to get it to start. No issues after I drove it for about 30 minutes.

In general BMW's software and systems hardening sucks. Apple CarPlay in their implementation is very distracting, lots of errors with CA, etc. Have seen these issues across an X3 M40i, M5, X5, multiple F30's etc. Unfortunately the driving dynamics are so good that I just ignore the issues now.

[RR-NYC]

Originally Posted by btks

I did a bit of research. I am eligible under Delaware Lemon Law as well since I purchased my X3MC from a dealership in Delaware.

My X3MC is still experiencing issues and I followed-up today with BMW Customer Relations. I am getting frustrated as my car has been in and out of the shop for the past month. I haven't been able to travel to the beach or go visit family in VA since the loaner vehicle has mileage restrictions and cannot be taken out of town.

One question I have is what does a buyback value typically consist of? Would the loyalty credits be deducted or included in the buyback value? I traded in two vehicles and only was comfortable doing so because the discount on the X3MC plus the loyalty credits were enough to cover my negative equity on my two trades. I paid $78,850 for the vehicle ($5K off in Nov 2019) but had an additional $4K in rebates. Also, I spent $3K (or $3,500, I forget exactly) on Xpel PPF.

I lemoned a RRS that I bought in NJ while I live in NY. I went with the NJ lemon law as it was more equitable.

Calculating the buyback amount varies by state but as a general rule, its based on the purchase price of the car, minus $.xx per miles driven before the first attempt to repair. In my case, I had 271 miles on the odometer when I first brought it in so I got virtually everything I paid for after driving it for 1 year. You also have to file a sales tax refund with the state in order to receive that money back.

The lemon law doesn't apply to every situation that's required multiple attempt to fix the same defect.. Typically, the defect needs to "substantial" meaning the safety of the vehicle or the occupants is impaired, the defect affects the resale fo the vehicle, and a reasonable number of attempts were made to correct it. I don't know if an option called "comfort access" meets that threshold. If you think it does, don't waste your money an attorney without trying to go at it yourself first. Send a letter to BMWNA and see what they say

[btks]

I dropped my vehicle off and met with an Engineer from BMW on Tuesday. At this point, they still do not know the exact problem and reproducing the problem is difficult since it is very intermittent (I have not identified a pattern). They special ordered a Keyless Entry Transmitter - BMW (51-21-2-457-958) and I picked up my vehicle until the part arrives. They also spoke to the Product/Engineering Team, who informed them that they have seen a similar issue on one other vehicle that was caused by interference from the NFC / Wireless Charging Pad. They disconnected my Wireless Charging Pad in the meantime.

And the mystery continues...

[GOLFFRR]

if the car has been in the shop for a while, ask the GM to cover that months payment. You may get that handled with no issues if the car has been in there for a while. Worth a shot.

[sys64738]

Originally Posted by btks

Intermittent "Key Not Detected"

After starting my X3MC, I will receive the warning, "Key Not Detected." It started fine and clearly detected the key, but then the message flashes and eventually goes away. However, after the "Key Not Detected" I am unable to connect to Bluetooth or Apple CarPlay. It keeps popping up with the "Retry" prompt. In order to get the car to connect to Bluetooth or CarPlay, I must turn off the car, exit the vehicle, lock the doors, and then re-enter the vehicle and everything works again. There are no fault codes.

I had this happen to me yesterday. Car was already running, but parked, and passengers were exiting the car. When I put it back in D, it threw the error and I couldn't use any Bluetooth functions/CarPlay. After I turned off/on the car, it all worked again. So for sure some sort of bug.

[allinon72]

Originally Posted by sys64738

I had this happen to me yesterday. Car was already running, but parked, and passengers were exiting the car. When I put it back in D, it threw the error and I couldn't use any Bluetooth functions/CarPlay. After I turned off/on the car, it all worked again. So for sure some sort of bug.

This has happened to me as well. But instead of restarting the car, I rebooted Idrive and everything went back to normal. Hasn't happened since.

[noushy]

Very odd you are having these issues my guess is something to do with the BDC either it is bad or bad wiring somewhere. My dealer had a M850i with similar issues turned out to be a bad wiring harness. My X3MC was the first in Michigan and had it since July 2019 and no issues whatsoever with electrical.

Noushy

[btks]

Originally Posted by allinon72

This has happened to me as well. But instead of restarting the car, I rebooted Idrive and everything went back to normal. Hasn't happened since.

Originally Posted by sys64738

I had this happen to me yesterday. Car was already running, but parked, and passengers were exiting the car. When I put it back in D, it threw the error and I couldn't use any Bluetooth functions/CarPlay. After I turned off/on the car, it all worked again. So for sure some sort of bug.

Originally Posted by noushy

Very odd you are having these issues my guess is something to do with the BDC either it is bad or bad wiring somewhere. My dealer had a M850i with similar issues turned out to be a bad wiring harness. My X3MC was the first in Michigan and had it since July 2019 and no issues whatsoever with electrical.

Noushy

BMW replaced the BDC module again as well as the radio remote control receiver. They also test drove my vehicle for roughly 30 miles. I am a little upset that they drove my vehicle this far without permission as I am very cautious and do not let anyone drive my car. And, I'm sure they didn't replenish the fuel, but I am expected to return the loaner car with the fuel replenished

Anyways, they indicated:

BMW RECOMMENDS REMOVING THE STONE CHIP PROTECTORS FROM
AROUND THE DOOR HANDLES. THEY COULD BE INTERFERING WITH
THE COMFORT ACCESS.

I have never heard of xpel clear bra impacting comfort access or keyless entry on a vehicle. I had the cups of the door handles protected with ppf film on my M4 and previous vehicles w/o issue. Has anyone else heard of this? I mean, some vehicles are fully wrapped! We're talking the door handle cups in this case.

[mlaurin]

Here’s some info on the NJ lemon law if it helps. https://www.lemonlaw.com/new-jersey-...questions.html

Not sure if they do MD too.

[calbear550]

Do you keep your wallet and key in the same pocket? I realized not to long ago that my wallet would block my key because it has RFID blocking technology. Figured I would mention that. Good luck.