Yet another remote locking thread!

[-Matt-]

I have seen many posts relating to door locks and central locking. I am currently having two separate issues with my remote locking. Firstly a common one; I will try to explain the problem and solution in the hope that this will help others:

The symptoms are as follows:

Pressing the remote button arms the alarm and locks the passenger door and boot but not the drivers door.

Turning the key in the drivers door locks all of the doors (without arming the alarm).

Pressing the button down on the drivers door locks all of the doors (without arming the alarm).

Turning the key in the passenger door looks everything except the drivers door (without arming the alarm).

Clearly everything is working correctly except the central locking is unable to automatically lock the drivers door. This indicates a faulty door lock actuator which can be easily replaced using something similar to this technique (http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=131544). (Obviously this problem could affect any of the doors, I have just used the drivers door as an example).


The second problem (the one I would like help with) is that the range of my remote seems VERY low. I have replaced the batteries of course but even so I have to stand right by the drivers or passenger door to get it to work. Is this normal, what kind of range should I expect? What could I try to improve this? For example where is the sensor in the car - could I try cleaning this?

[Mary99]

......The second problem (the one I would like help with) is that the range of my remote seems VERY low. I have replaced the batteries of course but even so I have to stand right by the drivers or passenger door to get it to work. Is this normal, what kind of range should I expect? What could I try to improve this? For example where is the sensor in the car - could I try cleaning this?

The remote is a RF signal type of remote so cleaning dust off of something isn't going to help. As the electronic components in your remote gets older, it suffers from fatigue, damage from you tossing your keys around occasionally, and damage from rattling in your pockets. That's just the transmitter.

The receiver ails from similar electronic fatigue conditions as well from voltage spikes, dips, and age.

The two coupled together will result in poor range. This is not uncommon for cars older than 10 years old. If you have tint on your windows, that will severely affect the range too.

The keyless entry system wasn't designed to produce very much range to begin with. Brand new, I remember mine had a range of about 10 - 20 feet in an area where there was alot of RF noise, ie. inside city. Outside the city where there was little RF noises, the range improved to about 50 - 200 feet. BMW designed the keyless entry to be a short range appliance so that you don't accidentally unlock your ride whist sitting at a restaurant or something; returning to find your car violated.

There is a trick that the BMW techs taught me that does improve range,...almost double the distance, in noisy RF environments. Where your jaw line meets your neck, there is a 90 degree bend. If you touch the remote onto this area (the curvature on your throat just behind your chin) while pressing the lock and unlock buttons, you can extend the transmittance. This trick uses your body as an antennae to transmit the signal.

give that a whirl and see if it helps :)

[jarozila]

... There is a trick that the BMW techs taught me that does improve range,...almost double the distance, in noisy RF environments. Where your jaw line meets your neck, there is a 90 degree bend. If you touch the remote onto this area (the curvature on your throat just behind your chin) while pressing the lock and unlock buttons, you can extend the transmittance. This trick uses your body as an antennae to transmit the signal.

Hmmmm. I will give that a go. I am curious now to try that out.

[amel6000]

saw that remote trick on top gear JC held the remote to the side of his head between his eye and ear, tried it myself and it works doubled the range of my remote