Remote key works intermittently.help!

I have '01 X5 4.4i and the key remote would work
whenever it wants to.
Sometimes would lock and unlock with the first push of the button
sometimes I need to push and hold or push a couple of times,
and sometimes would not work AT ALL.
I tried all possible programming methods and NOTHING so far.
Please, if you have any idea or info let me know because I am really
frustrated here.
The only sure way the key works is when I use it manually to lock and unlock
the vehicle.

Originally Posted by ioang26

I have '01 X5 4.4i and the key remote would work
whenever it wants to.
Sometimes would lock and unlock with the first push of the button
sometimes I need to push and hold or push a couple of times,
and sometimes would not work AT ALL.
I tried all possible programming methods and NOTHING so far.
Please, if you have any idea or info let me know because I am really
frustrated here.
The only sure way the key works is when I use it manually to lock and unlock
the vehicle.

Perhaps the battery in the key is starting to fail. If you have a second key try using it and see if the problem recurs.

On our 2006 X5, I find that the buttons on the key fob are rather picky. For example, if I press on the unlock button near the center of the key, nothing happens; but if I press on the unlock button near the end of the key, the car unlocks every time.

You might try pressing the buttons in different ways or in differnent locations on the buttons, to see if that's what your problem is.

More likely than not is the battery. They are simple watch batteries in the key fobs. If you go to the dealer stealer, you will be looking at around $220 per key and probably charged for the re-programming.

Do a YouTube search on BMW key and a battery replacement video should come up. DO AT YOUR OWN RISK. It looks fairly straight forward. Be cautious to review the re-programming process for all keys in your possession if you choose this route, which also looks fairly straight forward.

My key is slightly acting up on my '06 but not to the point where I will be doing this process yet. But if it continues to deteriorate I'd rather do this than pay $500+ for the dealer stealer to change a $3 battery.

Hope that helps.

I do have a second key but that one has no remote- I guess it is a valet key.
I will try the battery replacement first and will keep you posted.

I have the same intermitten problem with my key for my 2003 X5 my solution was the contact for the battery in the key was broken you have gentlely cut the key apart and used soldering to fix the contact link.

Really?I would definitely try that tomorrow and will see what happens .

An update. I cut the key apart,then measured the battery and it was showing 3.2V which means is still good.
But seems like the battery is not making a good contact although is still attached .When i press it hard and then
try each buttons - they all work.
Any DIY to fix that problems? Thanks!

You need to resolder the ends and you will be good as new

Originally Posted by ioang26

An update. I cut the key apart,then measured the battery and it was showing 3.2V which means is still good.
But seems like the battery is not making a good contact although is still attached .When i press it hard and then
try each buttons - they all work.
Any DIY to fix that problems? Thanks!

Unless money is tight I would recommend buying another key. Especially since you don't have a spare. I paid ~ $160 for mine from my indy mechanic. I would call around as I was quoted from $250 from one BMW dealer to $180 from another and $160 from my indy.

Ok, here is exactly what I found out is happening.
I took out the electronic board and pressing each button it works but
when I put the board back in the key case you need squeeze it tight and then push the buttons
in order to work. Seems to me that the case button became hard and not flexible enough to
reach make a contact to the board.
I ordered a new uncut key with the shell and I am planning to swap it and see what would happen.
Would the dealer cut / copy a key?

Originally Posted by ioang26

Ok, here is exactly what I found out is happening.
I took out the electronic board and pressing each button it works but
when I put the board back in the key case you need squeeze it tight and then push the buttons
in order to work. Seems to me that the case button became hard and not flexible enough to
reach make a contact to the board.
I ordered a new uncut key with the shell and I am planning to swap it and see what would happen.
Would the dealer cut / copy a key?

If you can cancel the order. The only place to get a functional key is from BMW.

Well....it's only $5 so what can I loose ?

Final update- today the new BMW shell key arrived ,put all the
electronics in the new shell and now the remote works like new.
The whole problem was that the buttons were worn out and were not able to reach and make a contact
with the electronic board.

Can you provide a little more detail? Where did you purchase the "shell" key and what was entailed in moving the old parts to the new key?

Thanks

Originally Posted by bpk1122

Can you provide a little more detail? Where did you purchase the "shell" key and what was entailed in moving the old parts to the new key?

Thanks

You can purchase the shells on Ebay, read the entire thread, you will have to cut the key open along the seam and take the electrics out, nothing to it.

Originally Posted by sunny5280

Unless money is tight I would recommend buying another key. Especially since you don't have a spare. I paid ~ $160 for mine from my indy mechanic. I would call around as I was quoted from $250 from one BMW dealer to $180 from another and $160 from my indy.

$180 and $250 both sound good to me. I was quoted $650 by a BMW dealer in Adelaide/Australia! Was that for casings or with internal electronics?

bringing this thread back from the dead...

I'm having the same issue on my 01 540i. I have one key that works perfectly, and another that intermittently works. sometimes it works like a charm, sometimes it takes 10 times to get the doors to un/lock.

So, I came across this thread and the OP mentioned the contacts were the source of the problem, not the battery. So I decided to try a few things and wanted to share the results.

First of all, the base line situation. The key would rarely work, I would say absolutely guaranteed the key worked <30% of the time. Accurately it probably worked around 15-20%. Very sporadically it would work. (sometimes it would work the first time I pushed it, sometimes it wouldn't work at all)

Two things I tried:
1. I threw the key into a tupperware and ran hot water over it for ~10-15 minutes. It got nice and toasty inside the tupperware (the air expanded quite a bit), the key was a strong warm. Not too hot though. After I warmed it up I massaged it for about 5 minutes, massaging the buttons and what not. Tested the key with the car, no improvement.

2. Kind of frustrated, I slapped the key on my leg. The key has been off the keyring for all of these situations. So what I did was I gripped the key by the metal portion and slammed the fob portion into my right leg, one-two inches up from my knee, to the inside 2-3 inches. Did that about 5-10 times. Noticeable improvement with the key button functions. So this gave me an idea, I went to a hard table, I lined it with 2 towels, and I proceed to "scientifically" smack the crap out of the key fob on the table. I rotated the angle of impact, on the sides, smacking the buttons, the back, the tip, didn't smack the metal part though, because that might snap the metal key portion off the fob. Tried not to over do it, just solid smacks against a cushioned hard surface. I went out to test the key. The immediate results are that guaranteed >80% of the inputs are working now. To be more accurate it's about 90% of the time. A little more detail about how hard I smacked the key, I wasn't too afraid of it breaking, considering I would have replaced the key with a new keyshell like described by the OP.

These results are just the first night of testing. I just wanted to jot down this idea so that maybe somebody could take it a step further and say that contacts are largely the source of this problem. My logic for the time being is that jolting the key like this loosens up any debris that may have accumulated in the contacts, or loosens the "hardness" factor the OP mentioned about his/her keyset. If the key function reverts back to a crappy status, I'll be back to post results. If I don't respond then it's still working