[nskware]

Decided to post this question in general section as it might apply to newer BMWs in general, but my question is about X5. So I recently bought my very first BMW, and one of the things that bothers me a lot is how lock button on remote works.

So in my previous car, if I locked the car while walking away from it with my muscle memory and after reaching end of parking lot I wanted to verify that I did lock my car, I can press lock button again it blinks the lights and there is also an audible chime. But in BMW pressing lock button again does nothing and pressing it multiple times disables motion and tilt sensor (which is worst). So I decided to talk to "BMW Genius" at my local dealership, and his response was unlock the car and lock it back again.

Had any one figured out a better way ten unlocking and locking it back again to confirm that car is actually locked?

One way is to use BMW remote app but, it involves way toooo many steps compared to just pressing a button.

 

[Doug Huffman]

There are three separate operations taking place.

A single press of the lock button turns the BMW OFF, puts all systems in their off condition promptly. Not locking the BMW requires the systems to time out to go to sleep, some will draw battery current for a half-hour.

Locking the car - disabling the door latches. The BMW locks silently, with only the sight of the individual door buttons down and the clunk to confirm the locking operation.

That the security system is armed is indicated by the audible. A not latched door or hood prevents the audible.

The 'clown nose' blinking red light, blinking fast or slow or not, also indicates the status of the security system.

I believe that a close read of your owner's manual will make this clear.

I always put my BMW to sleep to save the battery. If I miss hearing the audible then I have to unlock and re-lock for the beep.

 

[luigi524td]

It's happened to me, especially when locking the car on a bright day (can't see the alarm LED) in a noisy environment (can't hear the audible chirp) OR when I'm not paying attention (to see if the misc lights flash) ...
On other occasions (because my locking the car is an "automatic" response .... that I'll walk away and not remember if I've locked the car BUT can't rush back to check ... I'll use the BMW "remote" app to lock it again. Of course the problem locking the car with the APP is that it doesn't set the alarm. I don't know for sure that IF the car was already locked and I lock it with the APP that it's the same as a double push on the CA (doorhandle) or fob that the alarm is disabled. Might have to check that out one of these days.

 

[nskware]

It's happened to me, especially when locking the car on a bright day (can't see the alarm LED) in a noisy environment (can't hear the audible chirp) OR when I'm not paying attention (to see if the misc lights flash) ...
On other occasions (because my locking the car is an "automatic" response .... that I'll walk away and not remember if I've locked the car BUT can't rush back to check ... I'll use the BMW "remote" app to lock it again. Of course the problem locking the car with the APP is that it doesn't set the alarm. I don't know for sure that IF the car was already locked and I lock it with the APP that it's the same as a double push on the CA (doorhandle) or fob that the alarm is disabled. Might have to check that out one of these days.

Yes, I think, disabling alarm with lock button seems like a bad design. They should have used some other button or combination of buttons for this purpose.

So only way to verify that car is locked is to unlock it and lock it back again or run up to the car and pull a door handle or stare at "clown nose" to see if it is blinking with correct patterns.

None of these solutions seems elegant to me.

Lets see if I get used to this in few months.

 

[Hsurf]

Not sure if you have this option or not on your X5 but when I press and hold the lock button the mirrors will fold, so if I ever have cause to double check if it's locked I just look at the mirrors.
It's ideal if you've walked a fair distance away and can't see the red light. If you don't have this but the mirrors are motorised you might be able to have the option coded in :dunno:.