[BmerMeUp]

Just a quick note to the group in case this could in any way be similar your situation:

• Bought a CPO 2008 E91 with 2 fobs.
• Dealer thought it was supposed to have CA (battery in fob, ridges on door handles) but... no such luck, never worked. Mmeh, I still bought it.
• Drove it for a couple weeks with one fob, then discovered by accident the "backup" fob didn't work - AT ALL FOR ANYTHING (totally dead).
• Replaced the CR2032 battery in both fobs (as a precaution). Nope - Fob#2 still didn't work at all.
• Reset the dead fob by pressing it into the ignition pocket for 20+ seconds, with the "good" fob nearby (THANK YOU e90POST COMMUNITY FOR THIS INFORMATION) - FOB WORKS! Ok, yay me - but here's the extra added bonus:
• Getting out of the car, I again discover by accident (!) THIS (previously dead) FOB HAS COMFORT ACCESS! Woohoo!

So naturally the non-CA fob is now the "backup" fob, and I will be using the CA one for everyday use.

How does that happen though - I have ONE fob with CA and one without. Seems a little quirky to me, and I'm not paying the outrageous dealer fee to have it coded, that much is certain. I haven't yet found / read about an "easy" reliable way to recode CA for an unresponsive fob.
-e

[CUTigers]

I don't see why you should have to pay to make it work with CA, with a CPO I would expect all of the stuff to work when I bought it. If I didn't want everything I wouldn't have paid the premium on a CPO car over a random used at a family used car lot.

[Martin528]

Call your sales person. See if he would help.?

[arsenal37]

CA is a feature that has to be programmed thru the dealer. If your car has it and its CPO then u can take it back and they should reprogram free of charge

[BmerMeUp]

Originally Posted by CUTigers

I don't see why you should have to pay to make it work with CA ...

Originally Posted by Martin328i

Call your sales person. See if he would help.?

Originally Posted by arsenal37

... If your car has it and its CPO then u can take it back and they should reprogram free of charge

I agree with all three of you - that was 100% my first thought, but given it is my first BMW, I'm not sure how far to push them - I already had a few minor things corrected for free and the "Missing toolkit / no Tow Hook" problem (another thread) is still outstanding. Arg.

Your suggestions (all you guys) have inspired me to push back however - I will use the "newly working" CA fob as my evidence the car does indeed have CA and SHOULD have CA, so CPO should have ensured both fobs work.

Ok. Can't go today - but I'll let you know how it goes on Monday!!


Thanks guys.
-e

[CUTigers]

My opinion is that everything that comes with a CPO should work, I could maybe understand if it only came with 1 fob and maybe understand the tool kit not being on it. But to have 2 Fobs with only 1 working when you bought it is odd. Granted I bought my CPO when it still had a year of new warranty left(someone's lease was over) and got some stuff fixed under the free warranty. How much did they want to fix it? How much is a new fob that's programmed to your car?

[BmerMeUp]

Good News! Dealership called yesterday in response to my persistent inquiries, and are arranging to have me come in to have the non-CA fob reprogrammed for free.

Perfect!

[gpb]

Glad you're getting this resolved.

FYI - I had a similar thing with my car (2010 CPO); the key didn't work as a CA key. Turned out (what dealer said) that the key had been viewed by the car as a "third" key and the car will only do CA functions with the first two keys. They sorted it out with a reprogram, which they did along with getting me a new second key since they only had the one when I was shopping.