Terano69

Hi

I'm in pretty desperate situation. Story goes like this.

I bought a e61 2005 in really good condition the only problem I have is that remote control doesn't work. I have already start / stop button in the car and the key has a rechargeable battery.

- remote control doesn't work
- I have to unlock the car manually with a plastic key or the metal piece which is inside of remote
- when insert the key fob inside to start the car I receive a note that I need to recharge my battery
- if I press start the car starts normally
- no car settings are saved on remote (eg: radio is always off when you start the car...)

After reading and reading online about it, it seems pretty common thing. So I start checking things one by one:

1) I bought a new remote from BMW and still doesn't work
2) I've pull apart one remote and measure the voltage of the battery it was 3.14v. I was pressing the buttons for a while utill the voltage dropped under 2.9v. Then I put the key together and drive around. When I measured again the battery was back to 3.14v. So I guess the battery is recharging.
3) I've opened the back spoiler and check for any water damages in the control unit. There were no signes of water or any other damage. To be sure that thats not a problem I've drove to some guy from ebay who had a working unit at home so I could test. Still didn't work.
4) then I pull apart all the cables that go from the back spoiler and passing the back roof speakers. All cables are ok. No damage whatsoever.

This is where my knowledge and ideas ended.

I've asked at bmw what to do and if they can help me out and how much would it cost. They say that they need to try couple of things. No straight answer. But between the lines he said it will be around 1200-2000E.

Does anyone had an idea what else could i try?

I've read so many posts already but none of them had the same problem. I guess one reason is that this setup with rechargeable battery on e61 and Start stop button wasn't produced for long time. Most of them have or the old diamond key with mechanical key or the new ones with removable battery.

Thank you in advance

noms2000

Are you able to start the car with the key that comes up with 'needs recharging'?
If so, start the car and run it with that same key. In my experience the keys are recharged by the car once placed in the slot. If you are able to start the car, the car should charge the key. Hope this helps.

NoQuarter

Because none of the keys are working, and the car starts and runs properly, i would suggest you look into the antenna that reads the remote signal.

I don't know the 2005 models, but the later models this problem can be related to the diversity antenna. Read up on that and see what you think.