Do you still have to insert the key fob without comfort access?

[AEC]

Originally Posted by chrisny

Like I said, haven't even tried it on the X5. But I thought it was there.. You sure it's not? Or just not in the US?

It's not on my car and there is nothing written about it in the manual. Not sure about other markets.

I hope I didn't offend you, but the image of you waving one foot under the back bumper over and over just struck me as funny.

[chrisny]

Originally Posted by AEC

It's not on my car and there is nothing written about it in the manual. Not sure about other markets.

I hope I didn't offend you, but the image of you waving one foot under the back bumper over and over just struck me as funny.

Lol not offended. This is why I stopped even trying on my F30, I'm 100% certain someone in the office saw me and laughed "why is that guy kicking his car?" (surely from above it would look like i was kicking the bumper, not under the bumper lol).

There is no mention of it on the F15 in the description for comfort access either, so clearly it is not there on the F15 (which is puzzling, I might load a chair in the X5, nothing I can put in the F30 is going to be so big or heavy that I can't rest it on my knee to free a hand to push the button… should be on both, but especially on the X5). Again, sorry for any confusion or if I got anyone's hopes up. I did think it was there for European models, (just like the tailgate closing via the fob that we dot get here ) but could be wrong on that too .

[Kzang]

Originally Posted by chrisny

Like I said, I've never even tried it on the X5. Now I'm glad I didn't lol. The inconsistent results, as I mentioned, were with my 335, which does have this feature.

Sorry if I've confused anyone, thought it was on the X5 too (you know, since it certainly should be ….).

No kidding.. Ford escape and I think Hyundai Santa Fe has this...

[chrisny]

Originally Posted by Kzang

No kidding.. Ford escape and I think Hyundai Santa Fe has this...

And it's probably standard on those cars! As a consumer, it's almost embarrassing. That's exaggerating, but it makes me think of that Hyundai commercial or whatever it was where the douche test driving the Sonata or whatever it was said he felt "lame for buying his mercedes" or something like that…… The luxury brands will continue to charge more for these little features that should be standard because they can, because we keep buying them. Damn it lol. Even worse that it's not even on the X5 when you do pay extra for CA.

[hyde]

Originally Posted by chrisny

Again, sorry for any confusion or if I got anyone's hopes up. I did think it was there for European models, (just like the tailgate closing via the fob that we dot get here ) but could be wrong on that too .

Ahh man..
I was like touchless tailgate open, I always had to rest my stuff on the edge of the bumper to open the tailgate and then I and ..

Ok, back to topic, thank you all for contributing.
So we've confirmed that on F15
1) No need to insert the key to start engine even if you don't have Comfort Access
2) There is no touchless/foot gesture trunk/tailgate open function with F15

As for remote batteries, here is something I learned, with E70, you could not charge your KeyFob by inserting into to slot on the dash, but if you did not have comfort access, you could charge the battery by inserting it.

So there is no slot at all on F15, even on base model? I just skimmed through standard equipment, it was not listed anywhere. Auto Start/Stop is listed, but not keyless go or whatever BMW calls it.

Overall, while I certainly love comfort access, and I've been totally spoiled by it, like you guys I used to pull on the door handle on my rentals and wonder why they heck it wouldn't unlock. However, now that it is a mandatory $2,550 package, I am definitely having second thoughts, especially with key-in-the-pocket to start the vehicle is still there, and with kick sensor is missing. If it was there, I would consider it, and it will certainly hurt seeing Kia owners enter their $30k vehicles with keyfob in pocket while I have to lock it.. But I think I might use that $2550 towards something much cooler like HUD + Active Steering + Active Blind Spot. What do you think? 4-Zone? Nice but I think they'll be fine.. Leather? Meh.. Satellite, Nope.

What do you all think?

[DavidTSG]

No, there's no slot at all on the F15. I like it Nice clean dash.

Comfort Access was a definite for me. But, I also wanted everything else in the premium package, and I wanted the upgrade to the Mocha Interior pkg with leather dashboard, nappa leather seating, contrast stitching, etc. So it was not a question for me.

If you really don't want any of the other features, then CA is not worth it, and yeah, I'd put my money elsewhere. Lots more cool toys you can spend the money on

One thought I will add - not sure if you're leasing or buying. If leasing, then disregard my next comments. But if purchasing, and considering resale/trade in, then the extras you get with premium may be worth it. Certainly not going to get $2500 back in your pocket, so it's definitely not a "no brainer", but worth a bit of thought. To your point, there are a lot of less expensive options that have CA, satellite radio, etc. Is your BMW going to stack up when you're looking at trade in?

[hyde]

Originally Posted by DavidTSG

No, there's no slot at all on the F15. I like it Nice clean dash.

Comfort Access was a definite for me. But, I also wanted everything else in the premium package, and I wanted the upgrade to the Mocha Interior pkg with leather dashboard, nappa leather seating, contrast stitching, etc. So it was not a question for me.

If you really don't want any of the other features, then CA is not worth it, and yeah, I'd put my money elsewhere. Lots more cool toys you can spend the money on

One thought I will add - not sure if you're leasing or buying. If leasing, then disregard my next comments. But if purchasing, and considering resale/trade in, then the extras you get with premium may be worth it. Certainly not going to get $2500 back in your pocket, so it's definitely not a "no brainer", but worth a bit of thought. To your point, there are a lot of less expensive options that have CA, satellite radio, etc. Is your BMW going to stack up when you're looking at trade in?

I agree that leather, comfort access and 4 zone will retain the value much better than some of the other options, especially leather & 4-zone (I also have 4-zone on my E70, I can't believe how much more F15 costs compared to E70) but I will be leasing so I think some of those other cool stuff will be worth more for me. It's amazing how some of things are packaged so senselessly whereas other makers let people pick and choose instead of packaging them, sure packages are nice but they are usually there as a go-together and discounted cost, not so much with BMW. Even though almost all purchases are built to order, yet options are limited. There should be no reason why you can't get 4-Zone or CA individually when you can get leather dashboard or active steering.

[mikikuki7]

What do you mean insert? I've never heard of such thing. All I do is push the button... Did you use to insert keys in the past?

[DavidTSG]

Originally Posted by mikikuki7

What do you mean insert? I've never heard of such thing. All I do is push the button... Did you use to insert keys in the past?

Back in the olden days, we even had to TURN the key, not just insert it. It was a lot of work.

[hyde]

Originally Posted by mikikuki7

What do you mean insert? I've never heard of such thing. All I do is push the button... Did you use to insert keys in the past?

Originally Posted by DavidTSG

Back in the olden days, we even had to TURN the key, not just insert it. It was a lot of work.

Yeah, there was even a time where we had to crank roll our windows down, can you imagine? The strain!

Anyway, I believe that with E70 if you did not have the CA, you had to insert the fob on dash, then push the button.

[mrwilby]

Originally Posted by DavidTSG

Back in the olden days, we even had to TURN the key, not just insert it. It was a lot of work.

Ah, the dark ages of motoring!

I could not buy a car without keyless entry and HUD. I have been spoiled by the e70.

[chrisny]

Premium package is definitely a must if you're worried about resale or even trade in. Learned that when we traded in our X3 to get out of our lease early to get the X5. In the end it still worked out, but we would've gotten more had the X3 had the premium package. So I just had to wait longer to trade it in (tool longer for the trade in price to catch up with the buyout). Even cold weather, per my CA, is a must in this part of the world (cold winter climate). We had nice options but purposely skipped leather and heated rear seats because we have small kids (ruin leather, can't feel heated rear seats through car seats ).

Now this was actually a blessing in my case, as we were initially going to grab one of the last E70's, but the wait created a situation where there were very few E70's left, none with the Sport package I wanted, so the F15 made more sense.

[hyde]

Originally Posted by chrisny

Premium package is definitely a must if you're worried about resale or even trade in. Learned that when we traded in our X3 to get out of our lease early to get the X5. In the end it still worked out, but we would've gotten more had the X3 had the premium package. So I just had to wait longer to trade it in (tool longer for the trade in price to catch up with the buyout). Even cold weather, per my CA, is a must in this part of the world (cold winter climate). We had nice options but purposely skipped leather and heated rear seats because we have small kids (ruin leather, can't feel heated rear seats through car seats ).

Now this was actually a blessing in my case, as we were initially going to grab one of the last E70's, but the wait created a situation where there were very few E70's left, none with the Sport package I wanted, so the F15 made more sense.

How far north are you? I never missed Cold weather package on my E70.
With all this pressure, I think I am going to end up getting it.

[chrisny]

Originally Posted by Golden Horn

How far north are you? I never missed Cold weather package on my E70.
With all this pressure, I think I am going to end up getting it.

I'm in NY, suburbs of NYC. I've never missed it, really. It mostly amounts to a heated steering wheel and the headlight washers, and heated rear seats (because I still get heated front seats separately). The steering wheel is nice but I can only leave it on for a couple of minutes in my F30, gets too hot and who wants sweaty hands driving… The headlight washers are great to have if you do a lot of driving in the snow. Since right now I'm not doing a lot of long distance driving, where I would be on the highway in snow storms frequently, I don't miss that either (and the X5 is my wife's anyway, so even less likely I would be driving long distance in a snow storm in it..). Heated rear seats are useless to me, as we have 2 small kids, both still in car seats.

So for re-sale, they (salesmen) seem to think it's critical, that buyers in the northeast want the cold weather package. But on the cars that I've ordered without it, I do still get heated from seats. I still feel like that is all people buying a used car would say they "must have" and quite honestly, if you're buying a used car, you've already decided you'll take what you can find, since that's all you can do. I can't imagine many people trying to save money by buying a used car would walk away because of a heated steering wheel, but I don't sell used cars, so who am I to say I guess.

The price difference from heated front seats to full cold weather package is usually only $500 or so though, so it's all personal preference. I decided to draw the line where we were, had already added more options that I originally intended. But, really, it would've only added another 8 or 10 bucks a month to the lease…...

[hyde]

Originally Posted by chrisny

But, really, it would've only added another 8 or 10 bucks a month to the lease…...

Thanks for mentioning that I have been doing the same thing, every little option, $6 here, $4 there, $10 for this, $5 for that, big mistake, it's like by the time you are done, it is fully loaded and you are in well over your original budget/target. 61k target is now 68k.. All because "it's just couple of bucks per month"

The only thing that pisses me is how 4-Zone and Comfort Access is bundled with Leather and Sat Radio, which is probably the major factor driving the cost of the package up. I even considered going down to Luxury line to offset the difference...

[nycebo]

Originally Posted by Golden Horn

Thanks for mentioning that I have been doing the same thing, every little option, $6 here, $4 there, $10 for this, $5 for that, big mistake, it's like by the time you are done, it is fully loaded and you are in well over your original budget/target. 61k target is now 68k.. All because "it's just couple of bucks per month"

The only thing that pisses me is how 4-Zone and Comfort Access is bundled with Leather and Sat Radio, which is probably the major factor driving the cost of the package up. I even considered going down to Luxury line to offset the difference...

Right on. I was all set on the premium package just for the comfort access but not that soft close doors isn't included, it's not really worth it for me. 4-Zone in my current car is a waste. Back seaters almost never touch them. They just complain to me (the driver) that's it's cold and can I turn the temp up or down. Go figure. Perhaps 4-Zone is for chauffeurs?

[hyde]

Originally Posted by nycebo

Right on. I was all set on the premium package just for the comfort access but not that soft close doors isn't included, it's not really worth it for me. 4-Zone in my current car is a waste. Back seaters almost never touch them. They just complain to me (the driver) that's it's cold and can I turn the temp up or down. Go figure. Perhaps 4-Zone is for chauffeurs?

LOL. That was even worse on E70 with no LOCK function, you cannot sync all 4 zones or control the rear from the front. I wonder if that's improved on F15. I hated having to turn off the rear or adjust to match my temp every time someone played with the knobs back there.

But don't you have a naggy people sitting in the back saying "we are burning out here" or "it's freezing back there" while you are completely comfortable in the front. Ever since my 4-zone E70, nobody ever complained about that.. (now you see, I am making myself believe that I need 4-Zone while all I want is comfort access)

PS: I sat in leather F15 yesterday, seats are so much nicer compared to my E70, I don't know if it's the shape or the texture, but it sure felt nice. Cleaning them would be a hassle compared to sensatec though...