How to unlock and start your BMW with a dead key fob 

It's midnight, I'm in a dark, freezing, eerie and unfamiliar place and this video just saved my life!

WOW THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I was stranded at a gas station and found your video. You saved me from sleeping in my car this evening after long work week. My freakin hero!!!

AHA- Thank you so much, I was stranded at the gas station and couldn't start up my car, and asked people on how to do it, saw your video and it worked :)!

Let us know if this how-to video helps and if you'd like to see more videos like this

Thought I was stranded at work. Thank you for this video! Positioned my fob exactly like you did in video

Thank you!! You saved me and the entire Seattle airport parking garage from my car’s emergency alarm!!

Saved me from huge problem, Thanks much!!

Definitely worked for me. 550i. Left keys at market, return home and turn off vehicle notice keys wasn’t in the car. Ran inside to get extra key fob and it was dead. Ugh. Thought I was gonna have to catch a Uber, but this video saved me time and money. Thanks

You saved me so much trouble. Thank you!

Thank you! Of the 2 handful of videos that came up on the search, your's the only one that explained the cover piece, especially how to put it back on, EXTRA ESPECIALLY about that little thing stick/piece that you say may break easily. I had to remove the cover outside at night without bright street lights. I had a hard time putting the cover back on. (The 1st video I watched on how to open didn't mention anything about the cover details, what the cover inside looked like, what's there, etc.). Good thing I didn't press too hard and gave up in fear of damaging something in the dark. Upon seeing your video, I inspected my cover, and indeed, that little stick piece... wasn't upright. It was bent, 90 degrees. No wonder it wouldn't cover back up, bc it being bent "sideways" couldn't fit into the corresponding hole on the door key pad. Anyways, although pleasantly surprised the mini stick was only bent, bc I had assumed I might have broken it off already last night in the dark. As I was getting ready to shop online for a replacement cover, I tried to bend the stick back to it's original position (which I know how it's supposed to be like bc of your video!), actually getting ready for worst case scenario that it wil snap and break, but attempted bc... what else could I do at this point? 1 last ditch effort. Amazingly, that stick isn't of brittle material, it actially let me bend it back 90 degrees to its original place. Finally, now I was able to snap the cover back onto the keypad, very easily, compared to the night before in the dark. Next time if I need to open again (although hope never have to, I will no longer ignore the on-board computer warning of the key fob battery level), I'll surely know what to do AND what NOT to do! Thank you for the fully comprehensive explanation!

You saved my lifee!! Sheeesh thanks to your instructions my car started with my dead key fob

Lol I was stranded at work ,and you got me home thanks 😊

Worked ! Thank you

Thank you. That really helped me and saved through all hassle of going home and getting the spare key.

I like your videos man ,,,

Thank you so much for making this video. Just saved me from having my 11 year old stranded at school.

You just saved me at the market, thank you SOOO much!

Thanks heaps for this, ice and snow covered car. Was super stressed until I saw this. Thanks

Thankyou somuch❤️

Big help!

Great video , thank you for helping

I do roadside and tech support for these vehicles.. so thanks for this.. made it more clear as to what to instruct customer to do…

I was stranded at a gas station as well. I tried holding the key where it said to place it but when I stepped on the brake and hit the start button nothing happened. Luckily I was near a hardware store and bought a new battery!

Thank you very much.

This video just helped me now. Thank you so much! 🙏🏿

I work for valet and this helped me out a lot , people drop their cars off with no additional car information 🤣

Thank you so much, worked a treat!! 😊

Thank you so much! Worked like a charm

Mate you’ve just saved my life. Thanks bro

Life saver!!!

Omg you have saved my life thank you!!! .......im miles away from home i had do idea what i was going to do 😢

Great video and presentation!

Thank you so muchhhhhh

Just freaking saved me today - thanks!!!

Thanks

very useful information - in case of emergency need where Key Fob battery dies on you.

Omg this actually helped so much, thank you!

You saved me!! I was freaking out! Which I don’t understand bc I just changed the battery of the keys

Wow thank you man my battery it's ok but don't work sometimes

Amazing - thank you! BTW 3:44 in a 2021 x3 is raised black on black (not white print) so it's even harder to see, but is on the outer side of the steering column.

Definitely works thanks a lot

Saved us😎

Thanks man

Great video. Thank you!

Thank you! I was just in a situation where my battery died

Thanks so much. Applies to BMW M235i as well!

Thank you 🙏

Thank You sooooo much!!!

OMG you saved me! Thank you

Aw man your the best.

Wow 👌 thanks so much after 24hr shift thought I was stuck

Great video

This works!!

GOAT

Hi, my battery was drained and ever since then my key fob is not functioning. I replaced the battery and it’s still not working. Any suggestions on how to fix this issue?

Thank you soo much you really a mvp no cap✅🤞🏾

Amazing! After shopping, key fob dead. Got in using actual key, car won't start. Until i noticed the key marking on the right side of the steering wheel.

still says key is missing from the car even when placed on the key column.

This was amazing I thought I was stuck thank you so much!!

could u still start the car without the actual physical key fob? with just the spare key i mean

I have 2008 1 series the key fob and the key blade doesn't work what could be the problem

Does this work with only the key blade? I lost the fob but have the key blade and i need to start my car. Please help🙏🏻 2016 BMW 428i

Hi, my battery died and even my manual key does not open. Not sure if its because I had locked it with the remote. I have f32 with comfort access. Do I need to call in a locksmith?

Wtf thanks so much. I had my car battery replaced a couple months ago so I was hoping it wasn’t that. I called AAA they confirmed my battery was good and thought I possibly had a short in a fuse thankfully I watched this video before I got this car towed to a mechanic. I held my fob to the key symbol on the steering wheel and right away it started. Only thing is I can’t open my trunk but that’s not priority I was thinking it would be something much worse thanks so much for this video. I turned the car off twice and did it again to see if it would work again and it did right away

How do you start the car with key fobs that have to go into a slot

My bmw battery is dead and when I tried to unlock the door this way, it set off the alarm and I can’t start the engine since the battery is dead. Are there any ways to turn off the alarm except for start the engine?

I don’t have the key symbol on the side of my steering wheel, I’ve got a 2006 1 series. How do I start mine with a dead key fob?

Lifesaver it just happened to me And Both My keys ran out of battery. I just can’t believe this.

My key blade or fob will not open the car doors or trunk any suggestions I called a locksmith too and he can’t open it either.

My key lock thing is broken and just spins and spins

Well damn.

Thanks so much for the help... But Screw this car.

BMW could warn the driver before the battery is empty.

My x5 works same way, but when I use the physical key to lock and carry it with me for water activities and leave the remainder part of the key in the car, my tailgate door won't lock while I can manually lock the front four doors. Do you know what I am doing wrong?

What do you do if you don’t have the fob??

IF YOU LOCKED THE CAR WITH THE FOB, THE ALARM WILL 100% GO OFF, JUST A WARNING. REASON BELOW!! The alarm goes off since the car locks via an encrypted network... when you unlock the door, the car only registered that a door was opened, and it doesn't know how it was opened! (What if it was pick locked?), therefor, it sets off the alarm. To prevent this from happening, you will need to lock the car manually next time.

still not working

Misleading video. You didn't open the car with a dead key fob, you opened it with a key blade. And if the key worked via emergency start then the key isn't exactly dead is it, maybe the battery is dead but doesn't mean the key is dead.

I3 is not a real BMW 🤦🏻‍♂️

why would I want to smash the button and break the thing?