Comfort Access + Water

tjnptel1 · 10-30-2007, 09:04 AM

When washing the car, most of us who have comfort access have reported that if you have comfort access and keys in your pocket, the car will lock and unlock quite frequently. Almost as though the car was going nuts.

Well, the other day, it was raining really really heavy and i ran out to my car, when i came with CA range of the car, it automatically unlocked for me due to the water, saving me time to grab the handle and hoping it would unlock. May be a weird coincidence but what if this is what the BMW engineers had in mind?

Fraggy · 10-30-2007, 09:06 AM

How sweet of your car to do that

E90SLAM · 10-30-2007, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fraggy

How sweet of your car to do that

E90SLAM · 10-30-2007, 09:15 AM

CA FTW!!!

E90SLAM · 10-30-2007, 09:16 AM

I think its just the sensors at the door that cannot distinguish the difference between your hand or water when you go close enough???

Or its just some rain sensor + CA feature?

BMdblU · 10-30-2007, 09:50 AM

It doesn't take much pressure from your hand to unlock the door, so I can see how the water does it..

Gig103 · 10-30-2007, 10:37 AM

This one is fun engineering!!
The sensor in the door is not a pressure switch, it's a capacitance switch. When you touch the handle, your body's capacitance (ability to store an electrical charge) triggers the car to talk to your key, which authenticates and the doors unlock.

Well, you know how water and electricity are dangerous? That's because water has a high capacitance as well (part of the reason the body has a good capacitance is because of how much water it contains). The rain drops on the handle most likely triggered the switch.

HyperM3 · 10-30-2007, 10:40 AM

When it gets darker out, my lights come on. So weird.

tjnptel1 · 10-30-2007, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HyperM3

When it gets darker out, my lights come on. So weird.

wow, you are so cool.

tjnptel1 · 10-30-2007, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gig103

This one is fun engineering!!
The sensor in the door is not a pressure switch, it's a capacitance switch. When you touch the handle, your body's capacitance (ability to store an electrical charge) triggers the car to talk to your key, which authenticates and the doors unlock.

Well, you know how water and electricity are dangerous? That's because water has a high capacitance as well (part of the reason the body has a good capacitance is because of how much water it contains). The rain drops on the handle most likely triggered the switch.

good to know.

HyperM3 · 10-30-2007, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tjnptel1

wow, you are so cool.

I was just having a moment.

Unfortunately, Ive never experienced your situation. Ive been at my car quite a few times when its raining and I had to grip the handle for it to unlock. Then again I could have always just clicked the button on the keyfob, but what fun would that have been?

E90SLAM · 10-30-2007, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gig103

This one is fun engineering!!
The sensor in the door is not a pressure switch, it's a capacitance switch. When you touch the handle, your body's capacitance (ability to store an electrical charge) triggers the car to talk to your key, which authenticates and the doors unlock.

Well, you know how water and electricity are dangerous? That's because water has a high capacitance as well (part of the reason the body has a good capacitance is because of how much water it contains). The rain drops on the handle most likely triggered the switch.

THANKS!

Sometimes CA is a bit slow to react....I had to actually pull the handle to unlock....

RespaViolator · 10-30-2007, 01:06 PM

My car does this and I have to keep the fob very far away. I'm also the one that went outside after a rain storm to find my sunroof open and both windows completly down. My key fob was on a stand near the front door when this happened and not in my pocket.

tjnptel1 · 10-30-2007, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RespaViolator

My car does this and I have to keep the fob very far away. I'm also the one that went outside after a rain storm to find my sunroof open and both windows completly down. My key fob was on a stand near the front door when this happened and not in my pocket.

i remember that.

how did everything turn out? did you have to get it detailed?

Chowbow · 10-30-2007, 04:00 PM

I would like to disable the option to roll down the windows with CA because of this. I park in the garage but it's just going to happen one day when it's pouring, and all the windows and sunroof get opened when the fob is close enough to the car while it's parked somewhere outside. Possible to disable this feature? I'm already guessing no...

orientblue3 · 10-30-2007, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chowbow

I would like to disable the option to roll down the windows with CA because of this. I park in the garage but it's just going to happen one day when it's pouring, and all the windows and sunroof get opened when the fob is close enough to the car while it's parked somewhere outside. Possible to disable this feature? I'm already guessing no...

I want to do that on my car as well (when it arrives) because of the few times peoples CA's have "glitched" and their windows roll down in the middle of the night. There's a member here who had that happen in the pouring rain and he came out in the morning and his car was full of water. So if I had that feature disabled it would be much easier to proove it was a glitch and not that it got pressed in my pocket or something like BMW trys to claim so they don't have to pay for it.

fragadellic · 10-30-2007, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tjnptel1

When washing the car, most of us who have comfort access have reported that if you have comfort access and keys in your pocket, the car will lock and unlock quite frequently. Almost as though the car was going nuts.

Well, the other day, it was raining really really heavy and i ran out to my car, when i came with CA range of the car, it automatically unlocked for me due to the water, saving me time to grab the handle and hoping it would unlock. May be a weird coincidence but what if this is what the BMW engineers had in mind?

Please, use the

first.

It's easy and fun! Anyone can do it! Tell your friends! 10% discount on future searches if you act now!!!

Just type COMFORT + WATER in the search box and voila! All your questions are answered.

CA and water were discussed ad nauseum over the past few weeks, here are just a few...

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...=comfort+water

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...=comfort+water

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...=comfort+water

Thanks for playing.

lkn · 10-30-2007, 10:55 PM

Just be glad that you don't have to insert the key to unlock your car

remmib · 10-30-2007, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lkn

Just be glad that you don't have to insert the key to unlock your car

That was fun in the wintertimes when the lock was frosen... NOT

rzm3 · 10-30-2007, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chowbow

I would like to disable the option to roll down the windows with CA because of this. I park in the garage but it's just going to happen one day when it's pouring, and all the windows and sunroof get opened when the fob is close enough to the car while it's parked somewhere outside. Possible to disable this feature? I'm already guessing no...

well i see the problem, but the thing is, when you park your car outside of your house, the key will be out of CA range; thus the car will not unlock regardless of how heavy the rain is.

E90SLAM · 10-30-2007, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fragadellic

Please, use the

first.

It's easy and fun! Anyone can do it! Tell your friends! 10% discount on future searches if you act now!!!

Just type COMFORT + WATER in the search box and voila! All your questions are answered.

CA and water were discussed ad nauseum over the past few weeks, here are just a few...

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...=comfort+water

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...=comfort+water

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...=comfort+water

Thanks for playing.

gos · 10-30-2007, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gig103

This one is fun engineering!!
The sensor in the door is not a pressure switch, it's a capacitance switch. When you touch the handle, your body's capacitance (ability to store an electrical charge) triggers the car to talk to your key, which authenticates and the doors unlock.

I don't think surface capacitance is the way it's designed, as you don't have to touch the handle to open the door. Just put one finger through the middle.

My guess is they run a coil of wire through the door handle, and measure a change in the current, like an electromagnet.

This is the same way in-road sensors work for traffic lights.

10-30-2007, 09:04 AM	#1
tjnptel1 Cunning Linguist 149 Rep 2,219 Posts Drives: 335i Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Norfolk, VA iTrader: (0) Garage List 2007 335i [0.00]	Comfort Access + Water When washing the car, most of us who have comfort access have reported that if you have comfort access and keys in your pocket, the car will lock and unlock quite frequently. Almost as though the car was going nuts. Well, the other day, it was raining really really heavy and i ran out to my car, when i came with CA range of the car, it automatically unlocked for me due to the water, saving me time to grab the handle and hoping it would unlock. May be a weird coincidence but what if this is what the BMW engineers had in mind? __________________ Bottles are for babies, Real men get blown.
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10-30-2007, 09:06 AM	#2
Fraggy Brigadier General 193 Rep 3,469 Posts Drives: 2016 M3 Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: San Diego iTrader: (11)	How sweet of your car to do that __________________ 2016 Alpine White M3 (gone) 2019 Alfa Romeo Guilia (Totaled) 2020 Car-less 😁 (no more) 2020 M340
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10-30-2007, 09:15 AM	#4
E90SLAM Supreme Allied Commander 1963 Rep 61,781 Posts Drives: A BBS WHORE Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: . iTrader: (6) Garage List 2022 BMW X3 sDrive30i [0.00]	CA FTW!!! __________________
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10-30-2007, 09:16 AM	#5
E90SLAM Supreme Allied Commander 1963 Rep 61,781 Posts Drives: A BBS WHORE Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: . iTrader: (6) Garage List 2022 BMW X3 sDrive30i [0.00]	I think its just the sensors at the door that cannot distinguish the difference between your hand or water when you go close enough??? Or its just some rain sensor + CA feature? __________________
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10-30-2007, 09:50 AM	#6
BMdblU Brigadier General 152 Rep 3,983 Posts Drives: F80 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Toronto iTrader: (2)	It doesn't take much pressure from your hand to unlock the door, so I can see how the water does it..
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10-30-2007, 10:37 AM	#7
Gig103 Major 70 Rep 1,324 Posts Drives: 2014 Tesla P85D Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Gilbert, AZ iTrader: (1)	This one is fun engineering!! The sensor in the door is not a pressure switch, it's a capacitance switch. When you touch the handle, your body's capacitance (ability to store an electrical charge) triggers the car to talk to your key, which authenticates and the doors unlock. Well, you know how water and electricity are dangerous? That's because water has a high capacitance as well (part of the reason the body has a good capacitance is because of how much water it contains). The rain drops on the handle most likely triggered the switch. __________________ Was: 2008 335xi sedan 6MT Black Sapphire Metallic Is: 2014 Tesla P85D (Blue Metallic) Wife's: 2013 Infiniti G37 S sedan 6MT, Black
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10-30-2007, 10:40 AM	#8
HyperM3 Too many Alex's, from now on, call me Beaufort 342 Rep 6,188 Posts Drives: See Sig Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Lawrenceville, NJ iTrader: (8)	When it gets darker out, my lights come on. So weird. __________________ 13 HD FatBob 17 A4 Glacier/Black 1st Edition/Pre+/Sport/EurocodeTMD/Racechip 16 S6 (gone),14 S6 (gone),14 S6 (gone),13 S6 (gone),10 S4 (gone) 07 335i(gone)
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10-30-2007, 01:06 PM	#13
RespaViolator New Member 1 Rep 11 Posts Drives: 335i Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Kirkland, WA iTrader: (0)	My car does this and I have to keep the fob very far away. I'm also the one that went outside after a rain storm to find my sunroof open and both windows completly down. My key fob was on a stand near the front door when this happened and not in my pocket.
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10-30-2007, 04:00 PM	#15
Chowbow pew pew 166 Rep 6,781 Posts Drives: 三三五i Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: CA iTrader: (6) Garage List 2015 BMW 328i wagon [0.00] 2007 BMW 335i sedan [10.00] 1997 BMW 328i track ... [10.00]	I would like to disable the option to roll down the windows with CA because of this. I park in the garage but it's just going to happen one day when it's pouring, and all the windows and sunroof get opened when the fob is close enough to the car while it's parked somewhere outside. Possible to disable this feature? I'm already guessing no... __________________ CSL replicas are now CSL counterfeits. Jesus saves, like Valentine1.
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10-30-2007, 10:55 PM	#18
lkn Lieutenant Colonel 23 Rep 1,549 Posts Drives: 335i Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Orange County iTrader: (4)	Just be glad that you don't have to insert the key to unlock your car
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