Auto Lock While Stationary

[myfirstone]

The 128i and presumably 135i come set from the factory to auto lock the doors when you begin driving and also if the car doors have not been opened in a while while stationary. I confirmed this setting on the car's computer.

My doors definitely lock when I start driving. But while sitting in the car reading the manual recently I realized that the doors never auto locked -- and I was in there for a good 45 minutes. I also purposely left the car unlocked for several hours while visiting someone who has a remote driveway (no risk of car theft). The doors were still unlocked hours later.

I doubt I'll ever forget to lock the doors but does anyone have the skinny on this "feature." To see what I'm taking about see pages 22-23 of the non-iDrive PDF manual (available at bmwusa.com).

[Mega Man]

You can turn this on or off. I forget which page of the manual describes it, but it's a useful feature if you want it (and useful to turn off if you don't like it).

[myfirstone]

Originally Posted by Mega Man

You can turn this on or off. I forget which page of the manual describes it, but it's a useful feature if you want it (and useful to turn off if you don't like it).

Yes I know. I have it turned on. My question is under what circumstances do the car doors lock if the car is stationary and after how much time. As I noted, my doors don't lock even after several hours despite having the setting turned on.

[dick w]

My bet--still waiting my 1--is that the meaning of this setting is that they lock if the locking system has unlocked them and a door was not subsequently opened. This is hte logic in several Hondas I've owned.

Test case: get out. Use remote to lock. Use remote to unlock. Walk away for awhile. Come back. See if doors are locked.

The intent is not to lock you in. The intent is to re-lock the car if for whatever reason it is unintentionally unlocked.

[x5mad]

Originally Posted by dick w

My bet--still waiting my 1--is that the meaning of this setting is that they lock if the locking system has unlocked them and a door was not subsequently opened. This is hte logic in several Hondas I've owned.

Test case: get out. Use remote to lock. Use remote to unlock. Walk away for awhile. Come back. See if doors are locked.

The intent is not to lock you in. The intent is to re-lock the car if for whatever reason it is unintentionally unlocked.

+1
if car is unlocked using the remote key and door not opened within a set time then car will lock itself again.

[VanillaRush]

I understood that the doors won't autolock if you are in the car, because you have "cancelled" the auto-lock by opening a door and getting inside.
If this feature was not there, you could open the door get in, leave your key inside, get out, close the door and lock your keys in the car.
Yet- If you unlocked, and did not open any doors or boot, then the doors would re-lock automatically after a period of time.

[Ash83]

Originally Posted by VanillaRush

I understood that the doors won't autolock if you are in the car, because you have "cancelled" the auto-lock by opening a door and getting inside.
If this feature was not there, you could open the door get in, leave your key inside, get out, close the door and lock your keys in the car.
Yet- If you unlocked, and did not open any doors or boot, then the doors would re-lock automatically after a period of time.

well said...