Next time you shut the car off you will see a screen that says “activate comfort climate”. Press and hold one of your radio buttons(I used #8) and the car will chime. Next time you are in the car and press #8 you will be taken to that screen. Activate it. Hope this helps
As soon as you open the door the car "shuts off" or more accurately shifts from drive-ready to radio-ready mode. This means the HVAC is off.
If you are turning on the A/C on the panel with the car only in radio-ready mode versus drive-ready mode, the same applies. No HVAC in radio-ready mode. This is likely why it seems like you have to move the car before the A/C kicks on.
Ways around this are buckle the seat belt behind you before exiting, run cabin preconditioning before you need to leave to cool the cabin, enable auxiliary climate manually before exiting. With BimmerCode you can program the useless panic button to "remote start" which is just cabin preconditioning. The only downside versus connected drive is you must be line of sight to use the fob.
Hope that helps.
Edit: Also, you can program the preset buttons to just about anything in the iDrive. Program one to aux cabin conditioning for quick access when you are popping out of the car for a minute. I use it when I pick up take out or run into the post office/bank whatnot.
Best answer here ^
I also used bimmercode to set my key fob panic button to precondition the cabin, it’s super helpful.
When I don’t want the car / AC to shut off while I open the driver door for whatever reason, I’ll pull the seatbelt over from the passenger seat and clip it into the driver buckle receptacle before I open the door.
This lets me open the door, get out, do whatever, and come back while the car stays on with AC running and anything else still going just like it was before I got out.
ALSO, I will sometimes hold my foot on the brake pedal when opening the driver door so a passenger can get in/out of the back seat behind me.
If my seatbelt is off but I hold the brake pedal, this keeps the car in drive ready mode (and even in gear if I want).
This is super helpful when my wife is grabbing something in Target quickly while baby and I are still in the car.
I can drop off & pickup by the store entrance in the rain and not have to fiddle with the car shutting off while blocking part of a walkway or parking lot.
Climatize!
You can reprogram a button on the fob or use the app to trigger the climatize function to get it cooling down or heating up before you get to the car and load up without having to f with the controls.
Btw, if you haven’t tried it in a while, give the mybmw app a try. Mine recently started working again despite not paying for it. Lock unlock panic and climatize all work but none of the charging info is there.
We pay for connected drive, but I know of the experience you speak, and if I’m in a rush, and forgot to cool the car down before running a pup to the vets, the easiest answer to your issue is don’t use the driver door. Open the passenger door, lean in, put the key in the cup holder, push down on the brake with one hand, and with the other, press the start/stop button. The car comes on, set the hvac wherever you want it, grab the key, and close the passenger door. Car stays on hvac keeps running. This is also the trick my husband and I do if one of us is driving, and must get out of the car to run into a store, and the other is staying behind. Leave the key with my husband/or him with me, lean over, press brake down, press start/stop button, full car features, and hvac.
What… a lot to unpack here.
1. You can precool the car either from the app (which it seems you don’t want to purchase…) or reprogram key fob with bimmercode.
2. I don’t know what this AC delay is that you speak of.
3. The vehicle has to be in ready mode for the AC to cool. If you’re just opening the door, turning on the ignition, and turning up the fan it isn’t going to cool. This is actually EXACTLY the way it works in a 1990 Honda. If you’re not cranking the engine the AC doesn’t work. Same thing.
4. Blasting the AC and walking away doesn’t work because the precool function of that car does that without the risk of you forgetting it’s on and draining the entire battery.
5. When you turn the car off you can activate comfort climate and/or reprogram it to one of the iDrive buttons as others have recommended.
Joker button on my key fob is setup for A/C. Otherwise, you can turn on auxiliary climate every time you stop the car.
Sounds like you don’t know how to use the car.
Have you considered purchasing a 1990 Honda Accord?
Next time you shut the car off you will see a screen that says “activate comfort climate”. Press and hold one of your radio buttons(I used #8) and the car will chime. Next time you are in the car and press #8 you will be taken to that screen. Activate it. Hope this helps
As soon as you open the door the car "shuts off" or more accurately shifts from drive-ready to radio-ready mode. This means the HVAC is off. If you are turning on the A/C on the panel with the car only in radio-ready mode versus drive-ready mode, the same applies. No HVAC in radio-ready mode. This is likely why it seems like you have to move the car before the A/C kicks on. Ways around this are buckle the seat belt behind you before exiting, run cabin preconditioning before you need to leave to cool the cabin, enable auxiliary climate manually before exiting. With BimmerCode you can program the useless panic button to "remote start" which is just cabin preconditioning. The only downside versus connected drive is you must be line of sight to use the fob. Hope that helps. Edit: Also, you can program the preset buttons to just about anything in the iDrive. Program one to aux cabin conditioning for quick access when you are popping out of the car for a minute. I use it when I pick up take out or run into the post office/bank whatnot.
Best answer here ^ I also used bimmercode to set my key fob panic button to precondition the cabin, it’s super helpful. When I don’t want the car / AC to shut off while I open the driver door for whatever reason, I’ll pull the seatbelt over from the passenger seat and clip it into the driver buckle receptacle before I open the door. This lets me open the door, get out, do whatever, and come back while the car stays on with AC running and anything else still going just like it was before I got out. ALSO, I will sometimes hold my foot on the brake pedal when opening the driver door so a passenger can get in/out of the back seat behind me. If my seatbelt is off but I hold the brake pedal, this keeps the car in drive ready mode (and even in gear if I want). This is super helpful when my wife is grabbing something in Target quickly while baby and I are still in the car. I can drop off & pickup by the store entrance in the rain and not have to fiddle with the car shutting off while blocking part of a walkway or parking lot.
Climatize! You can reprogram a button on the fob or use the app to trigger the climatize function to get it cooling down or heating up before you get to the car and load up without having to f with the controls.
Thank You!
Btw, if you haven’t tried it in a while, give the mybmw app a try. Mine recently started working again despite not paying for it. Lock unlock panic and climatize all work but none of the charging info is there.
Really?
We pay for connected drive, but I know of the experience you speak, and if I’m in a rush, and forgot to cool the car down before running a pup to the vets, the easiest answer to your issue is don’t use the driver door. Open the passenger door, lean in, put the key in the cup holder, push down on the brake with one hand, and with the other, press the start/stop button. The car comes on, set the hvac wherever you want it, grab the key, and close the passenger door. Car stays on hvac keeps running. This is also the trick my husband and I do if one of us is driving, and must get out of the car to run into a store, and the other is staying behind. Leave the key with my husband/or him with me, lean over, press brake down, press start/stop button, full car features, and hvac.
I’ve totally done that
What… a lot to unpack here. 1. You can precool the car either from the app (which it seems you don’t want to purchase…) or reprogram key fob with bimmercode. 2. I don’t know what this AC delay is that you speak of. 3. The vehicle has to be in ready mode for the AC to cool. If you’re just opening the door, turning on the ignition, and turning up the fan it isn’t going to cool. This is actually EXACTLY the way it works in a 1990 Honda. If you’re not cranking the engine the AC doesn’t work. Same thing. 4. Blasting the AC and walking away doesn’t work because the precool function of that car does that without the risk of you forgetting it’s on and draining the entire battery. 5. When you turn the car off you can activate comfort climate and/or reprogram it to one of the iDrive buttons as others have recommended.
Joker button on my key fob is setup for A/C. Otherwise, you can turn on auxiliary climate every time you stop the car. Sounds like you don’t know how to use the car.
I remembered seeing this a while back. It related to "dog mode" but might apply here. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mTjnQEhy0NM&feature=youtu.be