New E39 2003 530i sport owner

[530 Cruiser]

Recently picked up the cream puff. Original owner with all maintenance documented. 125K miles. Dealing with a dead remote key. Ordered some rechargeable batteries from ebay and will perform remote surgery soon.
It's fun to drive for a daily driver. My 1999 Built Land Cruiser will be demoted to a weekend driver. http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/11/09/4e14568b3b818b28cbbdcc037d209e25.jpg

[Qsilver7]

Congrats on the purrchase. Are you sure the key's battery is deaad? If it was the previous owners unsused spare...and sat in drawer unused for 1.5 yrs or more...it could just be depleted and in need of full charge.

It can take up to 30 hours to fully rechargea deeply discharged remote key battery. Plus it may need to be reinitialized...which will require BOTH(or all) of your remote keys to be done in the SAME session. Any remote key not programmed in the same session will no longer be able to lock/unlock, and arm/disarm the car.

Some tips as to recharging the key other than driving around with it for a few weeks is....if you have a battery charger...you can hook it up to the jump start terminals in the engine bay, then leave the key turned to ignition position 1 over night...this can quickly get you to the 30 hours to recharge the key without killing you car's battery (which you don't want to happen with the remote key still in the ignition). Or if you have an electric tooth brush that has an inductive charger...you can place the remote key on or very near it and this can recharge the key's battery as well.

The ability to start the car (EWS) doesn't require the key's battery...so a dead key battery shouldn't have an affect on starting the car...just the FZV (central locking) and DWA (anti-theft alarm siren) systems uses the key's internal battery to transmit the 315 MHz (433 MHz in Europe) signal.


The instructions to reinitialize the remote keys must be followed to the T...skip a step, combine a step, ignore a step,, etc...can result in failure to program:

TIP: KL R = ignitin position 1 (not off or position 2 or 3, or engine running)


http://www.bimmerboard.com/members/q/original/Diamond%20Shaped%20Key%20Info%201.jpg http://www.bimmerboard.com/members/q/original/How%20To%20Initialize%20Old%20and%20New%20Style%20 Remote%20Keys.jpg

[530 Cruiser]

Thanks Qsilver7, the remote works once in a while and you have to be very close to the car. I tried the tooth brush charger trick and it didn't work. The prior owner said the battery in the remote is going out...

Going through the stack I maintenance records, it looks like a new key was ordered back in early 2011. This makes me wonder if something else is causing the issue since a key should last more than a few years!

[auaq]

Hahah! Welcome new member to the 'House of 6' airline.

Take a seat in the E39 lounge while 'Lord of 6' prepares a drink for you while you relax in the massaging chair along with some jazz music being played in the back ground to ease up your stress levels to a minimum and forget about the worldly affairs and think nothing but only of your beloved partner - Ms. 2003 530i.

[530 Cruiser]

11 years of maintenance receipts. Since 2009, over $16k in maintenance! Omg, what have I gotten myself into?

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/11/09/542f7f0e92f05de222bffdd3f94237f3.jpg

[IndiansFan]

11 years of maintenance receipts. Since 2009, over $16k in maintenance! Omg, what have I gotten myself into?

A well maintained car, that you will not have to purchase snow tires for any time soon......................

Welcome, and enjoy the ride.

[auaq]

Hmm .. looks like the car was properly maintained, hopefully though.

[RuskiE39]

Looks like you got yourself into a heap of gold. :)

Enjoy the ride and post some more non-potato taken photos.

[tantumaude]

Very nice. I always liked the 42s on the sport 530is.

[AnotherGeezer]

I think we all eventually end up with "THE STACK".

It's just a normal part of being owned by a BMW.

[sleuth255]

hmmm. So only one remote key? The car originally came with two. A few weeks ago I pulled the spare remote key for my 2003 530i out of our documents safe where it had sat for the last 10 years and drove with it for a day. Zero issues. I suspect you may have a different problem especially given that your key was replaced once.

edit: I'm the original owner of my 530i and here's my stack:

http://media.fotki.com/1_p,rsbstdkwgdfgqwgxstggtgfbwtk,vi/fqgftsrdxttbgfkkkwxsqfwttqgw/4/43626/167477/05437363405979-vi.jpg

looks to me like the size of yours is about right. Congrats btw, you've just bought yourself one of the most reliable and fuel efficient cars that BMW ever made. 530i handling is absolutely supurb too so get it out on those winding county roads for some real fun!

[530 Cruiser]

So now my key all of a sudden started to work! Very strange. I just replaced the torn center armrest with a $30 ebay special. Matches perfect and I was able to remove the phone & BT center insert from the old armrest to the new one. Pictures to follow in the morning...