Bluetooth - unlocking the door survey

[irwiny]

I'm having a tough time with my M3 ( April 24 ) unlocking the door. I find myself standing at the door often seeing the car's screen telling me the car is locked after grabbing the door handle. I then need to pull out my phone and open the Tesla app running in the background (I have this app set to run as a priority running in the background) ... and waiting what seems to be an eternity. For personal security reasons, I would greatly appreciate getting into my car quickly and locking the doors when I'm in the city at night.

I would say the majority of my attempts to unlock and enter the car without reaching for my phone in my pocket about 50%. Last week, I was backing up out of a parking space and the car stopped three times while I was backing up. It's like maybe the car lost Bluetooth connection maybe. The car is scheduled for some fit and finish issues and unlock issue next week.

I've seen a demo where the mirrors move as you approach the car is unlocked and the mirrors unfold. Only after I am able to open the door my mirrors will unfold?

My phone is a Huawei Mate 10 - Android Oreo ver 8 - (Maybe China is spying on my M3 since I have Huawei phone!!)

Please let me know if able your able to walk up to your car and and unlock easily and if the mirrors unfold before the door is opened.

On a closing note to this post, I really like this car and it's pretty fast and with quick acceleration. The sound system is very nice and the car drives like a sedan sports car. I notice the real drive able miles are less than what is displayed, this could be to my lead foot enjoy the quick acceleration. On the negative side with the car being is so quiet inside, my friends have told me in the microphone isn't so great and my Toyota van sounds better. Also, Blind spot monitoring really needs to work. It's a safety thing that everyone needs regardless how you set your mirrors. My blind spot monitoring on my Toyota has saved my ass many times both while driving on the road or backing up with pedestrians walking toward my van.

Thanks.. Irwin

 

[irwiny]

oh crap I posted in the wrong area for M3 !!!!

 

[Pkmmte]

oh crap I posted in the wrong area for M3 !!!!

Maybe your phone needs a new Battery & Charging?

 

[Tdriver]

There are known issues with various Android phones. The M3 has to be selected in the app. My iPhone works perfect.

 

[irwiny]

Maybe your phone needs a new Battery & Charging?

Other than it being one of two of the USA government hated manufacturer of cellphones (Huawei and ZTE) or my wife's way in getting back at me by giving me this new phone a few months ago. I'm curious if other android users with Oreo are having the same issue.

 

[thimel]

Your car stopping while you are backing up may have nothing to do with Bluetooth. The car will put itself in park if you don’t have your seatbelt fastened and take your weight off the seat. The latter happens to people when they turn to looks over their shoulder. Always fastening your seatbelt before backing up prevents this problem.

 

[rabar10]

Mod note: Moved thread to the UI subforum.

 

[rabar10]

I've seen a demo where the mirrors move as you approach the car is unlocked and the mirrors unfold. Only after I am able to open the door my mirrors will unfold?
...
Please let me know if able your able to walk up to your car and and unlock easily and if the mirrors unfold before the door is opened.

Specific to the Auto Unlock on approach (mirror behavior) — this was changed in a firmware update a few weeks ago, now the car will unlock and mirrors fold out only when a door handle or trunk button is pushed and the phone-key is in range and connected. Too many people I think had issues with the car constantly unlocking/locking in a garage or parking spot when they were moving around in their home.

Your other phone unlock issues sound quite severe — hope the SC can figure something out. Do you know people with other kinds of phones where you could try adding their phone as a key temporarily and see if it works better? That would at least narrow down if it is a car vs. phone issue...

 

[irwiny]

Just came back from Service center in Fremont next to the factory today. Wasn't to impressed with both the service center and service adviser. I got a BMW loaner ( the lady before me who has a Model S got at GLA Benz - she wasn't too happy and we laughed about it). I've had owned Toyota, Lexus, Porsche, BMW and Mercedes and IMO this was a 4 out of 10 impression with regards to my service center drop off visit ( IMO between Toyota and Lexus). I had a list of items that I addressed on my service request that included the Bluetooth, inside door driver panel had two blister or blemishes, right side sensors for cars be performance in detect anything when driving and driver door upper left was not aligned correct. I got an email from a service manager in SoCal after making the service appointment and he said the door panel will shipped to the service center prior to your appointment. The service adviser in Fremont had no idea if the part was ordered in advance.

After the last firmware upgrade to the car a few days ago (High Beam upgrade), my rear view camera has turned black twice withing 24 hrs during the daytime, rebooting fixed the issue the first time. The second time was when I got to the service center today backing out move the car to the service stall. The service adviser said a lot of OREO Android 4.0 are having problems and it would be fixed eventually. While standing outside 1 foot from drivers door, my car locked while talking to the service adviser. I said that is a problem and I'm tired of reaching for my phone and waiting for the doors to unlock. Twice last week status was "Disconnected" and I had to reboot my phone to unlock the car.

I guess it's day and night difference between delivery and service center ...
I'm a early 55 retired techie, maybe I should apply for a part time job as a service adviser now .. .Ha Ha!!

 

[ninpb]

Specific to the Auto Unlock on approach (mirror behavior) — this was changed in a firmware update a few weeks ago, now the car will unlock and mirrors fold out only when a door handle or trunk button is pushed and the phone-key is in range and connected. Too many people I think had issues with the car constantly unlocking/locking in a garage or parking spot when they were moving around in their home.

Y

Hi. I just wanted to get clarification. Is Bluetooth unlock activated with any door handle or just the driver's door? I ask because my 2 year olds seat is rear passenger side.

 

[rabar10]

Is Bluetooth unlock activated with any door handle or just the driver's door?

Any of the 4 door handles or the trunk button will unlock the car, if you have your phone on you and the Phone Key is connected.

 

[Zedism]

No problems entering with iPhone X.

 

[zissou]

I've seen a demo where the mirrors move as you approach the car is unlocked and the mirrors unfold.

This is no longer true, you have to pull the handle.

Here is my experience so far, I have a Google Pixel Android phone (first version). I would say that since I got the car a week ago, the expected behavior of pulling the handle and the door opens, worked maybe 3 times. The maybe 30 other times I wanted to do it, the door would not open and I don't get any soune or visual indication of what's wrong. I then take my phone out, use the fingerprint to open and unlock the phone. Then pull the handle again, it opens. (I did not open the tesla app, simply unlocked the phone.)
Two times, I was able to open and sit down, but the car would not go in D or R, again no visual clue about what's wrong. But I places the keycard where it goes and I was able to go to D/R.

Sometimes, I walk to the car with groceries, open the trunk, for some reason that always works. Then close the trunk, walk to the door, and the door doesn't open until I unlock my phone. I have not understood the visual indications that my car is locked or not, which makes me wonder if someone else would be able to open the trunk or not.

Is there a comprehensive list of phones that work for key unlock, and the problems with each one? A wiki of some sort? I am seriously thinking of getting a new phone, but I need to make sure it will work 100% of the time.

 

[karpetkutter]

I have had no issues whatsoever using my Iphone as the only entry method. I have never had an issue besides occasional 5-10 second delay.

 

[BobChaput]

This is no longer true, you have to pull the handle.

Here is my experience so far, I have a Google Pixel Android phone (first version). I would say that since I got the car a week ago, the expected behavior of pulling the handle and the door opens, worked maybe 3 times. The maybe 30 other times I wanted to do it, the door would not open and I don't get any soune or visual indication of what's wrong. I then take my phone out, use the fingerprint to open and unlock the phone. Then pull the handle again, it opens. (I did not open the tesla app, simply unlocked the phone.)
Two times, I was able to open and sit down, but the car would not go in D or R, again no visual clue about what's wrong. But I places the keycard where it goes and I was able to go to D/R.

Sometimes, I walk to the car with groceries, open the trunk, for some reason that always works. Then close the trunk, walk to the door, and the door doesn't open until I unlock my phone. I have not understood the visual indications that my car is locked or not, which makes me wonder if someone else would be able to open the trunk or not.

Is there a comprehensive list of phones that work for key unlock, and the problems with each one? A wiki of some sort? I am seriously thinking of getting a new phone, but I need to make sure it will work 100% of the time.

I have had my Model 3 for a couple of weeks. My experience with the iPhone X as a key has been miserable and intermittent.
I'm reasonable certain that the vehicle senses the phone because when I'm forced to use the key card to gain entry, I can operate the vehicle without using the key card (foot on brake, shift into D/R and go.) To the best of my recollection this has never failed. Also I can always open the trunk with just the smart phone in my pocket.

I have tried all the incantations: airport off/on, soft Tesla reboot, hard Tesla reboot, forgetting the device on both the Tesla and iPhone and re-pairing and a few others. Nothing permanent.

My sense is that this is a Bluetooth issue, but I'm at a loss to know how to fix it. BigTonyTones posted a message that he had been advised by a knowledgable service tech in Fremont to go to his SC and update the "... bluetooth security certificate..." He reports that this fixed his problem. This cannot be done with an OTA firmware update. I live 360 miles for my SC and it is totally impractical. I'm not even sure my SC in Littleton, CO even knows about or how to update it.

I love everything else about the car but this issue is ridiculous. For a company that can send rockets into space and recover the 1st stage, bore a tunnel from O'Hare to downtown Chicago, build a roadster that will go from 0-60 in 1.9 seconds and can't (or won't) put sufficient resources to deal with this issue is shameful.

 

[zissou]

Here is my experience so far, I have a Google Pixel Android phone (first version).

This is maybe anecdotal, but following my experience described above with the Pixel, I just ordered an unlocked Samsung S9 from costco, and now the door opens every time, I can finally see how the phone key is supposed to work. You walk to the car, open the handle, and the door opens. This is very different from my experience with the Pixel, where it never worked, and I had to unlock the phone every time.
Obviously, I don't know how long it will work. I will try to install updates and new software very slowly and pay attention to what changed if I get problems.

 

[pete_shaw]

This is no longer true, you have to pull the handle.

Here is my experience so far, I have a Google Pixel Android phone (first version). I would say that since I got the car a week ago, the expected behavior of pulling the handle and the door opens, worked maybe 3 times. The maybe 30 other times I wanted to do it, the door would not open and I don't get any soune or visual indication of what's wrong. I then take my phone out, use the fingerprint to open and unlock the phone. Then pull the handle again, it opens. (I did not open the tesla app, simply unlocked the phone.)
Two times, I was able to open and sit down, but the car would not go in D or R, again no visual clue about what's wrong. But I places the keycard where it goes and I was able to go to D/R.

Sometimes, I walk to the car with groceries, open the trunk, for some reason that always works. Then close the trunk, walk to the door, and the door doesn't open until I unlock my phone. I have not understood the visual indications that my car is locked or not, which makes me wonder if someone else would be able to open the trunk or not.

Is there a comprehensive list of phones that work for key unlock, and the problems with each one? A wiki of some sort? I am seriously thinking of getting a new phone, but I need to make sure it will work 100% of the time.

I know this is an older thread but I just got my M3 recently and experienced identical behavior with door unlocking using phone Bluetooth. I use Samsung Galaxy S7. I will continue to read rest of the thread but wondering if it is indeed iPhone vs Android thing or some Tesla quirk/feature.

 

[edigest]

I have a Galaxy S7 and have no problems. I wonder if the issue in some of these reports is the car sleeping. If the car is asleep it can take several seconds to wake up so it looks like it isn't responding.

When I'm ready to go I turn on blue tooth as soon as I get downstairs. The car wakes up in the several seconds it takes to grab whatever I'm taking with me and walk out to the garage. Never have an issue with the car not unlocking.

 

[mswlogo]

I have a Galaxy S7 and have no problems. I wonder if the issue in some of these reports is the car sleeping. If the car is asleep it can take several seconds to wake up so it looks like it isn't responding.

When I'm ready to go I turn on blue tooth as soon as I get downstairs. The car wakes up in the several seconds it takes to grab whatever I'm taking with me and walk out to the garage. Never have an issue with the car not unlocking.

You are somewhat bypassing the automatic nature by manually turning on Bluetooth every time you want to get in the car by waking the phone and enabling . Phones like to sleep too. But they should still recognize that a Bluetooth device is nearby in a low power sleep state.

My iPhone X works perfectly as well as my wife's iPhone 6s. No need to ever touch the phone in preparation.

Oh, I have not shut Bluetooth off on a regular basis in well over a decade. Any real phone today it should not be necessary.

 

[edigest]

Whether you leave blue tooth on all the time or turn it off when not needed (as I do) the car still needs to wake up it if is asleep.

Perhaps when I get a "real phone" I will leave blue tooth on all the time.