This problem is irritating me no end, it's the single worst performance aspect of the car. I've been driving my M3 for over a year and have tried multiple models of iPhone, including the latest iPhone 15 pro. I always leave the app running and always give it permissions to my location at all times -- everything it asks for. And the reliability of the phone lock/unlock/drive is absolutely terrible. About half the time, the car fails to let me in or let me open the trunk, even when I'm right next it. Sometimes, I deliberately take my time trying to get into the car to try to give it more of a chance to recognize my phone lock, and it still won't let me in. I don't believe it has anything to do with clothing. Sometimes, I will fetch the phone from my pocket and it will then let me in -- but other times, it still won't and I'll be just stuck for a time. One reliable workaround seems to be to use the iPhone control panel to disable Bluetooth entirely then re-enable it -- I can always get into my car that way. But by then, I've wasted 30 seconds of my life just trying to get into my car, a problem I've never had with any other car ever.
And it gets a bit worse than that. Sometimes the car will let me in with the phone still in my pocket, but not let me drive! You !&*#%&^ POS, you just authenticated me to get into the car but you won't let me drive?!?! As with getting into the car, it's hit or miss on whether it will eventually let me drive with the phone in my pocket. Again, I can try in frustration to put the car in gear multiple times and it usually works, or I can eventually shuffle around until I can get the phone out of my pocket and by then it usually has deigned to let me drive anyway, or I can force bluetooth off then on in my phone's control panel and that will always work. (I rarely need to do this once the car has let me inside.)
I'm deeply, deeply frustrated about this. I hate the idea of buying a ridiculously expensive extra fob (and of having to carry it -- I'm completely key-free right now and enjoying it, modulo hatred of this aspect of the M3). But my main question is, WILL A FOB ACTUALLY WORK RELIABLY? If I buy a new fob, can I leave it in my pocket at all times, and ALWAYS get into the car and ALWAYS be allowed to drive, immediately, with no delays?
Interested in hearing experiences of folks who bought a fob to know if it finally allowed them to enter + drive the car as I'd expect from any car after 2000.