In case this happens to you:

I was in a rural area yesterday and the car wouldn't unlock, so I took the valet key and opened the car, I tried to crank up the car and the "Key not Recognized" kept coming up AND of course I was thief in my own car as the alarm was going off.

I called Roadside Assistance, and the ****** told me that the only thing they could do is, send a tow truck to my location. At this point I asked him if there was something else he could help me with, that I had a 1 year old in the car and any help would be appreciated, still he could/did not know how to troubleshoot the car as his best offer was the tow truck to the nearest dealer.

I then called my SA at my dealer and he explained this:

When you have the Porsche Entry and Drive, you could remove the "fake" key (by holding it AND pulling out hard) in the ignition, and plug in your own key. He explained how and 2 minutes later I had AC and the baby was fine. I knew it had to be something simple, and nowhere in the manual mentions that I had to do this. I looked briefly though.

So my question is this? Are these idiots in Roadside Assistance, complete morons or is that the procedure? Call my dealer in the first place. He got my VIN and I did mention that I had Entry and Drive, I mentioned that I hadn't gotten any low battery/replace battery messages on the PCM, and that the car had been my DD that whole week.

 

Much easier to just disconnect the battery and reset the car... Mine went completely zombie (no lights, no starter, couple of minutes of panic) once; battery disconnected, 10 seconds later back to normal. Ghost in the machine; annoying but not unexpected with the number of computers in the car. Positive side, did not lose any settings in the car after the power off reset...

 

Here road assist is maintained by an outside company, Nothing to do With Porsche. I bent a rim many years ago and They Said They cant call me a tow truck, as it wasnt Car failure but a Crash. So They hung up, With me in the Snow With low cell phone battery, trying to surf the web to find a tow Company.

 

I had this same experience last week as well. The entry and drive could not recognize my key. Was not able to unlock the door by placing my hand on the door handle. Pressing the unlock button on the key works. Next, I could not start my engine with the "fake" key, it gave the key not recognized error. Tried it again and same thing. On the third try, the "fake" key automatically ejects by itself. No idea how/what I did to make it happen. Insert my key afterwards and the engine starts.

 

That just blows... I remember when BMW Assist would help you with basic troubleshooting. I guess we were expecting the same. Your case tho is a little bit scarier, I'm glad it worked out for you.

 

Man, if something like that happens to you, your Good Porsche Enthusiast **** should kick in and let us know what to expect...

Trust me, it would've helped me. I tried more than 3 times for sure and the key did not come out tho, next time if it happens just pull out the ignition thingy.

I has to do with interference from the environment, I remember my SA told me not to take it out until I got to the "city". Well I went from there to a restaurant and my stupid *** took out the key an put the fake one back in thinking that it had remembered the key.

Well long story short I broke the fake key, and had to pull it out with tweezers. The key has been fine for the last day and a half, so it had to do with the surroundings, crazy.

 

At that moment, I thought my key fob batteries died and the fake key ejected automatically or that I had forgotten to plug back a wire as I had just had my trim swapped to carbon from wood. I would've posted something here if the fake key did not eject by itself.

 

i had this happen last year and roadside assist talked me thru procedure. cant remember what it was exactly but was complicated. had to go into fuse box, push microscopic size buttons, etc.

i bet just disconect battery and reset would be better bet

 

I sure hope I am with my wife if and when this happens. She would blow a gasket if the roadside assistance would have suggested a tow only. Espcially when there is an option to get driving again.

 

Surprisingly my *****y wife was in awe and she did not go off. I'm writing them anyways to let them know what we expect.