Quote:
Originally Posted by sv1cec
The problem with this, is that BMW hasn't given us a away to automatically unlock the doors, for example, when you move the gear lever to Park, or when you switch the engine off. So when you stop, the doors are locked and each passenger has to pull twice on the door handles to open his/her door.
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You statement above is the usual stance as to why many don't like this feature...and possibly their prior ownership of a GM or other brand car that does auto-unlock when the gear shift is moved into Park.
But I kind of get the thinking behind BMW's engineers in not including an auto-unlock.
- It can be unsafe with small children or adults that move quickly to get out of the car, and perhaps the driver hasn't actually determined if they are going to remain still (or parked).
- It keeps the driver (and/or passengers) safe from someone on the curb or walking up to the (now) parked car gaining entrance into the car when the doors automatically UNLOCK without any provocation.
Also, with a bit of behavior modification by the driver, no one really "has to" pull twice on the door handles to exit the vehicle.
Since the central lock/unlock button is right next to the gear shift lever...the driver can easily press the button to UNLOCK the doors (safely) for themself or others inside the cabin right before or after moving the gear shift lever into PARK, and reaching up to turn the ignition off.
This method of the driver unlocking the door(s) ensures that the decision to remain parked, that it's safe to exit the car from traffic on the street side, to questionable persons on the curb side...is a valid reason for not having an
AUTO-UNLOCK feature that occurs even when you may not want it to.
And, if not having auto-UNLOCK as part of the auto-lock feature doesn't appeal to an owner, then this feature can be overlooked or turned off.