Use toothbruh charger to charge BMW key
 

If you do not use the BMW key for extended periods of time, it can get discharged. The key is chaged by using it in the ignition switch.

An alternative is to charge your keys using an inductive toothbrush charger - like a Braun toothbrush charger. Try different orientations of the key. Normally keeping the key fob vertical on top of the little round protusion on the charger will work best.

Sorry for the misspelt title. It does not let me edit it.

Thanks for the tip. Do you know if a QI wireless charging pad will work as well?

Toothbrush Charger for BMW Key
 

I am not familiar with the keypad you are talking about. But it is worth trying any inductive charger. Trick is the orientation of the key fob while charging.

Welcome to the forum.

I'll have to give that a try. I usually just leave the key in the ignition in the 0 position overnight and it's good to go in the morning. That was in my E46 as I've never had my E53 key battery run out.

BTW the Qi charging system is what most mobile devices use for wireless charging.

From what I have read, position zero does not charge the battery. I could be wrong though.

Sorry, like rayxi said. It' an inductive charging device used for cellphone and other consumer electronic. I'll test it out tonight and post results.

How would you verify the results? Unless you had a fully discharged key fob that started working after you charged it?

I have a Seiko watch which gets discharged if left to sit for a long time. And since I keep many watches, I do not wear it often. To continue to wear it just to keep it charged was not something that appealed to me. So I let it sit on a toothbrush charger. And it was charged up in the morning. The watch has an indicator which tells the level of charge.

I will verify it just like you said. One of my key fobs does not work at the moment. I've assumed it was because of a dead battery and I haven't really wanted to cut it open. I will throw it on my Qi charger overnight and see if it's working in the morning. If it's not, I will then throw it on my toothbrush charger and leave it for the day. If it's still not working I will determine the results inconclusive, as something other than the battery may be at fault.

I can say for sure that it works on my E46 as I have recharged a dead key that way. It may not work on other models like the E53 however. I don't have my E53 anymore so I can't test it.

For clarification, could you please post a picture of your setup? Thanks.