Comfort Access Got Me
 

I parked my '08/4.8 at the Tennis Matches in Indian Wells last Friday, turned off the engine, locked it (and checked the inside locking knob visually) and then went off to watch tennis for 4 hours. When I got back to my car the engine was running- but fortunately no sign of overheating or water loss- just about an 1/8 of a tank of gas gone. Didn't know you could lock an X5 with the engine going but have since tried it at home and it's very easy. I apparently pushed the Stop button and pushed it again to kill the accessopries with my foot still on the brake which started the engine up again only I did'nt hear it. (At least it's good to know it will idle for 4 hours at 80F with no problem.)

You would think BMW engineers would have thought of this happening and as such, designed a safety. If engine running >1 hour and no movement, ask operator to confirm by pressing start otherwise command all functions off.

Why do you usually hit the button a 2nd time to kill accessories? The locking by touching the handle will shut everything off (after you do the engine).

One good thing to know though is I can leave the car running and still lock it while I jump inside for the ATM or something.

i usually press and hold the start/shut button until i get the BMW screen. that way i know for sure it's off. the couple times where i restarted the car by accident happened in my garage so i could hear the engine restarting. btw, for those getting the low battery light, maybe they had pressed the shut button once, and forgot to hit it a second time to completely turn off the car. this has happened to me and the radio was left on overnite.

I used this "feature" a few times, and found it quite useful when I want to warm the car up without having to guard it... But then again, dont do it in the new york city...:)

It should still turn itself off after a set amount of time. I never fully shut it off by keeping the button down or hitting it twice. I always leave the car while the radio is still playing and leave it up to the door handles to shut everything off - of course I've forgotten to lock it a handful of times (while grabbing stuff out the back, etc.) but each time it was fine again in the morning (nothing on)... doors left unlocked.

The battery drain problem is so random though as I'm sure many can attest to. I've had it happen to me only once and everything was fully off/locked.

This could be a safety issue if it were in a home garage.

I do that usually on propose ! On the summer hot days , when I go to the ''safeway'' I leave the car engine on, with the A/C and the seat ventilation :p to come back and find it cold as ice :p the temperature under the direct sun on a hot day in the summer will reach F 145 :)

at college I see one of my colleges Audi S8 most of the days with the engine on in the parking ! he does the same thing :s << It's a V10 !!

I only do it for 5-10 mins max !!

If you leave the vehicle with the engine running and the key fobb is in your pocket, someone else can not drive away with it.

I left the car running the other day and quickly ran into the house to get something while a friend was waiting in the car. As I left, he said a warning came up on the screen to the effect that "Key fobb not found and vehicle can not be operated..." :thumbup:

+1. Just push and hold the start/stop button and it will shut everything down. No need to press the button twice.