[Deeter1910]

I hadn't seen "exact" results on programming a 2015 M235i key fob. After reading many comments and watching many tutorials, here is what worked for me.

Context: No "previous" fob available, car was dead after months of being parked (insurance total loss), electronics were acting odd.

Instructions:

1. Enter the car on the driver's side and close the door
2. press the Start/Stop button, do not press the brake, wait for the "No Key" message to be displayed and disappear from the dash
3. Hold the key against the column, for me I had to have the "tip" of the fob (the narrow end, no keyring side) against the column.
4. Press the Start/Stop key again.

At this point I my car electronics activated. I did not have a profile to set up (not sure if that is a comfort access feature)

I was asked to confirm the date.

Additional details:

My car was totaled 5 months prior when a woman blew through a stop sign and pulled out in front of me in the snow. She was at fault, insurance decided to total the car fearing frame damage (there is none).

Every few weeks I hopped in the car and drove it to check the state of the battery, this all went well until I misplaced my only fob.

Fast forward 4-6 weeks, I haven't been able to get into or start my car due to the missing fob, but I finally have the funds to purchase all the replacement parts. I found a 2016 front end several states away (Cali to Ohio), and I talked the scrap yard into selling me the complete front clip.

The front of the car arrives, it's in pretty good shape, but now I need my fob. After searching for a week, I cannot find it. I decided with the car being parked, probably dead, and wrecked, I'd opt to not screw around and I ordered a replacement fob direct from BMW.

The key is made next day! $450, great service by BMW of Toledo, no complaints.

I get home and open the car. Battery is completely dead from weeks of inactivity and months of temporary running due to missing fob.

I can't get into the truck because the battery is dead and there is no mechanical option to open the trunk, just the fob (not programmed for the car yet) and the button in the cabin (not working due to the battery issues). The hood has charging posts, but it is stuck closed from the accident.

I popped the hood by pulling the lever twice (stuck), I put a board in the gap of the hood, and put a weight on the end of the board to apply an upward force on the hood. I then pulled the lever and the hood released.

I charged the car up from under the hood and decided I'd try to program the key, so I could use the fob to open the trunk (an option suggested online).

I got the car charged, but it was the electronics started behaving oddly. The iDrive system was not activating, the windows were not automatically dropping, the interior was not lighting, and a clicking noise was coming from under the hood now, and the trunk button was not working.

I wasn't sure if I had fried the iDrive system, but I thought it could still be battery issues, perhaps my battery was completely dead despite the charging.

I couldn't get into the trunk to replace the battery though.

Digging in, I found a couple of people stating they got into the trunk by putting a camera through the split in the seats and using rods to push the seat release levers, or pull the trunk release.

I opted for that and managed to get my trunk popped.

I checked the battery and it was reading 12.3 V, not perfect, but I had been trying to unsuccessfully pair a key and getting in and out pretty often.

I disconnected the battery and checked all the iDrive fuses. All seemed fine.

I reconnected the battery and the car started acting normal. The iDrive system started, interior lights were working, but my new key fob was still not programmed.

I tried the methods of programming I had seen or read, putting the key against the column, pushing the button, holding the brake, holding the button, etc.

It wasn't until I read more, looked more and I found the one set of instructions that suggested not pressing the brake, and holding the tip of the fob to the key mark to program it.

That worked, after all the hoops and bumps in the road, I finally got my car functioning normally again.

Now all I have to do replace all the front end components that were damaged in the accident.

I hope this post helps some people out down the road since there were a lot of unusual circumstances.

[rob_f22]

Just to add, if you ever find yourself unable to open the trunk, get a high voltage portable jump starter pack. The one I used was NOCO boost plus 1000amp. I locked myself out after retrofitting CarPlay and this did the trick.

As for key fob programming, my car only came with 1 key and I didn’t fancy paying €500 for a new one from BMW so spent ages looking into it. Got myself the Autel IM100 to program a blank key. Tried a BMW blank one from Ali express and a blank one from the device itself with the same frequency as my key but never worked. Long story short, just need to get a new key from BMW for any newer models with the ID69 encryption (which ours have). I think up to the late E series would work but anything newer doesn’t.

Glad to hear you got everything sorted though! Definitely get a new battery though, I did and it really makes the world of difference; quite literally night and day.

[Mike F.]

Thanks for all of that! Quite a lot of frustrating turns there, but perseverance paid off.