[ffchun]

My 2020 X3 M40i always leaves my radio on when I leave the vehicle. I've tried shutting down without my foot on the brake; Also tried placing the car in parked, set the emergency brake and still the radio continues to be on until I use my key fob to lock it. Usually when you open the car door after being in parked , the radio should go off....any suggestions...

[nyalpine90]

check the idrive, there is a setting for the radio to shut down once you are parked, vehicle is off and driver side door opens.

[suby01]

Originally Posted by nyalpine90

check the idrive, there is a setting for the radio to shut down once you are parked, vehicle is off and driver side door opens.

I checked all over iDrive and did not find any solution. The radio stays on and the ambient lights stay on once car is off and car is exited. Only way to turn it off is by locking the car with the fob or pushing the radio power off volume knob.

[OHV_44]

Look here and also on other pages.

[Barbja]

I used to have a problem with coming back out into my garage after an hour and my car lights were still on. I went through a lot of things. This is the magical incantation that I have been using for at least 6 months:

1. I have 'turn off after door opening' set in the iDrive.
2. After I stop in the garage, press the start/stop button.
3. Open the door.

When I open the door, the headlights will turn off. The radio may or may not turn off; most of the time it will. If it doesn't turn off, it will time out. If I care, I'll turn it off manually.

I know that something has gone wrong if the headlights stay on. If that has happened, I close the door, re-start the car, stop it, then open the door and they'll go out.

I hate that I have to do this magical incantation. I could just turn off my last 5 cars, get out, and then after a while, the car would time out and shut completely down. My last three had "leave the radio on when you open the door" turned on (which I like) and they worked just fine. I don't know what problem they were trying to solve with the new behavior.

[jlin101]

You can either press the radio button for a few seconds, or iDrive "option" and click on "Turn vehicle off." A real hassle, but that's BMW for ya.

[kscarrol]

Not an issue on my car. Have it set to shut down when door opened and it works every time I open my door unless there is a passenger in the car and then it shuts down when the passenger opens their door.

[ffchun]

guys, thanks for the suggestions. Will try all of them....

[jzmundy]

Originally Posted by kscarrol

Not an issue on my car. Have it set to shut down when door opened and it works every time I open my door unless there is a passenger in the car and then it shuts down when the passenger opens their door.

Took a few days to get used to when I first picked it up, but never have had an issue with mine.

[rob175]

I've noticed that IF I press the engine off button and simultaneously open the door, the electronics often DON'T shut down. IF I just wait one moment between button press and pulling the door latch the system works fine.

[Barbja]

Originally Posted by jlin101

You can either press the radio button for a few seconds, or iDrive "option" and click on "Turn vehicle off." A real hassle, but that's BMW for ya.

Pressing the radio off button was not working reliably for me. I know that it also does not work if I end up with the lights still on after performing my ritual. I've tried it several times because its obviously easier than re-starting the car, but it doesn't work. Perhaps there is something wrong with the version of my car's software.

I think that I thought of this before and I forgot that I thought of it:

I use auto-start/stop now and I had never used it before. It was implemented very badly in both my X6s and I had it coded off. Therefore, when I stopped in my garage, I always pressed the on/off button before exiting the car (or else the engine would still be running).

This new car's auto-start/stop isn't so bad. I thought I'd give it a chance for a while. I found that I don't mind it. I also found from the stats screen that I've spent up to 1.5h idle with a tank of gas; that's a lot. I very seldom have the urge to turn it off, and when I do, its only for a short period of time.

So, when I stop in my garage and the engine turns off, the car isn't actually off. I have to press the on/off button to accomplish what I want. Mystery solved! (Or I could lock it -- that'll turn it off too)

[JSY]

I have read a lot about this issue for a very long time now and it's weird - I never experience any of these shut down issues. Do people not lock their cars? I lock them even in my garage. Force of habit (and environment - lol). When I lock the car and no one is in it, everything shuts down. If I want to turn the radio off before I leave the car, all I do is press the on/off button and it turns off. Why do some folks need to hold the button down for a few seconds?

I feel like I must be entirely missing something here.

[nord1899]

I will say I prefer the audio system to turn off when I shut off the engine and then open the door. My previous car did that and I liked that behavior. And I find my 2021 X3 M40i is, well inconsistent with this. Sometimes it does exactly that. Other times the music keeps playing.

Of course, locking the doors (via the button in the door handle) definitely turns off the audio system.

But with the push button engine control versus using a key, which I prefer, having the audio shutoff when the door is opened, is a great way for me to know that I turned off the engine or not. That is, if the music keeps playing, that means the engine is still on.

[satz]

If you lock the car with remote then yes the radio will also switch off. Prob is if you open the door before turning off the car, and then leave the car unlocked...stereo will continue operating. I think it turns off anyway after 10 minutes.

I never used to lock my car in the locked garage until I had the tailgate open accidentally (twice), possibly from the keyfob in my pocket inside the house. Now I lock the car...

[Maestro]

Sorry about bringing this thread back.

I am trying to sort out feature, I am trying to figure out the state machine BMW is using to makes this feature work.

As point out if you press the start/stop button before opening the door all the electronics automatically turn off and the radio stops playing when the door opens. If do not see the BMW logo on the iDrive display most likely all your electronics will stay on. If it is during the day your head lights will be off, however, once it gets dark your lights will come on if you have automatic lights enabled. I had this happen to me and I verified this happen using my security camera on my driveway.

Honestly not sure why you need the automatic off feature if you press the start/stop button everything should turn off, whats the reason to stay on until the door is open.

The above is true whether your engine is still running or not when you stop to park. Now, the problem I keep running into is when I park and the engine automatically shuts off, when this happens I do not always press the start/stop button. I tend to look at the Tach and if it is zero I assume the engine is off. This comes from driving my M6 335I, when I look at the tech to make sure the engine is off before letting out the clutch.

When the X3 engine is in the stop/idle state and I place it in Park, some time when I open the door without touching the start/stop button, the X3 will power everything down and I see the BMW logo come up on the iDrive display, other time everything stays on until I get out and then touch the door handle and lock the car. I can not see to figure out why sometimes it automatically turns off an other times it does not.

[M40i4me]

If your radio is on. Hit the start stop button to turn your engine off. Delay a few seconds and then open your door. The X will completely shut down. I have been doing this for the year and a half I have owned my 21 with zero failures. If I want the radio on I just immediately open the door after I press the start stop button. Again works every time.

[Jen4BMW]

Every BMW I have ever owned has displayed this annoying shut down behavior. You literally have to follow an exact shut down procedure to get everything to shut off or you need to lock the vehicle which I don’t typically do in the garage. Your passenger can even mess things up by opening their door to fast. This would be comical if it wasn’t so annoying.

As others have said the critical thing to not do is open a door until you’ve pressed the start stop bottom. Do both simultaneously, which is easy to do, your stuck with the radio button but this in and of itself does not always shut the lights off. It’s really annoying and I have found that when the lights get stuck on you either have to manually switch the lights off using the switch or lock the vehicle.

I honestly find this to be one of BMW’s most annoying quirks. There is nothing beneficial about it. The crazy shut down procedure is right up there with hand gestures and the kick to open hatch for me

[Eric SS]

Maybe my F82 is different but I have to hit the engine start/stop button twice for everything to shut down. THe first press kills the engine but leaves on the accessories. A second press with the foot off the brake shuts everything else off. Like an old school ignition where you have 2 clicks counterclockwise to get everything to shut off.

[champ306]

Same issues as above. sometimes the car shuts down. sometimes the car lights, radio stay on. its some sequence of events that BMW makes complicated in software to have this happen. Most cars are set up with a simple time, then it turns off regardless. BMW overthinks and makes it complicated. Idrive selected when doors open does not fix it. there is times even when you "wait" to push off button, then open door, it stays on. and stay on it does, I have watched it stay on for hours. It is one of the few nags I have with BMW, that and the stupid cigarette lighter never works, that is another can of worms of over complicated German wiring thought.

[mpoz]

weird twist. My radio (X3 2020) will not turn off using any of methods mentioned and importantly, no longer allows any bluetooth phone to come through the speakers - normally the phone rules. The radio on/off button no longer turns radio on or off at any stage, whether the car is running or not or shut down. I've left the car shut down for hours but the radio is still on when i get back. The volume control works.
Anyone else had this problem?

[nord1899]

Could try rebooting iDrive. Long press the radio power button until iDrive reboots, and its a very long press.

[mpoz]

Thanks so much for that tip - it worked, I suspected there was some re-boot button combination and now i Know it - holding the radio on/off button in for about 20-30 seconds did make the screen black out and when it came back up everything is working normally.