[BMW11]

So never usually valet park and going to a wedding soon that valet parking is mandatory. (have only one car and must take my car and its too far to pay for a taxi- 200 miles away) Of course I am worried about how the car is handled and not damaged but I am also worried about how the COMFORT ACCESS SYSTEM, Door Lights, Alarm, Radio Headlights etc "Act" when they park it and the manner that they may "Leave It" ... there are so many scenarios I am worried about with the comfort access door and electronics and battery alarm etc. such as.... he parks it presses start stop one time, radio stays on he walks away with key and does not comfort access lock it and arm the alarm.... what happens with radio playing, lights on etc. any electronics on etc. for hours and battery going dead? (does it go off eventually by itself?) or... he parks presses start stop once and leaves fob in car walks away and radio plays and car locks by itself? and or its lights radio stays on for hours? or... parks car turns car off with one push and thinks he closed door BUT did not because he didn't Push it close firmly then the door is "Ajar" for hours.. what happens with the lights? does it go off or stay on? etc. how do I prevent any "parking problems" with the comfort access short of giving the guy a comfort access lesson or making a scene in front of people arriving at a wedding that I want to park it my self? what measures can i take to assure this is parked properly and locked alarm armed and key fob doesn't get lost? any suggestions? I am actually thinking about not going to this wedding merely because of the valet.. I know it may sound weird to some but I my car is always a "magnet" to attract problems like this once I had a car battery go dead because the valet left door on car open over night. sorry for thelong story. thank you for your help

[50shadesofhockenheim]

Throw $20 and ask to keep it close and they will take care of you.

Source: I was a valet

BTW: the electronics eventually shut off if you do not lock the car and if you leave the door open the lights and everything turn off after about 10 minutes.. I know this because I was vacuuming my interior around dusk yesterday and the interior lights and everything turned off

[xlover]

Originally Posted by BMW11

So never usually valet park and going to a wedding soon that valet parking is mandatory. (have only one car and must take my car and its too far to pay for a taxi- 200 miles away) Of course I am worried about how the car is handled and not damaged but I am also worried about how the COMFORT ACCESS SYSTEM, Door Lights, Alarm, Radio Headlights etc "Act" when they park it and the manner that they may "Leave It" ... there are so many scenarios I am worried about with the comfort access door and electronics and battery alarm etc. such as.... he parks it presses start stop one time, radio stays on he walks away with key and does not comfort access lock it and arm the alarm.... what happens with radio playing, lights on etc. any electronics on etc. for hours and battery going dead? (does it go off eventually by itself?) or... he parks presses start stop once and leaves fob in car walks away and radio plays and car locks by itself? and or its lights radio stays on for hours? or... parks car turns car off with one push and thinks he closed door BUT did not because he didn't Push it close firmly then the door is "Ajar" for hours.. what happens with the lights? does it go off or stay on? etc. how do I prevent any "parking problems" with the comfort access short of giving the guy a comfort access lesson or making a scene in front of people arriving at a wedding that I want to park it my self? what measures can i take to assure this is parked properly and locked alarm armed and key fob doesn't get lost? any suggestions? I am actually thinking about not going to this wedding merely because of the valet.. I know it may sound weird to some but I my car is always a "magnet" to attract problems like this once I had a car battery go dead because the valet left door on car open over night. sorry for thelong story. thank you for your help

10 min rule like above poster mentioned...

Also basically every car comes with keyless access and start it's not really a luxury exclusive feature. Many brands just make it standard. Think about it like this any valet who has driven more than a couple cars in the last few years has probably used the system in more forms than you have.

[chiefneil]

I valet all the time and no issues. Valets seem to be pretty familiar with the keyless thing these days - if I don't hand them the key they always ask if it's in the car. That's actually saved me from walking off with it in my pocket a couple times, although that wouldn't really have been a problem unless they needed to move the car later for some reason. When returning the car they always tell me the key's in the cupholder.

As others have noted, the electronics turn off after 5-10 mins.

[BMW11]

Thank you for this information everyone. I didn’t know that electronics automatically powered off in 10 minutes. I guess I am just very paranoid about valeting and do not do it often. Now I will just worry about them revving it to redline, driving with Parking Brake on, and denting, dinging, crashing or giving the wheels curb rash or something else. LOL

[Project Elite]

The car is smarter than you think, and will shut everything down automatically. If the valet brings the key with him, he should know where the lock button is on the fob.

[ORIGIN M.]

Rent a car or something.

Or service the sucker and take your loaner.

No way in hell I'd Valet anything I seriously cared about.

The only exception is I park it, and then I tip them to watch it for me.

Originally Posted by BMW11

So never usually valet park and going to a wedding soon that valet parking is mandatory. (have only one car and must take my car and its too far to pay for a taxi- 200 miles away) Of course I am worried about how the car is handled and not damaged but I am also worried about how the COMFORT ACCESS SYSTEM, Door Lights, Alarm, Radio Headlights etc "Act" when they park it and the manner that they may "Leave It" ... there are so many scenarios I am worried about with the comfort access door and electronics and battery alarm etc. such as.... he parks it presses start stop one time, radio stays on he walks away with key and does not comfort access lock it and arm the alarm.... what happens with radio playing, lights on etc. any electronics on etc. for hours and battery going dead? (does it go off eventually by itself?) or... he parks presses start stop once and leaves fob in car walks away and radio plays and car locks by itself? and or its lights radio stays on for hours? or... parks car turns car off with one push and thinks he closed door BUT did not because he didn't Push it close firmly then the door is "Ajar" for hours.. what happens with the lights? does it go off or stay on? etc. how do I prevent any "parking problems" with the comfort access short of giving the guy a comfort access lesson or making a scene in front of people arriving at a wedding that I want to park it my self? what measures can i take to assure this is parked properly and locked alarm armed and key fob doesn't get lost? any suggestions? I am actually thinking about not going to this wedding merely because of the valet.. I know it may sound weird to some but I my car is always a "magnet" to attract problems like this once I had a car battery go dead because the valet left door on car open over night. sorry for thelong story. thank you for your help

[tex2670]

Originally Posted by BMW11

So never usually valet park and going to a wedding soon that valet parking is mandatory. (have only one car and must take my car and its too far to pay for a taxi- 200 miles away) Of course I am worried about how the car is handled and not damaged but I am also worried about how the COMFORT ACCESS SYSTEM, Door Lights, Alarm, Radio Headlights etc "Act" when they park it and the manner that they may "Leave It" ... there are so many scenarios I am worried about with the comfort access door and electronics and battery alarm etc. such as.... he parks it presses start stop one time, radio stays on he walks away with key and does not comfort access lock it and arm the alarm.... what happens with radio playing, lights on etc. any electronics on etc. for hours and battery going dead? (does it go off eventually by itself?) or... he parks presses start stop once and leaves fob in car walks away and radio plays and car locks by itself? and or its lights radio stays on for hours? or... parks car turns car off with one push and thinks he closed door BUT did not because he didn't Push it close firmly then the door is "Ajar" for hours.. what happens with the lights? does it go off or stay on? etc. how do I prevent any "parking problems" with the comfort access short of giving the guy a comfort access lesson or making a scene in front of people arriving at a wedding that I want to park it my self? what measures can i take to assure this is parked properly and locked alarm armed and key fob doesn't get lost? any suggestions? I am actually thinking about not going to this wedding merely because of the valet.. I know it may sound weird to some but I my car is always a "magnet" to attract problems like this once I had a car battery go dead because the valet left door on car open over night. sorry for thelong story. thank you for your help

Car cannot "lock by itself" when the key fob is inside of it.

Yours won't be the first BMW this guy has parked. Proximity keys have been around for well over 10 years, and are probably at the point where they are more common than regular keys. It will be ok--take a deep breath.

[Billfitz]

Originally Posted by tex2670

Proximity keys have been around for well over 10 years

My '07 Altima had it, as standard equipment. Another example of a party that BMW was fashionably late arriving to.

[Alamat]

It should be no issue for them knowing what to do. I valet my car most of the time but there was this one time when they returned it, it smelled like someone smoked in my car. I never do that at this place anymore. Of course, I did complain who offered me something but I refused. That was not why I complained.

[tex2670]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

My '07 Altima had it, as standard equipment. Another example of a party that BMW was fashionably late arriving to.

Not to jack this thread, but CA as an option is the one thing that really burns me--because the technology in the fob and the ignition is actually standard. The "option" isn't a proximity key--it's just adding sensors to the doors and trunk. Ridiculousness.

[tex2670]

Originally Posted by Alamat

It should be no issue for them knowing what to do. I valet my car most of the time but there was this one time when they returned it, it smelled like someone smoked in my car. I never do that at this place anymore. Of course, I did complain who offered me something but I refused. That was not why I complained.

Yeah--the problem is that if some of these guys smoke, they don't really smell it. So if they grab a cig, and then immediately get in your car, their nose has no appreciation that they still stink.

[chiefneil]

Originally Posted by tex2670

Yeah--the problem is that if some of these guys smoke, they don't really smell it. So if they grab a cig, and then immediately get in your car, their nose has no appreciation that they still stink.

Every once in a while I get in an elevator with somebody who's obviously just come back from a smoke break. Whew! They would certainly stink up a car if they jumped in right after a smoke.

I actually saw a funny quote from somebody in the hospitality industry the other day in an article on smoking rooms in hotels disappearing. He said, "Even smokers don't want a smoking room."

[Billfitz]

Originally Posted by tex2670

Not to jack this thread, but CA as an option is the one thing that really burns me-

Having gone from the equivalent of CA to not I don't miss the CA. It took me all of a week to get used to having to push a button on the fob to unlock the car, and I still never have to take it out of my pocket. The only concern I have is that the Nissan system would not let you lock the car with the fob inside, no matter how hard you tried, as I did a number of times when I left my fob in my golf bag, tossed the bag in the trunk and closed the trunk. It would politely 'beep' and open the trunk again. One of the first things I tested was if you could put the BMW fob in the trunk and then close it, locking you out of the car. You can. I can't say if CA prevents that the way the Nissan system did.

[rking117]

Im surprised (or maybe not) that you cant put your vehicle in valet mode to limit use of radio (they dont need it) horsepower (they dont need that either). It would be simple to do via the console. idrive system. the car could even then give an audible message to the valet driver to remove the keys etc when he left it. ther eis a lot that could be done automatically that at this point noone has thought about enough to include.

I know the mentality is we build cars not write software. I say get on board today is the beginning of a new era.