Finally
OK so the snow has cleared and I have been to Vines.
It appears that from 2008 onwards all BMW alarms have a 47 minute (why 47 - I dont know
) timer which once exceeded puts the alarm into sleep mode; i.e. still active but no longer under control of the fob. Apparently this is to save the bike's battery. Hmmmm.
On my 56 plate RT which had a BMW alarm, it didnt go into sleep until some 2-3 days had passed and I never had battery problems, so I have to question the logic. A 47 minute timeout seems to me to negate the purpose of a remote fob, why not have it activate on ignition off and disable on ignition on - think of the pennies to be saved on fobs!
However, the techs have checked the unit and fobs and have also contacted BMW to see if this 'feature' can be reset in some way. Going back to my original problem: with an armful of stuff after a hard day's work, I want to open the top box/panniers remotely so that I can sling the stuff in AND then put the key into the ignition and ride off into the sunet/blizzard. As it is I will have to get used to placing said stuff onto a wet surface, fumbling for the key, disabling the alarm via the ignition, taking the key out, and then unlocking panniers etc. before re-inserting key into ingition.
Feels like a retrograde bit of design to fix a problem that didnt exist.
Anyway - thanks Vines for investigating and I wait to hear more once you get a reply from the Uber teknicians at BMW.
