Some BMW Owners Experiencing Issues With Shared Car Keys on iOS 18

Following the release of iOS 18 last month, some BMW owners have experienced issues with shared car keys in the Apple Wallet app, according to messages on the Apple Support Community and the largest BMW discussion forum.

bmw digital key plus wallet app car key
Affected users said that the "passive entry" feature that allows you to lock, unlock, and start compatible BMW vehicle models by simply having your iPhone on you no longer works for secondary Wallet keys shared with others, such as a spouse or other family member. The primary key still works for passive entry, the people said.

The issue does not appear to be fixed in the iOS 18.0.1 update released last week, or in the latest iOS 18.1 beta. The underlying cause is unclear.

We will share any new information about this issue as it becomes available.

Tag: BMW
Related Forums: iOS 18, iPadOS 18

Popular Stories

iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26.1 to iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Saturday October 18, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across the Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, Clock, and Safari apps. More features and changes will follow in future ...
ios 26 1 liquid glass opaque

iOS 26.1 Beta 4 Lets Users Control Liquid Glass Transparency with New Toggle

Monday October 20, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
With the fourth betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS 26.1, Apple has introduced a new setting that's designed to allow users to customize the look of Liquid Glass. The toggle lets users select from a clear look for Liquid Glass, or a tinted look. Clear is the current Liquid Glass design, which is more transparent and shows the background underneath buttons, bars, and menus, while tinted ...
iphone air thickness

Apple Said to Cut iPhone Air Production Amid Underwhelming Sales

Friday October 17, 2025 8:29 am PDT by
Apple plans to cut production of the iPhone Air amid underwhelming sales performance, Japan's Mizuho Securities believes (via The Elec). The Japanese investment banking and securities firm claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are seeing higher sales than their predecessors during the same period last year, while the standard iPhone 17 is a major success, performing...
iOS 26

iOS 26.0.2 Update for iPhones Coming Soon

Friday October 17, 2025 7:35 am PDT by
Apple's software engineers continue to internally test iOS 26.0.2, according to MacRumors logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. iOS 26.0.2 will be a minor update that addresses bugs and/or security vulnerabilities, but we do not know any specific details yet. The update will likely be released by the end of next week. Last month, Apple released iOS 26.0.1,...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

New iPad Pro Has Six Key Upgrades Beyond M5 Chip

Saturday October 18, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
While the new iPad Pro's headline feature is the M5 chip, the device has some other changes, including N1 and C1X chips, faster storage speeds, and more. With the M5 chip, the new iPad Pro has up to a 20% faster CPU and up to a 40% faster GPU compared to the previous model with the M4 chip, according to Geekbench 6 results. Keep in mind that 256GB and 512GB configurations have a 9-core CPU,...
iPhone Siri Glow

Some Apple Employees Have 'Concerns' About iOS 26.4's Revamped Siri

Sunday October 19, 2025 7:39 am PDT by
iOS 26.4 is expected to introduce a revamped version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence, but not everyone is satisfied with how well it works. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said some of Apple's software engineers have "concerns" about the overhauled Siri's performance. However, he did not provide any specific details about the shortcomings. iOS 26.4 will...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
m4 macbook air blue

M5 MacBook Air Coming Spring 2026 With M5 Mac Studio and Mac Mini in Development

Thursday October 16, 2025 3:57 pm PDT by
Apple plans to launch MacBook Air models equipped with the new M5 chip in spring 2026, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple is also working on M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models that will come early in the year. Neither the MacBook Pro models nor the MacBook Air models are expected to get design changes, with Apple focusing on simple chip upgrades. In the case of the MacBook Pro, a m...
maxresdefault

Here's How the iOS 26.1 Transparency Toggle Changes Liquid Glass

Monday October 20, 2025 1:55 pm PDT by
With the fourth beta of iOS 26.1, Apple added a toggle that makes Liquid Glass more opaque and reduces transparency. We tested the beta to see where the toggle works and what it looks like. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. If you have the latest iOS 26.1 beta, you can go to Settings > Display and Brightness to get to the new option. Tap on Liquid Glass, then...

Top Rated Comments

applesith Avatar
14 months ago
Critical access and information for everyday life (car keys, door locks, ID, payments, etc.) are too important for me to rely on one piece of technology that can go wrong with an update, a bug, a dead battery, or something unexpected. It's nice to have some of these on my phone, but I will never fully rely on my phone.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
A418t81 Avatar
14 months ago
iOS 18 (not the beta) straight up broke apple car key on my iX and iPhone 15. Absolutely refused to connect to reissue the key or communicate with the car in any way. I had a 16 PM delivered about a week later and that phone works without any issue. Really unacceptable. This is the first and only issue I have ever had with the car key and iX in 15 months. The tech has been literally flawless. This problem has been in the betas with people complaining about it for many months. Super crappy of apple not to fix it before release. I could have easily been stranded had the phone update occurred anywhere other than at home.

Also, ACK works for several hours after your iPhone battery is dead FYI.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macsound1 Avatar
14 months ago
I always wondered if people used digital keys regularly. I could see it being useful if you're at the beach or something where you don't have pockets or want carry your keys and wallet and phone, but otherwise I'm way to paranoid to trust everything in my life to a single device and not have a backup.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
EU-Regulations Avatar
14 months ago
Well, since I updated to TVOS18.0 everything hurts.
Support demands to upgrade everything, but hey, all the trouble really started since the update.

Software deployment and "Support" is no fun anymore.

Will stay on 17 for now, no matter what !

>>I got too much Apple stuff here, I must the one to blame <<
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CarpalMac Avatar
14 months ago

Critical access and information for everyday life (car keys, door locks, ID, payments, etc.) are too important for me to rely on one piece of technology that can go wrong with an update, a bug, a dead battery, or something unexpected. It's nice to have some of these on my phone, but I will never fully rely on my phone.
Absolutely agree. It boggles my mind that people choose to rely on something that has so many potential (and more likely) risks of failure.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AbSoluTc Avatar
14 months ago
FWP lol. Good to know though. Seems 18 broke quite a few things that still arent fixed.

Several iOS versions later - STILL get the stupid squared off lock screen notifications that switch to curved. The dumbest crap I have ever seen and it's annoying as it causes a second or two of delay as it refreshes the animation.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)