Why can't I add my BMW Digital Key Plus to my Apple Watch or iPhone?

Not so sure. I'm on iPhone 15 pro and when I upgraded to iOS18, my key stopped working as before. Prior to the upgrade, I could walk to the car and it would unlock and I could starts the car with no issues. Now, I have to pull up the key in my wallet, hit the unlock button, and then double table and face ID before I can start the car. It's definitely less useful than before. I'm regretting the update to be honest.

BMW just got back to me and told me DigitalKey is only supported up to iPhone 15. It's still unclear to me if this is a BMW-issue or an Apple-issue..

There's nothing beta involved for me here. Brand new iPhone 16 Pro (not max). Simply cannot add car keys, no matter what I try.

I'm having the same issue with iPhone 16 Pro. Tried restarting both iPhone and iDrive many times, but it keeps failing to create a digital key.

Same issue, got an iphone 16 regular not max, can't use any of the digital key features anymore, can't lock or unlock or start the car, digital key installed ok into wallet but just 100% not recognized like car and phone just don't talk at all. It shows the digital key under my profile as existing and is in Wallet on iphone, but nothing, even on tray just nothing at all. Thanks apple, literally going to return this phone and use my old one instead as this was something I really like having more so than any new iphone 16 features.

Everybody having issues with this feature and the new iPhone series, should use the Feedback link to tell Apple directly about it. Apple does not follow these user to user communities, and this is the only way to make them aware of problems.

Feedback - Apple Watch - Apple

Feedback - iPhone - Apple

I work for a BMW dealership. I’ve tried everything with a client after he got his new iPhone 16 pro max. It stopped working with digital key plus. Tonight, I was told by the BMW genius line after speaking with 3 people that this issue has been reported with iPhone 16 pro max. Was told to contact Apple super seems to be the specific phone model.

I have IPhone 16 pro. Remote start works but unlock/lock do not. I also cannot set up my digital key. Very frustrating. I had an iPhone 11 until last week, with zero issues.

Primary Key on iphone 16pro working fine. Secondary key on iphone 15 pro passive entry not working

No its not just iPhone 16, and its not Beta issue.

I have iPhone 15 pro and i finally updated to iOS 18 day before yesterday because it was keep on asking me, and boom. Nothing works.

The car doesn't even recognize my key fob anymore either. Only works when I put the key fob near the steering column, and keeps on dinging that the car cannot recognize the key.

Took it to the dealer today and they did some tinkering, removing all the digital key, updating the headunit, etc.

Now the key fob works as it should, but digital key still doesn't work.

Whenever I try to add the digital key as instructed, the iPhone simply says "cannot add new key at this moment".

Extremely annoying since I don't carry any bags and only carry my wallet+phone.

Same problem . Apple 15 pro max . Working fine until I upgraded to iOS 18 . That’s the problem I think .

For reference - old phone: iPhone 12 Pro Max with iOS 18, new phone: iPhone 16 Pro Max with iOS 18. iDrive version 07/2024.40

I took my 2025 to service two days ago for this issue. After 4.5 hours, they still did not have an answer. They opened a case with engineering. The next afternoon, they told me the iPhone 16 Pro Max (not sure about other iPhone 16 models) is incompatible with the Digital Key feature. For now, at least. They said the same issue happened with previous iPhones, and a solution was eventually found. I don't know if that came as an over-the-air update or an update only the service department can perform. One update showed as a recall. He said to check the Digital Key feature for compatibility after any update. EDIT: it was not specified if this was an Apple or BMW issue, but considering my previous phone worked, it may be a BMW issue, not Apple. FWIW.

So, did you contact them? Did you find a solution? I have the same issue, but with an iPhone 16 Pro.

I tried this and it didn't work any better for me. I changed it from my wife to me as the primary user, this kills the digital keys and made me go through the setup process again, with me as primary my phone worked, then I switched back to her as primary which again required the key to be setup again and her phone then as primary was working again but sharing the key with me as a secondary and it works no better still.

Hi all! Apple update 18.1 has fixed the issue. I just updated and checked the digital key in the wallet and it now has all of the features as a digital key plus , so I am going to assume the passive entry should work. It is one of the listed bug fixes. Hope it works for all- it was driving me nuts.

Ironically I had spoken to BMW genius hotline earlier today and was told they didn’t know what to do except tell me the passive key was not working for some reason and the only troubleshooting available was to check if bmw key share settings was set to key access for unlock and drive.