Previously that’s what I was doing in my desperation: foot sweeps, splits, moonwalks, roundhouse kicks… almost nothing worked.

I should try the roundhouse kicks!

 

When we got our car we went to show my parents our high tech new electric car. My wife told my (upper 60's) mother that the car had a feature to kick to open the hatch.

And my mother immediately gave the bumper cover a swift kick to see if it worked. We both died internally that moment.

 

I never got the straight kicks to work. Only the roundhouse.

I wonder whether my sensor is installed 90 degrees rotated.

 

In addition to the kicks, what I found that was equally, if not more, important is how close you are to the trunk. Even if you kick in perfect motions every time, but are too close to the trunk/hatch, it won't activate. So be sure there is a decent distance between you so that if trunk goes up, it doesn't hit you, or else it won't open. In this case, the motion of your kick under is a lot less important.

 

Make sure the key is in your pocket and it’ll work every time. The key needs to be much closer than it does for the standard keyless entry for the doors.
I discovered this when the key was left in the centre console and I couldn’t get the boot to open with my foot.
Tried again with it in my pocket and it’s worked flawlessly every time since.

 

Make sure the key is in your pocket and it’ll work every time. The key needs to be much closer than it does for the standard keyless entry for the doors.

Does this apply even if the car is unlocked? I've never understood why my wife has such difficulty with this when it works all the time for me (and is very useful as I mostly use it when I take the dogs out and have a dog lead in each hand).

Whenever I have got her to try it, I've got the key in my pocket and may not be standing close enough. You may have saved our marriage! I was going to make her go to Argentine Tango lessons to learn a decent Patada.

 

Today I finally discovered how to operate the i4 “kick to open” feature.

(This is what BMW refers to in the user manual as “Opening/closing the cargo area with no-touch activation” and “Touchless opening and closing of the cargo area”. Neither of those is as easy to say as “kick to open” nor is terminologically consistent with the other; but there you go. )

The key is to kick quickly. That’s it, really.

I can never get this to work consistently. I distinctly feel foolish standing in the parking lot kicking my car's rear end until I give up in desperation and dig out the key fob.

 

As a reminder, there is a button on the trunk itself to open it (like most vehicles), versus trying to dig your fob out of your pocket. (This would still require Comfort Access I suppose, to unlock, but it works on mine.)

 

I’ve had the charging cable open it more than I’ve gotten it to open by kicking. I’ll have to try your technique.

 

Ha! Me, too.

Grimly funny. 😑

 

You have to be like a crane, make sure your movement flows like water, then quickly extend your inner and outer self, to make this work.

I employ a wax on/wax off movement for deploying the charger door.

/sensei out/

 

Thank you so much for sharing this helpful tip! I was getting so frustrated with trying to open the trunk, sometimes it would not work and I couldn’t figure out why. Nothing like standing in the parking lot looking like an idiot with my foot in/out under the bumper and It’s not opening! Now it works perfectly with a quick foot swipe, yay! 😍

 

You are quite welcome. "Nothing like standing in the parking lot..." Exactly.

 

I just got my x50 on Friday after owning an eDrive40. I didn’t know this function existed. It worked fine at dealer.

now I have the car, it doesn’t work. I figured out why. I use my phone as my key and it says you need your key to do this. However if the car is unlocked and anyone can manually open the hatch, why would they let you kick to open??

anyone know if it’s possible to do this with digital key? Thanks

 

I just got my x50 on Friday after owning an eDrive40. I didn’t know this function existed. It worked fine at dealer.

now I have the car, it doesn’t work. I figured out why. I use my phone as my key and it says you need your key to do this. However if the car is unlocked and anyone can manually open the hatch, why would they let you kick to open??

anyone know if it’s possible to do this with digital key? Thanks

Nope. It has to sense the fob near the back of the car. And no UWB means it can't sense your phone or the key card (or your watch).

 

I just got my x50 on Friday after owning an eDrive40. I didn’t know this function existed. It worked fine at dealer.

now I have the car, it doesn’t work. I figured out why. I use my phone as my key and it says you need your key to do this. However if the car is unlocked and anyone can manually open the hatch, why would they let you kick to open??

anyone know if it’s possible to do this with digital key? Thanks

it is not possible whiteout the key fob in your pocket. digital key is not an active signal, key fob yes with a longer signal range. same problem if you configure the doors, open on approaching the car, close on walking away, you need the key fob in your pocket. what you are looking for is available in IX, series 2 touring, i7 etc. They have UWB communication with iphone 12 and above.

 

I know you have to have key. BUT WHY!!!?? You don’t need the key to open hatch with you hand. What’s the difference???????

 

Having the key fob in your pocket is transferring the signal via you foot to the sensor. If you have an let’s say iphone in your pocket and connecting with the car via NFC, you can only open/ close the door when you touch the handle wit your phone. to start the engine you have to place the phone on the wireless charge to work. if you have the key fob in your pocket you only have to press the start button…

 

Yes. So the foot sensor actually uses a signal from the key fob. I don’t think it’s a great design. If car is unlocked then just the foot should open it IMHO. My hand opens it. Why not my foot? (Had hands full today)

 

So... something rolling under the car opens it? A child who does it without knowing it will hit her in the face? A ball? There are good reasons.

 

You actually have a good point. . A double kick?

 

Well... there has to be a first time for everything, right?

Given the frustration we've seen with people who try to do the kick-to-open jig, that'll go over well...!

 

Charging cable (or a cat) is enough to trigger this function. I hate it so I unchecked the closing part.

Putting the charging cable out the cable swung by and triggered the closing, annoying...

 

Only when the fob is near, though, right?

 

One thing that happens with these kick-to-open systems is something activating it and causing it to open and hit your garage door. I think having to have the fob close is a good idea, basically removes that possibility.

 

My i4 is a 2nd half february 2020 built. At least for me the new upgrade stabilized to a good portion OS8. It’s still not “waterproof”, but some errors have been corrected…
Fortunately rel. 03/2023.xx is only one moth far away, at least for the dealer. For us it will be may 2023. Hope they have fixed some other problems and start to offer new functionalities…

 

Works perfectly in my MY24, both opening and closing. The 330e was a bit of a hit and miss, but most times OK, except those times when I really needed...

 

Have been quite successful with a quick pull out maneuver! Put foot underneath then quickly pull back. With the hatch open, I can load stuff and have my foot underneath. When done, all I need to do is quickly pull my foot back and the hatch starts to close.

 

I thought the hatchback open with foot was to merely place/wave my foot under the center of back of the car.

I tried many times.

After reading a post about a karate kick, I decided to try.

It worked.

However, not to nitpick, but lesser cars dont require me to KICK the bottom of the back of the car to open/close the hatch! Just wave a foot under the back and waaaahhhh laaa open/close!

Not to mention, but I dont want to scuff the toe of my new Cole Haan Grand Wingtip Oxfords(that my wife gave me for Xmas) kicking the backside of a $65k USD vehicle?

I showed my wife on her i4 and it took several attempts. She joked that she doesn't want to be seen kicking her bimmer in the arse multiple times to open the damn hatch.

I am perplexed why BMW would opt for such a hatch opening mechanism.

 

I thought the hatchback open with foot was to merely place/wave my foot under the center of back of the car.

I tried many times.

After reading a post about a karate kick, I decided to try.

It worked.

However, not to nitpick, but lesser cars dont require me to KICK the bottom of the back of the car to open/close the hatch! Just wave a foot under the back and waaaahhhh laaa open/close!

Not to mention, but I dont want to scuff the toe of my new Cole Haan Grand Wingtip Oxfords(that my wife gave me for Xmas) kicking the backside of a $65k USD vehicle?

I showed my wife on her i4 and it took several attempts. She joked that she doesn't want to be seen kicking her bimmer in the arse multiple times to open the damn hatch.

I am perplexed why BMW would opt for such a hatch opening mechanism.

You don't have to kick the car, only need a kicking move, but no touching. Practice, it works perfectly well if you keep the fob in the same side pocket you are kicking with.

 

You don’t have to kick all the way under. Fast kick in and out the middle without getting anywhere near to touching your shins to the bumper or the bottom of the bumper with your foot.

The first 2-3” should be under the bumper, nothing more.

 

Thx cruzer dude, I will try that. But still, why not just a foot wave under the rear bumper??
C'mon BMW!!

 

Thx cruzer dude, I will try that. But still, why not just a foot wave under the rear bumper??
C'mon BMW!!

Remember, fast kick, not slow, in and out the middle. For me it always works. I literally did not have this fail once since I’ve be doing it this way. Don’t do it twice, the subsequent attempt will cancel the opening/closing.

 

Cruzer666 is right. A short shallow fast kick works.

I have been a sceptic and done swing kicks, but now have figured it out.

Also it is hard th swing kick and balance while carrying things.

 

The guy is pretty goofy but it's a good demo on what to do and what not to do

 

You don’t need to go that deep, and the movement should be quicker. It might’ve worked for him in the video but it won’t always work if he does it this slow.