Alarm / Chirps / Locking question

[nguyendot]

So I've put about 1200 miles on the CX-5 and am still learning it's weird quirks. It took a year to get used to the iDrive in my 550i, and now I can't stand not having the wheel. Reaching across to touch the screen or change the channel is annoying as all hell.

Anyways I have a few questions that weren't totally answered by a search:
1. Why does the car have the incessant beeping if I unlock the car to put my child in the car seat, my wife may get in the passenger side, then I go walk over to the drivers door and open it. It chirps a second or two long chirp which is really annoying. All I can think of is that it thinks there is no key in the car? Well, it's not started so who cares? Can we disable that? So annoying.

2. Why can I not lock the car while it is on and I get out? On my last 3 cars (06' STS, 09' CTS, 08' 550i) I could go to the babysitters house, get my child out of the car and lock it while I walk away so no one steals my car or anything in it. The car could be on, and would simply unlock for me when I walk back to it. With the CX-5 it just sits there and does absolutely nothing when I hit the lock button. The locking system on the CX-5 is one of the most annoying things ever. What's even dumber is the behavior it has when you get out of the car and turn it off. You have to remember to unlock the whole car or nothing will be unlocked when you go back and get your child out of the back seat. I miss this sorely from my 550i - it had the touch sensitive unlocking, not this lame rubber nub you have to hit.

3. The Bose stereo is awful. I wish it wasn't such a pain to replace, and that I didn't spend extra on it :/ Maybe in time I'll rip the head unit out and do a full custom - but for now the wife would see that as a terrible idea since we just dropped a lot of money on this new car.

 

[nXt]

1. It beeps because it can't detect the key fob. You'll see a red message on the instrument cluster.
2. It's a safety feature so that you don't accidentally lock your key fob in the car. My 2004 Mazda 3 with a regular key is the same way. I like it.

Misc. Japan and Europe gets the iDrive like controller, it replaces one of the cup holders.
Americans are fat and like their 64oz Big Gulps so Mazda decided on having two cup holders instead of iDrive and 1 cup.
I remember years ago when the Mercedes GLA (I think), their minivan, they advertised that it has 11 cup holders for USA, and that the front cup holders can expand and hold the 64oz cups.

 

[nguyendot]

Car isn't started yet so why should it care if it detects the fob? It shouldn't warn me if I haven't tried to get in the drivers door yet. Also obviously it detected it, since it let me open the door.

Second... If it knows my key is outside the car it should let me lock it. My bmw wouldn't let met lock the key in but it let's me lock it when it's running and it knows the key is outside the car.

 

[nguyendot]

Checked it today - it chirped at me for like 3 seconds, but there is no warning or light on the dashboard other than the door ajar warnings.

 

[minnesotaart]

So why exactly did you buy this vehicle and not another 550i? Obviously it wasn't because you liked the CX-5.

 

[nguyendot]

Lower cost of ownership. consolidating debt, etc. I mean come on - get out of the car while it's still on and it won't let me unlock any of the doors. That "feature" is silly. If I get out of the car, have the keys on me...why can't I unlock ANY door? The push button doesn't do anything on the door, and the button on they key doesn't do anything either. I guarantee you that is not a feature designed to prevent locking the keys in the car - since it's the unlock feature.

I didn't get a 550i because a new one loaded is somewhere in the $75k range, and I decided to pay off the wife's student loans before purchasing another luxury car.
32MPG, ability to use normal gas, and $200 lower insurance. That's a 70-75% decrease in operating cost for fuel alone since the 550i got maybe 16mpg on it's 4.8L V8 and required premium non-ethanol.

I like the car, but the quirks it does have are quite annoying and not well thought out.

 

[CX5_808]

nguyendot - I kinda understand what you're experiencing. My previous car was a '07 LS460 and I missed a few of the luxury features during my first few month of owning the CX-5. Eventually, I couldn't complain because I was comparing apples to oranges. Yes, the stereo was no where near the Mark Levinson system in the LS and my ears could only take if for three months until I swapped out the speakers and added a sub.

I've owned the CX-5 for two years (i picked it up in July '12) and I don't miss the premium fill ups, seven quarts oil changes nor am I too paranoid anymore on finding the safest parking spot at the mall. Also, my ass wasn't accustomed to the Touring cloth seats so in keeping within budget, I opted for a pair of Coverking Leatherette seat covers. Front seats only.

 

[Skorpio]

I opted for a pair of Coverking Leatherette seat covers. Front seats only.

Question on your Coverkings- are they comfortable? They a tight fit? Do they breathe well? Any pics? I'm not buying any, just curious.

 

[nguyendot]

If they could just fix the locking/unlocking with the car on, I would probably be OK. The stereo, while nothing compared to the Logic7, can be swapped out later. I'm mainly concerned with not having a backup camera anymore. I really want a double din full screen nav unit from Pioneer again with a 5 channel amp (for simplicity's sake) and doing some Focal speakers. It's been a long time since I got to mess with car audio since the last 4 cars were luxury and could not easily have a stereo swapped out.