I start believing there is some kind of sleeping mode our fobs have for sure.
We just parked with my wife in the residential underground parking (VW). I had my bmw key with me in the the vest. So i approched my car - no reaction. i have easy access with the fob recognition tick on in iDrive when approching. guess what. nothing, mirrors are not unfolding, etc. i manually opened the trunk - worked, but mirrors are still unfolded.
I approached the driver's door, touched the door handle - car opened, mirrors unfolded.
I started to leave - at the distance of some 10-15 feet still no reaction, car doesn't get closed. i didnt have time to play, so I closed using the fob.
but now after reaading this thead, I will double check for sure.
So it clear that after some time the fob goes into deep sleep (in my case i did not use car for 1 week). When using manual touching/opening, the fob is recognized, but if the key fob was not used for a while like in my case (plus it was not shaken in the pants pocket, etc.), it goes into sleep. will heck it next time.
Gven the example above i can conclude that the sleeping mode with easy access doesn't help agaist the theft as the fob in deep sleep mode still gets recognized by the car. which means that the suitcase amplifier can do the job well if the key is exposed. so, the only solution could be the foil/fridge box
To take it further, imagine you parked at the restaurant but without direct view of your car. but still close enough for this theft technique to work. it's still a problem then. what do you think?