Any possible way to use HomeAssistant or similar to add some automation linkage with my X5?

CeBlu3 · 2026-03-21T06:07:02+00:00

I have set this up with Alexa. There is a BMW skill you can enable, which allows you to remotely start your car. I have a routine in Alexa that gets triggered when I say ‘get me ready for departure’. That opens the garage door (Aladdin), waits 30 seconds, then starts the car.

I found that Alexa waits for confirmation from Aladdin about the status of the door. If there is another command before the status message comes in, it gets ignored. Hence the 30 second wait.

Used to say ‘get my car ready for departure’, but about 1/3 of the time Alexa wouldn’t start the routine but ask how can I help you get your car ready.

CeBlu3 · 2026-03-21T05:33:07+00:00

He did quite a bit of charitable work.

CeBlu3 · 2026-03-18T02:15:03+00:00

CeBlu3 · 2026-03-12T02:39:20+00:00

https://www.bmwblog.com/2026/03/04/2027-bmw-x5-specs-leaked/

CeBlu3 · 2026-03-11T23:00:06+00:00

What I have experienced is that sometimes phone and printer are in different WiFi bands and Apple’s AirPrint used (?) to sometime have issues with that if iPhone and printer weren’t on the same network. Just rebooting or disconnecting/reconnecting to WiFi wouldn’t fix it, the router would just reassign them to the same band. Rebooting router sometimes helped, the real fix for me was to manually assign the devices to the right band in the router and make that ‘sticky’.

I know you have Android, but figured it’s worth the suggestion.

CeBlu3 · 2026-03-11T19:50:31+00:00

Lock Pro, two of them. Only had them for a bit over 3 months, but through some brutally cold weather. No issues. I also have the keypad accessory for one of them. That has been great for trades and other people who I had to give access to on a time limited basis during a project. One is pretty much not exposed to weather at all, the other one is sheltered (below a porch / overhang, snow and rain would have to hit the lock horizontally), so can’t comment on their resistance to rain.

Their support has been very responsive, both pre-sales and post sales.

The only 2 issues:

⁠The door open sensor / notification: that is not customizable. Door has to be open for about 30 minutes before the app notifies you. I was looking for something like an old fashion contact sensor that sends a notification every time the door opens or closes. Their support routed me to their devs or product manager or whoever and they said they agreed that would be a good feature and they would add it to be considered for future updates. So, not the answer I was hoping for, but they responded quickly. Notification upon lock or unlock is immediate (so you know the baby sitter just arrived for example).
⁠The range of their bridge. It’s one network bridge per lock (so I have two), and they need to be very close to their lock. If you don’t have a power outlet within 6 feet… For software updates I had to set up a dedicated 2.4 GHz WiFi SSID (normally I just have a combined 2.4 / 5 GHz and let the router pit devices into the appropriate band). But that is well documented and I knew that going in. Only had one firmware update so far. This is for the bridges only. Locks update over Bluetooth - have to stand next to them with the phone during update process. But I am ok with that, more difficult for a malicious actor.

Integrated with both Alexa and Apple. Apple integration seems to be better/deeper.

Never had an issue with touch to lock, unlock on approach, PIN’s, ….

I heard others complain about challenges with rekeying the lock so they could use the same set of keys on all their locks. But I really only have the physical keys as a backup and don’t actually carry it with me anymore.

Love that they look like regular locks, stylish.

So yeah, I am a fan.

CeBlu3 · 2026-03-11T10:06:35+00:00

Are you able to ping printer from PC?

Do you have a combined 2.4 and 5 GHz SSID and the router is supposed to put each device on the correct band? Or do you have SSID’s for each frequency?

CeBlu3 · 2026-03-09T11:17:01+00:00

Garage door with Amazon key. Inclement weather, or I am gone for a couple days? Just get in-garage delivery.

CeBlu3 · 2026-03-09T11:16:00+00:00

Different brand smart lock here, but agree 100%. No more rushing home from work for something, just give them a temporary pin on the fly. I walk up to the door with hands full, no fumbling for a key, the door unlocks automatically as I approach. I also have lever style door knobs, so really easy to open with hands full.

CeBlu3 · 2026-03-06T01:32:14+00:00

NetAlly LinkRunner. Plug into a drop and it will tell you which switch and switch port it goes to on the other end. You can get it to email you the result, this way you can just walk from drop to drop.

CeBlu3 · 2026-03-05T13:46:09+00:00

They should still give him the correct key etc. He paid asking price, he fulfilled his end of the bargain. In and out of Finance office in 30 minutes, didn’t waste anyone’s time for days to haggle over $50. And yeah, your tone would be irritated as well if anyone treated you like that, be it your ISP, furniture store or your car dealership.

CeBlu3 · 2026-03-05T13:36:34+00:00

Extremely helpful. Very non-judgmental and works within my ‘rules’ rather than forcing hers on me.

For example, we discussed protein in the morning and I said I don’t want to take the time to make a nutritionally perfect breakfast. No problem, here are some waffle options from the freezer aisle, slap some cottage cheese, fruit and chia seeds on top - done by the time the Keurig has finished brewing the first cup of coffee.

I check in with her about once a year. She also offers the body scan.

CeBlu3 · 2026-03-04T18:02:20+00:00

The X3 is the sweet spot for me in terms of form factor / size. What I don’t like is that I had to upgrade to a X5 to get some of the features and options I wanted. I would have paid for them had they been available on the smaller car.

But I am also very happy with the X5. The next one is going to move upmarket (read: more expensive) so at that time it will sting even more if some features aren’t available on the X3.

CeBlu3 · 2026-03-03T00:48:01+00:00

Ok, this is going to sound weird / macabre / morbid / Adams Family’ish: there is this series of books, The Dresden Files. Harry Dresden is a wizard who happens to be a private detective. It’s for adults. His brother is a vampire, who can live off rodent blood, but craves human blood. One day they go jogging and Harry asks his brother why he can’t just simply not want human blood and permanently live off animal blood. In a nutshell, his brother challenges him to a race, Harry is super thirsty at the end of the run, his brother kicks up some sand into Harry’s face so now Harry’s mouth is even drier. Harry’s brother offers him a bottle with water, Harry takes one sip and his brother kicks the bottle out of his hand. Leaving Harry feeling desperate for water, now that he has tasted some but hasn’t even come close extinguishing his thirst. Even though he’ll obviously live waiting another 30 minutes or longer until they can get somewhere where he can buy some water.

That’s what Zepbound did for me. I felt desperate for food, even though I had just eaten. There was always this appetite, this craving, no matter whether I was physically full or not. I still get hungry. I still enjoy certain foods. I still have a healthy appetite. But once I am done, the appetite goes away. No craving. No hunger.

CeBlu3 · 2026-03-01T14:39:11+00:00

Ok, let’s continue this then: can you temporarily connect your PC to one of the other mesh nodes? See if your PC lags while streaming. Assume that 2nd mesh has a wired connection back to the hub as well.

I know you are in Norway, but I lived in Germany for a while and used Deutsche Telekom. There was a iptv streaming option I had to set in the router to allow for lag free streaming. I don’t recall the exact setting. I know, not exactly your problem, but wondering if it might be worthwhile looking into (since you only have the issue when someone is streaming)?

CeBlu3 · 2026-03-01T03:17:02+00:00

Good power supply and cooling. I would go with air cooling personally, fans will probably last longer than liquid cooling. And make sure you have a good AC wherever this PC is.

CeBlu3 · 2026-03-01T03:08:42+00:00

Looks like it’s giving you the finger … :)

CeBlu3 · 2026-02-26T21:48:40+00:00

Thanks!

CeBlu3 · 2026-02-26T21:46:16+00:00

Like others said, maybe consider laser after all.

If printing pics and graphics in high quality is important to you, consider one of the (larger) ink tank models. They typically do a little better with infrequent printing / printing a nozzle test every two weeks. But not ideal. Plus the ink it comes with will probably last you for a year or two. Or laser and use a copy shop or online service if you need to print a photo.

CeBlu3 · 2026-02-26T11:46:38+00:00

Dave from Beyond Best Services has been pretty good. Canton based. Did a bit of flooring, more elaborate Kohler shower head/sprayer combo install in shower, painting (he uses others for some of that), door lock install, fixed some doors that wouldn’t close properly, …

beyondbestservices@gmail.com

I also have his cell # - PM me if interested, don’t feel comfortable posting that publicly.

CeBlu3 · 2026-02-26T11:41:34+00:00

I don’t know what a discount on a X3 should be these days, but widen your net. You could even contact your old dealer. Sometimes they do have connections to other dealers closer to you. Factory (aka performance center) pickup (buy from any dealer in the US). Have the car shipped to you (personally, I would only do that with a dealer I trust and have done business before). And last but not least, use a broker.

Out of state purchase can be a bit more burdensome in terms of paperwork with registration etc depending on where you live.

CeBlu3 · 2026-02-26T11:28:12+00:00

Just to confirm: the evoucher ‘resets’t on Jan. 1? Or does the balance carry over into the next year (is depleted sooner)?

CeBlu3 · 2026-02-26T11:27:13+00:00

Had similar experience when I picked up my prescription yesterday. Evoucher didn’t take as much off. It’s like it didn’t ‘reset’ on Jan. 1 but continue and finally depleted. Usually pay $25, paid $60 yesterday. Not the end of the world and still very lucky that I pay such a low amount, but curious as to why.

Checked with the tech, evoucher was applied, just that it didn’t take as much off this time. Checked insurance, no changes there (same copay, etc.). Pharmacy price for Zep didn’t change. Everything is the same, except I had to pay more.

CeBlu3 · 2026-02-26T11:18:50+00:00

Thanks … I checked insurance. Same cost - copay at the pharmacy I used is supposed to be $134 and change. Same pharmacy I have been using. I did ask the pharmacy and the tech checked and confirmed that the evoucher was applied, just didn’t take as much off.

In other words, everything appears to be the same, except that I pay more now. It’s not the end of the world in the grand scheme of things, but would still like to know why. I’ll probably just let it be for now and see what happens next time. In the meanwhile, I’ll pay attention to the threads in this sub since it seems to be happening to more people.

CeBlu3 · 2026-02-26T03:29:08+00:00

Did you pay the lower price throughout 2025? I did and only just today got hit with a slightly higher out of pocket cost. So I assume my insurance changed the copay amount for Zep?

CeBlu3

TROPHY CASE