If you’re looking for an easy RV keyless entry upgrade, the Bauer NE Bluetooth Keyless Entry Door Lock may be one of the simplest and most useful modifications you can make to your camper.
As we all know, when it comes to camping and campers, there are roughly 10,000 products we see and immediately think:
“That would be cool to have.”
Then, if we actually buy it, about nine times out of ten it eventually ends up sitting in the garage, shoved into a cabinet, or tossed into the infamous camper junk drawer.
And yes, everybody has a junk drawer in their camper.
Actually, that gives me an idea for another story…
Squirrel!
Anyway, every once in a while you stumble across something that looks useful, you buy it, and it actually exceeds your expectations.
For us, that product was the Bauer NE Bluetooth Keyless Entry Door Lock with Handle.
I had seen these locks on several campers over the years and always thought, “That would be nice to have.” I finally decided to make the switch, and now I’m wondering why we waited so long.
I bought ours on Amazon for just over $200. There are several versions available, including some that come with remote controls. I decided to skip the remotes and went with the model that works through an app on my iPhone or Apple Watch.
My thinking was pretty simple: I already have my phone or watch with me just about everywhere I go, so why carry one more thing that I’m eventually going to lose?
The lock arrived overnight, and all jokes aside, installation probably took me 20 minutes at the most.
You don’t need a toolbox full of special equipment. All I needed was a Phillips screwdriver.
Our camper is a Grand Design Reflection 295RL, and the Bauer unit slid right into the existing opening. No cutting, drilling, grinding, modifying, threatening it, or searching YouTube for a video titled “What Did I Do Wrong?”
It just fit.
That alone earns it a few points.
The lock comes with two regular keys, so you still have a way to get inside if the batteries ever die or technology decides it doesn’t want to cooperate that particular day.
It also comes with a factory preset code. I used that code several times while testing everything before changing it to our own code. Changing the code was also extremely simple.
From inside the camper, locking the door is quick and easy, and from the outside the new handle looks great. It doesn’t look like some aftermarket gadget that was stuck on as an afterthought. It looks like it belongs there.
One thing you do need to understand is that when you use the keypad or app to lock the door, it is the deadbolt that locks.
Once everything was installed and working, this became one of those camper upgrades that makes you say:
“Why didn’t I do this sooner?”
Followed closely by:
“Why doesn’t this come standard from the factory?”
The biggest benefit for us is simple. When we leave the camper to go riding the bikes, walk around the campground, visit friends, or just wander off for a while, we don’t have to worry about carrying a camper key.
I have my phone.
I have my watch.
Punch in the code, lock the door, and we’re gone.
Final Verdict
I give the Bauer NE Bluetooth Keyless Entry Door Lock a solid 10 out of 10.
Installation was ridiculously easy, it looks great, the keypad works well, the Bluetooth feature gives us another way to operate it, and we no longer have to carry a camper key around the campground.
There are plenty of camping gadgets I’ve bought over the years that probably deserved to go straight from the Amazon box into the junk drawer.
This isn’t one of them.
This is one of those upgrades that actually makes camping a little easier—and that’s exactly what a good upgrade should do.
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