went to my local BMW dealer this affy to buy a new remote key as a spare ('rebel' only came with 1 ) and was expecting it to be somewhere around a hundred quid but almost fell off the chair when the girl at parts told me the actual price
£144 + VAT!!!
ended up just getting a basic key with lamp which was still steep at £46 + VAT
one question though - do the keys activate the alarm when you use them in the door lock? - or does it only alarm when you use the button on the remote key?
Neutro999
'01 Z3 3.0i with black leathers - a.k.a 'The Rebel'
Think the alarm is activated by the remote, as, on mine the alarm developed a fault by sounding off a few minutes after pushing the remote button but didnt go off at all when I just locked the car up with the key , although the light still flashed inside the car ,( now traced the fault down to a faulty bonnet switch)
It sounds like you have the later alarm with the buttons on the key (as opposed to the one with the separate fob). With both alarm systems, the alarm can only be set with the remote control - not with the key on its own. With the later alarm, the alarm can be unset by putting the key in the ignition and turning it to position II - this is a precaution against the battery in the remote going flat. On the earlier alarm, you can't unset the alarm if the remote battery dies, but you do get a small round key to physically turn the siren off! Regardless of the type of alarm, the immobiliser will function whether the alarm is set or not - it reads a separate chip in the key via an induction loop in the ignition barrel - no battery needed (it used the car's power).
A complete replacement key is expensive. There are a few ways that you can get extra keys, but surely the cheapest has to be tracing the previous owners and simply asking - they may well have the spare keys tucked away somewhere. Beyond that, you can try and source a key from a scrapped car and swap the blade and chip from your new key into a remote key and then teach the car the new remote.
Considering that the car was originally supplied with no less than 4 keys, it never fails to surprise me that no-one questions why the car they are buying has only 1 key! It should have two keys with remotes, one valet key (no remote and won't open glovebox) and a wallet key. The two that matter most to new owners are the remote keys, but don't forget that someone could still drive off in your P&J with any of these "missing" keys!
Cheers R.
Arctic Silver '99 Z3 1.9 & Black '59 Frogeye 1275cc
) and was expecting it to be somewhere around a hundred quid but almost fell off the chair when the girl at parts told me the actual price
