Help please, E36 keys

Tue Oct 17, 2006 6:50 pm

Hi, sorry this is about an E36 (spit...)

A colleague at work has an N reg 325tds which he bought a few months ago with only one key. This is the large-topped key with alarm / remote central locking built in.

He ordered a new key from the local BMW dealers at a cost of Ãƒ”šÃ‚£85 + vat.
The new key arrived yesterday, he went to get it last night, and they said they had to program the key from the old one. Fine, they programmed the new key from the old one, the new key works perfectly.

HOWEVER... in programming the new key, the guys at BMW have erased the old key, and this no longer works to disable the alarm or remotely open / close the car.

Result: He goes in with one working key, comes out Ãƒ”šÃ‚£100 poorer, still with one working key.

BMW says, "Oh that happens sometimes. Nothing we can do about it. The old key is 10 years old after all." They refuse to do anything to help.

Anyone else had experience of this or able to offer advice as to what he does now?

Thanks

Tue Oct 17, 2006 7:15 pm

I had the same with my E46.....

Ant's your man!

maybe PM and beg for advice...throw some pennies or gold nuggets his way?!

He fixed my keys and now they both work.

Tue Oct 17, 2006 7:20 pm

Thanks very much for that. Is Ant his username on the zone?

(Must say though that if it was me they'd done that to, I'd be doing Watchdog, Trading Standards, the papers...
Would give the papers something true to print for once... Would make a nice change.)

Tue Oct 17, 2006 7:24 pm

Yes.. Ant by name, Ant by zone.... LOL

(He's a very busy man though!)

Tue Oct 17, 2006 7:25 pm

I'd be phoning BMWGB myself.

Tue Oct 17, 2006 7:28 pm

well, yes.. there is that....

if the guys knew what they were doing, they'd be able to program BOTH keys...

complaining wouldn't go a miss - seeings that it can be done...!!

Tue Oct 17, 2006 7:33 pm

blondencheeky wrote:Yes.. Ant by name, Ant by zone.... LOL

(He's a very busy man though!)

Thanks very much for that.

Chris-W wrote:I'd be phoning BMWGB myself.

that's what I've said Chris. Can't believe a company like BMW are going to treat a customer like that.

Tue Oct 17, 2006 9:48 pm

I wouldn't accept that, i'd be in there harrassing them 'till it was sorted!!

Tue Oct 17, 2006 9:56 pm

Me too Miniblob. If it were me, I'd take a day off work to sit outside the place with a banner. I have just emailed Customer Service at BMW Head Office and informed them of the situation as my friend's computer is currently knackered. Something else I'll have to sort out...

I'll keep you guys posted as to the outcome. Thanks to all for help and comments.

Tue Oct 17, 2006 10:07 pm

I had a problem like this but with a toyota.I had 2 keys one worked perfect and other stopped working.I went to garage to get key reprogrammed and came out with both keys not working.The garage said there must be a problem with the car and will have to book it in.A friend of mine said disconnect the battery and then reconnect.After that all worked perfect.I dont know if this will work on a bmw but could be worth a go.

Tue Oct 17, 2006 10:07 pm

I had a problem like this but with a toyota.I had 2 keys one worked perfect and other stopped working.I went to garage to get key reprogrammed and came out with both keys not working.The garage said there must be a problem with the car and will have to book it in.A friend of mine said disconnect the battery and then reconnect.After that all worked perfect.I dont know if this will work on a bmw but could be worth a go.

Wed Oct 18, 2006 8:39 am

Hello!

I work at a dealers and i code these keys nearly everyday!

and u can recode the old key to the car!!

what u have to do:

1. Get in the car, shut the door
2. Place the new key in the ignition and switch to first turn and hold there for no longer than 5 seconds
3. remove key, then hold the bottom left button (has a arrow on it)
and press the roundal button above 3 times (this has to be done rather quickley or it might not work)
4 After that the door locks should drop and rise, this shows it works!

and for the remaining keys follow steps 3+4

hope that helps!

PM me if stuck!

Same prinicble applys for E46 aswell, with the diamond key!
On the diamond key the arrow is on top, and the roundal is in the middle!

Wed Oct 18, 2006 3:02 pm

perfection :lol:

it really is that easy folks, why the Ãƒ”šÃ‚£100 charge then I wonder....... someone say rip off ?

Wed Oct 18, 2006 7:06 pm

Ãƒ”šÃ‚£100 was for a brand new key (Ãƒ”šÃ‚£85+vat) from the BMW dealer. The problem was coding the brand new key from the old one.

Can't understand why a BMW dealer wouldn't be able to sort this, and have a REAL problem understanding why they are unable or unwilling to do anything to help having caused the problem in the first place.

Many many thanks to all for the help and advice.

I do hope that I don't erase the NEW key when I try re-programming the old one...

Thu Oct 19, 2006 10:40 am

you cant erase the new one!

Thu Oct 19, 2006 7:24 pm

e30bemer wrote:you cant erase the new one!

Very relieved to hear that, any reason the old one erased?

I was talking to my mate at work today, and he said they took about 20 minutes to program the new key. Two guys too, messing around till it worked. Obviously hadn't got a clue...

And that, as I said, was from a main dealer!!!

Many thanks again for all the help here everyone.

(Latest news - the BMW dealer has offered my mate a second new key at half price... He's quite pleased about that, as he wanted a 3rd key, but was not happy about paying out Ãƒ”šÃ‚£200. He's going to see if they can be beaten down any lower for the second new key today. Strange they're doing this if the old one can be reprogramed...

)

Thu Oct 19, 2006 9:38 pm

the keys can be hassle sometimes! its not that they're being completely stupid! if you programme two keys within, literally, seconds of each other, they can throw the other one out. i had that on an X5 the other day, and it wound me right up!

also, the alarm control unit responds to a rolling code, which can get thrown out if the keys re messed about with too much

and the reason they wont help you... you dont get ANYTHING for free! especially with main dealers!!! time is money, and everyone is too concerned about figures and bonus, etc. if they aint getting paid, they dont wanna know! sad but ure my friends...

Thu Oct 19, 2006 10:51 pm

Thankyou for that Stuart. Much appreciated. Nice to know they aren't as daft as they seem. I just found it very strange that main dealers seemed to get it so wrong, and then be so unhelpful. I wouldn't be so surprised with a 3rd party "we'll cut you a key, guv" company .

Having found it's possible to reprogram keys, I'm also rather surprised that they are now offering a half price key to replace the oldest one. Why not say "come back tomorrow and we'll reprogram it for you" if it's a problem of programing two at the same time. Still, it seems to be getting sorted, and with the help from you guys and girls, we'll end up with 3 keys for the car. Result. My mate seems well pleased at getting one cheaper.

Thanks again all.

Thu Oct 19, 2006 11:20 pm

thats what the zone is for!

now, when his car is sorted, tell him to sell it, and buy an E30!!

Fri Oct 20, 2006 8:24 pm

stuartgallafant wrote:now, when his car is sorted, tell him to sell it, and buy an E30!!

Keep telling him how much better E30s are, and how useful the Touring is.
The tight arse insists on a Diesel.

Ãƒ”šÃ‚£4k for an N reg 325TDS, 75k miles, elec EVERYTHING, full spec, but it's an E36.

I also keep telling him he could have 5x E30s like mine for what he paid for his...

Still, at least some of us still have taste.

E30

Thanks again all.