So I don't have comfort access, just FYI, but my co-worker was messing with my fob and took it apart only to find a key inside. What's it do?

 

Unlocks your doors in case of key fob battery failure.

--Dan
Mach V

 

You see, way back in the stone age before you had remote door locking and unlocking, there were these odd things called "keys." You see, when one wanted to lock or unlock their door, they would take these "keys" and put it into a "keyhole," where they would turn the "key" to the left or to the right in order to unlock or lock their door respectively. Strange, but true!

All joking aside, in the event your fob runs out of batteries, you can use the key to open your door.

 

You can also use the key for doing things like rolling the windows up and down and opening/closing the sunroof from outside the car.

 

Really?! Please tell! : )

 

To roll down the windows and open the Sun roof to vent position, Just approach the MINI and press and hold down the Un-lock button on the key fob, the windows will roll down and the sun roofs will open to the vent position.

 

The key can also lock the glove box and rear folding seats on Convertibles.

 

Hahahahaha!!!! Sux To Be You!!!

 

If you put the key in the keyhole and turn and hold to lock, it will roll the windows up and close the sunroof. If you turn and hold to unlock, it will roll the windows down and open the sunroof (to the tilt position).

 

Or for us lazy people, you can just hold the unlock button down on the key fob and it'll do the same thing.


Mark

 

I wish holding the lock button down would roll the windows back up and close the sunroof.

 

Yeah, the fob button only works for rolling down the windows and tilting the sunroof. jmo, but being able to roll up my windows and close the sunroof using the fob would have been much more useful.

 

Mine does....

 

The European spec cars will roll up... in addtion the 7 series trunk will close as well as open. In the US we are kept safe by our ever loving government. They prevent us from inadvertantly rolling up our windows or closing our trunks wiuth the push of a button. Feel safer yet? :P

 

And that is no joke. My battery died and I was sooo Pi*&%$ed that I forgot about the key. the thing was only 2 years old I actually went and got my second fob to open the door and then remembered. The dealer replaced it under warrantee They said that it only charges when it is plugged into the car and if you don't drive enough it will discharge over time that doesn't see like good planning

 

The battery for the MINI is in the engine compartment. If you locked the car and left it for a long time, while searching for the source of the Nile, the battery might be dead when you returned. The car would be locked, the electric locks wouldn't function, you couldn't get to the bonnet release under the dash...

So, you use the key so you can get at the battery.

 

What mod are you using to do this, please?

Cheers!!

 

Sorry Poppa Bear, I was just bustin' Drewster's *****....

I guess it would be no different than using a power window module in a remote start/alarm setup.

Mark

 

Like a DEI 530T? I added one to my last truck so my Viper alarm could roll the windows up and down as well as add auto up and down for the front windows. It only came with auto down on the driver's side. It is nice that the MINI has auto up and down on both sides.

 

That be the one...

 

Hmm..I just figured they gave you a piece of metal to key the doors of the a-hole that parks too close to you kidding......maybe...

Oh, so this is what the big upgrade from dinosaurs was! Neat! Or was it the upgrade from http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...w=1015&bih=567
Bet Mark has one of those hiding behind OrangeCrush

 

The owners manual states that the FOB must be placed in the cradle at least 2X a year. I guess that means once every 6 months. The manual however does not say how long it takes to get a full charge.
The key FOB will start the car even if the FOB battery is discharged. If you have the CA system the FOB will still start the car even if the battery is removed when the FOB is placed in the cradle.

 

One possible little oops scenario I could envision (though thankfully have never done) with the auto down feature using the fob.... if it was sitting in your pocket a certain way and something pushed the button long enough while it was within electro-signal shot of the car....and the windows rolled down and sunroof opened....when it was raining

You'd have to run out there and put the fob in the slot to close everything up again. That would suck. Especially if you didn't realize it was happening. Those little fobs have quite the reach! At least 50' last time I tested it.

Reminds me of a story. Saw a beautiful R56 used on a lot in a nearby city, sitting there displaying all it's features including its fully open sunroof and all the bells and whistles inside, and it was raining cats and dogs. I can only hope the dealership disclosed that little incident to any prospective buyers. It was drenched inside.

 

Cool trick: step just outside of communication zone where the fob won't work anymore. Then hold the unit up to your chin, make sure it's touching. Then try again
Human height is the perfect antennae length for most frequencies in fobs. Took a bunch of drunk engineers on the DC metro to figure this one out

 

Yeah but I'm short and I think my antenna isn't long enough.

Btw, you know the joke about the flinstone car? I have a pic of my father standing outside one of those cars pretending he was getting a ticket taken about 30 years ago.

It's funny you showed that pic, reminded me....

Mark