I did a search of the site and couldn’t find the info I was looking for, so here goes;

2004 R50 Mini Cooper, needs a new key fob to control the door locks. The key itself is fine.

The original fob was crushed when we got it, and the switch on the circuit board was knocked off.

Where do I find a new key fob that I can put on the old key? Amazon had a few, with bad reviews.

Even a complete case would help, I can fix the board if I REALLY have to, finding that little switch should be TONS of fun.🤯

What has everyone else used that they liked?

Thanks,
Dan

 

Contact message board member Valvashon.

 

Thanks JAB 67 👍

For anyone that’s interested, it looks like the correct switch is a C&K brand KSR221GLFS available at Mouser Electronics, DigiKey and others. They’re under a buck, before shipping.

Also found a YouTube video and watched a guy replace his switches on the same key fob that I’m looking at, soldering those SMD parts looks like it’s going to be fun...

 

If worse comes to worse, a new one can only be replaced via the dealer as proof of ownership (DL and registration) and VIN are required. BTDT

 

I ordered a key fob case from the seller ‘artiway’ on eBay, he was recommended in another thread.

Sometime I’ll get a key from the dealership, just to have a second one. But $300 or so seems a little steep for a key!

Thanks guys, this has helped.
Dan

 

I cant find him in my search, can you drop a link to the ad?

 

I’m at work right now on break, don’t know how to do that from my phone. Seller # is 30666, Item # is 280808427606

I’ll try again tonight, you might find him with those eBay numbers.

EDIT: https://www.ebay.com/itm/02-05-MINI-...UAAOSwlndZA9b-

I tested the link and it works.

I'll write back when I get the switches and the key fob case, to let everyone know how it all went together.

Dan

 

Thanks Dan. I’ll be watching

 

The shipment might not arrive until May 18th, so it might be a wait.

Here’s the data sheet on the switch;

https://dznh3ojzb2azq.cloudfront.net...-datasheet.pdf

This is a short YouTube video of what to expect as far as soldering in new switches;


Oops, here’s the one I intended to post!😬


I tested the links and they work.

Dan

 

Awesome link! I watched the video and I think one of my microswitches is gone too. I also found a battery and installed it, pushed the one button but not sure if its working. If you dont mind me sharing this thread with ya Id like to show whats going on with my key too.

 

Sure, share away! It will no doubt help a lot of others. Our cars are 10 to 15 years old now, and I’m sure other owners have the same problem and most are just living with it.

 

Ok, so the video gave me confidence to split the key fob. That was easy enough. Saw the battery right there and decided to try and replace it because luckily I had one, a CR2025. Not an exact match of the CR2032 battery, but it looks like thats a .75mm difference (3.2mm VS 2.5mm). That didnt appear to change anything, so the next thing was watching the video in full and so I figured I could pop out the board itself. Also easy. But now looking at it closely it looks like one of the two microswitches is dead, but also this thing is DIRTY and may have gotten some fluid spilled on it. Im also going to order one of those covers you linked above, but also will order a new microswitch. I might leave the soldering to someone else, but who knows maybe I will give it a shot...

Heres everything blown apart

 

If you don’t have a spray can of board cleaner handy, the board can also be cleaned with isopropyl alcohol and an acid brush.

We use that at work, where we see some pretty grungy boards. We cut the bristles on the brush back to about 1/2 the original length. I’ll try to attach a photo of what I’m talking about when I get off work.

EDIT: Be sure it’s the 99% isopropyl alcohol, NOT rubbing alcohol.

 

I'm not sure if this helps this thread, but you might be interested in this for $25

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Replacement...72.m2749.l2649

You need 4 things to make the R53 2-button fob:
Case - eBay
Key - transfer your old one or get a new one cut - a blank comes with the eBay link
Circuit board - eBay
Immobilizer chip - this is the little black metal 'slug' in the case; easy to lose & the really expensive bit only obtainable from BMW

As long as you have the immobilizer you can build a new fob in about 20 mins.

 

I thought about this one, but my board still works and there was only 1 review. Looks like it would work, though. Some of the other cases had bad reviews for poor fit.

Here’s a photo of the alcohol and acid brush I use for cleaning the heavy crud off of PC boards.

 

The 4 switches are in the plastic reel sitting on top of the label

The switches came about 10 days ago, this is the first chance I’ve had to post. The same switch is available with a choice of how much force is needed to close it. It looks like these are the original switches used by the manufacturer.

 

Watching this to see how it turns out. Our key is mangled and missing the buttons and one switch. From it being exposed for so long I'm not very confident in the board condition overall. I might try one of those $25 setups with the new board and case and just swap the key blade and chip over.

From my research I'm pretty sure our 2003 R53 is the 315 mhz frequency, can anyone confirm this?

 

Actually confirmed on the board in our garbage fob that it is 315 Mhz. Ordered a key repair setup off Ebay and will report back once we get it. It's a complete key with a blank blade, chip, board battery, and case. Plan is to swap the blade and immobilizer chip over the new key and then program the fob to the car.

 

Do you have a link to your research?

Edit: Just read your last post after writing this one, my bad.

I looked at this too but it’s been awhile, 315 MHz sounds about right.

I looked around on the Mouser and Digikey sites to see if there was an RF chip in this range, but no luck.

If a chip could be found, it could be cloned.

The fob case is supposed to be here no later than tomorrow, we’ll see. I’ll be happy to have it by the end of the month.

 

I had found another thread on here about key programming that confirmed my previous research. It seems the 433 Mhz frequency is used in Europe and other parts of the world while the US uses the 315 Mhz frequency. Not sure why they don't all use the same, probably some FCC BS that 433 is too close to something else.

I had found the repair kits that come with new switches, but ours has been missing the buttons and exposed for so long the board is severely corroded. Definitely not even worth trying to rebuild it. The key I ordered does appear to come with the barcode and code to program it to the vehicle. I'll have to find the othe thread I was reading and link it here. It has a lot of good info about early vs late cars and the requirements/process for programming a fob to the keyless vs the immobilizer chip to the EWS module.

Edit: Here's the other thread I was reading: https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/r50-r53-hatch-talk-2002-2006/237624-remote-key-question.html

 

My Ebay key arrived today. A little disappointed as I ordered a key that showed a Mini logo shaped button and I recieved a key with Land Rover style buttons. It's not enough of an issue to make a fuss over, though I will make a note of it when I leave feedback. The construction is a bit different than the OE key, but it only took me about 30 min to get the key blade and EWS chipped swapped over to the new key assembly. I still need to program the fob to the car, but at least I have something I can work with.

New key disassembled. Slightly different construction, but the blade is still held in with a roll pin.

The original key with its missing rubber buttons and broken and corroded circuit board.

To remove the blade from the original key I used a 1/16" drill bit through the center of the roll pin to center a hole for the blind side.

I then drilled that pilot out to 1/8" and used the drill to start pushing the roll pin out. Then I used a pair of needle nose pliers to pull the roll pin out.

The end result. The new key wasn't a blind hole for the roll pin and I tapped it out with a tiny phillips screw driver from a glasses repair kit.

There is a slight difference in the end of the key blade where it attaches to the key. The thicker one is the original key.

A quick trip to the bench grinder took care of that. The new key blade was installed in a small piece of plastic and used a smaller roll pin. I drilled out that little piece of plastic to accept the 1/8" roll pin that matches the original key blade.

The EWS chips pop right out with a pocket knife or tiny flat screwdriver. Be careful not to mix them up! Here's the key all assembled and tested. Grumpy starts and runs just fine!

 

Here's a link to the key I purchased:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/233410956124

 

The key fob case I ordered got here on Monday, in time as promised.





I plan to carve out some time this weekend to do the job, got to get another kid’s Honda Pilot out of my garage first!

I’d promised to replace the A/C compressor, easy enough on most rigs. NOT on Honda Pilots... Grandad always told me “Be careful what you’re good at”. Or even somewhat competent, apparently. (Yes I’m licensed)

 

Maybe I'll have to pickup one of those prettier cases down the road.

 

Good job Yjsaabman 👍

I used your method of removing the roll pin, worked fine!

My problem with getting the key blade to fit in the case was just the opposite; it moved side to side too much. In all fairness, there was some movement even in the original case.

I used a pair of calipers and found a difference of +0.008” between the width of the case slot and the width of the key blade.

To fill this gap I folded over a small piece of aluminum foil 3 times, and trimmed it to be the same thickness as the key blade.

The photo gives an idea of what I mean, though it shows only one strip of the foil.

The final piece of foil was folded over on itself 3 times, this was still too loose.

Once I pushed the stack of foil and key blade into the key fob slot, there was little side-to-side movement. It fit better than the original case did. I trimmed the excess foil with a new utility knife blade, as shown below.



This is a close up after trimming the foil. Unnoticeable when looking at the key.

One more thing to mention, when I pushed in the roll pin to lock the key blade in, the hole in the case wasn’t quite deep enough and the roll pin stuck up above the case as shown below.



The pin is sticking up far enough to prevent the case from fully snapping closed.

I had to grind the pin down with a Dremel tool. I should have compared the hole depth to the pin length, it would have been easier to drill the hole a little deeper.

Live and learn. Hopefully this will help the next person who tries this!

Here’s the final result:



Looks like a factory key! Works like it too. The switches I ordered perform perfectly.

Everything else was pretty straightforward.

Once more, the switches came from Mouser Electronics and are Mouser part number 611-KSR221G-LFS . They can be found on DigiKey and others, look for manufacturer part number KSR221GLFS .

Anyone have questions? Or if you’ve done this yourself do you have any tips for the next person?

Dan

P.S. Here’s the link to order this case off of eBay

https://www.ebay.com/itm/02-05-MINI-...UAAOSwlndZA9b-