Today I thought I would program another key for my 2003 R53 Cooper S
I had a spare master key which I got from a car wrecker so I did the following which I got from another thread


1. Get in the car and shut the doors. (don't open any of the doors until you are complete.

2. Put a key in the ignition and turn it to the first click, then back and take the key out. (you have 5 seconds to perform the next step)

3. HOLD DOWN the unlock button, and press the lock button 3 times, then release the unlock button. The doors of the car should lock or unlock. Don't touch the doors or door locks.

4. Once the doors have locked/unlocked then just do step 3 with the other keys. Just hold down the unlock button, press the lock 3 times and release the unlock button.

5. Once you do this with all the keys then you can open the door or put a key in the ignition and the programming is ended.

6. Then try the lock and un lock on all the keys. If they don't work you can try it again.

I could not get the second key remote to work so I gave up
Later today I went to start the car with the original master key and the car will not turn over The ignition lights come on but then nothing It looks like the transponder in the key is no longer communicating with the cars immobiliser.

Could I have disabled the cars computer

I have had the car towed to my nearest dealer and they think the key is faulty and I will require a new key which has to be sent from overseas

Help Please

 

Compare your procedure w/ thread below:
http://www.motoringunderground.com/f...360#post754360

Try reaching Partsman. He might be able to help!

 

If redoing these steps doesn't help don't forget to try a basic ECU reset by either unhooking the battery or unplugging the ECU for a few min., this should clear the RAM in the ECU incase there's a partially completed command that's stuck in there, may not do anything but it's a simple procedure that will at least rule out some potential problems/causes.

Good Luck.

 

I don't think you can get just any old MINI key from a wrecking yard or wherever (eBay) and program it to work. I don't know why people sell them or who buys them. As far as I know you need to buy from the dealer one of the 10 that your car was manufactured with and that is held in the super secret storage facility in New Jersey. When you get it it will arrive programmed and ready to go.

Yes, the "button" key is expensive- around $200 or so- but you can also get a non button key for $60 if you just need to have a second key around (which is a good idea). And you will probably need to do the ECU reset by disconnecting the battery for a while.

If somebody else knows differently let me know. At least this is how it is/was for the first generation cars.

Val

 

They do have to get the keys from overseas. There is no magic safe that is storing 10 keys for every single mini sold in America. The thought of that is just silly. The keys are made per vin overseas and all go through a central US receiving location that handles all key claims. This is where somewhere on the East coast comes in. The dealer requests the order, some place on east coast processes it, Germany cuts and ships the key back to East coast warehouse which then distributes it back to the dealer.

Ebay keys are the funniest scam car owners fall into. I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the number of Audi and Mercedes keys that people thought they could buy and get programmed to their vehicle. It is a complete scam. Keys have and always will be a Manufacturer's monopoly. You have to buy them from them.

Sounds like any further advice on how to resolve this will probably be pointless as you have already towed your vehicle to the dealer and I imagine they have already ordered you a new key?? Hopefully they will be able to at least reprogram your original key, but the junk yard key is likely garbage.

 

Thanks for the help so far guys I will post what the dealer advises when they look at it today. Looks like an expensive mistake

Tsmsoccer

 

According to the info I say you needed to put the key back in the ignition and turn it to acc again ... that completes the coding process -

no first hand info but....

 

This thread says it is for 07/04 and up so it would not work on the 2003. Not sure how correct that is.

Cheers
David

 

I really hope that the OP hasn't damaged their car by following DIY instructions posted here. I also noticed that the MU site said the key initialization process was for 07/04 and up. That info is not on the NAM post giving the same instructions.

I followed instructions here for a different DIY project.
It didn't work but didn't harm my car either.
When I was finished I started to shake, realizing that I could have potentially damaged my car by getting caught up in forum enthusiasm over a project.
I was lucky.
Now I am skeptical about mods here and check it out with someone I know is knowledgable before proceeding.

Good luck to the OP and I hope the fix isn't terribly expensive.

Edit to add:
I think the NAM post giving these instructions needs to be amended or pulled if it is the cause of the OP's problems.

 

Well I received a call from the dealer today.
I held my breath waiting for the worst.
They said that they had spent an hour and a half on the car mainly doing continuity tests. They said they could not find the problem and left the car while they worked on another. They then came back to the car to push it out the back and they put the key back in the ignition and the car fired back up.
They do not know why it is working again other than they advised they disconnected the battery when doing some continuity tests.

They have kept the car over the weekend as they want to start the car a number of times over the weekend just to make sure the problem does not reoccur.
So I am afraid no real explanation as to what has caused the problem of it it will return but at least for now all good I asked what will be the charge to which the reply only one and half hours labour no parts that will be $300. Oh well I was expecting a lot worse