Hey all! I've been lurking and reading posts (and getting SUPER valuable info about my coopers) for a couple of years now. Today, I have a question and some thanks.

First up... THANKS to whomever first linked to the "recall" info regading the power steering system on the 2002-2005 models. I got my old cooper's steering repairs paid for 100% by cooper before she died (transmission went out).

Second: My replacement cooper is a 2005 Standard Cooper with keyless entry. I thought this a BULLY thing until such time as my keyfob started to NOT open my car. Troubleshooting said issue has led me to believe that I have a faulty battery in the keyfob. I say this because once the car has been driven for a short time, the keyfob will successfully open and close the car. However, after a full night's sleep (say, 8-10 hours) the keyfob will NOT open anything. For a couple of months when the keyfob would start no opening the car, I could hit the trunk button an couple of times and that seemed to free things up. But now nothing works until such time as I've put the key in the ignition and driven the car a couple of blocks.

I found a video on You Tube that shows the disassembly and reassembly of the 2005 keyfob and it seems a pretty straightforward process.


While the dudes knife skills make me twitch, his logic seems quite straight forward.

Has anyone else had experience with this? My closest dealer is at least an hour drive from where I live/work and I'd rather just fix the thing myself with a soldering iron and a little gorilla glue vs. driving out of town and shelling out a couple of Benjamin's to the nearest Dealer for what, by all indicators, is just a bad battery sealed in my keyfob.

ALSO... I am thinking that perhaps it might be wise to have a keyed access on the car somewhere given the penchant for these keyfobs to go all wonky. Is that doable, and if so, does anyone know who expensive such a job would be? I don't know that I'm car-savvy enough to play with the wiring of the actuator.

Please note, I am a bookkeeper by trade, not a mechanic, though I am pretty good with my hands when it comes to fixing things up. I'm quite eager to learn more about how to take care of my pretty cooper with my own two wee hands.

thanks much everyone!