So my original key was 15 years old and looked it. It would start the car but not much else. When the door lock was activated the car made a slight sound like something was happening but nothing did.

I thought I would "treat" myself to a new key. [before everyone yells at me I didn't find out until today that you can solder a new battery in so that ship has sailed]

When I bought the key the guy said it might not work right out of the box. So $175 and it "might not work"? WTF?
He said due to the year. Then said they can probably do something with it in the service lane but if it goes in the shop, more $$$$

So sure enough it didn't work. One of the tech's came up from the shop, did something with the key and said the key isn't communicating with the mirror.
My headliner at the top of the W/S is deteriorated [age] and he latched onto that saying it was from moisture and it can corrode the plug in the mirror.

I was calling [thinking] BS as I knew it was deterioration not moisture but age. I've just seen it too often, But to give the guy the benefit of the doubt I came back to the shop and took the mirror down. Dry, as I expected, no corrosion, as I expected.

So;
1. What voodoo was he doing with the new key?
2. How did he know it wasn't "communicating" with the mirror? [the antenna in the mirror, I think]
3. If the connection is good, what else could be wrong with the mirror? [I think it's the high end mirror that does "". He did mention I could get a cheaper "manual mirror" but if the connection is good do I need another mirror?

I don't want to go back and have the car go in the shop and end up with a $500 key.

Any help/suggestions is appreciated.

Thanks,
rob

Clean as a whistle, as expected

 

I'm very new to the platform, but my key was acting up too, in my case I suddenly lost range. I ended up doing the battery replacement yesterday and have the cut on my hand to prove it. It wasn't too bad, but the replacement battery available online has one of the ends a bit longer so the battery sits a bit funny in the case, the trunk release button is a bit harder to depress now. I have a spare battery if you would like (came in a 2 pack), but I digress. I talked to my mini guy when I was having issues and he said sometimes the receiver in the mirrors do get old and stop receiving. He offered a replacement mirror, not sure how switching to a manual mirror would work.

I believe the tech would have tried the key reprogramming procedure to add the key fob to the list of recognized fobs.


If it did not recognize the key fob, assuming the key itself wasn't so old the battery had died, then the assumption would be the mirror side would not be receiving.

 

Thanks Seattle,

I'm really trying my best to wrap my head around this sh*t. I remember when you could get a key at a hardware store for $.50.

Thanks for the video link, I'll try that.
I'm wondering how does one tell if the mirror isn't receiving ?

rob

 

I hear you, my previous car was an old datsun that I got a key at the hardware store for $1.50, so I can feel your pain especially since I currently only have 1 key for the Mini.

I think if you can assume the key is good, and you try the programming steps above, if it doesn't work you would have to assume the mirror isn't receiving. You might be able to take the key to one of those displays they have at the autoparts store to test if the key is transmitting?

Once again, this is pretty foreign territory to me, so I'm really not sure other than the little bits I have read.

 

I bought this two years ago and it worked perfectly.Just need to use the immo chip from old key fob.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32872456378.html

 

Rob,

Having a similar issue. I bought a new key, thinking my battery was dead. Tried pairing it to the car (let me know if you need the procedure). Determined that I could get either key to pair, and old key tested as transmitting on a generic tester (eg auto parts store signal reader). I could get the key to work, as long as I held it within inches of the mirror.

I have located a spare used mirror and will be swapping the mirror to test to see if the key pairs and the range is better. If it works, I'm going to try to disassemble and replace the receiver board in my mirror with the one from the new mirror (new to me mirror has defective glass, that's how I got it inexpensively). Replacement mirrors NIB cost about as much as you paid for your car. 😜 Used undamaged sell for $200+.

Not sure when this project will happen. COVID-19 is consuming my life right now. I may end up laying myself off. Then I ll have time to work on the car, but no money. 🙁

 

Hey Husky,

These are the things with Mini's that to be honest made me hesitant to start this project. Effing complicated electronics just for complexities sake.

Not that it's not worth it as the car's a blast. I'm a pretty good mechanic/fabricator but computers and electronics, I was on the boat that already sailed before that ship even docked...

I've read a ton of information, half voodoo, half guesswork, and half without enough information to be helpful. [three halves I know]

Anyway I found an independent shop and asking around, they seem to have a solid reputation. So rather than trying to swim upstream in a river I'm unfamiliar with, I sent then a long email about what I've done, just to set the groundwork that I'm not some "rube".

So after the long introduction I sent this;

But, a few issues...

Airbag light came on 2 days ago and I cannot clear the code. Connections under seat seem good. Haven't had the steering wheel off yet.
1. I would like to clear this code and see if it comes back [if possible]. If not I would like the problem diagnosed.

Bought a new key from Towson BMW and it won't work. Tech at Towson Mini said it was probably corrosion at the mirror connection due to moisture. [this deduction from the deteriorated headliner due to age] This was in the service lane and not on a "ticket" so he spent almost no time on it.
I took the mirror off and as I suspected, no corrosion.

2. I would like the new key to work, and/or determine if I need a new mirror.

3. Re-set the "Service Engine Soon" warning. I tried that with the Schwaben Scanner I have but it appears I'm a pretty decent mechanic but suck at computers.

If you're familiar with the Schwaber scanner, I'll pay extra for you to show me how I'm being stupid.

My schedule is pretty flexible as I'm semi-retired.

So we'll see how that goes.
In the meantime I'm keeping busy with the rear seat delete. I'll post some updates on the build thread.
robj

 

Is the “service engine soon” warning just the oil service indicator? There’s a manual reset procedure for that here.

Unfortunately I’ve never done anything key related other than swapping my mirror to an auto dimming one, so I can’t help you there.

I know I replied to you in another thread about the airbags, and I’ve been trying to remember if I could clear my airbag codes with INPA. I think they always showed up immediately after I cleared them until I coded my occupancy sensor out, but I don’t remember for sure. I had a very obvious issue with my occupancy mat though, so I didn’t have to do much diagnosing.

 

Grey,
What was the obvious issue, and how did you diagnose that? Is that for just the passenger side? I'm asking as my codes seem to all indicate "drivers side", but this all started when my dog jumped into the passenger side.

rob

 

Bummer to hear, we are on reduced function as well now, granted since it is research oriented I doubt they will shut us down, but I am finding myself with more free time as well.

Please let us know how that goes, I think our symptoms are pretty similar, sometimes I have to walk across to the front of the car and point it at the mirror to get it to register.

Sounds like our cars are pretty similar, mine is also a hyper blue 06 MCS with a 15% pulley, and definitely on the mod train, with much more planned down the road.

 

I started getting an intermittent SRS light on the cluster in conjunction with the passenger airbag light on the ceiling illuminating when I had passengers who shouldn't have caused the passenger airbag to turn off (heavier than the cutoff for children). The problem got progressively worse over time. Sometimes it would work fine, other times I would get a light, until it eventually failed completely. That combined with the known problems (and TSB/recall) with the occupancy sensor and a code for the passenger side (IIRC) seemed pretty obvious. When I turned off the occupancy mat and cleared the codes, everything went back to normal.

 

Grey,
So your codes definitely indicated passenger side then?

Mine all say drivers side so I'm guessing that's not the issue. My next step may be to pull the steering wheel.
Thanks,
rob

 

I feel your pain. Imagine your car going into lock down and unable to start because your battery went dead while it was put away for the winter.....wtf!!!!! (Engine Immobilizer)

 

I'm hoping to go play in the garage tonight. I'll let you know what I find.

We should do a meet up! I'm in Tacoma. What part of Seattle are you in?
​​

 

Did you actually do this? The OEM three button keys don't have a removable immobilizer chip (it's soldered to the circuit board). The two button keys do but this three button aftermarket replacement probably isn't compatible with that system.

If you actually did this more details please.

 

You do realize that the issue with Rob's car (and mine, for that matter) was not the key? Your suggestion would not have resolved the problem.

 

A note about these keys- these problems can actually be the result of a failure in the key itself. I have repaired dozens of these three button keys with the battery soldered in and I have discovered a design flaw that will lead to intermittent operation, sometimes with short range.

The battery has two solder legs, one at a 90 degree angle from the other. One is wide, the other is quite narrow; this is to indicate polarity to make sure they get installed correctly. When the key is manufactured they are soldered onto the board and the solder legs are the only thing holding it to the board. To stop movement of this relatively heavy component as the key is jostled about there is a plastic circle on the shell that is supposed to hold the battery down. This isn't 100% effective and over time the battery will move back and forth, almost like a door on a hinge as the solder legs are essentially on one side of the key. This movement will eventually cause the smaller of the two solder legs to break, leading to either no operation or intermittent operation as the smaller leg makes and breaks contact. Making and breaking contact also does not allow an otherwise good battery to charge fully, which can lead to reduced range even if the smaller leg is making contact. The smaller leg can make contact for weeks, allowing almost normal operation then losing contact, leading to wildly erratic operation.

My fix for this is to squirt some hot glue from a hot glue gun under the battery when replacing it. This does a pretty good job of holding the battery down and won't interfere with the fit of the shell when the key is reassembled. If it ever needs to be removed, a squirt of denatured alcohol will easily loosen it from the circuit board.

Attached are some pictures to show how the battery is in the key and how the smaller leg breaks.





Key showing broken small battery leg.

Key with new battery soldered in. Notice hot glue around and under battery, holding it in place.

 

You must use the immo chip from non remote key, or read EWS eeprom, and write blank chip with cheap Mini Zed Bull key programmer.

 

That is my recollection.

 

So back to the key issue [which was actually a mirror issue]

With some help from Tej, I took the mirror apart but saw no corrosion. But I sprayed the heck out of it with contact cleaner and pulled the plug off and on a few times.

[I'm sort of going back and forth between here and my build thread, so I'll add some posts from there;

Thanks for that link!
So I took the mirror apart, [mines the one with everything, [Auto-Dim, etc..] but I didn't see any corrosion unless I'm missing it.

In your photo I "think" I saw what you were talking about, but it was hard to tell. Would it be possible for you to describe where it was from the photo below?
I sprayed the sh*t out of everything with contact cleaner anyway.

So geez, if it's not corrosion, where do I go from here??? [Update!!!!- despite no visible corrosion, it worked. Details, below -but still a little bit of a key problem]
Thanks,
rob"

Next;

NEWS FLASH !!!!

IT WORKS! [Well, sort of]

[I guess this is like the carburetor on an old motorcycle. Take it apart, see nothing wrong, put it back together and it runs]

From 10-15' away I can hit the center Mini button and everything locks, makes one beep noise and the lights flash once, everything. I can even make the sunroof open.

But when I press the "unlock" button it makes 2 beeps and 2 flashes but nothing unlocks.
When I press the hatch open button, 2 flashes, no sound and no unlock.

I think I'm doing this right. WT heck.. I guess this is progress.
Any hints?

robj