hello All. . .

bought a 2011 Clubman recently.
it came with only one key fob to turn it on.
i have a tendency to lose keys.
my local dealer wants $450 to order a second for me. they say they have to order from Germany. and i need to prove to them beyond any doubt the car is mine. they want to see the title, the registration papers. the insurance documents.
i am afraid that if i go through with this with them they will also require the diameters of my big toe and my left ********.

there must be a more reasonable way/place to get an extra key,no?

what has anybody here done?

 

 

thats a nice idea. but that leads me to think i have used a poor choice of words.
what i need to replace duplicate is the "key" to start the car. it looks like a key fob.
it fits into the dash.
with 2 drivers of this car, my comfort zone wants to have 3 available.

 

 

true. it shouldn't. and i can give them that.
just seems like "big brother" in all itz glory and i find that disturbing..


are the dealers the only place to get these things? that price is outrageous.

 

This subject has been hammered to death or if you prefer, ad nauseum, here on NAM. The dealership requires VIN and proof of ownership as in DL and registration. The key is coded to the VIN and before driving away it has to go thru a registration procedure to introduce the key to the car. The parts department guy can tell you how.

 

sorry to drag it up again.
i did try to search for old threads about this.i searched for replacement keys. i got nothing.so i brought it up.

i have had coded keys from other marques b4 and had replacements made. they looked more like conventional keys but they, too, had to be "introduced" to the vehicle. and it was something i could do myself.
and it didn't cost an arm, a leg, and 3 toes.
i had to present a key to duplicate. it would have been more intense if i had the vehicle and no key to copy from.

ultimately, i am looking for a duplicate, maybe 2. its a stinkin key.
i think the dealership process is overstepping itz authority in respect to duplicates.

 

For me, knowing that some Joe-schmoe off the street can't take a picture of my VIN and go get a replacement key made, makes me feel a little bit more secure.

 

https://minipartsmass.com/parts/2011...nt=TRANSMITTER

 

now THAT looks promising.

thank you.

 

You will still need to get that key married to your car, which will require a trip to the dealer.

 

i know.
it does.
and i still bet it is something we could do for ourselves if we only knew the procedure.

 

The key should be insert and go kind of deal. the dealer uses your vin to determine how many key the car already has and so they create the next one up. if you have comfort access, you are only allowed to have two keys at a time. So, the trip to the dealer is for them to disable one key and activate the one they made for you.

check my post/journey with making a key

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post4434447

 

how do i know if i have "comfort access"?
and who are they to have the authority to limit me to 2 keys?

ur video appears it is much more complicated than the keys i had for my Ford.

 

if you have a button on the door handles, it is an indication you have CA. also if the car can start with the key in your pocket.

The limitation could be for many reasons such as theft or memory space in modules. who knows!

the point of the post to show that once the key is programmed, the only thing you need to do is insert and go. the other steps were if you completely dont have a key and you dont want to go to the dealer...think of it as being your own locksmith

 

thanx to all for the input.
i have 2 fobs/blades on order from Mini of Peabody. save a bundle. and learned that i can delay the programing till a later time when i wish.

the confusion is clearing a bit.

until next time. . .

 

Hello All,

I'm kind of freaking out at the moment, as BOTH my original key fob AND the $300 replacement fob that I just purchased from Bimmer-Tech.net's Bimmer Nav store are not working, which means my car is currently undrivable. I'm not sure anyone will be able to offer a solution, but here's my story:

I recently purchased a used 2011 Mini Cooper Clubman, and like others here, decided it would be good to have an extra key fob. After doing a little research online, I opted to go with Bimmer Nav, since they were apparently having a sale: https://store.bimmernav.com/collecti...eplacement-key

They made me upload copies of my registration and driver's license, and then today--exactly 1 week after placing my order, I received the fob in the mail, and went out to my car to try and initialize the fob by following the instructions they provided on their website:
I was honestly a little confused by what "KL-R (first turn)" meant (since there's nothing to actually turn), but after sticking the fob into the slot and pressing the start/stop button, my Mini didn't actually start but simply made a series of clicking noises. I then followed the remaining steps, but nothing else seemed to happen that would indicate a "successful initiatliaztion." Plus, when I was done, and attempted to start the car, it still made the same clicking sounds.

Figuring I might be dealing with a "dud" I then put my ORIGINAL key fob into the slot (the one that was working fine), only to then find it now isn't working either!

So I'm pretty upset and disappointed that I paid $300 for this new fob, which now not only doesn't work, but APPEARS to have now also rendered my original fob USELESS!

I'm not sure what I'm expecting to hear back from anyone here at this point, but barring some majorly miraculous advice, my current plan is to call AAA in the morning and have them tow my car to Herb Chambers MINI where I hope that they can help me out (and will likely make me pay a pretty penny for their help as well). Which of course brings me to the obviously conclusion that I should have gone to them in the first place!

 

sounds like the directions r for a different car.
my 2011 Clubman has only one position, too. plug it in till it clicks. there is no "switch" to turn.
did u talk to the seller b4 going to the dealer?

thx for the heads up. i have 2 fobs enroute to me. if the directions read as yours, i will ask lotsa questions b4 proceeding

 

Yeah, the directions didn't make much sense. I emailed them at their contact address: info@bimmer-tech.net, but as I have no idea how soon they'll respond, I'm just going to head over to Herb Chambers in the morning where I'm hopeful that they'll be able to help me!

I did find a YouTube video that appears to have different instructions ( ), but of course in his case, the car started right up, which is what leads me to think that there was something wrong with the one that I received, and which may have also led to it locking my car up to where my own original (previously working) fob not longer works as well.

The one encouraging thing is that the original fob still allows me to lock and unlock my car, and will even let me play the radio. However, when I press the start / stop button, my car starts making that weird clicking sound and the interior lights go on and off, which is what leads me to believe my original fob needs to be reprogrammed. I'll also have the dealer take a look at the one that I received, but even if they're able to get that one to work, I'd be inclined to return it and ask for my money back, simply on principal! I mean, they simply mailed the thing to me without any instructions. You would expect it to work and not mess up your car.

 

As said above, these directions are for 1st gen mini not second.

When i did my keys, all i had to do was insert and go. I have other issues with the key i made but that besides the point.

My questions are:
1- did they send you the right type of keyfob? Meaning with or without comfort access?
2- how did they determine which key number to dispense for you? The CAS has 10 key position holders. If your key is absolutely the original it will be stored as key 1. I'm not sure if duplicating the same key confuses the CAS.
3- did you try to remove the car battery for a bit to "reset" the system and try your original key back?

 

Thank you! That's interesting that there are apparently different directions for 2nd Gen as opposed to 1st Gen. When I placed the online order with Bimmer-tech.net (via their online store at: https://store.bimmernav.com), their order form did not ask me about Comfort Access. I'm assuming that because they asked me for the VIN, they would have access to that info.

I did not try disconnecting the car battery (which I would have definitely been wiling to try). However, this morning, I had AAA transport my Clubman via flatbed to Herb Chambers MINI in Allston. I left them both the original and the "replacement" key fobs, and they told me they'll take a look and let me know what they find out--hopefully by this afternoon. I'll be sure to update the thread once I know more!

In the meantime, I also have an email out to the folks Bimmer-tech) (the folks who sold me the Fob and key--which was correctly cut to fit my door, btw). I'll let you all know what they say as well.

 

Wow. So I just heard back from Herb Chambers MINI, and it turns out that--after all that--the issue was that my battery was dying!

What were the odds that my battery would decide to go at the very moment that I received my new fob and tried to initialize it!??

After having now replaced the battery, they're reporting that the fobs (the original AND the new one that I received from Bimmer Nav) are BOTH working fine!

Apparently, my 2011 Mini Cooper Clubman has managed to get by all of this time with the original factory installed battery the car was sold with 8 years ago! They said it's pretty unusual for a stock battery to last that long.

Anyway, many thanks to everyone who responded. It was a crazy ordeal, but all's well that ends well.

Best,

Ben

 

ok. . day late, and a dollar short here.
when i read ur post this morning about the clicking noise. . the battery was my first thought.
by the time i got the writing that idea to u, u already had that answer and were writing about it.
glad it worked out ok..