Hey all, I’ve got a bit of an odd (to me) issue, and wanted to see if anybody else has experienced this. My CMS was running just fine and dandy as of last night. Cut to this morning when I went out to take off and hopped in put the keyfob in the slot....no dash lights, pushed the button......no start either! Wonderful! Dome lights come on, doors lock/unlock, and windows go up & down using the fob with no problems. Normally when I insert the fob into the dash, I get that annoying chime and the dash lights, the lights on the center speedo, and the nav screen all light up as soon as it’s pushed in. I also have power to my OBD2 port, and have no codes at all.
So after some searching and checking a few things out and a few texts and a call with Mario to pick his brain. I came to the conclusion that my issue had to be caused by the failure of at least one of three things: The keyfob itself, the start/stop switch, or the CAS control unit. I do not have “Comfort Access “ but the CAS controls the ignition switch regardless, go figure.
Well I figured that the key must be ok since it works for the dooors, etc. So leaving 2 culprits to check, I then checked the wire and some other stuff, and I finally decided that it MUST be the switch (because Seattle Mini had one in stock and the CAS is around $500 before programming!) I borrowed my (awesome) neighbors car and went to go get a new switch assembly.
On the drive down there, I got thinking that I really don’t want to just start throwing parts at it until I get it right, so I started wondering how they could be tested. Aside from physically putting the switch into a working car, there wasn’t much to be done. But I decided that there MUST be a way to eliminate something from the mix. So when I proposed to the parts guy that we put my key in another car to check if the car “sees” it to eliminate the ken before I fork out the $ for the switch, and he was very interested in trying it. Off we went to the service desk where first the service advisor suggested we try the keyfob reader that they plug them into when you bring your car in for service. Well......the reader couldn’t read my key....almost like it wasn’t even there....hmmmm, just like in my car.... so off we went to the garage next, where we tried my key in another car hoping to see a wrong key warning....alas, that car did not “see” my keyfob either!
Needless to say, we determined that most likely the keyfob is the problem. Luckily I had, at the last minute, grabbed my registration just in case, so I got a new keyfob ordered and it should arrive at the dealer on Friday.
Hopefully that’s all it is, but it just seems so odd to me because it was just fine last night, then this morning....nothing! Has anybody else had anything like this happen the them? Did the new key fix it? I’m half tempted to just go get the dang switch too just in case... but that’s $200 I can put to something else if it’s not necessary... I’m terrible at waiting! Lol
Sorry for the novel! Thanks for taking the time and once this thing is fixed, I hope this thread may help someone else later that has a similar problem.
Motor On!

Yeah, when I bought it, it only had one key. My wife and I always talk about needing a second one for a spare, but I kept putting it off! Now I know why having 2 is important, lol. Hopefully my case is like the others you guys posted about and I’ll be motoring on down the road again tomorrow! If that is all it is for real, then I will go and get another key right away for the next time! Thanks!

That’s a good package to have! Key fob was about $150. And a gal in my local club PSMINI, just curbed her wheel and had to get it fixed, that stuff happens a lot. You have a good plan there.

Nice!

This is why I’m bad at waiting! Lol.
My brain is clanking and smoking away as ideas start to form. Since it won’t start the car anyhoo, I’m wondering if a guy can’t pop that sucker open and possibly fix it? Has anybody tried this? Everything works, except for starting the dang car! So I’m thinking maybe the smart chip came unsoldered or something like that, maybe. I’m thinking about opening it up and taking a look. Has anybody opened up one of The saucer shaped fobs? Is that even how they work? I figure, what’s the worst that can happen? The car already won’t start and the new key will be at the dealer tomorrow. Why not take a look?

You Tube

My son found this one earlier, lol. That’s how I figured out how to get it apart. I don’t think that the battery needs replaced because it still works for everything except starting the car. I took the board out and looked at it. But I have no clue what I’m looking for! Nothing looks like it’s burnt out and I can’t see any breaks in the circuits. Aside from that, I’m pretty clueless here when it comes to electronics and circuit boards. I can see the contact points for the buttons and the battery is right there in the center, but I have no idea what area or areas of the board control the start function or “smart chip” or whatever. I know there’s something in there that sends out some kind of radio signal or whatever it is, because the car needs to “see” it to start, and also they read them at the dealer with a little gizmo that they have there. When we tried my key in said gizmo, it couldn’t “see” my key anymore. It used to, on previous visits. But it’s all above my pay grade, lol. I had hoped there would be something obvious like a broken connection in there....but I’m not that lucky today I guess. I’m really curious if this one can eventually be fixed, or if I should just order another key after confirming that it fixes the issue and starts the car. I really should have picked up a second key a long time ago, but procrastination
Any key experts out there?

Update:
picked up the new key just a little while ago, just got home and tried it..... it worked perfectly. Fires right up! Thanks everyone!

I was getting absolutely nothing. Normally when I put the key into the slot in the dash, the nav screen powers on as well as dash lights, etc, before starting the car. When it died, it would still lock and unlock the doors and operate the windows, but when I put the key in, nothing was happening. Like there wasn’t a key in it at all.
Hope this helps, let me know if I can help out with anything else.

Edit: Also when I went to the dealership to order a new fob, we checked the key in the reader at the service desk, and it couldn’t “see” the it at all. Then we stuck it in another car and had the same result as in mine....nothing at all.

That’s exactly what I did on the parts guy’s suggestions to do so, since I already have one.
Darn that’s a shame, I was actually going to reach out to you to see if you could fix my now useless fob.... but now I know the answer. Shoot!