Hi, a week ago my mini began throwing the key with a line through it error indicating that it was not recognizing my fob. At one point it got so bad that I couldn't turn on my car and the electronics wouldn't come on. My remote unlock was acting strangely too. Not unlocking all my door and trunk would not latch.

I haven't fully confirmed this yet, but after a week of testing I believe it was caused by my company's new RFID badges. I keep my badge tucked in the slot above my ignition slot (see pic). Apparently the new badge was creating interference because, by whim, this week I resituated the badge far away from my ignition and the problem resolved! I put the badge back and it started having the issue again.

I couldn't find any other reports of this, so I'm not 100% sure. Hope this helps someone down the road.

 

The immobilizer chip in the key fob uses RFID, so I think it's quite possible that your badge causes interference when placed so close. However, I can't think of any relationship to the remote lock.

 

Used to happen to me all the time in my Range Rover - I was parking next to a Mini or BMW, something about the similarity in their remote systems whacks the key the next time you use it. Airport parking is the worst, something about radio waves the airplanes use for navigation probably. It is probably not your work badge or the reader at work because they are so weak and work only in direct contact. You think the slot you put the card in your car was close enough? Maybe, but I would look around carefully where you park for any cars that BMW designed the alarm/starting mechanisms for, like sometimes Saabs screwed mine up too.

The alarm keeps going, "Was that my remote? Was that my remote?, and both cars can run down their battery if it goes on long enough because they keep up this "conversation" the whole time you are away until it sets off the immobiliser.

 

Interesting, I've had my mini for two years now and it just started happening after the new badges, but I'll do some more testing to be sure. I did consider the proximity thing since the new badge must be held within an inch of the readers whereas the old one (which I also kept above my ignition) had a five foot range and caused no ill effects.

 

Well, if you find yourself stuck again with the key not working, what I did after the first two tows was put it in neutral and roll it 10 feet away from wherever I parked it and tried to unlock/start it again. This knowledge was gained after having it towed home and it started right up when rolled off the flatbed....

My truck did this often enough, but in many cases I never could see the car that did it. Maybe they parked and returned before I did. Some people on this forum have mentioned that the Mini antenna for the remote is in the rear view mirror and can cause some weird symptoms when it is going out, maybe yours is on the fritz? Picking up too much interference?