Has anyone ever had to have their car key lock cylinder replaced (Mini or otherwise)?

After 5-7 years of having to manually unlock my driver side door (I suspect BCM issue not the electronic actuator or receiver), it appears that the cylinder is finally wearing out.
Recently, on occasion, while attempting to insert the key in the outside door lock it has become difficult (almost impossible) to insert or retrieve the key.
It isn't difficult every time - just once in a while.
In one instance I could not even insert the tip of the key into the lock. I was almost convinced that someone jammed something in there.
I've injected the internal lock cylinder by inserting some lithium lubricant spray and seems to have helped...
However I suspect the inevitable failure is not far off...

I imagine a locksmith would be the obvious - but any experience or suggestion you may have are welcome.

 

Using a liquid-based lubricant was the first problem. You should be using a dry graphite-based powder in the lock instead. I'm afraid now that you used liquid the dry powder will be ineffective.

 

While using liquid based lubricant may not have been preferable as a first course of action - It was my only option at the time.
The key continues to slide in and out with just the slightest drag. Sometimes none at all.
I don't' expect to work indefinitely.

Nevertheless,
As a preemptive measure - I went out to a salvage yard this afternoon and pulled a couple of cylinders from an '05 & '06 with the intention to have a locksmith see if they can re-key them on a bench.
Not sure if they are the same as a pre-facelift '04 though.

 

Best advice I ever got on these cars was from a BMW owner who recommended I never use the key itself to unlock the car door manually. Because shockingly, they don't hold up over time. That of course pre-supposes no BCM issues. So never mind.

At the time I recall the locksmith's repair - to her well trodden E46 - was around $250 and this was probably ten years ago. She had the same / similar remote problem so just went on using the key.

 

Yeah - I also vaguely recall someone mentioning something similar when we first got the car.
When my unlock button on my first of 2wo FOBs started acting up and finally stopped working = where the solder broke free from the board; I managed to successfully re-solder it back on - and it worked!
A couple of years later neither key FOB would unlock the driver side door so I replaced the actuator (PIA) with a new one from eBay which didn't fix the problem.
Shortly thereafter the cable on the driver's door handle broke. I replaced it. Only to later discover the lock/unlock toggle on the console would only lock and unlock the passenger and hatch but not the driver's side. Auto lock does not engage the driver's door either.
At that time I had read and got into the BCM to see if there might have been some sort of corrosion, burnt wire or water intrusion. It was bone dry, nothing corroded or charred and looked factory fresh.
I didn't have (and still don't) have a trusted mechanic to turn to. The dealer as an alternative; was $$ totally $$ out of the question.

My solution....Insert key lock/unlock and move on with life...(as far it will get you )

Hope this helps guide someone else to avoid the caveat.

 

As I had previously mentioned - I had pulled 2wo of key lock cylinders from a couple of salvage Mini's.
My initial intention was to pay a locksmith to re-key the salvage tumblers using my original key or key lock...
Of course unbridled curiosity set in and I couldn't resist taking one apart to see how they work.





Salvage yard key lock disassembled and laid out ready for transferring my original "tumblers" in hopes to rebuild.

 

After disassembling the salvage yard door lock in my previous post; I removed the defunct original door lock assembly from my Mini for tear down.


Caught (almost) in time - my key would no longer fully seat into the lock or turn. This is just one of the reasons - why:
Circled in red is the "dust door" that had become detached and got wedged inside the cylinder locking mechanism.
That was just the beginning of my problems...Where the heck is the dust door spring??


Having spent a fair amount of time trying to depress each "pin"/tumbler and inserting the key (key would not seat all the way), in an effort to slide the outer retaining sleeve off in order to pull the pins;
I had to inevitably reside to cutting the sleeve in half using a Dremel with cut-off wheel attachment.


With regards to the question "where's the dust cover spring?" - Well it was nicely mangled and wedged down at the very end of the cylinder preventing the key to seat fully down the chamber.


With a little ingenuity (and even littler tools), I managed to remove the remnant dust door spring as well as all the pins and their corresponding return springs from my original lock cylinder...
Pictured above: I began transferring all my original pins in corresponding order, into the salvage cylinder barrel. Using a small magnetized flathead jewelers screwdriver, made it much easier to load in those near microscopic pin springs.


Pre- testing the key. My original key inserted, lining up and depressing the pins before sliding the retaining sleeve over the cylinder barrel.


My original key and pins worked flawlessly in the new/salvage cylinder.



After re-assembly came the part I disliked the most = replacing the driver side door actuator with a new one and reinstalling the rebuilt lock.
An hour and a half of grunting and cursing under the blazing sun (97° heat index) - the key FOB still won't unlock the driver side door. Nor does the toggle on the center console.

But the manual key lock works great now
I just don't ever want to have to do it again.
Time to try to diagnose the BCM....yet again

 

Awesome write up! These sorts of posts, topics, and threads are why NAM is such a valuable resource for MINI enthusiasts. Love seeing posts like this and folks willing to put such effort into tackling these projects and writing them up. Kudos to you, sir!

Sorry, though, that the locking/unlocking issue persists.

 

Wow what a hell job, and well done. Please post the BCM solution when you find it; have been fear-dreading both these issues since hearing about them from the E46 owner. Bookmarking this thread.

 

I suppose this is one way of getting to the actuator...


...and after all this time I've been doing it the hard way!

Thanks for the kindness gentlemen.
I am not very good at electrical diagnostics. All I can do is have another visual inspection inside the BCM.
If the Bentley fails to help, you can be sure I will be youtubing and posting a lot of questions here on he forum.

I will indeed update.

 

At this moment it is way too hot to be outside, contorted inside my Mini in effort to extract the BCM. I'll leave that challenge for an early morning weekend job when the temps are at their lowest.

I might as well preface by saying that; I would imagine the following maybe of little value to anyone but...Unless; maybe you've discovered a replacement source for just a cable or broken spring. Or perhaps you're like me = a glutton for senseless amusement or punishment...?
I would just buy a new one and be done.

Having previously resurrected/rebuilt my driver's door key lock; I figured I'd see if I could dissect a Mini door handle. Just for no other reason than to see how to take one apart.
Just for fun.


For this subject I'll use an old door handle that had suffered from a broken cable - as a sacrifice.


At first glance one would assume it would be easy to just use a pair of small screw drivers or maybe a thin blade to pry the outer (chrome) grab handle cover apart in order to separate it from the internal release lever.
However in this instance that was not the case. It's was really secured together tight and nearly impossible to pry apart without breaking the plastic.


Since my objective was to access and view the internals as they were; it seemed only prudent that I break out 'Ole Painless' (aka my Dremel) and make a clean cut along the "backbone" of the outer handle and gently split the 2wo halves apart.


The internal release lever assembly snaps in place at the lower sides by nothing more than 2wo protruding tabs (circled in Yellow) while the upper segment is further secured via high bond adhesive (circled in Green).
Addendum: Just an after thought - It may also be possible to separate the handle cover from the internals by softening up the adhesive by passing a heat gun along the exterior of the handle (?)...


The release lever action is by virtue of this spring situated and retained at the top of the lever mechanism and inside of the handle cover.


Releasing the door handle lock cable...


Front view of the release lever cable.
In order to remove the cable, you'll need to insert a small screw driver into the lower slot of the cable restraint, push in and down on the small barb (indicated by red arrows).



After the cable restraint clip has been released and moved down, out of it's housing/slot, simply push the cable upward away from it's guide and slide the "bar-bell" end over to one side out of it's "cradle".




Well there ya go.
More useless information brought to you by courtesy of Here2Go.

Now wasn't that fun?

 

Almost as if the manufacturer didn't want you to see how, ahem..delicate...the underlying construction is - the toy-like spring, the thread-diameter cable, set amongst brittle, recycled ABS plastic legendary throughout its products. And naturally, when it inevitably fatigue-fails, you'll be compelled to replace the entire assembly anyway. At the Stealership.
If you aren't a surgeon / pathologist you probably should have been. We'll need guys like you come the Zombie Apocalypse.

 

Oh. I thought we were already in the midst of the zombie apocalypse?
I must have thought so - given my day job

 

I've decided to sidestep the BCM diagnostic for the moment and have shifted my focus on to bench testing the driver side door lock actuator I had purchased (new/eBay) a few years ago.
As mentioned above; I've just installed a brand new driver door actuator after rebuilding the lock cylinder. Unfortunately it also didn't resolve the driver unlock issues.

I posted a thread in the 1st gen Electrical subsection but my bench test results are a bit inconclusive (other than having a bad actuator bought new).