Dead Key--what to do?

My key is completely dead. I've tried recharging it on a 3 hr trip but nothing. Is it possible to take it apart and replace the battery?

Originally Posted by Blue Monk

My key is completely dead. I've tried recharging it on a 3 hr trip but nothing. Is it possible to take it apart and replace the battery?

It is, according to this:

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=451510

But it sounds as though it isn't easy, nor a guarantee of success.

Have you ruled out the in-car receiver - 2nd. key still works O.K.?

No chance that the key got laundered accidentally?

Call a dealer and ask if they do a "key reset" procedure?

Originally Posted by Blue Monk

My key is completely dead. I've tried recharging it on a 3 hr trip but nothing. Is it possible to take it apart and replace the battery?

Have you tried re-initializing it? Do a search and you will find step-by-step directions on how

Originally Posted by Supercourse

It is, according to this:

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=451510

But it sounds as though it isn't easy, nor a guarantee of success.

Have you ruled out the in-car receiver - 2nd. key still works O.K.?

No chance that the key got laundered accidentally?

Call a dealer and ask if they do a "key reset" procedure?

Haha no laundering...2nd key works fine. I guess the battery is dead. I'll try the process in that link. Thanks!

Boy do I have a story to tell about them keys...............

One weekend this past summer I went with the family and some friends to the Jersey shore, its been a few weeks since the last trip so we were all really excitedly and jumped into the Atlantic with joy.

A few hrs later we are ready to head back home, hmm...... where the hell is the key?! Looked thru all our stuff inside out and nothing, damn, looks like I lost it and we are stuck 40 miles away from home on a Sunday evening, in a state park that's about to close!! I figured even if I had called the BMW 24 hr roadside service, it will probably take hours before anyone comes, and even if they are coming they will not be able to get into the park to get to us......... oh I am really f---ed this time.

Then, my hand somehow brushed my swimming trunks, and it hit something stiff, trust me it was pretty cold by then, so it wasn't junior. To my surprise it was the key! But then the reality is hitting me hard again, it has been soaked in the ocean for the past couple of hours and there's no chance it would work................. right?

Guess what? It worked as perfectly as the day it was handed to me by the salesman, we are finally on the road home. Man, those BMW keys........

Hah! That exact same thing happened to my friend and I at Honolua Bay on Maui. We spent the whole day snorkeling and when we walked back to the rental my buddy pulled out the ziploc pouch with the key in it and it was ruined!

It was a Chrysler 300 and didn't have a key ignition so we were dead in the water. We had to get a ride from a stranger back into town and then hire a taxi to deliver us a new key from the airport. $100 mistake + 4 hours of lost time on a very expensive vacation.

Made for a good story, though.

I might give this a try, but I have a feeling my case might not be a fault with the key.

Since Friday afternoon, my X3 won't respond to either key's remote locking/unlocking. Inserting the key and locking/unlocking manually works fine. The fuel door operates as it should, as does everything else except remote operation. The three fuses related to Central Locking checked out okay.

Oddly enough, it will respond on rare occasion, as in once a day at some random time. That's the case for both keys. And then it stops working a few hours later.

I was tempted to say a dead battery, but I use my key almost everyday and there's plenty of extended driving time. I find it weird that both keys would not remotely work all of a sudden.

Any clues?

Originally Posted by AzNMpower32

... Oddly enough, it will respond on rare occasion, as in once a day at some random time. That's the case for both keys. And then it stops working a few hours later.

Maybe a connection with the burning smell during your high speed mountain driving recently?

Not sure if the central locking receiver is in the center dash area behind the manual unlock key,
but could it be failing intermittently?

One of its components could have burnt out- which would give the cabin occupants an olfactory signal.

If the over-heated component was not too far gone, I suppose it's possible it could still work at odd times (when fully cooled down?).

Any changes in your surrounding in terms of large electronic installations etc.? My keys don't work in a particular area of city where there is a huge AM radio transmitter, but I guess it won't apply in your case since you said they don't work in different area either. My suspicion would be that some gremlin making your car's computer out of sync with both keys, try reinitializing one, you have nothing to lose.

Originally Posted by codog2

Have you tried re-initializing it? Do a search and you will find step-by-step directions on how

Here you go: http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/att...1&d=1259364873

X3_terrestrial just posted this on my Newbie thread. Hope this copied link works.

I saw this somewhat different procedure that seems easier to follow,
and allows for different situations (1 working key, etc.):

http://www.programyourkeys.com/BMW_X...ogramming.html

Don't know how reliable the source is.

It implies the receiver is located in the driver's "B" pillar.

UPDATE: I now see that this is a U.K. site (instructions for other vehicles include Peugeots, Citroens and Renaults),
so holding the key over your left shoulder means pointing mid-car - ahead of the pano roof?)

I tried the reinitalisation multiple times and got no response from the vehicle.

I recently did install the front parking lights but that was well over a week ago, almost two weeks.

On Friday, I met up with Evlengr to see if we could secure the dangling wires underneath the hood since I had not secured them and had taped stuff together as a temporary measure. It worked fine that morning, and the first time it failed was after we'd finished securing the wires. No additional items were added except for some plastic wire ties which secured my wires to some existing ones running down the left side of the hood.

It was not raining Friday-Sunday, and the vehicle was garaged the few wet days before Thanksgiving.

The rest of the evening, I manually unlocked and locked with the key. The next morning, the remotes worked normally as if nothing happened. Luck ran out by the end of the morning.

On Sunday, the remote didnt work in the morning as I moved it about 10 metres to another part of the car park in my neighbourhood. As I walked away, the remote began to work normally again. But coming back a few hours later, it stopped working.

I think a visit to the dealership may be necessary.

Do this first, cut open those plastic ties, and secure the wires again but tying them in a different way. Just open them up and try your keys if they work. Check for any short circuits etc. Just thinking that there is a loop with those wires acting like antenna.

Originally Posted by enamoured

Do this first, cut open those plastic ties, and secure the wires again but tying them in a different way. Just open them up and try your keys if they work. Check for any short circuits etc. Just thinking that there is a loop with those wires acting like antenna.

Ahhh we did secure the wiring to another cable running along the interior which could have created some kind of RF interference. Good point.

Originally Posted by Supercourse

I saw this somewhat different procedure that seems easier to follow,
and allows for different situations (1 working key, etc.):

http://www.programyourkeys.com/BMW_X...ogramming.html

Don't know how reliable the source is.

It implies the receiver is located in the driver's "B" pillar.

Thanks! Number 2 worked for me using the good key first. I thought I needed a battery for sure.

No luck in undoing the bindings. I don't have much time this week but perhaps I can squeeze a trip to the dealer, where they will tell me that some $1000 part is broken and I need to replace it.

Originally Posted by AzNMpower32

No luck in undoing the bindings. I don't have much time this week but perhaps I can squeeze a trip to the dealer, where they will tell me that some $1000 part is broken and I need to replace it.

Azn, if it is intermittently working it may just be that the battery is on its last leg. Are they the original batteries?

This is weird. I program one key and the other quits working and vice versa. There's got to be an answer.

Originally Posted by Evlengr

Azn, if it is intermittently working it may just be that the battery is on its last leg. Are they the original batteries?

Yes. I will say that the remote has not worked since Sunday.

Originally Posted by legalfee

This is weird. I program one key and the other quits working and vice versa. There's got to be an answer.

You have to program both the keys at the same time to keep them in sync.

Originally Posted by AzNMpower32

Yes. I will say that the remote has not worked since Sunday.

May be worth to check battery. Did you separate the wires completely though, similar to the when it was working?

Originally Posted by enamoured

May be worth to check battery. Did you separate the wires completely though, similar to the when it was working?

Yes everything was undone. Is there any way to check the battery? If it was dead, wouldn't the immobilser also not work and thus I shouldn't be able to start the car? My understanding is that the battery on these keys weren't really meant to be replaced, although I know it can be done. Plus, it seems almost coincidental that both keys would not work at the same time.

One knows he/she really cares about the car when it's the only thing stuck in my mind right now

Originally Posted by AzNMpower32

Yes everything was undone. Is there any way to check the battery? If it was dead, wouldn't the immobilser also not work and thus I shouldn't be able to start the car? My understanding is that the battery on these keys weren't really meant to be replaced, although I know it can be done. Plus, it seems almost coincidental that both keys would not work at the same time.

One knows he/she really cares about the car when it's the only thing stuck in my mind right now

Don't know how immobilizer works, may be someone can comment on it. You don't seem to have any issues starting/cranking the car so I would think that battery is fine. The key battery, I am guessing it will be floating ground with positive on the key. One way to measure would be to get the key into ignition, and measure the voltage between whatever small part of key is out to car's chassis, and then take the key out and measure the voltage between the two points again. You should see only some little drop assuming the key is getting charged while it's inserted in the ignition. Evlengr, you can probably come up with a better method of measuring the key battery voltage.

Originally Posted by enamoured

You have to program both the keys at the same time to keep them in sync.

I initialize one then the other. The last one works and the first one doesn't.

Originally Posted by legalfee

I initialize one then the other. The last one works and the first one doesn't.

The time between initializations is important, they have to be done quickly.