Greetings!

Our dog chewed up one of our key fobs. It is this unit:



I know the dealership is going to want $250+ to replace it.

As I understand it, they are sealed and need to be programmed per vehicle.

Has anyone managed to replace it outside of the dealership?

 

Bump - anyone have any ideas?

 

Ebay......

 

Thanks, though not really helpful.

I spoke with the dealership - a new key fob (without metal key insert) is $175+ tax.

The new key fobs will automatically program themselves once used to start the car. (somewhat concerning if someone were to just buy a keyfob and break into your mini!)

I am awaiting a call back from their service depot to find out if I purchased a USED keyfob, can it be reprogrammed or wiped for use?

In my case my dog chewed one of our key fobs. We have the metal key, but the fob is unusable.

 

The key fobs will remember settings automatically but I believe you have to have the key programmed first by someone to start the car. You should NOT be able to put a blank key in to start car for the first time.

 

How bad off is it? Is the circuit board chewed up too or is it just the case? If there's a chance it might be saved I'm the key repair guy for MINI's (self proclaimed!) and I have that style of replacement case in stock. I'm getting the replacement soldered in rechargeable batteries next week as well. If it was working before the dog incident you might leave well enough alone there, however.

Send me a picture or let me know if you want me to take a look at it.

Val

 

Well...from the outside looking at it, he did not damage the circuit board, but I was under the impression the housing is not replaceable.

How much for a housing replacement?

 

I want to extend a HUGE thanks to the Mini Key Hospital!

Apparently my dog did a number on my key fob. Mini Key Hospital repaired the broken switches and replaced the housing to like new condition.

You saved me big bucks from having to replace with the dealership. The whole process was easy.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

https://www.facebook.com/minikeyhospital/

 

Here's a few more pictures of the fob in question. First is a closeup of the fob being opened and the next two are of the board inside of the new shell. You can see two tactile switches (with the black actuators) and a spot between them where the other switch was (at the narrowest part of the circuit board). This switch was damaged and stuck in the on position, which drained the internal battery. I replaced the switch with an exact replacement (picture coming soon) and replaced the battery as well.

Having the battery out of these keys does not erase any programming. The battery was removed for at least a week when I had the key and was very dead before that. Apparently putting the key in the slot once "re-paired" it with the car and as far as I know it has worked since.







Dr. Bruce
MINI Key Hospital

 

Looks great valvashon! Glad you were able to find a different option BlurryEyed