That's my ebay listing. It's good to see that you wrote about your experience for others to share. Thanks’ for that.

For anyone else who is interested, I do BMW key repairs. The repair cost itself if fairly low but I prefer to also replace the key shell as the original shell becomes a bit damaged after cutting it open. Prices vary depending on parts etc. I quote before I do any repair. Most repairs are in the range or $112 - $142 including the new key shell and key cutting. $142 is worse case, if I need to replace the entire circuit board inside. When I replace the circuit board I also transplant the transponder chip over so that the engine will still start.

I can also make an entirely new key for $310 and if you order 2 new keys I can offer the 2nd one at half price. The only problem is, you will need to remove the EWS box from your car and post it to me so that I can connect it with my transponder chip programming machine. It's not too hard to remove the EWS box. I can give more details on how to locate and remove it. If you are in Perth WA you can just bring your car to me and I'll do it all while you wait.

I have done this many, many times and I still hear people say that it is impossible to make a BMW key that will work and you can only buy one from your BMW dealer for $580 (in Australia). That's obviously not the case. It's just a bit more difficult than your average car key.