07-08-2020, 04:16 PM
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Member
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Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: PNW
Posts: 553
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oldskewel
My 2001 came with diamond keys.
When I got the car about 5 years ago, there was only one diamond key. Details in previous posts, but my solution was to buy 3x valet keys (mistake at the online dealer - non-remote master keys would have been a little better) from thebmwminipartsstore.com (?) with the BMW EWS from the factory. Then I bought 3x used diamond keys off eBay, cut the keys off, used the diamond part as key fobs, easily reprogramming the remote capabilities.
Approx $40 per valet key, $15 per used diamond key. Probably not worth the research project if getting just one, but for me, it was a car to be used by my 3x kids, so I got 3x, making the small effort well worth the cost savings. Also, sometimes it is more convenient to use just the bare valet key (when running, swimming, etc.).
Interesting thing I noticed about this solution recently - those "fobs" still have EWS chips in them - since for diamond keys, the chip is on the circuit board in the diamond head. When starting, the EWS system will see two EWS chips: the proper chip in the valet key, and also the wrong chip in the fob, from whatever car the eBay used diamond key came from. Never a problem starting, but I notice my Foxwell and PA Soft will show error messages about an invalid EWS found, or something like that.
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Yeah my ebay FOB had the little chip inside. It's different than the stock diamond key setup. But I only use the blank key strictly for the FOB capabilities. So now I have essentially two key on my key chain. One key for the ignition and EWS...then the other for the remote FOB functionality.
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2003 BMW X5 3.0i -- MT5, 3.64s final gears, H&R lowering springs, K-Mac bushing kit
2007 BMW X3 3.0Si -- MT6
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