getting a second (and third) remote entry solution

[workingonit]

from another thread

Originally Posted by oldskewel

If you can't get keyless entry to work, and rely on the mechanical key in the door to lock and unlock, you can be sure the lock cylinder will fail within about a year of daily use, leaving you in a predicament. <== and that's exactly what happened to me.

A cheap and easy solution to the need for a remote functionality is to buy a used genuine BMW diamond key on eBay (I bought 3x for $15 each when I got my car). You can then cut the key blades off (useless on your car), reprogram the keyless entry functionality, and use them as key fobs. You'll need to find a convenient way to keep them charged. When you go to start the car, the immobilizer system will see the RFID chip in your actual key as well as the old one in the eBay fob, and will just ignore the eBay one, allowing the car to start. <== All that is exactly what I've been doing since 2014.

I took oldskewel's advice seriously, and bought two generic diamond keys on eBay, for $16 (for two). They arrived just now, batteries already installed (CR2032, not rechargeable) and sealed. It took me a minute to program them to work my remote functions.

Now, if I bump/crush/demolish my original remote diamond key (which I eventually have done to all my plastic remotes), I can still gain entry without using the physical lock on the door. When I put a new rechargeable battery into my original key, I severed a wire trace inside...I fear that it'll break loose again, so I wanted a backup remote on me at all times. I've never bent/broken/lost any of my physical keys in 55 years, so that wasn't a concern.

This should gain me some time to actually order a true BMW NA diamond key, but I've got a noisy clutch fan that worries me (though the viscous clutch feels good & just tight enough, I don't want blades coming loose just now), so an electric fan conversion is my first priority.

I have two trucks with clutch fans ('04 Chevy 2500HD with 135k miles, and a '98 GMC with 185K miles), but they're still in great shape...but I worry about the X5. I have previously added electric fans on most of my previous 20+ vehicles, either as primary or secondary cooling fans, auxiliary fans for a dedicated transmission cooler, or in the case of my now traded (for the X5) '66 Chevelle, all three types. I'll probably do the fan conversion soon.