Bimmerstyle

And again, a little update.

I'm at work right now with the key fob. Here I have access to some heat guns so I wanted to try something.

I wrapped the key fob with some rubber bands until the gap was closed. With the rubber bands around it I took a heat gun and heated the key fob. I applied heat for a couple of minutes this way keeping the plastic near it's melting point. Next I cooled it down with an air gun until it had room temperature again. Then I removed the rubber bands.

Now the gap is narrowed quite a bit. It's still there but not as big as it used to be. This way the look of the entire key fob has improved by a lot.

We are coping with a heat wave over here the last couple of days and inside my mailbox it's like an oven. So my guess is the key has gotten way too hot laying there the entire day and that's the reason the gap had become so big. Now, after applying heat again while forcing the gap closed it looks decent again.
So now I'm a little more positive than earlier. Tommorow I'm gonna try to have the blade cut again and we will see what happens.

Bimmerstyle

So I went to a second locksmith and he also told me it couldn't be done. A bit frustrated and disapointed I tried a third one, a very little shop. That guy told me he could try to cut it but he couldn't make any promisses. This was the most positive reply I've got so far from any locksmith so I let him try.

At first all went well. One side was done but when he flipped the key around and started working on de second side after a minute or so he suddenly said: oh-oh...

That can't be good, I was thinking to myself and indeed, it wasn't. He cut a hole straight through the key.
"Did you pay a lot for this key?", he then asked. I told him that it wasn't a whole lot. He tried some more but again he cut through it and while doing so he made a wrong turn so the pattern wasn't correct any more.

I'm sorry, he said. I can't do it...

I'm a little bummed out but couldn't blame the guy. At least he was willing to give it a try.

After coming home I looked at the key and it was a little bit different to the original one at the spot where he went through the second time. I got out my dremel tool and cut the remaining bit a little more like it was supposed to be. After that I tried the key in my glove compartement lock and suprisingly it worked! It went a bit difficult but I could open and close this lock.

So next I had to put it in the ignition. It went in and after some wiggling around I could turn the lock. The car didn't respond because the PCB wasn't inside the flipkey yet but this was some good news.

I went ahaid and opened up my diamond key. Took the PCB out and put it in the flipkkey. Went back to the car, wiggled a little bit with the key until it turned and what do you know, the darn thing started!

Next I've sanded down the rough edges on the blade with a 1000 grid paper and after this the key went in pretty smooth and turned around wit ease. Me happy!

I went to work with the new key but took the original with me just in case. And boy was I glad that I did. After work I want to start the car. The key went in fine but it wouldn't turn around anymore. I'm wiggling with it as much as I could but no luck. I had to drive home with the diamond key with the PCB in it with a rubber band around it to keep it together.

So the next step will be butchering up the remains of my diamond key. After some searching I found the plastic valet key and I also have a second spare diamond key. So, having three keys in total I figure I can sacrifice one of the diamond keys. Plan is to remove the plastic from the blade and cut the end of so it fits in the gap in de flip key. I did this in the past with some of my friends VW flip keys without a problem. This way I have an OEM blade stuck on the flipkey housing. I now know the flipkey works and there are no issues with the car not reading the transponder so I'm sure I will work in the end. This way I can also cut the blade 1 or 2 mm longer than the one delivered with the flip key so I won't be having any issues with the key housing touching the ring surrounding the ignition lock and preventing the key from turning.

I'm gonna cut the key tonight at work so tommorow morning I should finaly have a fully functional flipkey. Fingers crossed...

Bimmerstyle

Probably the last update in this saga...

So, like I said, I went ahaid and butchered my diamond key to get the blade removed from the plastic. After some cutting, grinding and appying brute force both were separated. Next I've made the rough shape on a band sander and finished it off with a smal file until the blade fitted in the little hole of the flip key. I made the blade about 1 a 2 mm longer than the blade supplied with the flip key. It still folds in smoothly and doesn't rub at the plastic.

Next I went to the car to test the key. It goes very smoothly now. The key goes in and out the ignition with ease, as expected since it is the OEM blade, and turns smooth. No need to bend the key in to an L-shape or pressing it in the lock. By making the blade a little bit longer there is no need for any of those things anymore.

So, I'm a happy camper. A fully function key at last. But when I put it in my pocket, something started to annoy me. When the key fob rattles to my other keys it sounds as if I've got an empty TicTac box laying around in my pocket. Not a very "premium" sound to say the least. Also when you have it in your hands it sounds and feels very hollow and cheap. Time to address this problem.

The main issue is the key feels very light and on the inside it is completely hollow with only a PCB in it that's way to small for the size of the key. So what I did was sticking lots of layers of pieces of electrical tape on the bottom underneath the PCB. The layer is so thick it almost touches the PCB now. This dampens the plastic and makes it sound less hollow when it rattles against something else. Also in the back there was a hole were I've put a small block of stainless steel wrapped in some tape. This adds a little more weight to the key. I've also put some pieces of electrical tape on various places in the key and to finish off, in the remaining gaps I've put some foam earplugs. Why earplugs you may ask? Well because you can mold these in to a small shape but once in they will expand and fill the entire hole. Also they are made to dampen sound coming in your ears so I expected them to do the same inside the key fob.

Once this was all done my key looked ridiculous on the inside but once I've snapped it back together the difference was huge. The key sounds and feels now as if it was a premium key from a premium car make. A key BMW worthy. So for anyone who likes the look of the key fob but also thinks it sounds and feals cheap and flimsy I would suggest doing the same thing. Put lots of layers of electrical tape anywhere you can and stuff it with anything you can get your hands on. It really is a huge imrovement to the general feel of the key fob.

That's it. I'm done now. After three days of fiddling around with it I'm finaly happy with the result. Now I just hope the darn thing doesn't fall to pieces in a few weeks.

Rizbel

Thanks Bimmerstyle! You gave me an idea. I used hot glue to fill in the same spots. It doesn't feel cheap and flimsy anymore.

Bimmerstyle

Yep. Hot glue should do the trick too. Basicly anything that gives the plastic more body shoult work.

(looks even better from the inside than mine... )

dakest

I am glad this worked for you, in my opinion this is not worth the money for the fob and getting the key cut.
I had similar issues after getting the blade cut, I ended up doing the same with the oem blade.
Everything worked great then a week later the whole thing fell apart, had to rebuild my diamond fob and I'm using it now.
I would do this again if there were a fob that's not so flimsy.

Bimmerstyle

Me hoping it doesn't fall to pieces within a few weeks was actually in response to your post where it did fall apart. Fingers crossed that mine doesn't...

On the other hand, I didn't pay a whole lot for my key. It was about 14€ including shipping and cutting it didn't cost me any money since the locksmith messed up things.

For 14€ you'll be not hearing any complains from me now. It looks nice, feels nice and works as a charm now.

The only thing to regret is the fact that one of my diamond keys had to be completely vandalised to make this one work but I've still got a second (better looking) one plus the wallet key so I'm not too upset with it.

dakest

Well, I ended up using the blade from the flip fob as a wallet key, I have no spares which I should get one just in case.

Bimmerstyle

I Agree. A spare is always nice to have. You never need it but one day you will regret the fact that you don't have it.