I wisely purchased a Z4 with only one key (enough said and read). Have members had experience of replacing keys? I have the number of a guy whose key services come round and programme new keys for your car at your home - don't know about cost yet. Any thoughts?
Key to the problem
- Thread starter paulgs1000
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I believe the stealers charge something like £160 for a new key.
paulgs1000 said:
I'd be fascinated to hear from one of these companies exactly what they do.
Aside the fairly simple matter of cutting the key and programming it to work with the alarm system there is the transponder that has to pair to the ignition to start the engine.
I'm interested if they somehow replace this in the car, original key and new key with a matching set, or something else.
Thanks all 
I'll give this guy a ring and find out what he does and for how much - he's on holiday till the 30th but I'll get back to the forum.
I'll give this guy a ring and find out what he does and for how much - he's on holiday till the 30th but I'll get back to the forum.I'm curious too. AFAIK, the transponder bits are mostly identical, only the mechanical part is matched to the car. There is a unique electronic ID#, the EWS module uses it to identify the key, but doesn't care what the number is. The transponders are synched to the car during the initialisation procedure, that's why you have to synch all keys at the same time. You don't need a matched set per se before initialisation. So if they somehow sourced a proper transponder key head (BMW claims they are the only possible provider), then cut the key shaft, then it should synch to the car along with the current keys without issue.
Don't really know for sure, that's why I'm curious about what they really do too.
BTW, if you need to code more than six replacement keys to the car (10 total), you can do so by replacing the EWS module, but only BMW has the code that needs to be inserted to match it to the existing ECU. Compared to the key cost, the EWS is a bargain, so don't worry too much about the six key limit.
Don't really know for sure, that's why I'm curious about what they really do too.
BTW, if you need to code more than six replacement keys to the car (10 total), you can do so by replacing the EWS module, but only BMW has the code that needs to be inserted to match it to the existing ECU. Compared to the key cost, the EWS is a bargain, so don't worry too much about the six key limit.
Btw, how many keys should the z4 coupe come with? Mine came with two, however the owners manual also shows a third smaller key that is said to be designed not for everyday use, but instead to be kept in a safe place. Does anyone have all three, and should I have also got three (bought it used last week).
Yes, mine came with three. The two 'proper' keys are colour coded (red & blue) and the third one is a simple moulded plastic stripe which doesn't have any of the electronic prowess of the proper two keys but will allow you to manually lock/unlock and start/stop the car.
To be pedantic, It's actually not a valet key, but an emergency key.Georgio said:
A valet key is designed for valet parking - it allows the car to be opened and closed, and the ignition to be started, but will not open the glovebox or boot (so that the valet parker can't steal anything). It achieves this by having an extra metal line on the physical key bit. I have one of these for my M5.
An emergency key, on the other hand, like the Z4's, allows you to open the doors and glovebox, but not start the engine (as it doesn't have a transponder in it).
Right. Something doesn't add up with the EWS documentation. It has space to store data for 10 different keys. Then it says you can program up to six replacement keys, implying four segments are taken by original keys, but I count only three. Where's the fourth transponder key?
Oh well, plenty of examples of erroneous documentation. No wonder we're confused. :?
Oh well, plenty of examples of erroneous documentation. No wonder we're confused. :?