My car is 17 years old. My keys are also 17 years old and look every bit of it. I got tired of looking at these shabby keys as well as having to push the buttons down so far to get them to work.
Here is a quick pic tutorial on fixing a key fob. It is easy and gives a well-worn key a quick and easy facelift. I watched a vid on youtube and thought: "hey, even I can do that."
Ordered a pack of 5 keypads off of Amazon (about 5 bucks) and here is the result...
Obviously, the key on the left is the "before" and the key on the right is the "after".
The back of the key pops off to reveal two tiny screws which are removed. Then the battery is taken out and the old rubber keypad is removed. You do have to be careful not to break the molding around the interior of the button holes as the new pad will be fitted around them. Also there is a tiny transponder chip (not pictured) that will fall out. Make sure it doesn't get thrown out or else the key will not function.
Before putting the new keypad in, you have to cut off the little part of the pad that protrudes off the main lock button. I used a scissor. Then you fit the keypad into the key and replace the battery over it and close it up. It takes all of 10 minutes for both keys.
Once everything is closed up you now have new keys for your old car.
IMO, certainly a better option than spending hundreds of dollars to get a new key from BMW.
It's also nice not to have to depress the buttons so deeply.
If you have some beat up keypads and want to give them an inexpensive facelift, give it a whirl.
Here is a quick pic tutorial on fixing a key fob. It is easy and gives a well-worn key a quick and easy facelift. I watched a vid on youtube and thought: "hey, even I can do that."
Ordered a pack of 5 keypads off of Amazon (about 5 bucks) and here is the result...
Obviously, the key on the left is the "before" and the key on the right is the "after".
The back of the key pops off to reveal two tiny screws which are removed. Then the battery is taken out and the old rubber keypad is removed. You do have to be careful not to break the molding around the interior of the button holes as the new pad will be fitted around them. Also there is a tiny transponder chip (not pictured) that will fall out. Make sure it doesn't get thrown out or else the key will not function.
Before putting the new keypad in, you have to cut off the little part of the pad that protrudes off the main lock button. I used a scissor. Then you fit the keypad into the key and replace the battery over it and close it up. It takes all of 10 minutes for both keys.
Once everything is closed up you now have new keys for your old car.
IMO, certainly a better option than spending hundreds of dollars to get a new key from BMW.
It's also nice not to have to depress the buttons so deeply.
If you have some beat up keypads and want to give them an inexpensive facelift, give it a whirl.
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