Lost second set of keys help

[jvulture]

Long story short I lost my second set of keys. Right now my only option is to go to dealer and have new keys made up. However, this requires registration or title to prove I'm indeed the owner of the car. My registration is in the glove box and my title is in a folder in the trunk. Yes I know my title should not be in the trunk but I needed it recently and thats where I left it. Anyways, I dont have BMW roadside assistance to they cant remote unlock. My insurance doesnt offer keyless entry for bmws and AAA came but could not get the car unlocked. So I have a few questions for anyone with experience with this situation.

1. Even though the car is locked if I am able to reach the center dash unlock button near the hazard lights will that unlock the car from the inside? Will it trip alarm? Im thinking it wont unlock.

2. If I reach for the trunk unlock button in the drivers seat will that unlock the trunk? Will it trip alarm?

3. If I go for the glove box to try and grab regi will that trip alarm?

By "reach for" I mean prying the window open just enough to get a long stick in there. T

This situation sucks. Someone help me.

[Crimson92]

Pretty sure all of those will trip the alarm.

[MiniXP]

Everything to get it to unlock is going to trip the alarm, you just kind of have to deal with it. It turns off after a few minutes I think, I don't know the exact amount of time.


I locked my e46 key in my trunk and this is what they had to do to unlock it.

Hit the central unlock button twice, then pull the door handle twice. The alarm will start going off when you open the door.

The guy from AAA that came didn't know this, but he had the necessary tools, so I just told him how to do it. I actually had AAA call me back twice saying no one could do it because it's a "high security" car. Finally they got someone to come from like an hour away.

[jvulture]

thanks for the info. If I cant convince the dealer that im the owner with the overwhelming amount of paperwork I have like insurance, reciepts, photos, etc, I will have to jimmy the car myself. Im confident I can do it but it will take time. Im in a public lot at the moment so Im just concerned ppl will be like yea this guy is stealing a car.
I had a AAA dude come, he gave it like 5 minutes and then was basically like f this and left.

[Mike_L]

Where is the first set of keys? Its gonna take time to get a key. BMW gets them from Germany, at least that what they told me. I only got one fob with my car, and they said they had to get the fob from Germany and code it. I don't even know if thats possible without having a working key.

[jvulture]

The guy at the deal said 1-2 days. Ive heard Jersey is also a source for fresh keys. Maybe its coming from there.

[Mike_L]

Woodcliff Lake? Its possible. I got lost there once (was looking for a dealer), and its a massive facility. No idea what they actually do there, so maybe its a distribution center.

[bimmerbuff]

I would try the stick to the central locking button. If the car had Comfort Access, you could try a stick the ignition button, then lower the window.

How did you lock the keys in the car in the first place?

[jvulture]

I didnt lock them in the car. I know its almost impossible to do that. I lost my jacket which had my keys in them. Unfortunately this was my second set.

[jvulture]

Dont mean to bring this back to the top but I'm going to describe how I eventually got out of this for archive sake.

Anyways, went to dealer with some insurance information, license, id, etc, They were able to order me a physical key, the one that slides into the fob, for $50. Picked that up next day and was then able to get into my car to get registration is the glove. Brought the registration to the dealer and they were able to order me key fobs. I beleive a title would work as well, not positive. I bought 2 new fobs which totaled at $500. I was expecting to fork over at least $1200 after hearing even one key could run up to $600. I was surprised at the price for 2. Depending on how early you put in the order they can have the new fobs by next day. Old fobs can still turn on the car so be wary. They can be programmed not to if you wish. Ugh what a mess.

As a side, if you bought/leased the car through the dealer they can order new fobs without going through all these credential checkpoints.

Good luck to anyone in the future reading this. Hopefully some worthwhile info here.

[bimmerbuff]

Got it. Glad you got all of it resolved.

[Mike_L]

What dealer got you 2 for $500? Bayside quoted me $389 for 1 plus an hours coding ($145).

[jvulture]

Originally Posted by Mike_L

What dealer got you 2 for $500? Bayside quoted me $389 for 1 plus an hours coding ($145).

Habberstad on the north shore. They didnt mention anything about coding. All they said was hold the fresh fob in the ignition and give it a few seconds to code itself in. When its finished programming the car will grab and hold onto it like it usually does. Im thinking coding might have something to do with comfort access not sure though. Ill take a look hopefully tomorrow.

[Mike_L]

Yeah, I don't have a place to put it in the dash. Thats probably why it has to be coded.

I know Habberstad. They did all the Dinan mods on my 540.

[bimmerbuff]

Originally Posted by jvulture

Habberstad on the north shore. They didnt mention anything about coding. All they said was hold the fresh fob in the ignition and give it a few seconds to code itself in. When its finished programming the car will grab and hold onto it like it usually does. Im thinking coding might have something to do with comfort access not sure though. Ill take a look hopefully tomorrow.

The replacement key is initially registered to your car at the factory, so it's not a "blank" key. When you pop the replacement key in the holder slot or hold it up to the steering column on newer cars, the key registration to the car is completed. You have to have a working key to do this though, since you can't complete the registration without unlocking the car and starting it.

I would probably want the dealer to deregister the key that I lost though. I don't believe there's any way you can do that yourself.