[zeroy]

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F45 218i 2016

This is a bit of a weird one - My car is a jap import (Im in ireland) and only came with 1 key which works perfectly.
I wanted a second key for peace of mind so went to a local garage who ordered a blank and programmed it - the Remote function I was told would likely not work and it turned out to be the case - the car could however be opened via the physical key and then by placing this spare key on the side of steering column it starts the car, the mechanic showed me this so happy days I thought (not cheap though!) ...
Later that evening I wanted to be 100% sure this worked before storing the spare key so I went over to the car with my OG key still in the house and proceeded to open the car driver door with the physical key, on entering the car not much was on, just lights on Parking brake + P on gear stick, not the BMW Logo im used to - from there I tried to start the car by placing that new key on steering column key pic and pressing on brake pedal and I get nothing, car wont ever start and nothing "wakes up" in the car.
So from several testing I conclude the following and im baffled:
- The spare key CAN start the car IF my OG key unlocked the car first
- The spare key CANNOT start car - or even wake it up - if I use it to open the car (with physical key, RF is not working)

I also tried by removing the battery in the new spare key and its the same, no start. Doing the same with the OG key works perfectly, the OG key always "wakes" the car up, even with no batteries in? Im very confused at all this... Anyway, will go back to garage with that new Spare key as its useless if OG key is required to unlock the car first...

Any help / information would be appreciated.

[DanG]

Sounds like you need to order a second key from a BMW dealer.