90 525i new Ignition Key wont turn to crank

[VWtechCA]

Hello all!! Hope everyone's cars are being good this week!

Id like some help from you experts!

Ive got an aging 90 525i and need some info regarding the Ignition keys. I lost my entire key chain 2 days ago and have the spare only now. I had the dealer order me a key to my car. i went to get it and when we tried it it wouldnt start the car, then it was hard to remove and when i tried my old spare (was working fine on the way over to the dealer) it doesnt go to the crank position. The guys at the dealer tried messing with it for some time and gave up. he told me to leave my OLD key in and disconnect the battery and then when i need to go somewhere to reconnect and crank....???? Seems like non of the them know the older cars. Is this car equiped with a electronic key ring?? Ive read some posts and its not clear if mine has it or not. how can i tell? The dealer says to replace the entire lock cylinder because the old key made the cylinder get used to the old pattern and now the new pattern wont work!??!? Sounds like Bull to me.
What do you guys think?

[LouieD]

I have the same car, and it does not have a "chipped" key. The theory that a fresh key won't work properly in an old cylinder may be right. I used to cut a lot of keys for Honda cars and some of the older cylinders really put up a fight with a fresh cut key, but if I duplicated an old worn key they always worked. Sometimes the new sharp key may not be so welcomed by the worn tumblers inside the cylinder. I would find a locksmith in your area that can work on the cylinder and ask how much to redo the cylinder to fit your new key. Also you can check the local yards and see if they have a good used cylinder with keys, but then you would have two keys or would have to have all the other cylinders re-keyed to match. Good luck.

[HausBimmer]

I bought an ignition lock for my '89 535i that I didn't use

02STEERING LOCK109/199232311155240$109.93+core

Would sell cheap if you need one.

[David325e]

That sounds bad about your old spare not working. But, you can buy a black plenty of places. On ebay even socal speed shop has BMW keys. I'd recommend the lighted key, its bulky but a nifty novelty. Anyway, buy a blank and take it to a hardware shop along with your old spare. I found a local harware chain near me that has a quality key cutting machine and can do plenty of different keys.

For me it was around 20 for the blank key and $1.74 for the key cutting and a snickers. Much better than the $54 for one from the dealer.