Chip mounted on ring antenna trick

[Jenbme]

Upon obtaining the 2000 540i I was given came the broken apart key Fob. Apparently the previous owner had no success in their attempt at changing out the battery in it. Well after taking a look at the little circuit board under a magnifying glass I possibly found a reason why. Assuming that while they were prying and poking around on it they somehow slit some of copper wiring that was wrapped many times around a component on the board. I was only given this one key so I was curious about the odds of having this idea work out or not. Has anybody heard of this type of trick shown on the following video? Upon obtaining the 2000 540i I was given came the broken apart key Fob. Apparently the previous owner had no success in their attempt at changing out the battery in it. Well after taking a look at the little circuit board under a magnifying glass I possibly found a reason why. Assuming that while they were prying and poking around on it they somehow slit some of copper wiring that was wrapped many times around a component on the board. I was only given this one key so I was curious about the odds of having this idea work out or not. Has anybody heard of this type of trick shown on the following video?
https://youtu.be/7vv2YX24fWw

[bossman1]

If the key you currently have starts the car you should be fine. Just order a new key and have it cut by a locksmith. Then the best option is to take the transponder chip and place it in your new key and you will have a fully functional non-broken key.

[geargrinder]

JennyJenny. Who can I turn to? Not you apparently.

I see your video and raise you one video.



Love the 80's creepy peeping Tom video. I really want that Tele he's playing though. That thing looks sweet. Anyway.

That OTHER VIDEO is a completely stupid stupid stupid video. That is such a stupid video you should ask a mod to delete this thread to save yourself the embarassment of people seeing what a stupid video you linked to. What a moron that guy is. Good lord. That is not EVEN REMOTELY a "transponder key bypass" (as he has labeled it). He is taking a good known authenticated RFID chip FROM A WORKING OLD ORIGINAL KEY and sticking it to the ignition. That's not a bypass. That's just "taking the actual good working transponder chip out of a working key and then tape it on the antenna ring like a frickkkin retard". If he wasn't a moron he'd buy a key blank on the internet that has room inside for the transponder chip, swap the chip over to that, then just drive around normally.

I told you a few times that probably your key is completely effed up from the PO hacking away at it. The key ID screen you posted clearly says "key invalid" so indeed I'd have to suspect your key is either effed, or, PO effed up the sync with it some time ago. Yes confirming that stuff is hacked up inside may confirm that although whether that coil you see nicked up is the problem or not is unclear. Almost doesn't matter.

Generally if the starter turns, the key is fine, so one of these things must be true:

1. PO naively rewired the EWS - starter wire to the ignition to try to get the car to start, or,
2. There's some very rare condition where where the key is half-recognized allowing starter to turn but still interfering with the DME sync and engine start
3. Longlong shot maybe the EWS module itself is borked and acting up.

I'd put odds like 75% on #1 and 20% on #2 and 5% on #3. Maybe even more for #1.
I've seen weird key problems when antenna or key is really showing odd symptoms (your symptoms are odd.... key invalid yet starter not disabled...) but its super rare.

Why EWS-DME sync won't complete I"m not sure but it may be it requires a good key in the ignition to complete. That said you're getting those EDIABAS API errors which means something is wrong with your setup and it is having difficulty talking to the modules, so I'd make sure you have flawless communication first with your cable.

If I were you I would:

1. Fix the comms error you're getting and see where that leads you (aka can you get EWS-DME sync to complete... you are trying this with ignition on but car not running, right?)
2. But also and anyway... just order a new dealer key. It should work right out of the box (you'll need a title or reg in your name to get that BTW) . It won't be cheap but your current key is effed and this way you'd take that out of the picture completely. Hell you should always have 2 keys any way for emergency purposes.
3. If you still have issues w/ EWS after that then you'd have to consider the module being a problem but I'd reassess after doing steps 1&2
4. If and when the car starts running w/ a new dealer key, THEN maybe sometime you can get somebody with an AK90 to see if they can make that old existing key work.

[Qsilver7]

Just an FYI to share with this forum, too. This info was posted in your thread on BimFest...hope it helps explain why the video doesn't apply to your situation.

Not being able to see the type of key you have...and your model year is on the cusp of perhaps having either type...I'm going to assume that you have the newer diamond-shaped key that has the rechargeable battery inside.

If I'm assuming correctly...then the video you posted above doesn't apply to your situation. The new style keys that have the rechargeable battery inside are sealed, and the EWS transponder chip is soldered to the IC board inside...and the copper wiring you referred to...is the induction coil which is also a part of how the EWS transponder get's powered (along with the ring antenna) in your key. So removing the EWS transponder from the IC board and taping it to your ignition...will not power it up. And based on what you told us...the copper induction coil is borked.

{this is what the new style/diamond shaped remote key looks like and its EWS transponder location}

The old style remote keys that uses a 2016 replaceable battery (or two 1220 batteries) is set-up differently (like your video) and has an EWS transponder chip that has the induction coil built inside the autonomous chip...which can be easily removed from the remote key and placed inside another key or "taped' to the side of the ignition cylinder.

{this is what the old style remote key looks like and its "autonomous" EWS transponder location}


{you can see in the illustration below how the old style remote's autonomous EWS transponder can be taped to the ignition cylinder (like in your posted video) and get powered by the ring antenna}

Again, if you have the new style remote key...the video you posted will NOT work in your situation because you don't have an autonomous (stand alone) EWS transponder chip. Your remote's EWS transponder is soldered to the keys IC board as well as the "borked" copper induction coil.

Hope this helps shed some light on how the EWS feature of your remote key works. The FZV (central locking) and DWA (anti-theft alarm siren system) are two other features of your remote key...but they operate differently/independently but in conjunction with the EWS features.

[X3 M40i]

I just started on bimmerforum ans have no idea how to post a question to the forum in general so I'll just try here. I just bought a 2000 528i as a project car, it came with a lot of engine problems. I got all of those sorted and adjusted the rear tire enough to drive straight for the alignment rack. Then I got in it to see how it would run and turned the key and no start. everything comes on like it did 5 minutes ago, now the starter wouldn't turn over. ran a scan and came back with DME-EWS interface. Looked it up on Google and said to check antenna ring. Taking the ring off, the little coil wires broke(of course), now after coming home and looking at the forum, I'm at a loss. I know I need a new ring, but not sure if I needed to do it in the first place. Any help would be greatly appreciated.