The BMW Mini has been out for 11 or so years now so some of us have gotten quite a number of miles (read.... smiles) on our cars. For those of us who bought the first Minis we have remotely opened and closed our car doors a Zillion times and now find our remote key isn't up to the challenge of out lasting the car. Either the battery is dead in the key or the rubber cover over the actuators is worn through or some other destructive process has taken over. At any rate you find yourself having to actually insert the key into the door lock to unlock your car (heaven forbid!) or cough up $200.00 - $450.00 for a new key from MINI. (Price dependant on year of car and how many functions are programed into the key.) Then you have to wait a week for the new key to arrive. But I found a solution.......it is the

Mini Key Hospital
C/O Bruce Hart
hartnoise@earthlink.net

I sent him a destroyed key. He received the key and after a one day turnaround time he returned the key with a new clamshell cover complete with a chrome MINI emblem, a new battery and it functions perfectly. All the electronics, chips, switches and metal key shank have been installed in a new clamshell cover and the shank is very secure. It appears to be top notch work. Even the metal part of the key appears to have been cleaned and lightly polished. Total cost for my key..... $35.00 including the shipping!!!
So if your key has been diagnosed with a terminal illness
You might want to get a second opinion
Give Dr. Hart a call at the MINI Key Hospital.

 

Wow - that sounds almost too good to be true. I will keep that in mind if I ever need my key repaired.

 

If you need to REPLACE the key for a new one, call the BMW key hotline at 888-575-5397. I paid $163 for a replacement and it was shipped overnight to my house.
I had called several Mini dealers and they all wanted between $350-400 and I would have to make 2 trips, one to order it and then to pick it up.

Sent from my iPhone using NAMotoring

 

This is GREAT info!

 

Thanks to "flashback" for the shout out. Here is his key before:



and after:



For security, the blades have been blurred a bit. It was actually worse than it looks in the top photo. The lock button had actually fallen out as you can see, and the unlock "wings" were just sitting in there- turn the key over and they would pretty much fall out. There was no internal damage as he sent it to me just in time to avoid that. I can easily solder on new switches, however, if yours is in worse shape. I have switches, cases and batteries in stock to guarantee a quick turnaround for your key.

EDIT: I work on clamshell keys, flat, three button keys and the round, three button at the bottom keys used in the second generation cars. My new e-mail address is: "minikeyhospital@outlook.com"; the earthlink one above is no longer in working order.

Beds are available right now here at the MINI Key Hospital. Looking forward to admitting your key!

Sincerely,

Dr. Bruce