What is this plastic key for

[Sniper1]

Question for anyone that wants to take it. When I bought my 58plate 12GSA it came with two metal keys with two bmw alarm fobs attached, no "wallet" key, and if it is needed for re-keying the immobiliser circuitry can you get another one from BMW??? Thanks.

 

[GibGSA]

Gentlemen please,........... Its to be kept in a safe place together with your spare Ring Antenna and a bit of insulating tape, on the off chance the ring antenna goes tits up and you get the dreaded EWS on your dashboard.


or at least thats what I use it for.................

As for a spare key, I ordered a proper one from BMW.



Rgds GibGSA

 

[Wapping]

Question for anyone that wants to take it.......can you get another one from BMW???

Yes....

 

[piebaps]

and dont put it in the pannier boxes either

You could do if you removed the pannier boxes each night...............

I have a spare key gaffer taped to the inside of my boot. If I lose my boots and my keys I need shooting. Plus if anyone is brave enough to put their hand in one of my boots then he can have the bike as a reward.

 

[Sniper1]

Yes....

Short & sweet cheers Wapping

 

[Kremmen]

Don't panic!

Yes, the plasic key has a transponder in it.

If it didn't it would be a bit of key shaped plastic and about as much use as tits on a bull.

Fcuk it my plastic key wont start it.... spins it over nothing more..

 

[Wapping]

Fcuk it my plastic key wont start it.... spins it over nothing more..

Sometimes you just have to be lucky, I guess.

 

[Kremmen]

That's very true, i will be addressing the matter with Cannons quite soon.

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

My new yamaha has a big RED metal proper key as a spare.

 

[Toad]

My new yamaha has a big RED metal proper key as a spare.

??

What, 2 metal keys and a convenient plastic wallet key ????

 

[littleredrooster]

More fool you then, for engaging them in such a conversation in the first place.

What, during the lifetime of a vehicle - possibly through several hands - are the 'all the keys'? Was it the one, or two or maybe three or four it came with? Supposing it came with three and you simply lost one in the key drawer when you moved house, or lobbed one out with the rubbish?

There is no obligation to declare how many keys you have when taking out a policy, so they can have no way of knowing how many you possess at any one moment of the day or night. Similarly there is no obligation on you not to lose or temporarily mislay a key at any time, nor any obligaion to inform an insurer if you decide to get an additional key cut. I have four, I think, or is it three.... I forget..... Oh, and there is the one I ran over, but it still works, simply the rubber key loop ripped off... or did I throw that away, it's so difficult keeping track.

Of course, should your vehicle simply vanish and you cannot produce any key at all.... Then you may have some explaining to do... As, quite possibly, you handed the key and the vehicle to a thief and / or simply left the key in the ignition when you wandered off shopping....

We'll just call it straightforward lying or perjury, then?


...and it was only the first line of the conversation I quoted, just to clarify...my bad choice of words.

 

[Wapping]

We'll just call it straightforward lying or perjury, then?


...and it was only the first line of the conversation I quoted, just to clarify...my bad choice of words.

So, you never had the actual conversation with your insurer. That's cleared that up. Having established that no conversation took place, no lie would have been told.

Leaving that simple truth aside, you still have not defined how many original keys a vehicle should have, nor have you defined how many keys an insurer might expect to be returned. Nor have you thought anything about the circumstances of the theft itself in relation to a possible invalidation of the cover.

Of course an insurer might well expect two keys to be produced, one main key and one spare. But if I had a third key then I could hand it to a thief to steal the vehicle and then report a claim, still returning two keys. That would indeed be both fraud and a lie. If I was caught I would expect to be punished.

But let's look at an other example, to see if it still holds water. Let's look at matey who tapes his key into his boot but then somehow loses the taped up key in France or Austria when he takes his boots and socks off for his once a tour bath. Then a day later, has his bike stolen from a hotel car park in Italy whilst he slept with his main key safely tucked under his pillow. How was the bike stolen, nobody knows exactly, but it's definitely gone and theft is definitely covered. Would have his claim for theft denied as he is a key short? A key short out of how many? Two, three, four, ten, a hundred? Supposing it was a third hand bike that only came into his possession with one key but he sensibly had a spare cut, to tape in his boot, but now he's lost that whilst undressing. Are you somehow suggesting that matey is lying or presenting a fraudulent claim?

Either way, it's all frightfully irrelevant as your fictions conversation never took place.

 

[littleredrooster]

So, you never had the actual conversation with your insurer. <snip>

<snip>...Either way, it's all frightfully irrelevant as your fictions conversation never took place.

You didn't read what I wrote, did you?

The first line of my diatribe was true, viz: "So your bike has been stolen, sir - can we now have all of the keys and the V5?" The rest was a follow-on in a theoretical situation for your particular case. Sheesh! Do I have to explain everything?

I stand by my original premise - you are effectively aiding and abetting the theft of your bike if it is stolen using the hidden key.

 

[Wapping]

You didn't read what I wrote, did you?

The first line of my diatribe was true, viz: "So your bike has been stolen, sir - can we now have all of the keys and the V5?" The rest was a follow-on in a theoretical situation for your particular case. Sheesh! Do I have to explain everything?

I stand by my original premise - you are effectively aiding and abetting the theft of your bike if it is stolen using the hidden key.

I'll leave you to worry about it then.

 

[AberdeenAngus]

I stand by my original premise - you are effectively aiding and abetting the theft of your bike if it is stolen using the hidden key.

No you are not.
You wouldn't be aiding and abetting the theft of your bike even if you left the keys in it.
It would be unwise but not aiding and abetting.
You could say the same about anyone who (say) leaves a house window open. Are they 'aiding and abetting' a burgular.....No !

 

[robertspencer]

No you are not.
You wouldn't be aiding and abetting the theft of your bike even if you left the keys in it.
It would be unwise but not aiding and abetting.
You could say the same about anyone who (say) leaves a house window open. Are they 'aiding and abetting' a burgular.....No !

Talking about theft, you'll also have trouble turning the alatrm off with your plastic key, of course. Just don't be in a hurry as you'll need to hang around 4 or 5 days until it automatically cuts itself out.

 

[Little-Brit]

A couple of comments.

As I understand it on the current BMWs there are a defined number of keys per ignition/ecu, 4 I think. If you lose the last one you are looking at a huge bill for a major system replacement.

If you lose a key BMW are able to prevent that key from operating your bike. On that basis you'd be a fool not to notify BMW about a loss and to have the key barred.

If your bike was subsequently stolen you would be able to prove where all the active keys are, backed up by BMW.

Every winter there are cars stolen from outside houses where their owners have left them warming up on frosty mornings. Insurance companies won't pay out for those so and I can see them using similar logic to not pay out if you can't explain where all your keys are. Just my sinical view of insurance companies!

Derek

 

[Brian ROSEN]

Good advice

"When touring with a mate, we carry each others spare key." That is a really useful idea; A friend of mine was touring with someone who managed, at an autoroute stop, to drop the key down into the fairing. It became quite a long 'rest stop' before the elusive key was extracted from the partly dismantled bike!
(I was also surprised to find that my plastic key worked all locks and the ignition, including panniers and topboxe.) I regretted having bought an extra key when i bought the bike as they only give you one + plastic nowadays (in France However a few weeks ago, in the dark of my garage, I lost the key when it dropped down behind the ignition lock; Despite torches, inspection lamps and mirrors it has never been located and is probably lying at the side of the autoroute now;

 

[Deleted account LB]

Yes you can but you are limited to the number of spares they will issue as the thingy chip will only work for up to six keys (I think) by all accounts.

Dont ask me why but if you do go through this lot - which will total something like 9, then you have to change the lock on the bike and ring thingy.

There again, if you do loose this many you probably wont be able to remember where you left the bike and would not need a spare key anyway

 

[Wapping]

However a few weeks ago, in the dark of my garage, I lost the key when it dropped down behind the ignition lock; Despite torches, inspection lamps and mirrors it has never been located and is probably lying at the side of the autoroute now;

If it is not too late, have a look on the wishbone, possibly right at the back, removing the side panels if necessary. It is where all sorts of things collect when they do not hit the floor.