If your key spins, you better fix it... fast

[96cali]

A general headsup for everyone...

I just got my ignition key cylinder replaced by Brett at Koalamotorsports. Didn't leave me stranded, but it can very easily if your key spins freely ever. This hardly ever happened to me (2x/yr?) but happened to brett 4 times while it was in the shop recently(yes, I belive him :tongue: ). There is a tiny tab that eventually wears down and refuses to catch. If that happens, they can no longer pull the cylinder they must rebuild a large part of the steering column. You must order the cylinder ahead of time with the VIN, copy of your drivers license and registration in your name. Cylinder comes from the motherland I believe, already fit to your key. Getting it out can take 5 minutes or an hour (like it did today), installing the new one is easy. $80 part, 1 hour labor.

BTW that little tab is a security measure meant to foil someone with a screwdriver popping the cylinder. Guess that makes me happy.

[Platanos]

thought this might add to your thread......http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthread.php?t=8540

[96cali]

Oh man you got stuck bad. Sorry I didn't have this info sooner but sounds like you knew what you were doing. Me, I'd have no clue. Thanks for posting that.

BTW they worked for an hour to get a wire/rod/pin down into the slot. And unless Brett is wrong, and I doubt it, the magnets are not the issue. There is a 2mm x 5mm flange that breaks off over time.

[bimbim]

is that flange on the housing part? I need the housing then, anybody got one?

[albi901]

hi guys,

i thought that a spinning ignition was a security feature??!!

i'm thinking this because when i purchased my beemer and went to pick it up the dealer (ex BMW main dealer mechanic, know his ****) showed me around my new pride and joy and i asked him how to work alarm etc. etc. etc.

went to turn engine on and turned the ignition only for the barrel to start spinning...........puzzled look i gave dealer bloke :?

he told me that it was a securtiy feature and is there to stop theiving scum sticking a skrewdriver into ignition! to get over this problem just turn steering wheel until it locks then key should stop spinning! aparently so he told me it started spinning as i started turning key to quickly and it didn't have time for sensor (or woteva's in key.....transponsder, just remembered) to register.

Dont know why he would have told me bull**** as he is a spot on bloke.

anyway just thought i'd share my experience on this, i may be talking bull but only going by what i heard :rolleyes:

[bimbim]

I'm lost, so u turn the steering wheel until it locks, then the key engages?

[albi901]

yeah ok let me explain it better :rolleyes:

just re-created spinning barrel this morning, it happens if you dont fully insert key into barrel before you start spinning!

Noticed someone else is having similar problems:
http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthread.php?t=10352

bimbim your part of this topic aswell :biggrin:

Right here goes..........this is what i did (on purpose this morning)
• inserted key (not fully, only had about 5mm to go but not quite all the way in) and started to turn ignition and barrel starts spinning
• next......make sure key is fully home!
• grabbed steering wheel and turned it to the left to activate steering lock, whilst doing that keep turning the key in the ignition (key should be fully inserted by the way) and you should feel key/barrel catch on somting!
• when it catches give steering wheel another tug which should realease steering lock and then barrel should stop spinning and your off.

Takes me a fraction of a second to sort spinning problem and its sort of simultaneuos action........spin key & jiggle steering wheel at same time sort of action :biggrin:

i've come to the conclusion that i'm not very good at explaining things but give it a go :eek:

i couldn't get it sorted at first but now when it happens i can sort it without any bother!

just make sure you insert key properly into ignition barrel before you start your turn...............i know your keen to get off and running but be patient........good things come to those who wait :wink:

as i said before i maybe talkin bull but it works for me and it what i was told.........your barrell might be knackered but who knows :smile:

[marcopolio]

Hey, yeah in my car its the same. If you don't put the key in ALL the way it will spin, but all you have to do is push it in that last little bit and try again. Don't even have to jiggle the wheel. I wasn't sure if this was a problem or one of those ingenious German things. I can never tell the difference.

[96cali]

What you guys are saying makes sense to me as all I had to do to fix the spiining key issues was lock the wheel or reinsert the key. However, Brett is about as experienced as they come on bimmers. Hard to imagine he is totally in the dark on this issue... :confused:

Kinda moot now for me!

[saem89]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tETEtb5Yr_o


this will help alot and save you money

[bazar01]

Make sure that when you pull the key out of the ignition lock cylinder, you hear a click, then turn the wheel a little to make sure it locks.
If you don't hear the click after pulling the key out, next time you put the key in and start the car, the key will just spin.

[projekt EPiK]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tETEtb5Yr_o


this will help alot and save you money

^^^^^^^^^^^ this is AWESOME. not really the video, but the info in the comments is what i needed. never did get the lock cylinder out, but i reset the ignition by pulling the red cap on the back, and then put a screw in the base of the ignition casing to keep the cylinder from spinning.

wife went to drive the car tonight.. put the key in and it just spun. to make matters worse, it was stuck in ON position.. not started though. screwed with it for over an hour trying the procedure in the vid.. then took a break and read further.. finally got the car started and key working again. did it 10x in a row to make sure it was right. luckily this happened in my driveway.

[NeoMishMoo]

Wait epik, what did you do to get it to work? Did the entire procedure in the video?

[jenkinskg]

Just had this Sunday
Removal using hairpin did not work
Ended up drilling bottom of cylinder to push release of cylinder
Turned wheel unlock
Removed switch to allow use of key screwdriver to start car

Went to dealer today to order new cylinder, $115