Key reprogramming

[tt ted]

Hi all

Just after some advice really. Have a 2001 AMK. Have only ever had one key. Have seen that you can buy virgin keys with transponders on ebay, then get a locksmith to program.

But that makes a single key pretty expensive, ie £40 for key, then £100 ish for the re programming. Most locksmiths only charge £130 for the lot!

Is there a another way? ie buy an old key, buy the transponder from ebay, fit to the key, then just get it coded to car. Then code it to the remote locking system, then get the blade cut.

Any suggestions help appreciated.

Thanx

 

[sideways steve]

Hi Mate,

If you do not have the pin code for your instrument cluster then you will not be able to code a new key. You can retrieve the pin code (or SKC as some call it) but on the 2001 onward cars vagtacho will not work, you would need vagdash which is around £130 for a fake cable from eBay or £500 ish for a real one.

I can code any keys up to 2001 using VCDS and Vagtacho (if the person doesnt have the SKC code) and contrary to what people will tell you, you dont need a new "transponder" every time as you code the car to read the key not the other way around (which is what people think you do)

So to summarise,

Yes you can code a second hand key to your car but only if you have the pin code (will be 4 or 7 didgits long) which is usually found on a plastic tag you would have been given with the spare keys for the car.

If you do not have the pin code you would need to find someone with Vag-Dash to retrieve it as you cannot retrieve the code using vag tacho on your model year.

I know this because I have tried it myself. I have coded keys for Audi's and VW's upto 2001 but cannot code my own 2001 AMK S3 nor could I do Murrays 2003 BAM S3.

Hope this helps !

 

[_JMills]

Hi Mate,

If you do not have the pin code for your instrument cluster then you will not be able to code a new key. You can retrieve the pin code (or SKC as some call it) but on the 2001 onward cars vagtacho will not work, you would need vagdash which is around £130 for a fake cable from eBay or £500 ish for a real one.

I can code any keys up to 2001 using VCDS and Vagtacho (if the person doesnt have the SKC code) and contrary to what people will tell you, you dont need a new "transponder" every time as you code the car to read the key not the other way around (which is what people think you do)

So to summarise,

Yes you can code a second hand key to your car but only if you have the pin code (will be 4 or 7 didgits long) which is usually found on a plastic tag you would have been given with the spare keys for the car.

If you do not have the pin code you would need to find someone with Vag-Dash to retrieve it as you cannot retrieve the code using vag tacho on your model year.

I know this because I have tried it myself. I have coded keys for Audi's and VW's upto 2001 but cannot code my own 2001 AMK S3 nor could I do Murrays 2003 BAM S3.

Hope this helps !

Sorry for the thread hijack,

Ok, so from what I've just read would I be able to program any other key to the car Ie one from a breakers?

My car is a 1997 A4 1.8t, all I can get it too do at the moment is get the car to start run for 2 seconds then cut out, since then I've acquired a new key barrel and key to fit that barrel, would it be possible for someone with vag-com and vag-tacho to read my ecu to get the immo pin, and then swap the blade from the second hand key and program it to start the car with vag-com, reason being is the garage I dropped my car into told me they can't see a immobiliser chip in the key I used to drive the car around for a few months prior to this happening?

(Basically battery went flat and where the immobiliser was disables in the ecu it has forgotten and reactivated itself)

 

[tt ted]

Hi Mate,

If you do not have the pin code for your instrument cluster then you will not be able to code a new key. You can retrieve the pin code (or SKC as some call it) but on the 2001 onward cars vagtacho will not work, you would need vagdash which is around £130 for a fake cable from eBay or £500 ish for a real one.

I can code any keys up to 2001 using VCDS and Vagtacho (if the person doesnt have the SKC code) and contrary to what people will tell you, you dont need a new "transponder" every time as you code the car to read the key not the other way around (which is what people think you do)

So to summarise,

Yes you can code a second hand key to your car but only if you have the pin code (will be 4 or 7 didgits long) which is usually found on a plastic tag you would have been given with the spare keys for the car.

If you do not have the pin code you would need to find someone with Vag-Dash to retrieve it as you cannot retrieve the code using vag tacho on your model year.

I know this because I have tried it myself. I have coded keys for Audi's and VW's upto 2001 but cannot code my own 2001 AMK S3 nor could I do Murrays 2003 BAM S3.

Hope this helps !

Thanx it does help. This is whats great about this forum - ask a question get an informed answer quickly.

I will just have to get an auto locksmith then.

 

[sideways steve]

Sorry for the thread hijack,

Ok, so from what I've just read would I be able to program any other key to the car Ie one from a breakers?

My car is a 1997 A4 1.8t, all I can get it too do at the moment is get the car to start run for 2 seconds then cut out, since then I've acquired a new key barrel and key to fit that barrel, would it be possible for someone with vag-com and vag-tacho to read my ecu to get the immo pin, and then swap the blade from the second hand key and program it to start the car with vag-com, reason being is the garage I dropped my car into told me they can't see a immobiliser chip in the key I used to drive the car around for a few months prior to this happening?

(Basically battery went flat and where the immobiliser was disables in the ecu it has forgotten and reactivated itself)

In short, YES

You can reprogram your car to recognise another key from a different car assuming you obviously swap the blade over.

The common misconception here is that people seem to think teh keys used have a "chip" in them, thats a load of rubbish, they have what is basically an RFID tag inside, each tag has its own unique "code" When your key is in the ignition the RFID tag is energised by the pickup loop and its code is read by the immobiliser. If the immobiliser has been linked with the code it receives then your car will start, if not it will start then cut out. When you do the programming procedure you basically clear the memory locations from the immobiliser and re sycronising them with the replacement keys (which all have different RFID codes)

Some companies can "clone" an RFID tag and basically trick your immobiliser into thinking Key 1 and Key 2 have the exact same code. This is the method that the locksmiths generally use and is where the misconception about the actual key being coded has come from.

To explain it better, the Audi immo system can accept about 4 different keys from memory. This is because the immo is able to store data from 4 different RFID tags in its memory.

If you had all 4 keys and decided you wanted a 5th key spare, you couldnt actually program the car to recognise it without wiping out one of the other 4 keys. However if a locksmith "clones" one of the exisiting keys to make the 5th key, you could then have 5 working keys. But this is not how Audi have designed the immo system and therefore is actually a security risk as if that "cloned" key was to become lost you cannot clear the link to the car otherwise the original key would no longer work.

Sorry if thats a bit complicated but its kinda hard to explain it easily !

 

[Danio]

I can program keys after 2001 year if needed.

Programing is not so easy as Steve said. Also it depends what immo system your clocks have. Etc immo1, imm2 or immo3. The worse one and difficult to program is immo2.

 

[Jimgrim77]

Hi all

Just after some advice really. Have a 2001 AMK. Have only ever had one key. Have seen that you can buy virgin keys with transponders on ebay, then get a locksmith to program.

But that makes a single key pretty expensive, ie £40 for key, then £100 ish for the re programming. Most locksmiths only charge £130 for the lot!

Is there a another way? ie buy an old key, buy the transponder from ebay, fit to the key, then just get it coded to car. Then code it to the remote locking system, then get the blade cut.

Any suggestions help appreciated.

Thanx

Best bet it to buy authentic key from Audi (expensive) using chassis number and get it programmed by auto engineer. My tuner did mine. Key was most expensive element but works a treat and zero hassle.

 

[Danio]

Best bet it to buy authentic key from Audi (expensive) using chassis number and get it programmed by auto engineer. My tuner did mine. Key was most expensive element but works a treat and zero hassle.

It is not worth to spent so much money for new key if you have chance to do it cheaper.