E30 OEM KEY OCD Thread

[bradnic]

Yes you should be able to pull the key from the drivers door in deadbolt position. The mechanism is a bit complicated though. You may have one of the parts in the wrong orientation.

[NeverEnough02]

I guess my best bet is to order the ignition lock based on the VIN and the cheapest key.
Either It won't match and I'll just use the new key to start (installed remote entry anyways) or I'll be lucky and it matches and I can use the master key to start.
Screw trying to rebuild it, too much hassle.

Thanks for your help guys.

Btw: Holding the new driver side lock (pic top left) in my hand, I can deadlock it, but I can't pull the key out in the deadlock position (90°). Is this normal? Not that I really need it, was just trying it out because the previous lock was broken and I never used it so I have no idea how that one worked.

Like I said above, the vin coded ignition tumbler has been NLA for a year now. Also after I ordered new illuminated keys by vin which work in all of the locks besides the ignition.

[BeirBrennerE30]

I just ordered a VIN Coded ignition cylinder in March 2019 from Blunttech.

[george graves]

Didn't know blunttech did that! Awesome.

[BeirBrennerE30]

Didn't know blunttech did that! Awesome.

I didn't either but figure I would ask after my local dealer, who I assumed was the only place I could order coded keys and cylinders from, was not very thrilled or helpful ordering stuff for a 30 year old car.

I would ask, I dont think the e30 locks, keys or ignition are specific to the e30 and were in a ton of cars from the time period and are more likely to still be available.

[bradnic]

I dont think the e30 locks, keys or ignition are specific to the e30 and were in a ton of cars from the time period and are more likely to still be available.

spot on

[Fusion]

Searching around it seems that the lowest coded ign. cyl. are NLA, the others seems to be available, so it depends which code you have and you may be lucky.
As far as I can tell, the 4 digit codes are cars without deadlock in the driver's door. All of them are compatible with E30, E28, E24.

32321153046 Code 1.001-2.900 (NLA)
32329069307 Code 3.001 ->
32329069308 Code 10.001 ->
32329069309 Code 40.001 ->

Also, I took out my old passenger door lock today and swapped in the new one. The old one was missing one of the wafers (same situation on driver's side), so someone definitely tried rebuilding them in the past and didn't have the correct wafers. My hope is that they bought a used set of locks and rebuilt based on the key and the key fit the ignition, that way all locks would be the same as the VIN coded ignition. Should find out this week.

[bradnic]

Order your coded key first. Dealer should be able to confirm your code. Then you can order the correct coded ignition cylinder if needed

[Fusion]

So the dealer doesn't see the code, but I got some new info today. They were a little confused, probably because they don't have to order locks very often.
First the guy thought the "CODE" for the part numbers was an immobiliser code, so I explained that it's the code used for cutting new keys. Then he told me that when he enters my VIN into whatever software they use to order parts, only the ignition lock with CODE 44000-> is not greyed out, so he can order that or the "generic" part with the key (random code).

Now, the locksmith told me I have either ISN773 code HB18xxx or ISN774 code HB44xxx (he gave me the whole numbers).
So it seems that BMW uses ISN774. And I now have high hopes that the ignition lock could match my current keys, unless someone swapped in a set of locks with the same 44000 range.
Should arrive within a week.

[LateFan]

Thanks to the OP and all those above for this useful thread. We have only one original illuminated key, with a lot of wear. Cheap hardware store copies have sheared off in the door - luckily we got it out with a long tweezers.

We rebuilt the drivers lock with the BMW kit. I was about to order the illuminated blank until I read this thread - best price I found is $68 at ECS.

I called my closest dealer with the VIN and he found that the illuminated key is still available, in the 10001 master series, cut for $131, so not much more really. They need the VIN, registration, title, your driver's license, and they can order it. Then we can order the BMW "General key" blank in steel and have them cut locally for spares. Our locksmith has the steel cutter.

Thanks again for the info here.

[LateFan]

Some follow-up:
Got our new BMW-cut flashlight key for $140 shipped. They were very helpful.

The key works perfectly in the ignition and the trunk. It will not open the door. (The door lock has been recently rebuilt with the factory kit)

Ideas? It is a hair thicker than the original. The original is very rounded off with wear. Maybe new sharp key with new sharp lock pins?....but then when you bought the car new everything was sharp and worked fine...

[Albie325]

Interested to see how this is resolved, I've already purchased the trunk and door lock rebuild kits but my big hesitation with ordering the new keys is this exact scenario.

[bradnic]

LateFan you replaced all the springs and tumblers on the door lock? assume it's the driver's door we're talking about? would be great to see the new and work keys side by side. Assume you've tried some graphite powder on the new key with the rebuilt lock.

what about the other locks - glove box, pass door.

[LateFan]

Hi -

I haven't been around lately. Yes, my son rebuilt the drivers lock with the factory kit with all the pieces. There was quite a bit of wear on some brass pieces.

We had a local old skool locksmith look at it and make a brass copy off the original and some numbers he looked up. It works perfectly in all locks. When you compare them with a magnifying glass, he showed us where they new BMW key isn't symmetrical as far as where the pattern starts on each side. There should be an equal flat on each side before the pattern starts (on ours). So if one set of tumblers was aligned, the opposite side where just off a hair and it won't turn.

We called the dealer we got it from, they were skeptical, then called back to say they had already reordered a new one for us. He says the sides are just right on this one. We sent him close-up pics of both keys.

Here's the first new factory key they sent. See the flat on one side and barely a notch on the other. I think they just cut it crooked.

[iansane]

Hi -

I haven't been around lately. Yes, my son rebuilt the drivers lock with the factory kit with all the pieces. There was quite a bit of wear on some brass pieces.

We had a local old skool locksmith look at it and make a brass copy off the original and some numbers he looked up. It works perfectly in all locks. When you compare them with a magnifying glass, he showed us where they new BMW key isn't symmetrical as far as where the pattern starts on each side. There should be an equal flat on each side before the pattern starts (on ours). So if one set of tumblers was aligned, the opposite side where just off a hair and it won't turn.

We called the dealer we got it from, they were skeptical, then called back to say they had already reordered a new one for us. He says the sides are just right on this one. We sent him close-up pics of both keys.

Here's the first new factory key they sent. See the flat on one side and barely a notch on the other. I think they just cut it crooked.

I just ordered new keys/cylinders from BMW last summer and had a similar issue. Unless it's perspective, your two sides don't match. They should be equal all the way up. I got two keys and one was perfectly even and worked great and one was off like yours (well, even farther) and the key didn't work in the cylinder. Told my local dealer and they cut a new key and it worked great.