Well it is possible I suppose that the blanks are made of different materials - my locksmith said the most common was a brass alloy. It's possible that there are harder metal blanks out there as it's possible there are less competent locksmiths. Of course it may that other locksmiths say "no" because they don't have any tools to pair the remote to a LR because the cost investment isn't worth it.

Here's a photo of the two side by side



just to show, it can be done.

BTW I thought initially each side was different - then my locksmith said if that were the case why did it not matter which way up you insert the key. Doh.

 

Hey, I'm just the messenger, and thanks for the clarification. BTW, the dealers (2) that told me the same thing (almost verbatim) were the ones in Birmingham and the one in Mobile.
Locksmiths I called were only in the Mobile area.

Anybody have a locksmith source for those area? If not, anybody care to send me or post a locksmith that does that super-secret cutting?

 

Even though most of you complain about the cost of the key what most don't realize is a lot of people first try ebay and get screwed in the process only to pay even more from the dealer. Sorry but ebay is filled with unscrupulous people. You get what you pay for. The lazer cut thing for the key blanks works well to get in your car. not start it but get in it. Ebay needs to go after these people for false advertising and out and out lies. What they need to do is just prosecute these people and make ebay responsible for all the money lost. Its a scam that ebay perpetuates all the time.

 

I actually wouldn't mind so much paying the $260 for the key if that was it, done programmed and out the door. What p*sses me off is the one hour labour charge at $125 to program it. It doesn't take one hour. Ten minutes maybe. That's gouging plain and simple after the mark up on the key itself. The jargonism of laser cutting is rubbish - no lasers involved ever. It's a CNC milled key. I'm sure most LR dealers could do the copy/cut but it makes it appear to be justified @ $260 if it is specially cut and shipped from England.

I agree that this only makes it easier for the unscrupulous eBay seller to pull scams. But there's loads of eBay scams that have nothing to do with Land Rover keys. There are good eBay sellers and bad eBay sellers. eBay themselves don't care too much as long as they get their commission.

 

it doesn't take ten minutes. Trust me. from start to finish it takes about 25 minutes to hook up the computer and for it to actually come up and you are able to access the security program. It used to take alot less but LR changed computers and made it slower. Far slower. Disco Two keys take around ten minutes.

 

It will never work LR3 key is a special key with remote the code in the key must match with the body control module. That's why they order them to vin there is a chip in the remote. Beware you only have 24 spots in the body control unit and if you don't have all the keys at programming those keys will be disabled hope this helps

 

OK ten minutes was a stab based on my experience with an Audi service program running on a laptop - even at 25 minutes, that's a hell of an over run to get to an hour charge. The cynical side says that's why LR have their software running on slow computers ;-)

 

It was my understanding that the VIN # is purely used to pull the specification for the CNC milling of the actual key blank. Is anybody able to validate that the chip in the remote is pre-matched to the VIN # by LR in England ? In theory I suppose LR could pre-seed the remote with the expected VIN #, I just wonder if anybody knows for *certain* whether that's what really happens....?

I understand the body control module has a table of available key IDs and that a missing key that gets disabled during a programming session can later be re-enabled by showing up to the party with the others. I also hear that like swans, the keys mate with their LR soulmate for life, hence buying one of these "used" remotes with a new keyblank on eBay are money down the pan.

I started down this path because of the swirling pit of rumours about key replacements with the LR3. I've heard that you can't cut the physical key blanks because LR have a stockpile of some super hard metal that makes locksmiths cry into their cornflakes at lost revenue, that LR have tame dragons in Solihull with the fiery breath necessary to forge a replacement key (I just want a spare key, not bleedin' Excalibur!).....

If anybody who gets their paycheck from LR wants to drop me a PM I will respect their anonymity for information received. Especially if you're the guy who feeds the dragons.... ;-)

 

It seems as if people that re-sell their old, used, remotes are not giving buyers what buyers expect; perhaps unknowingly, too. I didn't know they wouldn't work until this thread.

Anybody bought and used remotes from Remotes, Inc? They sell what looks like a new remote with blank key blade. They would save us $100 off the dealer cost of $250.

The cutting is $40 at a dealer, and we haven't been given names of locksmiths that might do it for half that.

However the blade is cut, getting the remote programmed by a dealer is about $125. There doesn't seem to be a way around that charge.

 

Well it's one thing for someone to find a remote in their kitchen drawer from a LR they used to have and hope they might be useful to someone to recycle. I actually asked the dealer I bought the LR from to contact the previous owner and tell them I would pay $100 for the other remote/key if they had it but nothing came of it.

I actually have a remote from the guy you mention and had the blade cut for $15 by a local locksmith. Nothing special about it that required only dealer attention. This is the first myth that the metal is too hard or the key is too complicated. My locksmith laughed at that.

Now to the programming - I haven't been able to get my LR to accept it so far; I'm getting a challenge failed message with the software I am using.



I don't have a Faultmate MSV to test but a friend of mine does and he got his remote from the same place so we're in a parallel race ;-)

I'm headed to the dealer tomorrow to see if they can make my LR like the remote - as you say, if they can I have at least saved a benjamin over the dealer cost. The guy at remotesinc has been very accommodating and says he will refund me if it all fails.

I'd still like to know if the remote transponder is in any way special order to match the VIN # before the programming. I haven't heard anything yet. I may just ask the dealer tomorrow...if I hear anything I will of course report back.