Snapped My Only Key!

I bent the key a bit too hard while pulling it out of the ignition and snapped the tip off it. It was bent already and waiting for an opportunity to go and my heart sank as the tip snapped off inside the ignition, the worst possible place. The gods must have been listening to me right then though, because the metal dust-flap clicked shut a moment later and ejected the key-tip like a CD - fucking lucky!!

It turns out the keys are coded [with a little chip inside the plastic that sends a signal to the immobilizer] so I couldn't just have a blank one made up that Saturday afternoon. Instead I had to leave the car stationary and unlocked until Monday when SafeSmart in Birkenhead opened again.

It cost £30 to have the key made up, but if I had a spare in the first place I wouldn't have had any trouble so I decided to future-proof myself by having a second one done to boot. Still not bad @ £60 [i'd have paid double that to get up and running again] and I have a spare - great, as I ran my BMW for 3 years with only one key and worried my arse off.