Our Key Fob 66126955748 is now NLA (or backordered) and a friend has no keys

[oceansize]

Some good troubleshooting steps from George Hill here.

I would like to say, have they checked the battery… and the starter…

You don’t have to fiddle with the DME, car will even crank without a DME persent at all, so doing an “EWS delete” on that side yields exactly for a no crank.

Also not to throw mud at this shop, but I have heard so many stories that basically I assume “the other shop” isn’t able to do anything except swap parts, which often leads nowhere.

Supposedly they have checked the battery and their first intuition was the starter (I'm getting info from the owner), but then the owner told me about the key not opening the doors for the last few months. That could of course be that the key needs to be programmed via the turn off/on five times hold unlock and press lock three times deal. Then I was told it was a no start/no crank out of the blue, no warning or hard starts, so here we are and I don't think they have the proper software. The owner had to work today, but hopefully I can get down there with her tomorrow, hook up INPA, and check some stuff out. With the owner present I'll talk with the guys and relay George's advice. If I don't get good feelings about things I'll just pay to have towed to my house.

[sapote]

To do: insert key in ignition, open driver door, is it beeping? if not, turn key to ACC, is it beeping? If no then they are out of sync, not the starter or other parts are bad.

[oceansize]

To do: insert key in ignition, open driver door, is it beeping? if not, turn key to ACC, is it beeping? If no then they are out of sync, not the starter or other parts are bad.

If she does hear beeping does that rule out EWS/key communication problems? Seems a little too simple.

[sapote]

If she does hear beeping does that rule out EWS/key communication problems? Seems a little too simple.

yes.
this means if ignition sw is good then starter should get 12v to energize the solenoid and crank.

[oceansize]

Placing the current key in the ignition at any position with the door open yields no beeps. Found a local locksmith who had an ebay e46 key fob on hand and a programmer. With the new key he made in the ignition and the door open we have beeps. However, the car still wouldn't start, just a very very slight groan/whir when attempting. The starter may be a second problem. I did a quick EWS sync just to be sure, no change after that. I arrived at the shop 2 minutes after quitting time and the boys were anxious to head out so I'll have to go back tomorrow and try George's fuse recommendation to see if the car cranks. If it cranks then there is still a problem with the EWS. If it doesn't crank then starter is the likely culprit (and possibly the ignition switch I would think).

[sapote]

If it doesn't crank then starter is the likely culprit (and possibly the ignition switch I would think).

I don't believe in multiple parts failed at the same time.

It confirmed that the old key made no beeps and this is the main cause of the problem.

" However, the car still wouldn't start, just a very very slight groan/whir when attempting."
Does this mean the engine turning slowly, or just the starter making the noise? Someone must look to see if the belt moving during key tuned to START. Measure the batt volt before cranking. I think the batt is near death as people working on it with door opened a few days.

With batt fully charged and if still not cranking (belt not moving), unplug the ews cable, then measure voltage at the inner large pin which is pin2 or pin3 depends on the production year; it should have 12v when key tuned to START. If not then ignition sw is bad. (The outer pin is pin1 which is to starter)

If inner large pin has 12v, then short out this pin to pin1 with a fuse, then starter should crank when key turned to START. But I don't think you need to do this, as the new key beeps and the starter should crank with charged batt. Maybe it needs to be synced with ews using inpa or Scanner 1.4