BMW Blog

My baby has alot of miles on her and started appears to be having problems, my key goes in but I sometimes experience problems with turning it. Before it would sometimes at the end of a ride not go out, but since last night it gave me 10 minute struggle of turning the key to start the car.....I called the stealer and he says that most likely tumbler is collaped and needs changing, which runs around 250 parts alone. What should I do? Is instalation dificult? :help

SoS, what should I do?

At 250$ I would most certainly call around for a different price. I changed the tumbler on my 7 series and, although a bit pricey, wasn't anywhere near that much cash. You might try a little lubrication (don't flood it) in the keyhole and see if that helps. If it does, your problem is just a dry tumbler. If it doesn't help then you may very well need a new one. If you don't feel comfortable with changing it yourself then you're at the mercy of whatever shop prices are. This is a large reason to learn to work on things that require mechanical massaging.

But what choice do I have? Is't the tumbler available only from the stealer since it must be imported from germany and accordingly fitted to my car so I keep my keys?

Did you try the easy stuff like shooting some wd40 in there to see if it frees it up?

But what choice do I have? Is't the tumbler available only from the stealer since it must be imported from germany and accordingly fitted to my car so I keep my keys?

-Yes it may only be from the stealer (it does come from Germany but don't know if it may be availabe from other sources) and yes it might cost that much if you need to have it "fitted"(?) so you can keep your key. I was faced with that proposal as well and decided that the extra expense of matching my current key was not worth a lot of extra money. The tumbler comes with a key, you have a key to your doors and that's how it will appear on your key ring. So you have one more key to account for, how much is that worth to you? From what it sounds like, the problem isn't in the electrical contacts like mine was but simply a mechanical difficulty in the tumbler itself if you've described the symptoms accurately. This is certainly worth the time and trouble for you to go out to your car with some lube and try to determine if you even need a new cylinder. Have you even tried this yet?

Yes, in the past I lubricated the starter but it did not seem to do any good, I'l try to do it again and see if that helps. Thanks a bunch for your input guys.

I wasn't suggesting applying any lube to the starter itself but rather to the ignition keyhole. What did you do try in the past? What product and how much? Did you work the lube in there enough? If you feel that you did put enough in and worked it to no avail then perhps this would be a job for the locksmith replacing the tumbler rather than the entire ignition switch (there is a difference on the older models). One if a lot less expensive than the other. If it is a matter of physically being unable to turn the key then it's the tumbler, if the key turns and the car doesn't start then it's new switch time.

Before the winter I tried one of those lubricants that suppose to keep locks from freezing thinking it would do me good, and I did't use all that much, this time I'l just get wd40 and apply ALOT (is it possible to overflow it?). And I'm almost 100% possitive that it's the tumbler, not the ignition since the key does't have a problem with starting the car it's when I have to insert/take out the key that give me problems.

Well I wouldn't flood it as there is an electrical connection in there. I usually apply lube directly to the key and work it into the tumbler that way. I do this a few times to make sure that there's enough in there to fix whatever it could. If this doesn't help then do look into just having another tumbler put in and just get used to the idea of having two keys on your key ring as it's far cheaper than getting a whole new switch and then having the key matched as that's where the 250 price tag comes in.