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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > BMW E90/E92/E93 3-series General Forums > General E90 Sedan / E91 Wagon / E92 Coupe / E93 Cabrio > E90 Valet Key



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      02-17-2006, 09:31 PM   #1
tctic
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E90 Valet Key

I was surprised to find that the Valet Key can act as a master key just without the wireless remote control part. It can lock/unlock both the glove box and the trunk. I thought not allowing the valet key to have access to the glove box and the trunk was it's original idea?
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      02-17-2006, 09:34 PM   #2
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From what I understand it's not really meant as a valet key but rather an 'emergency' key .... however a valet key like the one that came with the E46 would be great.
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      02-17-2006, 09:38 PM   #3
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There is away to limit the access to the Glove box and trunk... In side the glove box there is a switch on the upper left corner to lock the trunk. Then you lock the glove box... and take the key out of the key fob. And give only the fob to The Valet. That way all they can do is open the door and start the car.... thats how you do it
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      02-17-2006, 09:41 PM   #4
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Yeah... kind of pointless. Why not make a 'normal' valet key?
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      02-17-2006, 09:44 PM   #5
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Why this way works Fine
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      02-17-2006, 09:49 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tctic
Yeah... kind of pointless. Why not make a 'normal' valet key?
Because there is a FOB to start the car and not a key; so you are going to carry around a valet fob? No thanks. I rather flip the trunk switch take out the metal key and give them the fob; problem solved and I don't have to carry an extra special key/fob, just the emergency plastic one which is a nice fit in my wallet. BMW is pretty smart in their thinking; a vallet fob/key is pointless in the implementation on this car.
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      02-17-2006, 09:51 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tctic
Yeah... kind of pointless. Why not make a 'normal' valet key?
You're saying the current system is pointless? You'd rather have two separate keys?
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      02-17-2006, 10:01 PM   #8
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what does fob mean? beside fresh of the boat..
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      02-17-2006, 10:07 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by longtran
what does fob mean? beside fresh of the boat..
There is a whole thread on that somewhere. It is essentially anything that dangles from a chain, originally used for a pocket watch, then keys. it is off german origin fruppe or something like that.
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      02-17-2006, 10:44 PM   #10
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I think I misused the word "Pointless" in my last post. I was just trying to say that taking the key away only defeats the purpose of having this 'emergency/valet' key because traditionally, this plastic key is seen as the valet key. Maybe this was the original intent of BMW with designing a key fob which allows you to detach the key from the main unit unlike some other key fobs which has the key permanently attached to the main unit.

I made this post initially because I always see the plastic key as a valet key that does not have access to the trunk or the glove box and was surprised to find out that the plastic key can unlock both the glove box and trunk.
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      02-17-2006, 11:07 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tctic
traditionally, this plastic key is seen as the valet key.
Not really true. BMW supplied emergency plastic keys in all of my recent cars. They also supplied (until the E90) a plain metal key which was the valet key. It could unlock the door and start the car, but not open the glove box or boot.
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      02-17-2006, 11:31 PM   #12
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The plastic key is NOT the valet key!!!

Leave the plastic one somewhere safe, and don't use it unless you either A) lose your keys, or B) lock your keys inside your car (given you don't have CA).
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      02-17-2006, 11:35 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JSpira
Not really true. BMW supplied emergency plastic keys in all of my recent cars. They also supplied (until the E90) a plain metal key which was the valet key. It could unlock the door and start the car, but not open the glove box or boot.
I know.. BMW used to provide an emergency key and a valet key until recent years when they decide to give us 3 keys in total instead of 4.
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      02-18-2006, 12:02 AM   #14
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You can't lock your keys in your car if you have CA, right? I thought I read in the manual that the doors will automatically unlock if the car senses the key still inside the car. If that is the case, what good is the plastic key?

I guess it is still useful if you were to lose both of the fobs. Is that its only use, or am I missing something?
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      02-18-2006, 12:12 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sdorn
I guess it is still useful if you were to lose both of the fobs. Is that its only use, or am I missing something?
Is that not a good enough use? It's an emergency spare key, which would of couse be very useful in an emergency.
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      02-18-2006, 12:14 AM   #16
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Yeah, that's good enough. There is just so much these cars do and so many functions for different things that I thought I might be missing something.
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      02-18-2006, 12:18 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nabutes
The plastic key is NOT the valet key!!!

Leave the plastic one somewhere safe, and don't use it unless you either A) lose your keys, or B) lock your keys inside your car (given you don't have CA).
I always have the emergency key on my person. It fits into the nifty zipper compartment in my BMW key wallet.
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      02-18-2006, 02:18 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JSpira
I always have the emergency key on my person. It fits into the nifty zipper compartment in my BMW key wallet.
I also keep the emergency plastic key in my wallet.

The point of the emergecy key is say for eg you are in a shopping center, and you lose your keys. The plastic key should be in your wallet - so that you can stilll open your car, then unlock and open the glovebox to get the fob adapter, start the car, drive home, get your other FOB and then goto BMW to get the old one deactivated and order a new one.

:-)

If you want to give your car to a valet - lock the trunk from the switch in the cubby and take the metal key out - that's what I do (when I take my car to the car wash place) and it works great!
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      02-18-2006, 06:19 AM   #19
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Tempted as I am to explain for the tenth time what each key is for and how they should be used.... I'm not going to. If you don't understand the keys to your car then you have a terrible CA who didn't do a proper orientation with you. And you are too lazy to RTFM.

How many of you are still trying to figure out what the strings on your shoes are for and why they keep flopping around?

For any of you that really want to know how the keys work, try doing a search.
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      02-18-2006, 08:34 AM   #20
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Speaking of people not understanding the function of the keys on this car, it may be a problem with the CA's. When I was first looking at the E90, there was a BMW salesperson who was trying to convince me that the spare key holder in the glove compartment was the place to "plug in your Ipod".

I tried a couple of times to explain to him that its for the spare key, but he insisted that the spare key can just be left in your wallet. I got tired of trying to explain the car to the salesperson and went to another dealer.

And for those who haven't read the manual, Broken1 has a good explaination of how the "valet" key works.
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      02-18-2006, 08:44 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CnoteMD
When I was first looking at the E90, there was a BMW salesperson who was trying to convince me that the spare key holder in the glove compartment was the place to "plug in your Ipod".
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      02-18-2006, 03:35 PM   #22
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My CA didn't explain much when I picked the car up but that's because he knew I could probably teach him as much as he could teach me. Actually I just wanted to hit the road, needed to get to a dinner. Otherwise I would have sat around and chatted it up with him anyway.

Plus, I always RTFM from start to finish when I spend over 40K on something
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