New Fob for +$500 or what else could I try ?

[alohart]

Back in the day, a key was $10, an early chip-key might have been $20, and a separate remote (just for door locking/unlocking) another $20.

Back in my day, a 3-month-old used 1965 425 hp Corvette Stingray convertible cost me less than $5k. However, my Corvette was stolen because it was easy for a thief to start with its keyed ignition switch. Vehicles have made a lot of security progress and there's been lots of inflation since then, so everything feels expensive.

Then they decided to get rid of the physical keylock (which saved them money) and now (since you can no longer just go to a locksmith to replace a key), they can get away with $300-500 for one of these stupid things.

You probably know that the i3 still has a keyed driver door lock and a physical key in its fob, so BMW didn't save much money in this way. I forgot that when a replacement fob is ordered, a new physical key must be ground for the driver door lock which adds to the fob's cost.

 

[tob1as]

Wow, some pretty emotional reactions here ... it's kind of like an expensive pair of sunglasses versus the street vendor version. It's a lot less likely that you will lose a $400 key as opposed to a $40 key. I bought my i3 used and the prior lessee (or someone else in the custody chain) managed to lose the second key. (I am leaning toward the lessee, because we found a singular running shoe under the driver seat, and this was after the car went from California to the Arizona dealer we bought the car from, and then to Colorado, assuming there must have been at least a couple detailing efforts as part of the process).
The part of getting the replacement key that was most annoying to me was that the independent (BMW certified) mechanic I took the car to, messed up the programming and bricked the fob in the process (likely because they treated it the same way as any other run of the mill BMW fob), and I ended up having to make another trip to a BMW dealer.
Finally, we can't forget that this is the same key as for the i8 (we don't even have an i3 icon on it), so proportionately to that car the price of this key is just peanuts. ... and don't get me started on us (in the USA) being denied the "optional" button that the European version gets, that people use for the remote start option in many cases, I believe.

 

[EvanstonI3]

One of the advantages of using the Dealer for this is that they can DISABLE the missing fob so whoever has it cannot use it on your car in the future.

 

[turns2stone]

To me, the high cost of an i3 fob is worth the security that leads to this cost. A human must process a fob purchase request and verify one's driver license and registration which take time ($$). Each i3 is limited to a fixed number of fobs during its lifetime, so someone must update a database to reduce one of the available fobs. The new fob must be programmed to the i3's VIN, probably also by a human, and then packed and shipped by a human. So there's a considerable labor cost associated with buying a fob.

I predict that any class action suit would fail when BMW explains the cost of security.

While I’m not doubting that any of these are genuine costs, it’s not a customer-friendly approach. I can buy (essentially) and unlimited amounts of Tesla keycards @ $20 each, and they’re just as secure as a BMW fob. Never have I wished my keycard had a lock button, that’s what phones are for ha.

 

[turns2stone]

One of the advantages of using the Dealer for this is that they can DISABLE the missing fob so whoever has it cannot use it on your car in the future.

The registered owner of the car should have access to do this. Again it’s a feature Tesla supports, so BMW should too.

 

[tob1as]

The registered owner of the car should have access to do this. Again it’s a feature Tesla supports, so BMW should too.

Also own a Tesla Model Y, and while I appreciate the ease of use of the Tesla approach, it does raise tons of privacy questions... I like the anonymity my i3 avails me -- especially with Muskolini showing his true colors lately (even appreciate the lack of cameras in the BMW these days ...)