I changed the battery in my second car key fob and now it won't open the car doors. I followed the instructions in the owner's manual to re-set the key fob, but it did not work. I also tried a few online sets of instructions.

Does anyone have experience with this?

Richard

 

I used one of the procedures I found online and it worked. I was actually transferring to a newer key fob since my old one had cosmetic issues. I used the electronics from my old key fob in the new fob after I read that the electronics are keyed to the car and another key that has been programmed to another car won't work.

 

I have a 2017 s3 and am having the same issue with my spare key, how do you program it again?

 

There is a section in the owner's manual of my 2009 A4 that says how to program the key buttons for the doors. I did this and it worked. However, when I turned the key in the ignition to start the car, the engine turned over for a second, then stopped. I think the word "LOCK" appeared on the display under the speedometer. I did some research and found out that there is an immobilizer system in these cars. There is a chip in the key fob that is read by a device where the key is inserted. If it is not matched to the car, the car goes into immobilizer mode.

Fortunately, the second key still worked. Fearing that I might make things worse by fiddling with it further, I took the car into the dealership. They charge $100 to program a key, but could not program the second key and even got the car into a no start state, which they managed to get it out of eventually (fortunately for me). They ended up not charging me.

Recall that what I did was buy an nice newish key fob off eBay and swap the mechanical and electronic parts from my old beat up key fob into the new one. Simple, right? No! Now I can see an area in my old key fob where there could be an additional electronic chip that gets read by the car. I thought it was on the circuit board that I put in the new key fob. I will probably go back to at least using that part of my old key fob and see if I can get the second key working again. I am reluctant to even try the old key and fob back in the car since we live in a rural area and I don't want to "brick" the car. I will re-assemble they key, go part in the dealer's lot, and try it out there! Or I will just hand the car over to them again for the reprogramming.

So, if your problem is that your key will start the car, but not unlock the doors, there should be a procedure in your owners manual to reprogram it. I would not trust the procedures you see online. If the car will not start (immobilizer),I suggest taking it to the dealer to reprogram the key. Again, the solutions on the web look questionable (e.g., disconnect the battery) and the risk of doing things yourself is that you may render the car unstartable by either key.

Richard

 

I think your best bet is to call the dealer in Dubai, see if you can order a key and have it sent to you (or have some sort of verification through them?). You may have best luck emailing Audi USA and see if there is a solution they can come up with.