AudiWorld Forums - How To: Pull your immo code + pair a new key with VCDS Lite (2001 S8)

I bought a new key from the dealer for like $200 only to find out that it doesn't actually start the car and I need to pay them another $100 for that feature.

It turns out that with some work (and some special cables) you can do this at home. It's kind of tricky and you won't find a VW sanctioned procedure for this, you'll essentially be hacking into the ECU and dumping the immobilizer data from it. So be careful! Don't attempt this procedure unless you have a backup car, computer-based immobilizers can be tricky!

So on to the procedure -

1) Tools required
- Windows laptop (I'm using XP, but I think 7 works also)
- "Dumb" K-line cable (ie vcds-lite cable, mine's a 'VAG-KKL' ebay knockoff)
- A registered copy of VCDS or VCDS-lite
- ArgDub's me7 95040 eeprom tool v1.31: Original Mirror
- All the keys you want to re-program

2) Dumping the 95040 EEPROM
- Turn the ignition on (key in Pos. 2). Don't start the engine
- Plug your KKL cable into the OBD port and into your laptop.
- Open a command prompt and 'cd' to the directory that has ArgDub's tool in it (reminder that you'll have to extract the .zip first). I'm not going to give a whole tutorial on the command prompt here, if you're not familiar with this part you may want to reconsider doing this procedure by yourself
- Dump the 95040 chip's memory with the tool. My KKL cable showed up as COM3 so I used the -p3 option. If yours is COM2 use -p2 and so on. You can figure this out from the device manager
- The command that I used was this: "me7_95040.exe -p3 --OBD -r s8-95040.bin"
Attachment 103931
- the EEPROM will be dumped and saved to your computer as s8-95040.bin

3) Extracting the immobilizer code from the EEPROM dump
- Open the .bin file that was just dumped with a hex editor (I'm using HxD)
- Look for the bytes at positions 32/33 and 42/43 (they should be the same)
Attachment 103932
In the example above, the code we're interested in is 8F 22
- Reverse the positions of the numbers. For example, 8F 22 becomes 22 8F
- Using your head or a hex to decimal converter (like this ) convert the bytes to decimal notation
Attachment 103933

And there you have it, the immo code for this car is 8847. Write this number down in case you need it in the future. I don't know VW/Audi's policy on giving you your own immo code, technically you can use this to steal the car, so keep it in a safe place.

4) Programming the car to accept the new key
This procedure is written in the vcds wiki so I'm not going to go over it in detail: Immobilizer III Key Matching (Cluster) - Ross-Tech Wiki

5) Programming the car to accept the new key's remote lock/unlock commands: Ross-Tech: VAG-COM: Remote Control Matching Info

I followed this procedure:
Insert a working (old) key in the ignition and turn to the ON position (do not start car).

Lock the car from outside using the new, unmatched key in the driver-side door lock. You may need to hold the key in the unlock position while you do the next step.

Press the UNLOCK button on the new key within 5 seconds often enough to reach next memory position (so, if the value in field 2 was 0001, you should press the new key's unlock button twice, to put the new key in memory position 2)..

The car may give you some sort of acknowledgement as the button is pressed (lights flash, horn beep, etc.)

Wait 5 seconds and press the unlock button on the new key to unlock the door.

Turn the ignition key to OFF and remove the old key.

Press LOCK and UNLOCK with the new key.