ignition key jammed!

[IDONEY]

Last tues evening i got in my mini one to drive home and noticed on turning the ignition key a slight stiffness in the barrel. got home turned off then couldn,t get the damned key out!.All this at one in the morning. as the key over rides the central locking i couldn't even lock the doors with the spare key. it was towed away by mini recovery for security.
7-10 days for replacement mechanism to reach the dealer(still waiting).
so,If yours feels stiff get it looked at or you may not be able to get it out, and end up frustrated at one o'clock in the morning like i did !.

[Martin L]

Same thing happend to my 5-series a couple of months ago
BMW Emergency Services didn't class it as an emergency as it was drivable
Luckiy we have a locked compound at work where it was kept until the dealers opened.
Maybe my complaint to them about the situation changed their policy

I hope that you've got a courtesy car to drive around in in the meantime.

[Mini1380]

There is suppossed to be a feature "locking when engine is running (with a second key)". See owners manual, page 41. Of course if you had the second key, couldn't you have shut the drivers door, opened the passenger door, and used the central locking to lock the doors. Then shut the passenger door. Yes, the key would have still be in the ignition, but the car would have been locked, and you still had another key to be able to open the car.

I think I want the this feature.

[IDONEY]

Probably could, but if it was stolen i don't think the insurers would be that impressed if it was recovered with a key in the ignition!. But thanks for the info, if it happens again i might do that as an interim measure.