I have been perplexed about this ever since getting our Mini a couple months ago. Why would they go to the trouble of cramming the Mini so full of goodies (DSC, Autoclimate control, etc.) and then be so utterly cheap and off base by supplying only one key fob to work the keyless entry? The other key is only a regular key! What a pain in the ass if you don't have the buttoned fob and you need to open the hatch (not that that works anyway! ) I mean how much more would another keyless fob be anyway? Even our lowly Jetta came with 2 keyless fobs!
I own a mini, when my partner wants to drive it she will go all over the house looking for my keys with the remote in it. She refuses to uses the one that is not equiped with the buttons. She kept asking when we got the car if Ford can provide two remotes for the Explorer and it was a more expensive car why couldn't BMW?
I then complained to the dealer, they said that is the way they are doing it. Providing two Keys one with a remote and the other normal, plus one emergency key. Apparently we can buy another key for $100.00 with a fob.
Well Weeber I too think this stinks. I bet Ford Focus owners get two FOBS!
Charles
BRG/W MCS
bonnet stripes ,white wheels, sport package, sunroof, heated seats, Alta pulley, Alta intake
Our VW Passat came with two remote keys.
My wife drives the mini normally and I had to buy a second one for euro 90 excl. taxes.
Had one incident when some guy saw me opening my door weith the normal key and asked me if my 80K expensive guilders car didn't come with a remote door-opener.
(never again now )
Please note the country of the person that posts messages ... key availability varies from country to country
In USA for the first year, like Canada today apparently, only one key had remote capability - the other was a "manual" one (note - if still has the RFID chip needed to enable the engine so some people might argue that it is a "remote", but not in the sense that most people think of).
For the second year, MINI USA switched (presumably due to complaints about keys from owners) and supplied two remote keys - but the price went up by the exact same amount of money that a second key would cost
Now with the '05s having two remote keys is perhaps frustrating - general opinion (which I can't verify because I don't have an '05) is that the new keys have no battery and are charged while in the ignition.
This means you need to keep switching between your two remote keys, so that both are always charged up!
Ian C. Gloucester, MA, USA (UK expat) driving GPMINI or a non-MINI!
It seems that some decisions about things like this are made at the local level. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. U.S. buyers will pay twice as much for LSD than in the U.K. - maybe the Brits only get one key. I'm betting it all averages out in the end. I paid nothing for my Anthracite headliner - now it costs $200. That pays for a key if I need one.
As for the charging of the key, I have closely inspected my 2005 key, and I can not see how the circuit to charge it is made. I can not detect any insulation layer or discontinuity that would allow the key to have a positive and negative current sent to it. The 2005 manual says that the key has an extended life rechargeable battery, but I do not see the path to the charging current. It must be like my rechargeable toothbrush, where there is just a little plastic covered peg that stands up from the base that fits in the bottom of the brush. No visible metal contacts - must be done with magnetic flux variation or something.
Whats the big deal any way and what with the magnetic Flux Variation sounds like something you would hear on star Trek, lets keep it simple and say that the mini designers knew what they were doing when the designed the 05 model with the key Fob and all what i want to know is how to open and close my roof? I should expect delivery in January 05
Calling it magnetic flux charged is probably correct, although it would be more commonly referred to as 'inductive charged'. This uses an alternating voltage, rather than D.C., to charge the key through a magnetic field.
I've just got a U.K. spec cooper, and mine came with three keys; two full-function with remotes, and the plastic emergency key. I think it depends when and where you get your car, which key set you get.
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Only one key fob?? 
I have been perplexed about this ever since getting our Mini a couple months ago. Why would they go to the trouble of cramming the Mini so full of goodies (DSC, Autoclimate control, etc.) and then be so utterly cheap and off base by supplying only one key fob to work the keyless entry? The other key is only a regular key! What a pain in the ass if you don't have the buttoned fob and you need to open the hatch (not that that works anyway!
) I mean how much more would another keyless fob be anyway? Even our lowly Jetta came with 2 keyless fobs! 
)
