Can the fob be dismantled?

[Akash]

****NOW WITH HOW TO BELOW***


Hi all,

As some may know, I am now an A7 owner and so here is my first query

Can the fob be disassembled? The A6 keyfob is so much better in terms of look and feel compared to the tacky glossy back the A7 keyfob has. and in my case, I've got scratches already just by having it in the same pocket as some coins today.

Can it be disassembled and then the internal components swapped into an A4/A6 casing?

Thanks !

[Akash]

Been looking into this a lot over the weekend and aside from the battery change tutorials, there is literally nothing to say this fob can be disassembled and the contents swapped.
I have bought a used fob from eBay for a fiver so I'll give it a go on that but it's probably not likely.

[Danny-boy]

If it can be assembled, it can be disassembled.

Let us know how you get on.

[Akash]

Slight update, I'll post a proper how to once I get a replacement key (proper one).

I got my "broken" key from eBay that I purchased. It looked like the guy had already had a go but that did not matter in this case. I managed to get the board out without much effort once I figured out how to remove it. Put it back in the original casing and it still worked so thumbs up there.
I have ordered a new replacement key now which I believe is third party but in this case, I don't want the board, only the casing and looking at feedback, it does the job just fine.
Should get this tomorrow and so I can try the board swap after work + post back with pictures on how to do this.

What I did find is unlike the previous keys where there was a glass transponder chip in the plastic chassis which could break when transferring it from chassis to chassis, this seems to have none of it in the casing itself. Everything is on-board. Obviously I will know whether this is 100% correct tomorrow once I transfer it.

[Akash]

I got the key this morning and did the swap over this morning. Took less than 10 minutes and I'm very happy to lose the gloss! Feels the same as the A6 key in my hand and has the matt finish. The only two cons are... I am still using the existing key insert which has a few scratches but given that is never removed, it won't make a difference. The second slight issue is being a copy and not original, the rubber buttons do feel a little spongy. They may settle but if not, I'll get another key but this time an original spare. Plenty on eBay...


Step 1. Remove key and battery using the silver notch (key) and black notch (battery)
You can see the state of my key + how it would look with key removed here










Step 2: Look in the key and you will see the board. In the middle, there is a white plastic frame. I used a slightly curved flat screwdriver and put it there to then hook onto. Once hooked, its just a case of pulling the board out. The spare key I ordered to test with came out nicely with flat tweezers. This one was a little more stiff but with a bit of help with tweezers, it came out fine.





Here is the board and where you need to hook onto:





Step 3: Insert the board into the new key housing, put battery in, put key in and job done.












Any questions, feel free to ask. I decided to see how far I could break apart the test key I bought from eBay

[buddyboy]

I can't see your pictures

[Akash]

Sorry I moved them into an Album on Photobucket. I did test thinking it might have been clever with the links and it worked but I must have been cached.
What a clunky ad-filled piece of crap PB is but it's free. Just amazing that it took me longer to get the forum URL links for this thread than it did writing up the how to and do the swap itself

Enjoy