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Review on Aramox AK90+ V3.19 Auto Key Programmer Tool: Match Diagnostic Tool for EWS AK90 Key-PROG by Sheppard Priest

Revainrating 3 out of 5

A cheap alternative to paying at the dealer, but beware - some skill is required!

I bought a used Mini with only one key and a dead remote. I bought this block to duplicate a key. I spent a total of $40 on this unit, another $30 to replace keys and remotes, and $60 to make two new keys. Still cheaper than the $200 my dealer asked for a key and now I have two! The downside is that the process wasn't as easy as most YouTube videos make you think! This programmer works with the BMW EWS system. Key - This type of key is on my 2007 Mini Cooper Convertible. If you have an EWS 2 or EWS 3 system, it's as simple as the videos show. The downside is that for EWS 4 - there is a cable included in the kit that needs to be soldered to specific locations on the board. The instructions that come with the software are flimsy and the photos you get with it are pretty fuzzy, leaving you a little guessing as to where they actually tell you to solder. To make matters worse, the cables are color coded differently than the cables in the photo. You're marking wire number one in the system, so just keep walking down the line (the closest adjacent color is wire number two, etc.). Because EWS components are surface mount, soldering to a component can also cause the component to detach from the motherboard and render your vehicle inoperable. If you want to do it yourself it's worth pulling out the EWS box and identifying which series you have (the box itself says EWS 2, 3 or 4) before buying this - they make an EWS 4 board adapter that makes it just as easy as other models, but I only found it available on e-bay for another $40 and shipped direct from China.

Pros
  • Nice to use
Cons
  • old