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OK, time to get this off my chest. I drive a Mini Cooper, it has the built-in RF chip that allows me to open the door and start the car without putting the key in the door lock or the ignition. I got this feature when I bought the car so I wouldn’t have to carry the fob while getting in/out of the car. A great convenience. Or so I thought.
The key fob is huge. It is a round, bulbous thing that I guess looks retro “cool”, but I hate it. Since it sits in my pocket while I drive, it is uncomfortable with all the other stuff I carry. So I defeat the purpose of the RF feature and carry it into the car, then drop it in one of the cup holders. Half the time I forget it’s there and when I leave and try to lock the car, I realize it’s still in the car and go back in to get it.
I am on a mission to reduce the size of this ugly thing to make it more pocketable. Last night I attempted to take it apart to see how big the guts really are, but I couldn’t get it apart. After taking the trim ring off, I tried to pry it apart but merely started to chew up the plastic. These things cost a couple of hundred each, so I am very hesitant to damage it beyond use. I guess I could risk it and just tear into it, but that would be a last resort. If the PCB is just as big as the fob, I will gain nothing by making a new housing for it.
Any ideas on either how to take it apart, or how to work around the carry issue? I typically carry a messenger type bag and thought to just put it in there, but I don’t carry it all the time. I need to find some way to carry this thing all the time that just works. I really don’t use the buttons on it, although having access to them would be nice. Thoughts/ideas?
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