An option for those looking for a switchblade remote keyfob

[dizzle]

Hi everyone,

I'm a new Protege5 owner, and while I love the car, I was disappointed to read that there was no workable option for a switchblade remote keyfob. I did a ton of searching, and hit upon a solution that should satisfy most people:

There's a Chinese seller on Alibaba.com that sells a switchblade keyshell (which is for a Mazda 6, according to them) that allows you to take the internals from your current remote and use them inside the switchblade shell.

I found out about it in a forum post on a Mazda3 message board:

http://**********************/index.php?topic=159427.msg3385933#msg3385933

The thread shows pictures of the remote after it's been assembled, as well as a few of the steps the author took to assemble the remote.

In another thread on the same board I found the actual seller on Alibaba:

http://www.aliexpress.com/product-gs/266725254-High-Quality-Auto-Key-shell-for-Mazda-6-Remote-key-Casing-wholesalers.html

I ordered a couple of shells from them last week and they got here today. The Alibaba website was pretty easy to deal with, as was the company. There's a link that allows you to chat with a representative with the company (during their business hours, which are from 5pm PST until some time after I go to sleep). There's a little bit of a language barrier with the reps, but their English is good enough that all my questions were answered. The website currently shows they're out of stock, but I talked to a rep tonight and she said they did indeed have stock... so if you check in some time soon it should be listed for sale again.

I got my keyshells today (along with a spare remote I bought on eBay so that if things went south I wouldn't ruin my current remotes), went to the dealership and had them copy my key onto the blank keyblades, got home, pulled apart the remote, and put the internals from the remote into the new keyshell. It was VERY easy, and while it's probably not as solid as an OEM remote, it does work and in my opinion is a huge improvement over what I had before. The only disappointment I had in the process is that one of the keys the dealership cut isn't quite right (but they cut the switchblade keyblanks for free, so I'm not going to complain).

Just a couple of caveats:

1) The keyshell doesn't have a space for the panic button. You either have to drill a hole in the shell where the button would go, or do what I did (and the guy from the thread I linked to above) and just cut the panic button out with an exacto knife. I *hated* the panic button, so I'm glad to have it gone.

2) The keyshell doesn't come with the little metal ring that you need in order to connect the remote to the keychain. I went to a craft store and bought a bag of metal rings for $2.00, there's a little slot at the back of the remote that you stick the ring in... pretty easy.

The whole process is really easy, and the cost worked out to be about $34/a shell (I bought two at once), $23 a remote plus $22 or so for shipping via FedEx. It would be about $45 if you wanted just one shell.

I'll be happy to answer questions any of you might have, either in this thread or via PM.

Thanks,

d

 

[MazdaSpeeder]

pics of the item and your installation process please!

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

Yeah, welcome aboard, nice first post, but we be pic ho's upinheeya...need pics. lol..............

 

[P-Funk!]

Welcome aboard! Excellent first post! You have set our expectations high

 

[mWxo3]

Those are bad.

I bought one off Ebay.. they have them all setup and battery.. just program and cut key.. Programming is really easy...

Too bad they are insanely flimsy.. after 2 days use, the buttons broke

 

[dizzle]

Sorry guys, the first link I posted at the top got destroyed... I guess it's not cool to post links to other Mazda forums?

Here are the pictures from that thread:

Those aren't my pictures, but my pics would essentially have been identical.

There are some additional pics from another thread where people drilled a hole for the panic button.

I hate the panic button, so I was more than happy to get rid of the stupid thing. A couple of the people who have drilled a hole for the panic button say that it's a little too easy to hit, so unless you REALLY want to keep it, you're probably better off covering it up.

 

[dizzle]

Those are bad.

I bought one off Ebay.. they have them all setup and battery.. just program and cut key.. Programming is really easy...

Too bad they are insanely flimsy.. after 2 days use, the buttons broke

I'm pretty sure you're talking about something else, you can't find these on eBay and the buttons aren't flimsy because you're using the buttons from your old remote (as you can see from the pics below). I've only had mine for a day and it doesn't seem flimsy to me... none of the other folks who have used them have complained about them either. I guess as time goes on I'll find out whether or not it'll break easily, but it seems solid enough to me so far.

 

[MazdaSpeeder]

So basically it is a different lower piece that receives an OEM Mazda switchblade key. When you bought it, did it come with the mazda upper with the uncut blade and everything else? Or is it just the lower?

 

[dizzle]

So basically it is a different lower piece that receives an OEM Mazda switchblade key. When you bought it, did it come with the mazda upper with the uncut blade and everything else? Or is it just the lower?

It came with everything you see at the top of the first picture I posted, so it includes the lower part, the upper part, and an uncut blade.

The middle item in the top photo is what it looks like when everything is done, the lower part of the photo shows what your old key looks like after it's done (i.e. you stole the internals from the original and put it into the new one).

Installation instructions are as follows:

1) Pry apart your old remote, take the circuit board and buttons out of it.

2) Cut the red panic button out with an exacto knife. The button is attached to a soft rubber surface, so cutting it out is a piece of cake.

3) Put the buttons into the top portion of the new body, and the circuit board on top of the buttons.

4) Attach the bottom part of the body to the top part by pushing both sides together (if you want to be able to attach it to a keychain, make sure you add a little metal ring to the bottom portion when you put the two sides together.

5) Go get the blade portion cut by your dealer or a locksmith.

6) Push the top part into the remote portion.

7) Use your new key.

The assembly portion shouldn't take you more than a minute or two, it's totally obvious how most of it goes together. The pictures I posted tell about 99% of the story.

If you have more questions please ask away.

 

[kidtaurus]

What would be great is a group buy, that way the s/h would be worth the 18 and change.

 

[82735]

(iagree)

 

[wagon]

+2

 

[dizzle]

What would be great is a group buy, that way the s/h would be worth the 18 and change.

I don't know how group buys work, but you probably don't save much more than $15 by doing it that way, do you? It's great if you can find someone to do it, but it was a no-brainer for me at the price I paid.

 

[AusOrion]

The picture that you posted of the case looks different to what they have pictured on their website (through the link you provided) - the holes for the buttons in the website picture look like they wont fit the Pro5 buttons.

Did you have to ask for anything in particular from them or will the Mazda 6 case work straight out?

 

[dizzle]

The picture that you posted of the case looks different to what they have pictured on their website (through the link you provided) - the holes for the buttons in the website picture look like they wont fit the Pro5 buttons.

Did you have to ask for anything in particular from them or will the Mazda 6 case work straight out?

I didn't ask for anything special at all, I ordered from the link I posted in the first message, a week later I got the remote in the pictures above, there was no problem with fit at all.

I found an eBay link to a similar (though much worse) product that was also listed for a Mazda6:

As you can see the holes in that remote line up well with ours, so it's safe to say that the holes in this remote should line up too.

I'll also say that the original posted ordered his remote in October, and I ordered mine last week, and one or two others have ordered from this company as well, and they all look identical. I think you're probably safe.

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

Ordered me one. Got extra fob at home so we'll see how this goes. Not sure if I'll do the panic button or not. If it is non reversable to go without it, then I will drill hole for it on the new shell.

 

[mWxo3]

I bought a prebuilt one from a ebay seller.. It wasn't the OEM one the OP posted.

If you wanted a switchblade style fob.. I highly recommend doing this OEM setup instead of the Ebay crappy ones..

 

[Navy_P503]

Trying to order one but the website isn't cooperating, been jealous of my wife with her VW key for a while now

 

[wrkngmanByTor]

I tried getting a bulk price but they won't give me a wholesale price unless I fill out the registration in full eg.: my business name/address/phone # etc. I'm not a business owner but even if I was I don't think I'd be giving out all that info.

 

[Wagonbacker9]

seeing as my factory case is about to break... (half the spot where the keyring connects is already toasted), I think I may as well do this.