Electronic immobilizer

The electronic immobilizer is both an anti-theft system and start enable device. On the MINI, a newly developed electronic immobilizer (4th generation) will be introduced. This new development uses a new and modern encryption method. Each vehicle is assigned a 128-bit secret code. This secret code is stored in a BMW database. This means that the secret code is only known to BMW. The secret code is programmed into the CAS control unit and DME control unit and is locked. When the secret code is in the control units, it can no longer be deleted or changed. This means that each control unit is assigned to a certain vehicle. The CAS control unit and the EWS control unit mutually identify one another with the secret number and the same algorithm.

If the identification data is correct, the CAS control unit activates the starter motor via a relay in the control unit. At the same time, the CAS control unit sends the DME control unit an encoded enable signal (rolling code) for the engine start. The DME control unit only enables the engine start if a correct enable signal is received from the CAS control unit. These operations may result in a slight delay in starting (up to half a second).