Push Start Ignition kit install

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GMoney

Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2016
Messages
7
Has anyone installed a push start system on their iMiev?

I'd probably buy this one:
http://www.advancedkeys.com/Prod_AK105B.html

I contacted advanced keys to see if they knew whether their system worked on my iMiev and their response was, "an I what??" (IMiev problems!)

I just want to make sure it's possible before I buy the system.


I have the 2014 ES model. The only mod I've done is put a pioneer NEX4100 receiver. Other than that it's pretty stock.
 
Interesting to see if it will work or not. If it can satisfy the transponder immobilizer system, it should work just fine. Wouldn't this system just simulate the key's lock/unlock buttons and transponder?

Personally, the classic key-start is one reason I chose the i-MiEV over the LEAF.

"an I what??"
the saddest part about that is when you call an i-MiEV certified dealer and get the same response :cry: .
 
G-Money, till you accumulate more posts you just look like a marketing shill.

We all still need keys for home and work, and they're uncomfortable in the hip pocket when sitting in a car. The key hanger is an appealing feature of the i-MiEV
 
jray3 - I'd be a pretty terribly salesman if I was trying to sell something. I'd add some flashy pictures if I was trying to sell something. Thanks for the tip. Sorry I am not selling anything, I am a nube when it comes to contributing to forums. I just know I see it often when people go back and forth with basic information (model, what you are trying to accomplish, any current mods etc.)

I would really like to see if anyone has done this already. I would like to know what they used. Was it easy? Any complications? I have looked into it online and because of the low production of the i no one knows the car.
 
Jay, to be honest, he does mention owning a 2014 ES. Nothing about the post makes me question that GMoney is a legitimate member. I see it as a first-time poster that is asking a legitimate question about adding a feature to the i-MiEV.

Granted, future posts will reflect on whether or not this post is legit, but for now, everything looks okay to me.

GMoney, welcome to the forum. As far as I know, nobody has attempted a push-button start system. It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that someone got cruise control working in an i-MiEV.
 
It's something I really miss from my Prius. But not $350+ miss.

I can't believe people seriously see old-fashioned keys as a feature. For me, they're a point of failure... several times now, randomly, I've had a hard time getting the i-MiEV's key to turn in the "ignition". I used to have the same problem with my Stanza, but it was already old at the time.
 
I will be the first to admit that I am a lazy driver. I am super excited for Autonomous Vehicles because then I will truly have to do nothing. I have used a car that had the push to start and it was the most wonderful thing to never have to pull your key out of your pocket. And the door automatically unlocked when you walked up to the car!
 
PV1 said:
GMoney, welcome to the forum. As far as I know, nobody has attempted a push-button start system. It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that someone got cruise control working in an i-MiEV.


Thank you PV1 - Yes this is my first EVER Forum Post. The only thing that I will truly sell is how awesome (and not so awesome) the iMiev is.
 
Sorry to seem hostile, GMoney; welcome aboard.

wmcbrine, indeed I and many others chose the iMiEV specifically for its simplicity. I would've taken manual windows if available. Electronic accessories have always been the first thing to fail, and if not, they're the first thing to make the car seem out of date. Anybody here recall the 1980's green LED bar-graph GM dashboards? I think the Gen1 VOLT dashboards will seem just as ridiculous in a few years time.
Electronic gadgetry is already proving to be TESLA's achilles heel in reliability ratings. Have you ever had a door handle that wouldn't work at all on any vehicle prior to TESLA, for reasons other than winter ice?

For another example, I love the lightweight but durable manual seat adjustment feature. Most of us have experienced weak or failed seat motors on a car. Inoperable electric windows are another first-world problem.

If the dashboard monitor in my i-SE Premium fails or looks outdated, it's easily replaced by aftermarket radios, and isn't essential to proper vehicle operation anyway. The same can't be said for the digital dashboards built into many modern cars. Increasing mechanical reliability has been offset by planned obsolescence on the software side, IMHO.
 
I also agree that simplicity is one reason I chose the I-MiEV.
I assume the traditional key start cycle is really there just because it was the same ignition assembly part as the I-gasser???
I would have picked manual windows too if that was a choice. I have replaced far too many expensive, wimpy window regulator assemblies on all the older Mercedes I have had in the past.
I love the I-MiEV rear wheel drive, the simple fixed speed transaxle.
My first electric car (a Dynasty IT LSV) was very similar, simple and robust.
It had manual windows and AC.
Roman
 
I meant to respond to this earlier...

jray3 said:
wmcbrine, indeed I and many others chose the iMiEV specifically for its simplicity.
But the turn-key start isn't simpler than push-button. There's something like an RFID tag in the key, without which the car won't start -- the mechanical part isn't enough. So, with the possible exception of the range*, this is alike between the two methods. And mechanically, the button is simpler than the key, where all the tumblers have to align, etc.

* On the Gen II Prius, there were two ways to use the "key". The first method involved sticking the fob into a slot on the dashboard (so, sort of like a key, but big, fat, and no tumblers) so that its RFID chip could be read at short range. This works even if the key's battery is dead, IIRC. In the other method, known as SKS, the key was readable from much further away, so it could stay in your pocket. SKS was an optional feature, and could be disabled to save on 12V battery usage. (SKS also allowed entry to the car just by pulling on the door handles, as long as the key was in your pocket or otherwise near.)

On the Gen III Prius, SKS became standard, and the dashboard slot for the key went away.
 
PV1 said:
Personally, the classic key-start is one reason I chose the i-MiEV over the LEAF.
I agree - I rented Toyota Avalon for a week last month. Never did get used to the push start 'system' nor do I have a clue what 'problem' it's supposed to address. It just adds more complicated circuitry which is one more thing to go wrong. Give me the good old key switch any day. I had never considered it as a good place to hang my house keys (and thereby keep them out of my pocket while I'm driving) but that's a good point

Fortunately, Japanese electric windows have nothing in common with those on Mercedes - I've owned Japanese cars with standard electric windows for the past million miles or so and have never had a problem with any of them . . . . and I regularly keep a car for 10 or 15 years and 150K or more

Don
 
Don said:
Never did get used to the push start 'system' nor do I have a clue what 'problem' it's supposed to address. It just adds more complicated circuitry which is one more thing to go wrong. Give me the good old key switch any day.
Again, though, in an i-MiEV, the "good old key switch" involves the same kind of circuitry as in a push-button starter. Look at page 3-3 in the i-MiEV manual:

As your vehicle is equipped with an electronic immobilizer, the electric motor unit is designed so that it will not start if the ID code registered in the immobilizer computer and the key’s ID code do not match. ... A valid start attempt can only be achieved (subject to certain conditions), using a key “registered” to the immobilizer system.
 
Yes, the i-MiEV has an immobilizer system, but it only requires one transponder in the car. A keyless system requires at least 3 to be functional (one at each front door as well as the one inside). If the fob doesn't automatically unlock the doors, you have to take it out of your pocket to unlock the car, at which point a standard key is more convenient as you have a place to put it that isn't back in your pocket. That was one thing that drove me nuts about the BMW i3 I had on extended test drive a couple of years ago. My friend's LEAF was better, but the big plus is that with a keyed ignition, I don't have to worry about my keys punching holes into the seat (I hang my keys outside of my pocket with the MiEV remote as the anchor inside my pocket. Too many keys for them all to fit in my pocket between work and house keys).

Having driven the i-MiEV with a conventional key, the i3 with a half-baked keyless system, and the fully integrated LEAF, I still prefer the i-MiEV's key, primarily for security. A wireless signal can be spoofed from a short distance away, but you have to gain physical access to the key to replicate it. So, while a skilled thief could spoof my transponder ID, the transponder won't unlock the doors, whereas the wireless signal from a keyless fob can.

Also, the key must physically be in the ignition for the car to operate. I've heard numerous accounts of folks dropping the spouse off and not realizing that they had the key. The person gets to where they are going, and finds they can't start the car because the person they dropped off on the other side of town has the key in their pocket.

Bottom line, I prefer the physical key, but if someone manages to retrofit a push button system into the i-MiEV, I would be impressed.
 
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