Question 1

Are you licensed and insured to work on BMW vehicles in California?

Accepted Answer

Yes. EZ Car Keyz is licensed through the California Bureau of Security and Investigative Services, which is the state body that regulates locksmiths. We carry full liability insurance. On a 2013 BMW 7 Series, the key and immobilizer work involves sensitive electronics, and you want someone accountable if something goes sideways. We show up in a marked vehicle, give you a company name, and the price I quote on the phone is the price I charge on site.

Question 2

How do I spot a scam locksmith before they show up?

Accepted Answer

Three things to check before anyone rolls: ask for a California BSIS license number, ask for the company name and a firm quote specific to a 2013 BMW 7 Series, and verify the number you called matches the company that answers.

Scam operations quote low on the phone and invent new charges once they're in your driveway with your door already open. There are documented cases of owners being pressured into paying two or three times the phone quote, and the work still came back faulty. BMW key jobs are a known target for this because the vehicles are high-value and owners feel stuck.

Get the license number. Confirm the quote is firm. If they won't give you either, hang up.

Question 3

Will a replacement key work exactly like my original on the 2013 BMW 7 Series?

Accepted Answer

Yes, when the job is done correctly. The replacement gets programmed to the immobilizer so the car starts, and the remote functions get paired so the doors respond. We test everything on site before leaving.

The reason this comes up on BMW forums is that a badly executed job on one of these can leave the module in a state that's worse than where you started. Owners have posted about cars that wouldn't start at all after a botched key job, and the fix required dealer-level intervention. We use tools appropriate for this vehicle and back up the module state before touching anything. That's not extra caution. That's just how the job should be done.

Question 4

My 2013 BMW 7 Series starts but then stalls a few seconds later. Could this be a key or immobilizer issue?

Accepted Answer

That start-then-stall pattern is a known indicator that the immobilizer is not fully satisfied, even though the engine briefly fires. On the 7 Series, the security system and the engine management communicate during startup, and if that handshake doesn't complete cleanly, the car shuts back down. It can happen when a key is not properly enrolled, when the fob is in a degraded state, or when there's a communication fault in the security system itself.

It is not always the key's fault. But the key is the first thing to rule out. If a second key starts the car and holds, the fob you were using is the problem. If both keys do the same thing, the fault is deeper in the system and needs diagnostic work on site.

Question 5

I only have one key for my 2013 BMW 7 Series. Is that a real problem?

Accepted Answer

On a vehicle like this, yes. One key means one point of failure, and losing it or damaging it turns a normal day into a tow truck call and a long dealer wait. Getting a spare made while you still have a working key is faster and simpler than an all-keys-lost situation, where the process is more involved. It's one of those things that's easy to put off until it's suddenly urgent.

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