Keyfob Surgery to make a "new keyfob" for the 2010 v50 and perhaps other "P1" Cars

[packetfire]

Got new keyfob cases, as the old ones that came with the car are worn and were filled with either dog or cat hair.

These keyfobs have a plastic "key" protruding from the case, and my goal was also to eliminate this, and just use the "knob" to start the car, leaving it in the ignition, and trusting the locks to protect from theft most of the time. (This is another thread, as I have a mystery there, but this is a distraction in the mission to simply replacing a worn keyfob with a new case.)

So, remove the slide-out mechanical key, the back cover, and the battery, and cut along the side of the BODY case like this. Its glued, so it won't open with prying. Cut with care, you do not want to do more than just barely get the plastic apart. Do NOT cut the "key" portion at all, as the glass "grain-of-rice" transponder is in there.

Keyfob case with cut

Pry open the keyfob by hand, as brute force will overcome the rest of the glue at this point. Take care to note that the tiny grain-of-rice transponder is in the "key" part of the keyfob, not glued in, but held in place by two plastic clips. See photo below, and look at all the pet hair!

Keyfob grain-of-rice transponder location

The two halves of the case are below, the circuit board is not glued or screwed in, so pop it out with a screwdriver

Two halves of opened keyfob

The battery contacts will be the only metal part on the "back" side of the case, and they pry out - its just a plastic tab.

Getting battery contacts off case back

Reassemble, use glue sparingly along both the protruding fake plastic key and the case and you are done. The old back of the keyfob that covers the battery fit mine, so I did not transfer the plastic Volvo logo from one case to the other (optional replacement of the Volvo logo with a Prancing Moose is one possible upgrade...)