Interesting project... Previously a 2006 FR2 Diesel manual, now 2006 FR2 Petrol auto and a Series 3 109 SW.

I'm not obsessed with this issue.... er, no, definitely not. But like that pesky rattle, it's always there.

Can anyone confirm if their key comes back out a few millimetres after inserting when starting the car? Mine stays tight against the back of the slot. I think that's why there's no way of giving it that push to eject when I'm trying to remove it. I can pull it about 5mm, then push and it ejects. Surely this has to be mechanical?

For a laugh, I stuck a bit of thin draft excluding foam to the front edge of the key to try to give it some tolerance to move. However, you could then just lift it out when the engine was running! So those barbs weren't catching.

I've asked a few "electronics" friends about removing the stupid thing and replacing it with something else and one suggested "why not just rewire the car?", so it obviously isn't straightforward. Another suggested leaving a key in the dock and replacing the push to start switch with some kind of key switch...

Hey, a key switch to start a car - why didn't land rover think of that? Life is an uphill struggle. Only the gradient varies.

Whilst I've left some enquiries ongoing with a couple of experts about replacing the woeful key docking arrangement with something else, I removed mine again today for a second look. To be honest, the reliance on a few nylon gears and a flat plastic bit that slides in 2 grooves looks more "school project" than Land Rover. It was crying out for lubrication, but very hard to do without removal.

With more confidence this time, I removed the internals and cleaned them separately before greasing them and reassembling the whole thing. I tried the unit with the power on but removed from the dash. Much "buzzier" if that's a word and sounding like it's doing something positive.

I have to say, the way the upper inner plastic slide moves backwards and forwards could have been better engineered with Meccano. It is a very "hope for the best" bit of engineering if ever there was one.

Anyhow, after this latest attempt, it is now sliding the key fob in and out as it was when the car arrived! So, until it fails again, I'm leaving well alone. Life is an uphill struggle. Only the gradient varies.