I did think about that but its a bit past just putting some shiny rings on it. And besides, ive always wanted a Bentley key so Im justifying it to myself :ROFL:

Michaela's spare teeny weeny tumbler spring and 3D printed seal arrived today, so my boot lock is now back in place and working fine! :)

Just discovered that my boot lock isn't working either. Have removed it from the car, removed the black circlip at the end and the black plastic piece it's securing, but I'm lost as to how it comes apart. What's the correct sequence?

From the pictures, and using some logic, you do have the (correct) key blade inserted? ;)

Loosen the crimped ring from around the front bezel then lever the bezel off the housing and the assembly will split in to two parts with the spring between them.

You will need the key inserted to get the barrel out of the housing.

Since posting, I had another look at the photos and deemed it necessary to remove that crimp ring. However, it seems I'm not 'levering' enough. At least I was on the right track.

The black plastic snaps in to grooves on the rear metal housing. It can help to warm it up a little, then lever it off with a screwdriver +++

Too right. +++ Plastic was as hard as the metal. Finally got it stripped, cleaned and reassembled and could have done the job a lot quicker if I'd had a pair of circlip pliers to hand.

EDIT: Forgot to mention the problem with mine. The lock barrel was seized in the housing, just like the one MJ was working on. Of the eight tumblers, only two were stuck in position, but what surprised me was their colour, as I was expecting them to be black like in the photos in the thread. Turns out only two were completely black and the rest had about 10-15% black.