I found a 300SD that i want to buy, but the owner has no key. is the only way to get it home by towing it?

he said that he parked it 6 months ago and now lost the key, so technically i could use the title to get MB to make me a key right?

if i cant drive it on a dolly, i guess i could pretend that i got stuck and get AAA to drop it off at my house...

any ideas?

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Grey '91 350SDL 214k Dad's car
Beige '81 240D 4 Speed 254k SOLD
Blue '82 300D 225k SOLD
White '95 E300D 46k SOLD
Blue '87 190D 2.5 Turbo 315k SOLD
Brown '80 240D 4 Speed 716k SOLD
Beige '80 300D N/A 119k SOLD
Blue '85 300D Model 186k T-Boned

No key means the steering wheel lock is engaged. AAA is a good idea.

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RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

Depending on how badly you wanted to drive it home instead of having it towed, here's what I know you could do.

1. Disconnect the shut off valve vacuum hose, it will let the engine run with the ignition in the off position. On my 300SD its on the right hand side of the injection pump about half way down. I believe its a brown plastic vacuum line.

2. Take a good sized wire, I'd say 10 gauge or lower, and place one end on the positive terminal of the battery and the other on the starter motor's positive terminal. Just follow the wire from the positive terminal of the battery to the starter. That will 'jump start' the engine.

I'd say that was probably more of a pain than it would be worth. If you need keys to be made anyway I'd just go get that out of the way.


Edit: steering wheel lock kinda makes this useless.

Congrats on your new car

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My first Mercedes
1983 300SD - 136K

1982 Toyota Supra - 160K currently for sale

Good luck with that. I bought a new key through MB and it wasn't even close to being correct. I recall seeing similar reports here on the forum.

Well, i would like to jump start the engine first, so that i can hear the engine run. depending on the condition of the rest of the car, i might just transplant later.

so jump starting the car would not be all that useless.

Well that just means that someone replaced the locks at some point. bummer that they did not match.

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Grey '91 350SDL 214k Dad's car
Beige '81 240D 4 Speed 254k SOLD
Blue '82 300D 225k SOLD
White '95 E300D 46k SOLD
Blue '87 190D 2.5 Turbo 315k SOLD
Brown '80 240D 4 Speed 716k SOLD
Beige '80 300D N/A 119k SOLD
Blue '85 300D Model 186k T-Boned

if the ignition hasnt been changed, then MB dealer is the way to go. 2 days turn around time. this is the easiest way to deal with the problem. if the ignition has been changed, then you would want a tumbler+key, and drop the column to grind off the lock pin. dieselgiant has a great writeup on this.

or have it AAA home then order a key from the dealer- you need a key either way, unless you are parting it out.

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1984 123.193 372,xxx miles, room for Seven.

1999 Dodge Durango Cummins 4BTAA 47RE 5k lb 4x4 getting 25+mpgs, room for Seven.

No, that's not what it means. It means that MB's "system" doesn't keep track of key data very well.

Then the best thing to do, while you're at it, is to buy the proper ignition tumbler with it's proper key with the appropriate VIN number of the car to match the door, trunk and glove box keys.....

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'85 300D Turbo - CA Version

No comment...

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Grey '91 350SDL 214k Dad's car
Beige '81 240D 4 Speed 254k SOLD
Blue '82 300D 225k SOLD
White '95 E300D 46k SOLD
Blue '87 190D 2.5 Turbo 315k SOLD
Brown '80 240D 4 Speed 716k SOLD
Beige '80 300D N/A 119k SOLD
Blue '85 300D Model 186k T-Boned

If MB can't get the key right with the VIN number, why do you think they are going to do any better if you order the entire assembly?

When the key I ordered wasn't correct, the service manager stated, "This happens pretty often."

Ok so lets say i get the car jump started, then i should be able to drive it forward and backwards, which could be enough just to get it up my driveway.

might just get AAA to get me, drop it off infront of my house and then try to get the key from MB.

thanks for the help

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Grey '91 350SDL 214k Dad's car
Beige '81 240D 4 Speed 254k SOLD
Blue '82 300D 225k SOLD
White '95 E300D 46k SOLD
Blue '87 190D 2.5 Turbo 315k SOLD
Brown '80 240D 4 Speed 716k SOLD
Beige '80 300D N/A 119k SOLD
Blue '85 300D Model 186k T-Boned

See post #4 here:
300CD: Yep, ignition tumbler turns no more

What a coincidence, eh?

when I ordered the keys from MB, they were ALMOST perfect. the MB key had a tiny bump that the original key did not. it worked fine. the second time I did it, the key was perfect on the doors, but the ignition was swapped, so I had to have a locksmith replace the key... now to order a new tumbler... fun fun...

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Experience! When I ordered a new tumbler based on my cars VIN, 2 years ago, it comes with a stainless key that matches and fits every keyhole on the entire car.....it's probably hit or miss and I happened to hit and you missed...sorry about that......but my theory is somebody mis-typed or mis-read the VIN and gave you the wrong key....nobody's perfect and every now and then, somebody screws up....try it on another dealer......you don't have to pay it if it's still the wrong key anyway.....

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'85 300D Turbo - CA Version

gosh... to correct you, post #4 does not explain the original question i had. if they dealer says the vin is not right, then yes that is an issue. But it is completely different if i order a key with a Vin he says is acceptable and get a key that does not work. i am sure it has happened before, but i would venture a strong guess that the tumbler was replaced at some point.

Please go ahead and waste more time finding every possible MBShop post where the above was the case, i would find that amusing.

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Grey '91 350SDL 214k Dad's car
Beige '81 240D 4 Speed 254k SOLD
Blue '82 300D 225k SOLD
White '95 E300D 46k SOLD
Blue '87 190D 2.5 Turbo 315k SOLD
Brown '80 240D 4 Speed 716k SOLD
Beige '80 300D N/A 119k SOLD
Blue '85 300D Model 186k T-Boned