Changed the car battery on a 2001 C320 at Sears and now the smartkey does not work and it does not unlock car or start it, when place the key in the ignition switch it is totally locked!any ideas?

the problem is that you reprogram the smartkey by placing it in the ignition and turning it half an inch, but it its totally locked, The problem happened last time i replaced the battery and it corrected by itself a couple of days later, this time however the smartkey is not being recognized by the car!

any ideas on how to get the smartkey working, just replaced the car battery on a 2001 C320 and now the car doen not recognize the key.

Replaced The Battery Because It Had A Drain That Would Leave The Car
Dead after a couple of days, And Now The Smartkey Does Not Work after replacing the battery. I have being reading old posts on this site and the battery drain is a common problem on this car. Also could it be my alarm that has some sort of short and now the anti theft system is locking out the car from starting.

From Alldata:


1 Withdraw ignition/glow start key
2.1 Remove rear seat
2.2 Fold rear seat cushion forward and remove battery compartment cover
2.3 Fold trunk cover up
2.4 Remove cargo space cover
2.5 Remove battery cover in right side of trunk
3 Connect quiescent current circuit retention unit
4 Unscrew screw (1) and remove holder (2)
5 Unscrew nut (7) and remove strap (8)
6 Disconnect ground cable (3) at battery
7 Disconnect positive cable (4)
8 Detach vent pipe (5) at battery (G1)
9 Remove battery (G1)
10 Reinstall in opposite order

Notice #3 above. I checked my owner's manual (98 c230) but it didn't give us a clue. Reading the above procedure, it appears that MB expects some latent power to be supplied when the battery is disconnected, likely to maintain computer memory.

In the Owner's Manual, it says to contact your dealer or call the 800- HEEELLLLPPPPP! number.

on the 2001 c 320 the battery is actually in the front, i wonder if the same procedure works. And that third step " CONNECT QUIESCENT CURRENT CIRCUIT RETENTION UNIT " have to do some legwork on that so i can figure it out. Did you get this from your manual or somewhere else so i can check the procedure for a 2001 C320 model. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

You should worry more about the key problem before the parasitic load of the vehicle. Kinda stupid question, but do you have another key for the vehicle?

Yes I Have Another And It Doesnt Work Either.I have tried placing it inside the ignition quickly in an out as recomended on some postings on this board but it didnt work.

HELP!!Any ideas on how to reprogram or get the smart key to work??

come on guys i need help any ideas!!!!!

I got that information from Alldata.

As I understand it, your key CANNOT be programmed (which is why your 'spare' key won't work either) - the car learns from the key, or at least learns to recognize the key.

Do a search on this forum for Smartkey. There are a bunch of threads you will find helpful. One of them (I don't have time to find it at the moment) has a lot of detail about the different types of keys, replacement versus new key, etc. and there are others who have had problems similar to yours.

Good luck.

If you are not getting any joy from the virtual community, it may be time to give your real community (i.e.local MB dealer service center) a call.
Good Luck, Dan

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2012 E350 Bluetech