W211 spare key - US$450??!! - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

francis · #1 08-29-2007, 04:21 PM

I think my key for my 02 E240 is busted. Good thing I have a spare.

Is US$450 the real price at the dealer? Can I order the key from other dealers that have better prices?

My key has the 3 buttons and car has Keyless GO feature.

Thanks!

Francis

wscheffer · #2 08-30-2007, 11:35 AM

You can order your key from any M.B. Dealer but you will have to show them proof of ownership and pick the key up in person.

Happy Shopping!

johngel1 · #3 07-11-2012, 08:59 AM

I hope that you have better luck with a new smart key than I did. I purchased a new smart key for my 99 e240 (went through all the necessary requirements etc.) A very nice Key , but it would fail on starting, at random,(ie engine fired up then immediately died),on the second or third attempt, engine will keep running. So made complaint, after a day of testing I was issued with a replacement Smart Key, its better, but occassionally still gives the same problem, although engine will now keep running on the second start.
My old key I repaired , its OK, no problems.

That new Smart Key, took four attempts to get the engine going recently ( it just kept firing up the motor, then it shuts down immediately)
So I have made a second complaint to dealer (supplier of said key). He said it sounds like there is a fuel pump problem. But just use my old key, for now to see if I have the same problem.
Well to date there have been no problems with the old key

glenmore · #4 07-11-2012, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johngel1

I hope that you have better luck with a new smart key than I did. I purchased a new smart key for my 99 e240 (went through all the necessary requirements etc.) A very nice Key , but it would fail on starting, at random,(ie engine fired up then immediately died),on the second or third attempt, engine will keep running. So made complaint, after a day of testing I was issued with a replacement Smart Key, its better, but occassionally still gives the same problem, although engine will now keep running on the second start.
My old key I repaired , its OK, no problems.

Aha! Thank you for posting! This is exactly what's happening to my daughter's car and I was about to embark on a wild goose chase thru the car.

Car is 1999 C280 and purchased only about a year ago with one key. Car driven lightly but one day the key would not turn in the ignition. Tried unhooking and hooking up battery. Tow truck came and tried jumping. Nothing could get the key to turn. Tow to the dealer where a new key was ordered. When the car started with the new key, further diagnosis was ended.

Now the car will do as you described. Car will fire then die at random. Second or third start would be fine and the car would drive normally.

I was about to start going thru the car but your post has saved me the trouble. It never occurred to me that it might be the key.

How did you go about repairing your key?

Thanks,

glenmore
1999, 2000 C280
2000 C230K

johngel · #5 07-13-2012, 10:23 AM

Good, am pleased that u found this info useful

The old key just looked well used, it had no batteries, and had a broken latch, so the end would come out ( just a little) and then it would not open doors etc. So had a teck friend look at it , he repaired the internal contacts ,I fitted new batteries, then I just glued it all up so the end would not come out. I suppose there was not much wrong with it.

regards johngel1

Peter Guenther · #6 07-13-2012, 02:22 PM

New smart keys are around $250, some dealers mark them up, and others want to charge you to activate. The key if properly ordered will work out of the box, order as "additional" key otherwise it can wipe out an existing key.

glenmore · #7 07-13-2012, 07:39 PM

Well apparently the one that my daughter got and the one that johngel got are having problems.

There is a distinction between ordering a "replacement" key and an "additional" key.

I suppose you order a "replacement" key when your key is lost or stolen so that lost or stolen key is then disabled. Ordering an "additional" key does not do this to other outstanding keys.

Gilly · #8 07-13-2012, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glenmore

I suppose you order a "replacement" key when your key is lost or stolen so that lost or stolen key is then disabled. Ordering an "additional" key does not do this to other outstanding keys.

Yes this is correct. You insert the new replacement key and the codes that are left in the original key are disabled and the original key will never work again. It can be a lengthy process to disable the old codes.
Again the original will never work again.
The dealer will need to determine which key is the missing key, if you think the key was stolen with the intent on stealing the car, replacement is the way to go.
The dealer can also determine the missing key and temporarily disable the key, you would do this if you simply lost the key and there is an outside chance you could find it or have it returned. If you get it back they can them reauthorize the missing key. This is the way to go if you are unsure what happened to the key.
An additional key will work right out of the box, as has been mentioned before. Depending on year and model you typically get 2 or 3 keys with the new car. You can have a total of 8 keys, so you can typically order 6 additional keys. Each key can also be replaced twice (3 total per key assignments, so you can potentially have 24 keys, but only 8 at any given time. (8 keys, 3 keys per "rail" as MB puts it=24 total) You can't have more than one key on any rail, once you get a replacement key and install it the previous key won't work.
Gilly

engatwork · #9 07-13-2012, 08:35 PM

24 x minimum $250 = $6000 for keys? They sure are proud of them aren't they. My last three cars did not cost that much. It is going to be interesting to see what the value of these cars are 40 years from now.

ps2cho · #10 07-13-2012, 11:22 PM

Our 02 CLK320 is going to cost $280 out the door. Called dealer this week as we need an additional.

glenmore · #11 07-14-2012, 12:11 AM

The keys for our 1999 C280 were on sale at San Francisco Mercedes for about $210 each.

johngel1 · #12 08-18-2012, 10:29 AM

This is an update -My second new replacement Key is on Track four (out of the six tracks)the originals are on one and two, and are the old style smart key. The dealer again had my car and new key for two days this time, as I submitted an "exel" report over 80 starts complete with Date,time, Kms, locations etc. There were 16 fail starts, one 5 in a row ,had to remove key and reinsert to start. Dealer has concluded(they never had a problem like this one with a new smart key) and that my problem is the EIS unit in the dash , not the key and would be $2100 to replace. Am not doing this, as old keys OK.