Hmmmm,

Kinda Ironic really. The older alarms disarmed when a "key" was put into the ignition or door. Its interesting that the system is not smart enough to realize that the optical key is legitimate. The optical key is supposed to work without batteries through inductive power.

Im glad my 99 has the "old" switchblade key. At least when something funky happens electronically Im not stranded.

Not sure why MB switched from the Laser cut keys to the optical system anyway. The Laser cut keys made it nearly impossible to steal the cars anyway. Ask anybody who has had an ignition cylender failure how hard it would be to steal one of these cars.