Quote:
Originally Posted by Murkybenz
Bring curious I searched “take key” and found this
To clarify, the 'Take Key' warning should come on when you open the door while the key is still in the ignition but the engine is not running. If it comes on after you remove the key, then I think you might have a problem in the DAS (Drive Authorization System).
I have never had this message pop up on my 97 w210 dash (I am in the UK) and until I opened your post never heard of take key so it must be specific to the US models.
|
This is a USA specific device. The US government many years ago (mid 1970s IIRC) decided that people were too stupid to remember to take their keys with them when they left the car, so it was decreed that every US car have a warning device such that key in switch, in the off position, plus drivers door open = obnoxious warning sound. In the 210 it’s the same noise that it makes if you leave the headlights on. MB added a message to the new to the W210 digital dashboard so you would know why the car was beeping.
I remember our family having a 1960s Chevy when I was a child. The key switch positions from left to right: lock, off, acccessory, run, start. You could turn the switch from off to start without a key. It had tabs you could grip to rotate the barrel and a key slot in the center. If you were concerned about someone starting the car without a key, you put the key in and rotated back to lock and removed the key. We lived in a small town in downstate Illinois and I don’t remember ever seeing my parents use the lock feature (or locking the car doors for that matter).