I have a 2000 ML55 that has had a multitude of problems (see my previous post ML55 Nightmare). After having $9K worth of work for a stalling problem, the car died again. It would crank but not start. After waiting 5 min. or so, it would start and run fine. MB has the car back and thankfully it happened while they were looking at it. They believe that the key is defective. Apparently, the key sends a signal to the ECU that allows it to start. MB is telling me that since the key is bad, the car is in effect going into "anti-theft" mode and will not start. I asked if the bad key could stall the car while it is running and they say yes. This doesnt seem logical to me. I could see if it was one of the electronic keys on the newer MB's, but I thought that since my key has a pop-out metal key, all the transmitter did was unlock the doors.

Has anyone ever heard of this? Is MB right? This problem has been making me nuts. Thanks