Sorry for the delay responding to your answer. You were right on the money. The dealer confirms that it's probably the key, so I ordered one. It'll be here next weekend. They say I'll need to get it activated, so we'll do that at the same time. Thanks again for the help,

Don

PS - What goes wrong with the key, is it the metal or something inside the remote control?

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2008 ML350
2007 Honda Element
2007 Honda Accord
2009 Honda Civic

The metal, or "blade" portion of the key is OK, it's the chip inside the remote that causes problems. If you were to swap the blade key from your remote onto a remote from another ML, you'd be able to crank your engine, and start it for a second, but it would die out right away. The chip inside the remote contains the VIN relevant data needed to drive the vehicle.