I NEED A LOCKSMITH THAT CAN PROGRAM A KEY
 

The electronics in one of the remotes for my 1997 S500 has stopped working. The key is still good and the transponder must be OK, as the car still starts but the infra red transmitter for the central locking is toast. New batteries don't work. The central locking is still good and works fine with the key.

My local dealer wants $274 for a new key plus $65 to program it! I found a seller on ebay that has new, OEM Mercedes remotes at a great price, less the $70, MERCEDES BENZ MB S M 129 140 202 163 CLASS KEY REMOTE | eBay but the local dealer doesn't want to program a key I bought somewhere else so I need to find a locksmith that can do it. Does anyone know of one anywhere in Illinois that has the equipment it takes?

Thanks.

You may have to return the bought one, and return to the dealer's unit. Locks & keying is always a big security issue with Mercedes.

I'm doubtful that any keys bought anywhere can be programmed by anybody but Mercedes in TX to work on your car. If I read your eBay item's description properly, they are saying that it is a previously programmed fob with a new, uncut blade:

" ***NOTE***
This remote is in NEW condition. NOT new never programmed.
This means this unit physically looks new but does has been
previously programmed"


Can you be sure that the infrared receiver on the car is working? If you don't have another working key you may not be sure. There is a procedure in the owners manual for re-setting or re-synching these systems.

Believe it or not, an infrared that doesn't work may start working again a few days later with no intervention of any type.

I polished my red lenses on car doors with rubbing compoundMy understanding with key change battery under 20 sec. then put key in ignition

The 140 key comes programmed from the factory, and works out of the box all it needs to do is be syncronized to the car. All the ads lie about MB cars remotes. check another dealer.
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/tech-help/262686-folding-infrared-key-exchange.html

Update
 

Thanks for the info guys. When I bought the car I got 2 keys/remotes. Both had dead batteries but when I put in new ones and re-synchronized them to the car and they worked perfectly. I also polished the lens in the door and trunk with headlight lens polish, came out very nice.

A couple of months later my wife said hers wasn't working very well and at times didn't work at all. I switched keys with her, as mine was working perfectly, and noticed hers looked like the halves didn't fit together as tightly as mine and that the metal key wasn't laying in the recess as tightly as mine. I'm wondering if it got dropped, stepped on or physically damaged in some way. I put in fresh batteries and it seemed OK for a few days but then the infra red stopped working again.

I followed Peter Guenther link, folding infra red key exchange and got a good idea from pokeyarw's post that something on the circuit board might be disconnected. I found another sale on eBay that sells OEM cases, so I ordered one with the idea that I'd take mine apart, find and fix anything amiss with the board and then install the current electronics in the new case. For less than $24 it's worth a try.

If it works I'll write up a DIY with photos. Stay tuned, the new case should be here in a few days.