Originally Posted by 97 SL320

You are welcome. The real test will be that the car continues to keep starting. I've been involved in diagnosing various intermittent problems where I think it is fixed but it acts up at some future random time.

If it makes it a week, I'd say you are 90% there, a month and it is 100%.

You can get a clipped head " wallet key " for about $ 45 from the dealer by providing proof of ownership. A flip key is about $ 250 last I checked. The new key will start the car without any programming. In any event, the old key is still good to gain access to the car.

The key will be programmed at a MB USA parts depot. They know what keys have been issued to the car and will select another slot / version in the cars computer. Basically there are 8 key slots I'll call 1 through 8 , each slot has 3 or 4 versions below that I'll call A through C. This will give 24 possible keys per car but you can only use 8 at a time.

There are readers from China where you remove the DAS box, unsolder the chip, read it out then program your own key.