j3leung

Hi all,

I have 2 keys when I bought my 06 CLK500. I lost one of my key's housing during the winter as I took the metal key inside out of it while I warm the car one day.

Questions:

1. Can I get a replacement housing and re-programme it with my 2nd remote key?

2. How much would it cost to get that housing and reprogrammed at the dealer? Toronto, Canada

j3leung

THANKS! In advanced...

raymond g-

programmable only through a MB dealer. not field programmable. nearly
impossible to do this yourself though some chinese and lithuania hackers have
claimed to have done this.

average of $300-400 from your dealer, plus, they will try to extract another $50
from you to 'program' this to work with your car.

in the USA we need to bring the car title and ID to the dealer before they will
initiate the key order.

Rudeney

Actually, dealers can't "program" keys. They can only order keys from MBZ that come pre-programmed for your vehicle.

raymond g-

nonetheless, they still advertise this service more often than not. we know that
there may be synchronizing needed which can easily be done by the car owner

Timewarpone

A few weeks ago I bought a remote exactly like the one pictured above for $200 from my MB dealer. The key blade is NOT included. It is an additional $50 if so desired. All I had to show to the dealer was the registration and drivers license. (If your car is financed you don't have the title anyway until it's paid off) Title was not required but the name on the drivers license had to match the name on the registration. In my case my wife's name is on the registration so I had to bring her along to show her drivers license. I couldn't even bring her drivers license with me. They had to see her in person. I told the guy in the parts dept. that I would be picking up the remote so he made a copy of my drivers license in case he wasn't there when I went back to pick it up. 2 days after I placed my order I went back to the parts dept. to pick up my remote and the remote was handed to me in a sealed plastic bag. No one at the dealership had to program it. It worked right out of the bag the very first time.

Rudeney

Unless you need a key to replace and lock-out a lost/stolen key, there is no need to go through service. If you don't care about the missing key, or just want an additional/extra key, the parts counter can handle that. Keys come pre-programmed and work "out of the box". If you do want to lock out a missing key, you need to go through service and bring all known keys so they can figure out which is missing, then order the appropriate replacement key. When the replacement key arrives, all you have to do is use it in the ignition - it will work right out of the box AND it override the missing key it replaces.

Timewarpone

The reason I got the replacement ignition key is because after 9 years of use the plastic layer over the buttons was cracked and looked ugly. Also had teeth marks on it from the dog chewing on it. Now I have 3 ignition fobs that start the car.

tw2

I just ordered a $15 replacement outer plastic cover with the buttons from China. I snipped the original cover off from around the electronics (impossible to just pull them out) and put them into the new plastic cover. Worked perfectly, looks new, 97% similarity to the original one. There is a small chance you might damage the electronic board while doing this, I took my chances.

Eojj

Anyone know if I can get the little emergency key within the Key fob from the dealer? I wonder if I can get a locksmith to cut it

tw2

Locksmith should be able to do it if you have one of the old ones to copy.

Rudeney

If you have the black plastic key, then you should be able to pull the circuit board out. You remove the metal key, then the battery carrier and the you should be able to (carefully!) grab the edge of the circuit board and just pull it out from the plastic housing.

Timewarpone

The emergency key inside the fob can be purchased separately. My dealer charged me $50.00. I tried going to a locksmith but the key blade has the Mercedes Tri-Star logo engraved into it so the locksmith would not touch it. The locksmith I went to said the key blade has the same pattern engraved onto each side of the blade but they are opposites or upside down from one another which would make it extremely difficult to copy. I didn't ask him how much.

tw2

I gave it a go, I felt like I was going to destroy it from pulling too hard so I decided it was safer to carefully cut it out.

j3leung

$300?? That's insane. It's probably better that I stick with my 1 key. Although it would be nice to have 2 complete keys.

Thanks for all your inputs!

Rudeney

FYI, if you just need an extra key, go to the dealership's parts counter with your vehicle registration and ID and order one. It will come ready to use - no programming or vehicle coding necessary. The parts counter employees are non-commissioned so they can often be talked into discounts. You should be able to get a key for $250 or less. Anything under $200 is a good deal.

j3leung

Thanks for the suggestions Rudeney!