Good Morning / Afternoon / Evening All,

I am unfortunately in the predicament whereby my spare key is lost (slim hope of returning) and my other key unfortunately has been through the washing machine one too many times.

As such, the key is not being detected. It was not locking or unlocking initially but the car would turn on and I could drive it, for a day. Previously I had got low battery warnings on the dash, so in order to prevent this, I replaced the battery with exactly the same battery that was in the fob; the car will now not start at all. I have spoken to Mercedes who have said that I can remove the start-stop button and use the key in the ignition, I believe that this feature is not applicable to my model so this doesn't help me unfortunately.

Whilst I am under no illusions that the key is waterproof, is this something that can be fixed in a Mercedes garage from your experiences? Or is this something that will have to be sent away to be remedied, I have been quoted AED 9,000 (GBP 2,000) for a new key which will take four weeks, something I cannot fathom given my work and family commitments.

Any advise on this would be massively appreciated.

Thanks all.