ayb88

Hello all,

newbie here at the forums, i've tried to do a search on this already, i know there are already a lot of threads on here, but this question is a bit different.

so here is the deal, car wouldn't unlock or start with smartkey, when i used valet key and opened the door, alarm would go off, but the smart key wouldn't work at all.

Anyways, got it towed the the Mercedes Dealership, they said it was probably the smart key, which they'll replace for $366.

Fine, they ordered it but said it didn't work.

So now they are saying it's the EIS ANNNNDDD the ignition interlock. How likely is it that both need to be replaced?? I already know after reading on the forums that I got ripped off about the price of the key, some members say that the key only costs $190.

So at this point, they are saying that replacing the EIS and ignition interlock will cost me an additional $2100. Which is bonkers, because that's 1/3 of the cars value.

I'm thinking that perhaps Mercedes broke the ignition interlock on accident, or doesn't really need to be replaced and are just trying to make their money off me.

Also, is $2100 a resonable price for EIS and ignition interlock? I've seen people on this forums get their EIS replaced for under $900.

I feel like i'm being punk'd, where is Ashton Kutcher?

Car has 140k miles on it.

Any thoughts on this??

ayb88

Just called the same dealership again, after bugging them about the ignition lock or "steering lock", they said that it's not required to replace, but it was just something they added to the initial quote for the future, since they are prone to fail.

here is the quote i got from mercedes at tysons to replace EIS on my 2003 C240 148k miles:

Replacement Smart Key: 305.66

EIS PART: $540
LABOR: $774

I still think I'm getting overcharged for Labor and part, as I've seen people have paid much less for them. Including the key.

I'm going to call around other MB dealers and get a quote from them, let's see what the difference is.

TruTaing

Does your key start the car? If so, I highly doubt its the EIS.

Have you tried your second key to unlock the car?

Have you tried to lock/unlock the car w/ the key at a very short distance from the driver side handle? (close proximity sensor can still work to unlock the car)

Have you had a tint done recently? :x

ayb88

I've tried everything, but to no avail.

No tint work, Car wouldn't start, the key wouldn't even unlock it. Or even unlock the steering wheel. The Dealer told me I need to replace the EIS and key. So they replaced the key first to see if that's the issue, but it wasn't now it's the EIS. It's currently at the dealership.

I didn't have a second key to try it with before i took it to the dealer.

TruTaing

Okay, key replaced, no tint, no start. Def not an issue w/ the antenna/amplifier.

Glynn? Hahah.

LILBENZ230

I'd make them refund the key charge. This whole "let's bill the customer for these parts we throw at it whether it is the issue or not" BS is ridiculous.

So the key will not turn the ignition or unload the doors? Are you sure the battery hasn't died?


The fact they were going to replace the ignition interlock when it wasn't broken gives you insight into the crooked dealer. Can you take it elsewhere? I realize that's not ideal but if you have the diagnosis in hand you could call other dealers for pricing.

ayb88

I am honestly disappointed at this dealer. It's one of the biggest ones here in Virginia, so i thought they are trust worthy and have positive reviews. I tried replacing the battery before taking it into the dealer, but didn't fix anything.

Hopefully they will remove the key charge, but before they ordered it, i asked them "what happens if the key doesn't fix it, will I still have to pay for it?" and they said yes, because it was part of the diagnostics.

I'm calling around to other dealers to see if they can quote me a better price to replace the EIS.

Good thing I have free towing with my insurance.

LILBENZ230

I would have told them I am not paying for them to throw parts at it. If both of your keys stopped working it is VERY clear it is not a key problem.

ayb88

That was the whole issue though, I didn't have the second key to test it...so they had to order a second one..

Peydidy

My EIS went out a few months ago. Dealer charged me a total of $1500 (parts, labor, and new key). I had a 15% off coupon and the total came out to a bit more then $1,300. They make you get a new key when they replace your EIS for some reason. At least they made me get a new one, its just there way of cheating you out of some extra money even though you clearly don't need a new key

04mbc230

WOW.. that is one expensive replacement key. I recall it being about $70 each and I think that is expensive. Damn them for taking a killing while you are down. I guess they don't call them stealership for nothing.

Peydidy

$70 the key and it programed? what dealer is that at? thats a really good deal (well for a MB key at a stealer at least)

04mbc230

Opps.. Did I say $70. I mean about $170, missing the 1. I got a little carried away when look about what they charged the guy.

Peydidy

got kinda exited there when you said $70. I would buy some extra spare keys for my cars at that price

LILBENZ230

There is no programming at the dealer for the SmartKey, by the way. Just in case any of you ever run into that. The keys are shipped already programmed.

2nice

i had a problem with eis/key dysfunction and they ran me in a circle too. i filed a complaint with the NY district attorney and the dealer ended up refunding me for my extra key that i bought for no reason lol

osman77

So what should be the cost for labor and EIS? Is the labor really more then $750 as asked in this post? I saw other posts with 1.2 till 1.5h of labor.

Peydidy

at the dealer it should come out at $1400-$1800 for the whole thing, its not a cheep thing to fix. I asked around at some indys before I had mine done and it wasn't that much cheeper there. Indy said the part would be 800 plus labor, plus at the dealer you get a loaner for free. I didn't really check around to much though. I am sure if you have a good indy who hooks it up you can get it alot cheeper, but then again I don't know how the coding would work if you had it done at a indy.

MW_ATL

Just for general info related to the key/starting issues:

Interestingly I had the original key for my car fail a week or so ago. The key would unlock the car fine, but when I put it in the ignition, nothing...didn't energize or unlock to turn or anything. Was concerned that i would be facing an EIS isue myself. Found out later that it appears to be an intermittent issue now, coin toss on whether that key would work or not.

Since I have two more, I just swapped to one of those and dropped the other one in a drawer. Did find the intermittent issue interesting, though. And no trouble with either if the other keys, so I am confident it was the key

(worth noting that I cannot complain about the key that failed. 10 years, been under water at least twice, and last year got run over by a fire truck and was still working fine until this)

Peydidy

It got ran over by a fire truck? I would expect it to be in a few pieces if it got ran over a fire truck, but wow thats great that it lasted that long after being threw so much

Glyn M Ruck

Sounds like EIS for sure.

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...t-process.html

ayb88

Well here is the current situation.

The key didn't fix anything. The initial dealer told me that it was the EIS, and the steering lock that needs to be replaced. 8 hour labor @ 129 dollars an hour, plus 957 for both parts.

After doing some research, I asked the Service Advice who was a complete jackass why I needed to get the steering lock replaced. His answer was "it's not damaged and doesn't need replacing, but it's a recommended service."

Really? Why not tell me that from the beginning. Anyways, without the steering lock, the part costs $613, but still 6.5 hour labor, which after looking at this forum, i decided that was too much labor to replace the EIS.

So i called around, and found another dealer, located 10 miles north of the initial one that will replace it in 2.5 hours.

He didn't say anything about the steering lock. So now my total comes down to $925 including tax to have my EIS replaced, he said he's not 100% percent sure though if it is in fact the EIS, because he didn't do diagnostics. But since the other dealer already said that it was the EIS, and this Service Adviser was fairly confident that it is the EIS, I just told them to go ahead with it. Let's see what happens.

Plus the $305, for the smart key...which didn't help...at all.

Little word of advice if you live in the Northern Virginia area, avoid the MB Service at Tysons Corner, I went with Alexandria, and they seem a lot more professional, and courteous.

I think the Service Advisor at Alexandria talked to me more about the issue in the 10-15 minutes then my service advisor in tysons corner did in a whole week.

LILBENZ230

Glad you've got it worked out at a much more reasonable (albeit still painful) cost.

2nice

sounds about right. they quoated me about 700 for part and i think 500 labor but i think you have a bit more going on. mine was just EIS. also probably depends on geographical area.

ayb88

I did call around some indy's too, the most reliable one in the area, all the mechanics are actually german and only work on mercedes, he told me to be aware of people saying that they are able to fix the EIS, it used to be that anyone was able to replace it, but not for customers "security", it's only dealers who are able to replace it, and anyone saying that they can do it, probably won't be able to, but will still charge you for the labor.

just a heads up.

i'll post again once I get the car back, and if it was infact the EIS, and the end cost to replace it.