ATSOBE

Who has added remote start to their car. Has anyone added a remote start to their car. I wonder cause i never seen someone remote start their mercedes is there a reason why? Or does this mess up the electronic of the car casue of al the wiring

Krytech

I asked about this when I was buying the car and they told me MB (and most German cars?) don't offer remote starters. Didn't say why, but he mentioned hearing stories of whacked electrical system in cars that have them. I was skeptical and called Best Buy and another installer and both of them said they won't install them in a Benz...

I'd love to get one installed though...

Savage c-300

they have to disable your immobilizer and a lot of security stuff to get it to remote start. i used to have it on my old car. its not worth the risk of messing up your electrical setup although it is a great function. i know a lot of american cars have it standard now-a-days, i wonder why we dont see it more on foreign cars?

XJ9

The reason why you do not see remote starters coming standard on german cars is really a legal rather than technical issue. German automakers are notoriously conservative when it comes to adding new features that introduce possible liability on their part. The situation that comes to mind is a consumer remote starting their vehicle while it is in the garage and gassing family members... It takes no great leap of imagination to realize that MB makes a great target for a lawsuit.

XJ9

It isnt that the wont install them... they simply cant.

The smartkey equipped mercedes vehicles tether security functions between the electronic key cylinder and the engine control module and do so over the vehicle CAN network. Technically it can be done and various companies have attempted to develope products with little success. To date I have only seen *one* video demonstrating an actual working prorotype remote starter unit on an 2004 SL600. Even then the company stated that they had no immediate plans to produce a commercial product because they didnt think they could sell them at a reasonable price (reasonable being under $1500)

pokerFACE

to get around the immobilizer alone you usuallyw ould have to give up one of your (very expensive) smartkeys. the key will have to be attached to the module tucked under your dash.

I'm not sure if this means that your immobilizer is effectively disabled since you always have a key attached to the car.

webada

Third party that makes a remote start kit is essentially "hotwiring" your car. Take great comfort to know that Merc's security is above par.....
yes, it would have been a really nice comfort feature to have.

ATSOBE

I see know why mercedes didnt add it many security features to over ride i see

C350Silver

Atsobe, please don't do it...it's not worth it. I installed a remote starter onto my Honda and over the years, the electrical system slowly deterioted. Now, some say that I had a crappy Honda but come on...if I listed the electrical and mechanic system's sequence of slow death, I'd be writing until the sun comes up. Whatever the comfort and convenience that comes from the remote starter does not justify losing the MB's original technology for security and workmanship. My Merc is coming in 1 month and I would never install another remote starter again.

XJ9

that is the procedure for vehicles that use an RFID tag based immobilizer (see attached pic for what is hidden in the key). The idea is that when the remote start is activated the spare keytag is electrically coupled to the receiving antenna built into the key cylinder. Done properly it does not compromise security.

The mercedes smartkey system is fundamentaly different. It uses a proprietary system of IR return for the key code as well as doing away with the physical key cylinder completely. None of the current remote start bypass solutions come close to working with smartkey.

XJ9

Sounds like your hondas problems are related to the install rather than the product...

A properly installed remote starter will last the life of the vehicle without *any* issues. An improperly installed starter can cause all sorts of vehicle problems. It has everything to do with the competancy of the installing technician.

This is the dirty little secret of the alarm/remote start business: there is no real training or certification required and often times the technicians do not really understand what they are doing but re merely following an instruction booklet. Competition drives the price down and the result is that the guy you trust to install your starter is making 8-10 bucks/hour and maybe does not speak english. The end results are sometimes catastrophic.

Jorg

my cars are equipped with key-less go and I could not think of a single reason why I wanted a remote start feature.

Running the motor, when you are not in the car, is illegal in our city. No idling to warm up the car in the morning in our city. Great idea.

Jorg

RLE

<<Who has added remote start to their car. Has anyone added a remote start to their car. I wonder cause i never seen someone remote start their mercedes is there a reason why? Or does this mess up the electronic of the car casue of al the wiring>>

Nobody living in Florida needs remote start. Now if you lived in Yellowknife, well then....

AsianML

OT, but I see you got your member ID from Nickelodeon?

PoaMike

XJ9 is one of the most helpfull members on MBworld. Every answer that is entered is in great detail and explination... I Thank You XJ9 for your time and info.

XJ9

ahh. now i knew i wasnt the only one here who watches cartoons...

wanchu83

The remote start is being develop by midcityengineering I think. I saw some thread about it in other forum.
I didn't call them to ask, but the thread read that they are working on Cclass remote start and currently working on increasing the range.
If you go to youtube, you can see that MidcityEngineering has made remote starter able to new ML models.

Lets hope they make one for w204 soon.