2012 C250 car not recognizing keys at all
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2012 c250 w204
2012 C250 car not recognizing keys at all
Seemed like the battery was dying on my fob and this morning I went to start it and nothing no lights except for once it recognized for a second but when I turned the key the nav screen went off. I could hear the esl actuator move that one time but not again after that. When my starter when out all lights were on but no crank. Any ideas? I was thinking maybe ignition switch or somehow the esl
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W204 C250 Sport (AMG Package with Pano Roof)
Seemed like the battery was dying on my fob and this morning I went to start it and nothing no lights except for once it recognized for a second but when I turned the key the nav screen went off. I could hear the esl actuator move that one time but not again after that. When my starter when out all lights were on but no crank. Any ideas? I was thinking maybe ignition switch or somehow the esl
Thread Starter
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2012 c250 w204
It doesn't seem like the steering is locked. Although on my car for some reason if the battery is dead in the fob it will 100% not start but I changed the batteries in both keys and it still wouldn't even recognize they key no lights on the dash no accessory mode nothing at all. Unlike the c300 or other trim levels where there is a spot to put the emergency key to start the car mine doesn't have that which I thought was weird.
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2012 c250 w204
Yes that's the key I have and that's odd I wonder if I was having problems with something else and it just happened to work when I changed the battery. I did check the car battery and tried to jump it just to see but nothing different happened
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2021 GLB250 FWD, 2023 GLA250 FWD, 2013 C250, 2015 GLK350, 2005 ML350SE, 2003 E320
It could be the key fob itself is failing. Or it could be the EIS (ignition switch). The EIS inductively couples with the electronics in the key for starting. The battery in the key only powers the little RF transmitter that unlocks/locks doors and opens/closes trunk. A MB dedicated scanner could help pinpoint the source of the problem. A simple code reader will not be sufficient.
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2012 c250 w204
Taking the battery in to get tested now but I just tried to jump it before. I have 3 keys all with the same result. Except for one at one point it would tell me to remove the key from the ignition and then stopped working after that
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W204 C250 Sport (AMG Package with Pano Roof)
I've just re-read your original post. It seems that you heard the ESL once and now you don't. It is probable the ESL has failed.
Last edited by gav24v; Nov 1, 2025 at 04:55 AM.
