fullmetaljacket

I've been searching every MB forum regarding IR transponders on FOB keys failing and it seems that there is no solid conclusion whether they could be repaired or re-programmed. Do you guys have any experience with this? Considering our CLK's are the older versions (mine is a 98 w208), will the dealers sell new reprogrammed keys? And how much is a new key from the dealers anyway?

cindyclk

From threads discussing this questionover the years...the answer is no to reprogramming etc. The dealerships will sell you a new key for big bucks. There was someone in europe that was selling less expensive ones but raised his prices when he realized he could make almost as much as the dealers. Don't buy one off ebay, they will not be reprogrammed. The dealers charge around $300

MacVidMB-V8

I don't know what version of SmartKey the '98s had.

But I found a threa from a guy in Portugal who took the "brain" chip from his dead/older Smart Key and put it inside a 2007 Chrome SMartKey and it worked.

I recently aquired a '05 W209 and one of the keys was pretty beat up.

Since I actually have a fair amount of experience with surface mount soldering I gave it a shot.

And it worked perfectly !!! I went from beat up black key to shiny new Chrome one for $50. Would be an even better deal if your key was dead since there would be no loss, only a gain.

If you are good at this sort of thing, you literally have nothing to lose but cost of a used key, and the possibility to save $250 whilst NOT using up another key slot.

A guy named drknight offers the service on Ebay & and in Marketplace section on some of these MB forums (no affiliation) and I am offering to do it for free for a couple people here in Los Angeles just for the experience.

NismoPower

If you order a duplicate key it takes out the old key. You should've order a new key track if you wanted to keep your old key. The eis has 8 key slots. Each slot can have 3 keys, but can use only one slot at a time, so lets say your old key was key 1 & u order a duplicate 1, the Minute u stick it in the eis and learn the key, the old key 1 is disabled. So after using 24 keys the eis is dust. There's some uk company's that sell hardware to get eis dumps and relearn keys.

MacVidMB-V8

Most of the circuitry on these keys is generic. It is only the chip that I removed that contains the info specific to your car.

So while there is no simple way to "reprogram" a used key with the info from your dead/dying/beat up key,moving this chip over accomplishes the EXACT same thing as reprogramming.

You just need another key with same chip to transplant your chip onto. Most cities should have local electronic repair places that can do this. BTW, I have noticed that the chip has a part number that starts with "5678" and that this has held true with both NEC and Motorola chips. I would avoid the newer CHrome ones with the triangular "Panic" button as those seem to use different chips. The CHrome ones with a circular panic button are OK.

I am looking for people with dead keys in LA who would like to contribute to the knowledge base. You stand to gain a new key from the deal.