Hey,
so I am pretty new on this Forum but I was hoping to shed some light on a problem I've been having. I own a 1998 E320, and it has been almost a year since I managed to start it the last time. It all started with ocassional problems recognizing the electronic key, where it wouldn't be "detected" as I inserted it in the Ignition Switch. Usually you would hear some kind of "locking/unlocking" sound coming from underneath the dashboard. Most of the time, it would work again by just inserting the key again. One day, it stopped working completely, and the key wouldn't be recognized anymore. You can't even turn it. Steering wheel remains locked. So that's one thing... the other one is that same time, the infrared unlocking mechanism stopped working, so when you press the lock/unlock button on the key remote, nothing happens. The infrared diode of the remote works ok though. So I'm kinda confused on what it may be exactly.

I already tried changing batteries on my key, cleaning the little infrared window on the remote and on the ignition switch, car battery is charged and in good shape, checked all fuse boxes. Took the Electronic Ignition Switch and the Key to a little car repair shop and they tried to reconfigure the key to the EIS. One of them said the spare key was defective but the main one still worked ok. The only alternative I see is to try to dismount the Electronic Locking Switch (ELS), and to see if that may be the problem; which wouldn't explain why the IR is not opening the doors. Can those two things be completely independent one from the other?

Maybe we can shed some light on the topic together... I would really appreciate it!
Thanks!