New E Class Key
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 5,143
Likes: 1
From: South Orange County, CA
4 wheels
Something like $250 to $350. Remember though that you can only get a total of 8 keys during the lifetime of the car, after that they have to change a module or something. But just go to your service advisor and he will order the key for you from Germany.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 4,929
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From: Tampa, Florida
06 SL65 / 97 993tt /11 Suburban/ 2012 GTR (AMG è la mia Famiglia la Bestia è la mia protezione)
Originally Posted by MB Fanatic
Something like $250 to $350. Remember though that you can only get a total of 8 keys during the lifetime of the car, after that they have to change a module or something. But just go to your service advisor and he will order the key for you from Germany.
Good luck.
Super Member
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 996
Likes: 16
From: Tampa, Florida
2017 E300W
I have no idea how these things are programmed, but they regularly show up on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=33723
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=33723
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 454
Likes: 0
From: NC
'03 Mercedes E320
re: Programming
I had an early 2001 C-Class that had a key failure (and ultimately the entire dash key module failed). The key looked exactly the same as the key in my '03 E-Class, not like the first Smart Keys in '98. After the keys arrived from Germany, supposedly already identified to my car, they had to do some computer magic with their handheld, but then they had to let the car sit in the lot with the key in the ignition for some fairly long period, an hour, perhaps, where the car and key went through a "training" session. Hard to believe, but true.
I had an early 2001 C-Class that had a key failure (and ultimately the entire dash key module failed). The key looked exactly the same as the key in my '03 E-Class, not like the first Smart Keys in '98. After the keys arrived from Germany, supposedly already identified to my car, they had to do some computer magic with their handheld, but then they had to let the car sit in the lot with the key in the ignition for some fairly long period, an hour, perhaps, where the car and key went through a "training" session. Hard to believe, but true.
Last edited by jim256; Jul 5, 2005 at 10:22 AM.
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Super Member
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 693
Likes: 1
From: Mansfield, TX
11 ML350W2 / 17 GLC300
The insides of these keys have a couple of interesting features. If you remember back to 1999, you got a key that didn't have any electronics but would still fit in the socket and start the car. The word that MB uses for this is "inductive reading" of the key. There is an infrared transmitter and receiver in the dash mounted key socket that reads the information in the key and makes a decision about whether to allow the car to start. My '03 will recognize the '00 key as an MB key and unlock the steering column but won't allow the key to turn. I have heard that there is a bar-code inside the key that is read but I don't have any confirmation of that. When I bought my '00 used one of the keys was broken so I bought one on eBay and used the outer shell with my original innerds. I looked very carefully at the end of the parts that must have what the car reads but couldn't tell what was inside of the little cylinder.
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