Program New ML key
 

I had to buy a new key for my 2005 ML; the old one broke. The dealer hit me for $145 and now wants an additional $35 to program it. Does anyone know if there is some way that I can do it myself?

Dealer only must do this. Can't believe you are complaining about a $35 charge.

Dude, $180 for a key? Talk about bending over...

It s a shame that $180 does not mean much these days. Its like spending 10 bucks in 1980!! As for the key, there are no other choices and that should give people the incentive to be more careful with the keys and also not to purchase any used MB that comes with only 1 key. Not the dealers fault and with MB its a security issue and that is well worth it.

^ Agreed

The cost of an MB key is a deterrant to the MB getting stolen.
The MB key has to be configured for the car and has an internal transponder. Most car thieves will not be able to fake out the system. I thought it sucked when I had to order by key and show my proof of ownership to the dealer. BUt then I as I thoought about it I felt more secure knowing that the only way a key to my car was being cut was through MB USA. So yes the cost of $180 is high when viewed by itself. But viewed as a deterraant to thieves and piece of mind that your car is secure it is quite cheap.

Yeah, I wanna know what dealer charges 35 for it. LOL the ones I go to charge 140 in addition to the cost of the key. SMH. :) What's worse is AFter you get the new key they told me the old one wont work, so I cant have two, without paying for them to reprogram my old key that stopped working btw ... Security is nice, but i've seen them program the keys it takes less than five minutes...

They probably charge you the higher amount because you are such a good customer and a wonderful friendly guy! By the way the old key cannot be reprogrammed. Do not know what you saw them do but if you take the entire process from start to finish takes way longer than 5 minutes. What do you think that the tech should work for nothing again because you are a wonderful person??

You're right I am a wonderful lady! You must be a comedian, I see you wait for people to voice their frustrations and side with the dealership.hmmmmm do you work for them? BTW my dealership told me that they offer to program the "old" key for a fee. They have no reason to lie. The rest of your message was stupid, so whatever. lol

Been discussed many times on these boards. Keys cannot be reprogrammed. And no I do not have any affiliation with any MB Dealership. The one I do business with is excellent.

I do not believe you are not affiliated. BUt thanks for your reply. LOL

The $145 and $35 fees are the lowest I have seen for a new key and programming.
This dealer is treating you very well.
I have seen keys go for $250 with $120 for programming.
Mike

That is BS. The keys are reprogrammable, and this is coming from someone who has inquired about it recently for various recent years, including my own. The dealer assured me that not only are my keys reprogrammable, but the newer ones as well. It's different if the dealer doesn't have the computer to reprogram the keys, but in that case, they need it to program new ones. The bigger dealers in Germany do it routinely, while the smaller ones claim keys can't be reprogrammed because they don't have the equipment.

Amen!

actually mine was done for free yesterday at the dealer they said since I purchased key they did it free and the programmed both keys to boot gotta love it

Actually I believe the reprogramming can only be done with the old style blade key as used in the W163. The newer W164's have the smart key as used in all of the cars and they cannot be reprogrammed. And DEESBENZ I have no affiliation with any MB dealer. I am retired pilot and I have also owned numerous aviation related businesses . Think about it for a minute and try to figure out how a dealership employee could own as many MB's as I have over the years unless I owned the place which I do not.

Then how are the keys programmed in the first place, then when there's a problem, you're telling us that the keys can't be replaced or new ones purchased and programmed?

ok sosha whatever you say (smile) I still have my own opinion on this and do not totally agree with you. All I know is both my keys work now. Call it a programming miracle...That's pretty cool about you being a pilot though.

It may depend on the year - but I know with mine ('99 ml 430) what I learned is that when they built the car, they gave you 2 keys, of the 8 possible key 'slots' in the AAM. When you have used all 8, you are toast and need to buy a new 'Brain' for the vehicle. (AAM,ECU etc etc) Well that is the official version from MB.

I purchased (we lost the last key - and found out that the previous owner had indeed lost all the other keys - we were newbies and didn't think to ask if ' all the other keys had been used'.

I purchased a diagnostics/programming kit to reprogram keys and lo and behold - it worked as advertised so we programmed three new keys (with remotes). ONly sad thing is during the time the car has been sitting, the ECU and AAM are not synchronized - so although everything seems to check out - and keys have been programmed - the car won't start.

Not sure where to go from here, frustration is building - getting more tempted to dump it - except for it being an excellent car (well.. door stop)
I have heard that I can 'reset' the ME (ECU?) and force it to resynchronize with the AAM. Mercededs will not sell us any of these parts individually since their records show all 8 keys used...

How can the units get syncronized?

Hi,

I have a 99 ml430 with 2 keys, neither of the remotes work. I was wondering if I could get some info on the diagnostic/programing kit that you purchased. I tend to do most of my own repairs and this appears to be something I could use. I am in NC.

Thx!

The unit I purchased was from mbkeyprog.com. IT is pretty comprehensive - on the site I believe you can look at the documentation to see the screens. I purchased extra new fobs, blank/new transponders as well as some old ones for the electronics. Blades you can get pretty cheap through the dealer with the VIN. Even if you've used all 8 slots you can reprogram everything. We messed up and reset the 1st key (don't do that) which is the 'master' .. and doesn't come with the remote etc. It can also reset the fobs with new transponders to the car too. IF you have the original keys then just get new batteries and you can do a search how to reset them. I forget but it isn't that hard. I will be putting ours up on ebay soon since we no longer need it... (we have a nicely functional ml back... :) ) by the way, here is a link to another thread here with the info.

https://mbworld.org/forums/m-class-w...ess-entry.html

if not resyncing with this procedure then they need to be reprogrammed - either by dealer or something like the kit I purchased.

Thanks so much, just curios, are you selling the kit or your older ML? If it's the kit I may be interested.

Thx again for your help.

LD

This will help you with syncing your remots.
Good luck

Thanks for the help, I replaced the batteries , then tried the programing tips and it works!!! I was happy. Thanks to all again. this does work