emilner

What a crappy situation. I went into town with my son the other day and for some reason after shutting off my car I couldn't get it to lock. On rare occasions that has happened so I took my key out to lock the car. That's when I realized I had my wife's Lincoln key and no MB key in sight. No warnings, no issues until I shut the car off. The keys were no where near my garage so it didn't accidentally get the right signal. The real issue was now I was stranded- thankfully my wife was home and she drove the key out to us but still very nerve wracking. Can someone else start my car? What if we went on a road trip and were out of town? A little unsettling...

teksurv

While I am not sure how the initial start happened, what came to mind once you shut the car off, while there may be a cost associated, was MBrace/MercedesMe remote start.

Rockland

I did the same thing once. I got in my car, realized I forgot something in the house, opened the front door with my keys and got back into my running car without my keys. Left them in my front door. Drove off. Was also very happy I stayed local.

MBNUT1

I don't think that you started it with your with your wife's Lincoln key. I'm guessing here but I suspect that your Mercedes key was close enough that the car started.

I had a similar experience only much worse. I went to the airport with my key in my pocket for my Keyless Go E Class. I was late so I hopped out of the car grabbed my bag and went to get on the plane. on the escalator I realized I still had my key but my girlfriend (wife now) had driven off with the car and didn't have her cell phone. My plane lands at my destination and I hear this message, "I'm ok, your car is ok but I need you to send me a notorized note saying that I can get you car out of the police impound lot". The car started warning her that there was and issue as soon as she drove off and when she was on the highway and traffic came to a stop it shut off. Luckily a policeman pulled up behind her shortly thereafter. She rolled down her window and told him what was going on off course it was raining and the window wouldn't go back up. Luckiy again the policeman was merciful and got a garbage bag to seal the window up and had it flat bedded to the pound lot. I had to go the head of the facility where I was working to get his secretary to notarize a note to send to the impound lot. My wife got a friend to get her take her home to get the key and take her to the impound lot where she retrieved the car luckily free of charge.

With your experience it sounds like the idiot engineers at Mercedes have seen the error of their ways and don't shut off the car until it is commanded to do so. Which BTW is what I was told would happen buy the dealership at the time when I was in the airport.

My wife now balks any time we look at a car with a start button.

emilner

Remote start shuts off as soon as you open the door. Which is beyond dumb.

Major difference here was I never had my car key on me. They were both safely tucked away in our kitchen cabinet where we store them.

But mine started without the key near it. I don't know what the chances are that it was a fluke vs a problem but it is certainly unsettling.

MBNUT1

Define near.

emilner

25' away through a steel door and tucked inside a kitchen cabinet...

hyperion667

Very odd for sure. Did you try your key in the truck? You know, the old switch a roo

Wolfman

You clearly have a problem with your car (or there is an extra key stuck in the upholstery).

The car should not start unless the key is physically inside the car. Even with the key just two feet outside the car, it should not be recognized for the ignition.

You should see the message “Key not present”.

Just tried this on both our MB’s.

MBNUT1

Thanks. One last question I know you couldn't lock it at the store but would it restart? I am assuming no otherwise you would have gone home to get the key. My contention is that your wife's Lincoln key did not start your car.

jumpman726

That is extremely bazaar and I have no idea why your car did that. Have you tried to duplicate the problem? Try to recreate the scenario and start the car again with the Lincoln key. The range on the Mercedes keys for Keyless Go is very short, less than 3 ft. I know in my W212 with the key in my pocket, if I step out of the car and it's still running the warning chime and "Key Not Detected" message appears even before I can close the door. Just like if you put your key in your trunk and then close your trunk it should instantly pop back open because it senses the key is in the trunk.

You said your son was with you. Is there any chance he had one of the Mercedes keys in his pocket and forgot about it? That could explain why the car started.

2012 merc amg

Had to have been the duplicate key in the car.

superswiss

That is indeed bizarre. The only thing I can think off is that your steel door and perhaps some other metal in your house acted as an amplifying antenna. If that's the case you wanna find out as technically anybody could unlock the car in your driveway and drive off with it. Normally, thieves have to use a device that amplifies the signal to pull this off, but also the latest MB key fobs have a motion sensor in them that makes them stop sending out a signal after not detecting motion for 2 minutes. Not sure which key fob the W222 has, but if it's the one you can no longer stick into the ignition like in the E Class, then it's the new one with motion sensor. I know this all works, because I tested it with my 2019 C63. Car won't unlock or start if the fob has been motionless for 2 minutes.

The fob doesn't have to be exactly inside the car to start it. I can put it on my roof, at least the glass part and the car will start. But moving it only a couple feet away from the car and it will no longer start. Also, if I leave the car with the fob in my pocket there's a pretty immediate warning in the dash that the fob is no longer detected, so even if due to a sheer miracle you were able to start the car with the fob in your house, you should have eventually gotten a similar message in your dash once you drove away from your house. So, something isn't adding up. One possibility is that there was a key left in the car or on your son. You wouldn't be able to lock the car if the fob is inside or on your son's person. The key has to be on the person trying to lock the car.

Definitely would take your car through some tests. Get inside, start it, then remove the key and make sure you get the warning in the dash that the key is no longer inside of the car. If you don't then something isn't as it should be. Also try to start your car with the fob nearby, but outside the car. It shouldn't start. As I said, you probably will be able to start it with the key on the sunroof as that is within the margin of error for the system to think the key is actually inside the cabin. Glass doesn't block the signal. If you put the key anywhere on the metal roof, it probably will no longer start. I haven't actually tried that.

emilner

No, I tried and got the no key present prompt. I don't think it was necessarily my wife's key but maybe the proximity sensor was off and thought my key was nearby. But who knows.
No- both keys were in the house. We even got the prompt saying no key detected.

Nope.

Wolfman

Very simple. If the car can be started while the key is outside the car (not on top of the glass roof) then it is not working correctly and you need to get it fixed. Good luck!

emilner

That's my next step but I am soooooo looking forward to the "can't duplicate" comment...

hyperion667

"We were able to duplicate the issue with a can of baked beans, we'll keep the car overnight and call you in the morning"

MagnoWhitew222

set up your mercedes ME, you can start the car from the app.

emilner

You can start it but you can't enter or drive it while running...

MBNUT1

If you start you car and with it running remove the key from the car does it show the "Key is missing message"?

LILBENZ230

Both my cars have keyless go, but also the option to use the key and so we use the key in the ignition method for both. It's just easier and more natural feeling.

This would trip me out. I'm interested to see what the cause ends up being.

hyperion667

After 10 years of DD'ing a keyless go, I never want anything else!

Wolfman

Haven’t used a car key in the ignition for almost 20 years.
Can’t imagine why anyone would do that. Plus most cars, including all Mercedes models don’t even have that option anymore.
The S-class stopped that for the MY18 facelift with a non-removable Start/Stop button.

Ironically, our GTC has an ignition slot hidden in the Center Console

darlop

Keyless go like touchscreens is just another example of technology for technology sake. It only makes things more complicated and leads to all kinds of unsafe and ridiculous situations.

Just this week I was picking up my car from the shop with my wife following in hers. It was only when we got home that we realized that I had her key in my pocket the whole time.

Having a key in the ignition while a car is running is just as fundamental as having a gas pedal and a brake pedal. I can't wait until they find some fancy new technology to replace those. Maybe we'll start waving our hands around to make the car go faster.

I'm always in favor of high tech whenever it makes things easier but some things don't need to be changed. Let's not even get started on the situation with electronic shifters and brakes. That same car I took to the shop (BMW) had a dead battery. At first I was going to tow it. But guess what, the shifter is electronic so I couldn't even put it in Neutral. There is a tool in the trunk for manual shifting but guess what, the trunk won't open because there is no power and there is no manual release either. Real geniuses designing this stuff.

MBS63AMG

Does anyone know what the purpose of the little key diagram located just in front of the cupholders, at the bottom of a storage slot? It's stamped into the black plastic of the area just in front of the cupholders.