SL/R230: I want to "freshen" my keys
03-23-2017, 04:28 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
I want to "freshen" my keys
The keys for my car and for my wife's E350 work perfectly well, but the shells are kinda old, cracked, faded (the red panic button) and have some sharp edges here and there. I'm wondering, can an MB shop simple slide the guts outta my keys and slide them into new shells? Would this be a totally stupid question to ask the guy at the MB parts counter? Would it cost less than a million dollars?
03-23-2017, 05:01 PM
#2
MBWorld Fanatic!
MB doesn't sell key parts. I've bought key housings on ebay for other brands and transferred the internals for the same reason you list. I'd look there. A dealer will only be able to buy you an entire new key, which will be a couple hundred bucks and may require programming.
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Heatwave (03-23-2017)
03-23-2017, 07:53 PM
#3
MBworld Guru
If you have the old black plastic fobs, or the chrome fobs with the round (not triangular) panic buttons, then you can DIY this. When you remove the battery carrier, you can just slide the circuit board out of the housing by pulling on it gently with tweezers or pliers. You can then slide it into a new(er) housing (plenty of those on eBay). Note that you cannot swap from the older sold black to the chrome key, though. Also, the newer chrome keys with the triangular panic button cannot be disassemble.
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Heatwave (04-01-2017)
04-01-2017, 06:17 AM
#4
Super Member
If you have the old black plastic fobs, or the chrome fobs with the round (not triangular) panic buttons, then you can DIY this. When you remove the battery carrier, you can just slide the circuit board out of the housing by pulling on it gently with tweezers or pliers. You can then slide it into a new(er) housing (plenty of those on eBay). Note that you cannot swap from the older sold black to the chrome key, though. Also, the newer chrome keys with the triangular panic button cannot be disassemble.
IF you already have new style cases you can buy shells privately (eBay,etc)
Old key cases are different from the new ones in shape. But the printed circuit board can be modified to work in a new style case.
There is/was a forum member providing this service awhile ago.
There was also a detailed DIY on how to modify the circuit board to retrofit if you search
Good Luck
Hary
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Heatwave (04-01-2017)
04-01-2017, 11:00 AM
#5
MBWorld Fanatic!
the chrome key with triangle PANIC is not serviceable nor can it be retrofitted.
limit your retrofitting projects to the chrome circular PANIC model, or simple
board swap outs to the gen2 black housing
limit your retrofitting projects to the chrome circular PANIC model, or simple
board swap outs to the gen2 black housing
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Heatwave (04-01-2017)
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Heatwave (04-01-2017)
