I need to know. I've read the threads- BUT...

How is it that so many eBay FOBs are sold with hundreds of 99% or better positive feedback?

The forums and local dealer say FOBs can not be reprogrammed.

What's the final word?

i would think majority are just replacing the shell , bcuz as far as i know you cant program another mb's key to work on yours ,
or they just buy them up to add to their keychain and perp like they got a benz ..

Well, you can "reprogram" a Merc SmartKey, but it requires that it be dissembled down to the pcb, the security PIC floated off, replaced with a new one, and a "virgin" flash dumped on it.

It's then basically a new, virgin key, and can be added via Star to any car. I can't imagine that it's a cost effective way to get a new key. I'm like the OP, suspect most are reusing the shells.

I like that Uk-C200, is there a write up on it anywhere? I've replaced soldered flash chips on ECU pcbs before. Not too bad. When you say PIC floated off are you talking about a standard and possibly readily available flash chip?

It's not super hard part to find - biggest problem is getting someone to sell you 1 as opposed to 1000 of 'em.

I'll see if I can dig up the info I had - was about a year ago, and if you've worked by hand with surface mount VLSI chips, it's the same sorta thing. I think the hard part was getting the code.

Shoot me a PM with your email address, I'll see what I can dig up.

EDITED for clarity : You will still need a setup to dump the code onto the key, or to program the PIC standalone.

PM sent, thx!

Found this on coding a new ML fob:

http://www.ehow.com/how_7466080_rese...0-key-fob.html

eHow isn't so reliable though.

Another set of sequences:

http://mercedesforum.com/forum/archi...p/t-21053.html

Look at this! Gonna guess I need a star system to hook to it though.

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/33...AK500_for.html