[?] I found a couple of Smart Keys for my 2001 e430 on eBay, and was wondering how/where I can go to get them reprogrammed to work with my car. I figure having a backup key around would not hurt, if I can get a spare from eBay cheaply. Any suggesstions?
Thanks samhmbz. I guess I'm left scratching my head as to why there are so many smart keys available on eBay??!! I thought it was do-able. [V] Your text here
The Smart key is coded to the car, I think many of those probably come from parking attendands finding the spare in the glove box. The smart keys on E bay have only one use (the outside housing) and to impress people.
My dealer ordere a replacement for a broken one, someone screwed up and it diabled my other one. They had to order another. When you first put it into the ignition it communicates with the computer in the car and can take up to half hour. First it wont turn and then the car wont keep running. The lock unlock works off infrared and uses the batteries in the remote, the key gets its power inductively from the ignition lock. Dont belive the sellers, MB can not reprogram them. Have your dealer order them as additonal keys not replacement
They are only good for a re-usable shell for your old, battered key housing.
I purchased one on ebay for $30 as a replacement shell because the latch holding the metal micro-key had broken.
BTW, keep in mind that there are 2 sizes of SmartKey running around. A slightly older key that is longer and narrower, and the newer iteration which is a bit wider but shorter. This is important if you are swapping parts to get a new shell.
I se you mastered the trick of getting to the batteries. My catch broke also but they replaced the whole thing. The dealer had a whole box of them, it probably would have been easier just to swap the board.
On the other MBZ forum, a member unsoldered the main chip and resoldered it into an Ebay bought key. This allowed him to go from the older, larger key fob to the newer smaller one.
For me, I bite the bullet and purchased my key from the dealer. I needed the registraion for my car for prove of ownership. One note, since I have '99, I still have key holes in both front doors. When the Smart key was ordered, the electronic portion and hard key portion have two seperate numbers. You may be able to order just the electronic portion.
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