Spare Mercedes Key

[wongl]

Just wondering how big is a problem with our members with replacing a Mercedes car key is? Please participate in this poll.

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Main dealers, if anything goes wrong with it in future you have a receipt.

Im not keen on giving my details, and old key to a random person out there who will know your address, the model of car you have and the ability to drive it away in the future if they please.

 

[wongl]

Main dealers, if anything goes wrong with it in future you have a receipt.

Im not keen on giving my details, and old key to a random person out there who will know your address, the model of car you have and the ability to drive it away in the future if they please.

Same here, I ordered my spare key (the car was sold to me with only one key as the previous owner was only supplied with one key from a gigantic used car dealer) from MB dealership. Wasn't keen to let some stranger read the hash-codes off my key which will allow them to make multiple keys.

 

[Robllew]

What's the approx cost of a new key from Merc dealer? Bought a 2010 C class that came with only one key.

 

[wongl]

What's the approx cost of a new key from Merc dealer? Bought a 2010 C class that came with only one key.

I paid £235 inc VAT for an A-Class W169 replacement key about 5 years ago from my local MB dealer in Croydon. It came as one of those metallic chrome style key even though the original one I have is a standard plastic black key.

The price included a new blade by the way.

 

[markjay]

What's the approx cost of a new key from Merc dealer? Bought a 2010 C class that came with only one key.

Not 100% sure, mine was a few years back now, but should be in the region of £250-£300.

EDIT: see wongl's post above.

 

[Gollom]

Not 100% sure, mine was a few years back now, but should be in the region of £250-£300.

EDIT: see wongl's post above.

Price is ridiculous and smacks of exploitation. Wish there were a reliable alternative route as Sue needs a spare key

 

[markjay]

Price is ridiculous and smacks of exploitation. Wish there were a reliable alternative route as Sue needs a spare key

Possibly, but this seems to be a common practice in the industry. Last year I paid ~£250 for an original Suzuki fob.

It's obviously not the cost of the materials, or the programming work, that bring the price up.

I can only speculate that the market for spare keys is relatively small, and the admin systems in the background (managing fob security at the central computer level) are expensive to run - but I don't actually know.

 

[E55BOF]

I need to be able to vote for both the positive options.

 

[wongl]

Price is ridiculous and smacks of exploitation. Wish there were a reliable alternative route as Sue needs a spare key

Too bad we are no longer in the EU, otherwise it might be worth lodging a complaint to the EU commissioner. I did this a few years back when MB Germany was dragging their feet supplying me with a RHD car from a European dealership. Really surprised to received a call from MB Germany circa 6 weeks after I lodged my complaint with the EU commission about unfair trade practices by MB Germany. They apologized for their 'apparent' internal screw-up fast-tracked my car and even gave me an upgrade to a higher spec free of charge. I don't suppose they will follow up a complaint from us anymore.

 

[wongl]

Possibly, but this seems to be a common practice in the industry. Last year I paid ~£250 for an original Suzuki fob.

It's obviously not the cost of the materials, or the programming work, that bring the price up.

I can only speculate that the market for spare keys is relatively small, and the admin systems in the background (managing fob security at the central computer level) are expensive to run - but I don't actually know.

I had seriously considered purchasing an MB key coding kit for circa €4,000. After the initial investment, each key only costs circa €30 but without the blade. However, let's say £100 a pop to fellow members will require circa 50 keys to break even.

Then there is the trust thing and the liability that one might unintentionally 'cut' a spare key for someone who doesn't have the authority to order a spare key etc, etc.

 

[wongl]

I need to be able to vote for both the positive options.

Sorry, didn't think of this option and to be honest, even if I did, I don't how to create such an option!

But please do tell us about your experience of obtaining a spare key using both methods.

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Its a custom coded

Possibly, but this seems to be a common practice in the industry. Last year I paid ~£250 for an original Suzuki fob.

It's obviously not the cost of the materials, or the programming work, that bring the price up.

I can only speculate that the market for spare keys is relatively small, and the admin systems in the background (managing fob security at the central computer level) are expensive to run - but I don't actually know.

This!

The security needed (especally with all the cloning thesedays) its not actually that expensive.

 

[E55BOF]

Sorry, didn't think of this option and to be honest, even if I did, I don't how to create such an option!

But please do tell us about your experience of obtaining a spare key using both methods.

MB are about £230 or so, but it takes up to a week - the blade, bizarrely, is the limiting factor, taking longer to arrive. Also, you have to go to the dealer with the car, the V5C, your driving licence, or other photo ID and proof of address before they will order one. I used a professional cloning service to get a spare key a few years ago, but they could not cut the blade, and by the time that came from Germany the cost was almost the same overall.

My spare key for the E500 was wrecked a couple of months ago, and I knew (having obtained a new one from my local dealer for the same car six months earlier) that MB would supply a black key, not a chrome one. I wanted a chrome one. I asked the dealer if I could have a chrome key this time round, and was told that as the part number was the same, it would presumably be a black key again. Could I specify a chrome key? They would ask MB and get back to me. They never did.

On the off chance, I rang a firm called Car Key Solutions. "Chrome key no problem, including the blade, the technician is in your area day after tomorrow, special offer on at the moment, £175."

I'm not concerned that it would presumably be possible to make a third key without my knowing anything about it; firstly, a seventeen-year-old E class is not exactly a prime target for theft, and secondly, if there was a rash of car thefts possibly involving cloned keys where one company was a common factor, I think the police might notice that.

Forty-eight hours later I had my chrome key and blade.

 

[Will]

I’m not sure there’s such a huge market out there for professional car key companies stealing cars after making new keys for customers.

I mean, if this was such a thing it wouldn’t take long to put 2&2 together...key made by key company, car stolen without key afterwards - not exactly the smartest scam in the book, is it?

When you can just fish a set of keys out of someone’s hallway, or break in/enter a building for the keys - or better still, use a relay device to extend the signal for keyless models etc - no trail back to the thief that way.

Good to be aware and take precautions, but if you’re driving a second hand car with two keys how do you know the previous owner didn’t get a spare key made before they sold it on? You would have absolutely no idea and they would most likely have your address if you have transferred the V5 into where the car is being kept...

 

[wongl]

MB are about £230 or so, but it takes up to a week - the blade, bizarrely, is the limiting factor, taking longer to arrive. Also, you have to go to the dealer with the car, the V5C, your driving licence, or other photo ID and proof of address before they will order one. I used a professional cloning service to get a spare key a few years ago, but they could not cut the blade, and by the time that came from Germany the cost was almost the same overall.

This is similar to my experience except it took MB Croydon 3 working days to get my spare key from Germany complete with the blade. Ordered on a Friday after the paperwork checks, got a call on Tuesday that the new key was ready for collection.

Annoying, my model year (and the original key) is black but the spare key supplied by the dealer is the all-new metal shining one. It now no longer matches the original key, obvious that it is a replacement key, and worse of all it is easy to confuse with the keys for the newer W246 and W205! Apparently, MB can no longer order the black keys I wanted.

On the off chance, I rang a firm called Car Key Solutions. "Chrome key no problem, including the blade, the technician is in your area day after tomorrow, special offer on at the moment, £175."

For me, the price differential of £50 is not big enough to go to a 3rd party supplier, given that some may take off the EIS to read the hash codes stored in the EIS. Later kits use an IR key which can be inserted into the EIS to decode without dismantling the EIS. Dismantling the EIS from the car (and desoldering the chip from the PCB) in my opinion adds some risks to the EIS failing prematurely during its serviceable life.

Additionally, once the hashcode is read from the EIS, all 10 possible keys are 'exposed' and available for coding to a blank key.

 

[Petrol Pete]

Good to be aware and take precautions, but if you’re driving a second hand car with two keys how do you know the previous owner didn’t get a spare key made before they sold it on? You would have absolutely no idea and they would most likely have your address if you have transferred the V5 into where the car is being kept...

Happened to an acquaintance of mine some years ago . Bought a BMW M5 cabriolet from someone in Birmingham, it was not a cheap car . I think about a week later it disappeared in broad daylight from the pub driveway a 100 miles away (where he was landlord), turns out he only been given one key upon purchase . The response from the police was one of 'heard this one before' . He was given a crime number and heard nothing more.

 

[E55BOF]

For me, the price differential of £50 is not big enough to go to a 3rd party supplier, given that some may take off the EIS to read the hash codes stored in the EIS. Later kits use an IR key which can be inserted into the EIS to decode without dismantling the EIS. Dismantling the EIS from the car (and desoldering the chip from the PCB) in my opinion adds some risks to the EIS failing prematurely during its serviceable life.

Additionally, once the hashcode is read from the EIS, all 10 possible keys are 'exposed' and available for coding to a blank key.

It was the lack of a return call from the dealer, the further delay that resulted, and the possibility I would not get a chrome key in any event, that made me look elsewhere; the cost was irrelevant.

There's no significant security issue. Nobody is going to want to clone a key to steal a seventeen-year-old non-AMG E-class estate. If it was a two-year-old C63, I might feel differently, though.

 

[DSM10000]

I’m not sure there’s such a huge market out there for professional car key companies stealing cars after making new keys for customers.

I mean, if this was such a thing it wouldn’t take long to put 2&2 together...key made by key company, car stolen without key afterwards - not exactly the smartest scam in the book, is it?

When you can just fish a set of keys out of someone’s hallway, or break in/enter a building for the keys - or better still, use a relay device to extend the signal for keyless models etc - no trail back to the thief that way.

Good to be aware and take precautions, but if you’re driving a second hand car with two keys how do you know the previous owner didn’t get a spare key made before they sold it on? You would have absolutely no idea and they would most likely have your address if you have transferred the V5 into where the car is being kept...

You can check how many keys have been authorised to be used by the car and any you cannot vouch for can be removed

 

[flowrider]

End of last year I had issues with my 2004 SL remote central locking. Turned out to be both keys faulty which were repaired but I bought a new key anyway, I think it cost £280 for a silver one. I bought it from am MB Indy.