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[gregsticle]

Hiya folks

I'm new to the forum, and to the ForFour for that matter, having purchased a Pulse last week.  It only came with one key, so we would like a spare.

I've done a search on here under "key" but haven't turned up any useful info, so thought I'd ask away...

I contacted MB who told me that the key (£80 + VAT), programming (£30 + VAT) and labour (£50) would cost me a total of £192!  Does this sound right, and if so, does anybody know of any cheaper independant garages that can offer this service instead?  We are near Colchester in Essex so could travel to London etc if the prices were cheaper.

Many thanks

Greg

[k146]

Hello there.

I have been in a similar situation, i had 2 keys but the internals where missing from the second key, so I bought a second hand forfour key off ebay for £15 then took the internal out and put it my existing key then got it reprogrammed for £30 at a local garage.

I would imagine you could do what I done and then get the key cut at timpsons or a similar key cutting place.

Could get that all done for under £100 I reckon.

[mr singh]

I contacted MB who told me that the key (£80 + VAT), programming (£30 + VAT) and labour (£50) would cost me a total of £192!

that price sounds about right form mercedes!

[Problemchild]

ring around a few merc garages and see what prices they give you!

you may find you get quite a variance in prices....

we got a new key for our zafira and that cost about £120 (don't think we paid any labour though)

JJ

[CrazyG]

Be careful if you buy a secondhand key....the ForFour key is an entirely different key to
the keys for the ForTwo or Roadster.

As mr singh rightly says..£192 ia about what MB would charge.
Try a Smart 'indie' and see what you come up with.

Oh and for everyone...the charge of £30 to program is for 2 keys...the Star machine
only does them in pairs...so even if you only want one done you have to pay the charge
for having 2 done.   

[Fox]

Hi there, I've actually had this done at an MB garage, when I bought my car I was given two keys but only one of them actually worked.

The garage I bought it from said they would pay for the key to be coded,
but I had to take it to MB, get it sorted and then charge them via the phone.

I have the bill here, it was a total of £77.67 (I supplied the key)

The breakdown on the form is as follows -

Labour - £41.10
Key Coding - £25.00
V.A.T - £11.57

Total - £77.67

Please bear in mind, this was done in 2008.
Their labour charge is probably double that by now.

[Problemchild]

labour is £65/hr + vat at my merc garage

JJ

[Razvan.M]

Where can I buy a key besides MB dealers?

[Problemchild]

99% of the time, If anyone other than mb is selling them, they are coming from mb with a profit margin added.....

JJ

[CrazyG]

Final note to anyone who looses a key or wants another spare....

You can only get spare keys from MB.....
No one...and I mean no one can cut these keys other than MB.
This is due to the way the key is made/shaped. No key cutting business
has a machine that can do this. I have had this fact verified by MB themselves,
and confirmed by a Smart 'indie' as well.

[MinhPT]

Hello there.

I have been in a similar situation, i had 2 keys but the internals where missing from the second key, so I bought a second hand forfour key off ebay for £15 then took the internal out and put it my existing key then got it reprogrammed for £30 at a local garage.

I would imagine you could do what I done and then get the key cut at timpsons or a similar key cutting place.

Could get that all done for under £100 I reckon.

I'm in the same situation. I don't know how the local garage can reprogram the secondhand key? Do they use DAS machine?

Or can I buy the key set on ebay: http://www.ebay.de/itm/SMART-FORFOUR-Zundschloss-Turschloss-Schlosserset-/250869882854?_trksid=p3286.m7&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D3%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D3413624198397715489#ht_3684wt_954
then change it to my FF?

[mr singh]

I'm in the same situation. I don't know how the local garage can reprogram the secondhand key? Do they use DAS machine?

Or can I buy the key set on ebay: http://www.ebay.de/itm/SMART-FORFOUR-Zundschloss-Turschloss-Schlosserset-/250869882854?_trksid=p3286.m7&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D3%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D3413624198397715489#ht_3684wt_954
then change it to my FF?

firstly mercedes dont use DAS, they use STAR.
i wouldnt ask a local garage to program a new key... we have seen several cars that have had there ECU's reflashed and then they have thrown up some strange codes... and i had me clutch adjusted on my 450 with a non mercedes diagnostic machine and lets just say the car ended up not starting. that guy who did it did sort it but i wasnt happy.

[chaz1]

I need a spare key for one of my diesel and the Merc garage said I had a choice
1. they could supply both blade head and re program
2. I could supply head and blade and they would program but no guarantee re head.
They want V5 and photo id before they will do it.
Price quote £80.00 to re program and £100 for the key with head which I think is good my ford was a lot more even with employee discount!

[Problemchild]

yeah - i think £180 is good value for the additional security

BUT

on the other hand its a lot for something you will probably never use.

the first thing we do when we get a car is get 2 keys

JJ

[basilbrush]

There was a case recently on one these watchdog type programmes. A car was stolen and the insurers refused to pay because the second key could not be provided. Their appeal was turned down. I don't think it would be wise to purchase any car with only one key.