Poor security on keyless entry - Please be careful!

[turbopete]

Ouch!....I suspect there will be a long reply to that one......

not really. each to their own. as many know here, i served my time in a Ford dealership. my dad ran Fords when i was a kid as parts were cheap, money was tight and he was a mechanic in the 70s when he left school. yes, we owned other brands over the years, as finances didctated, BL stuff, $hitroens etc.
back in those days, batteries used to fail on any car after 2-3 years and you expected battery failures. outside of that, we had the usual issues BUT NEVER did a Ford let us down. not ONCE. fast forward to me leaving school almost 17 years old (we still ran Fords, Grandparents had swapped to Ford from Vauxhall when i was about 7,(swapped Chevettes to the mk1 Astra, to a mk1 Fiesta at the time) as they had issues even brand new with the Vauxhalls at the time) and still had them, right up until they passed away or stopped driving. I bought a Metro (1st car, i knew it, couldnt afford a decent fiesta as they were about £300 dearer than the metro and budget wouldnt stretch to it, i couldnt afford insurance on stuff i could afford to buy!)
I swore i would never buy BL again after that. the wings rusted in front of your eyes (like MBs of the late 90s/early 2000s) and i had no end of issues with it, mostly silly niggly things but it let me down a good few times and eventually the wiring took fire (the OEM stuff, not my radio/speakers/spotlights id added!) so next up, Ford (got it at trade price) Escort. job done. let me down once (battery failed) then numerous Orions, Fiestas, More Escorts, etc. again, never once let me down. up to press, they still havent. all have been more comfortable (for me at least) than the equivalent priced competitors (and had better brake feel than Vauxhalls, better gearchange than french stuff etc) and yes ive had some with some big mileages on too. like the Granada with 170k, the Focus with 250k etc. If it aint broke, dont fix it, i say!

 

[John Laidlaw]

^ tongue was in my cheek Pete!

 

[Submariner1]

Hi Submariner1


1. and 2. are correct, but 3. only partially as the key is totally disabled (with the double tap on lock, until any one of the buttons is pressed), i.e. opening the doors and starting the car won't work whilst the Keyless-Go is disabled.

I haven't tried it or tested it, but I think that's likely to be correct. The transmitter is in the body of the key with the battery - so remove that and the remaining physical, metal key has no active electronics. You'd have to open the door manually of course and keep the Push button out of the ignition slot - don't lose the button though! I've not tested if the button has any electronics in it, perhaps someone knows?

Oddly enough within a week of getting the car my Keyless-Go totally failed on the car itself. The keys batteries were both fine and reach key was emitting appropriate radio waves. I had to use the regular button operation which was fine (and solved my disable Keyless-Go on the car requirement) but I wanted to retain the option to use it for its convenience with my security measures.


I doubt Mercedes will listen to handfuls of owners, however good or influential customers they may be. But a few thousand via petition or demonstration (!) combined via the various clubs and forums, with the attendant publicity, would do it


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* 2017 W222 S350d SWB AMG Line Premium Plus
* Ashford, Kent & Mons, Belgium
Sent from my Moto G using Tapatalk

Just tried the double lock, pulled door handle, got in pressed button Vrooom she started! Brand new coded key from Germany! 2 days ago.
So doesnt work on my car.
Better read the manual

 

[eman]

I think I will have to get the crock lock dusted off.

 

[gr1nch]

Just tried the double lock, pulled door handle, got in pressed button Vrooom she started! Brand new coded key from Germany! 2 days ago.
So doesnt work on my car.
Better read the manual

That's worrying. Did you notice when you double pressed the lock button, that after releasing, the normally blinking LED went solid red?
Here's the relevant part from the W213 manual for example (its the same as for the W222)

If both key are disabled and you can still get in with either, then that's not working as intended. If it happened to me I'd get Mercedes to sort it out at their expense.

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* 2017 W222 S350d SWB AMG Line Premium Plus
* Ashford, Kent & Mons, Belgium
Sent from my Moto G using Tapatalk

 

[Wabby]

Just tried the double lock, pulled door handle, got in pressed button Vrooom she started! Brand new coded key from Germany! 2 days ago.
So doesnt work on my car.
Better read the manual

When you did the double lock, did the red LED light up on the fob?

I notice that on mine its not 100% accurate (IE doesn't work everytime).

When I park up at home I now double lock, wait 10 seconds, and try the door handles. If it doesn't let me in then I can sleep that night.

 

[Yugguy]

What a bag of shite.

 

[mikestrivens]

What a bag of shite.

That is exactly what I think modern Mercedes are.

 

[curious]

There needs to be a button on the key to switch the key on or off. At some point you have to pick the key up (and put it in your pocket) and later on put it down (when you've finished for the day). When you do this you should be able to activate it or disable it. You then still have the benefits of keyless once switched on when you want it and, also when you not intending to be anywhere near the car or using it you can switch it off.

 

[Submariner1]

That's worrying. Did you notice when you double pressed the lock button, that after releasing, the normally blinking LED went solid red?
Here's the relevant part from the W213 manual for example (its the same as for the W222)

If both key are disabled and you can still get in with either, then that's not working as intended. If it happened to me I'd get Mercedes to sort it out at their expense.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* 2017 W222 S350d SWB AMG Line Premium Plus
* Ashford, Kent & Mons, Belgium
Sent from my Moto G using Tapatalk

Just read the manual.
There is No mention of this anywhere, and it doesnt do it. :-/
Maybe C216s are not supposed to do this?

 

[flowrider]

So basically what you guys are saying is that there is no point locking your cars?

 

[John Laidlaw]

Get a ghost...

 

[turbopete]

Get a ghost...

the point being, an aftermarket add on shouldn't be necessary, especially on a car in the price bracket many MBs with this system fall into!

 

[John Laidlaw]

the point being, an aftermarket add on shouldn't be necessary, especially on a car in the price bracket many MBs with this system fall into!

I know Pete and I agree- I'm just dealing with the 'here and now' and that seems the best solution.
Totally agree MB, BMW and others need to get a grip on this

 

[turbopete]

^ tongue was in my cheek Pete!

I had a feeling it was but also felt that the point was worth explaining, if only for newer members! yes people have bad experiences. for some it puts them off a brand for life. my point was, why buy other brands when the brand I have has been 100% reliable, up to press, for as long as I can remember (best part of 40 years) and, between myself, siblings, parents, grandparents, aunts/uncles etc, probably covers near 100 cars over those 40 years or so I can remember!

 

[turbopete]

I know Pete and I agree- I'm just dealing with the 'here and now' and that seems the best solution.
Totally agree MB, BMW and others need to get a grip on this

I know what you mean. its a shame when something like your E63 (assuming you have the keyless system) is, when it left the factory, easier to steal/start than a 20 year old 210 with the all plastic 'key'!!!

so much for being 'continually improving security' etc.

 

[mikestrivens]

I wonder if anybody from Mercedes HQ ever reads any of these forums?

 

[John Laidlaw]

I know what you mean. its a shame when something like your E63 (assuming you have the keyless system) is, when it left the factory, easier to steal/start than a 20 year old 210 with the all plastic 'key'!!!

so much for being 'continually improving security' etc.

It does Pete, and indeed slightly ridiculous situation, but you can understand why I didn't hesitate in investing in the Ghost....

 

[John Laidlaw]

I wonder if anybody from Mercedes HQ ever reads any of these forums?

Good question Mike, I doubt it though personally

 

[LostKiwi]

Good question Mike, I doubt it though personally

When I was on a Volvo forum years ago I posted about throttle body failures and had the picks hosted on my own domain. I could look at the analytics and it showed visits from an ip address in Sweden which when checked belonged to Volvo.