We recently purchased a 1990 190E from my brother-in-law for our youngest daughter, (she's 17 years old), with 212K miles on it. It runs great and he has already done a lot to the car, and it's in great condition. She's crazy about it. But one thing---since she's a girl and it's safer when in parking lots, etc. (and we live near Nashville and she's frequently in town), how difficult and/or expensive is it to add keyless entry? Is there a cheaper alternative than going to the dealer if you don't really know how to work on cars yourself? We're buying our older daughter a 1992 BMW 525i wagon and the dealer wants over $700 to install it on that one! (BTW, BOTH girls totalled their cars, an Accord and a Camry, within seven weeks of each other. []) We found a kit for the BMW for $275 that plugs in to the port. Anything similar for the Mercedes? I haven't found it online if it is available. Thanks for any help! ~~~Tina [sm=feedback.gif]

 

you mean that the car can be opened with remote key or something? it is not available on that model as retrofit/conversion.

there are aftermarket kit for it.

 

Yes, I am referring to being able to lock and unlock doors with a key fob instead of actually putting the key in the door. A safer alternative for girls in case they find themselves in an uncomfortable situation in a parking lot, etc. If it also came integrated with a car alarm that would be great, but if not that's okay, too. I am having trouble locating an aftermarket product like that. I have checked the websites of all your sponsors. Thanks so much for replying, BTW. What would you suggest?

 

Tina...i dont know where you reside, but honestly, the best place for something like this is a custom audio shop. I have seen cars that will unlock the doors and start the engine when you dial a certain number on your cell phone...it will NOT be cheap, but I really think that a good custom electronics shop can pull it off.

 

Circuit City used to sell keyless entry systems for $99 installed. They used to sell alarm systems with keyless entry for around $200 installed. The car has to have electric door locks to begin with. Their prices are probably a little higher now, but shouldn't be much higher.

 

lugnut, do you suppose that a good shop can put together a system for a non-electric locking car?

i figured that for enough money, they can make anything..

 

Yes, it can be done by a custom shop, but it would be expensive. What price do you put on one's safety, though?

I'm around custom hot rods a lot and many of them have keyless entry... and I'm talking about custom rebuilt cars from the 1930s and 1940s, way before electric door locks. The hot rods with shaved door handles have keyless entry that not only unlocks the door but also pops the door ajar.

 

i too frequent the custom car scene, and while the group that my dad hangs out with has a few street rods with the above mentioned shaved handles, they are mostly "muscle cars". but i am an enthusiast of all cars, and i am into the "import" scene as well, and that has become very popular. it is because of that, i think that it may not be as expensive as you would think, since door handle shaving is becoming more popular, it might be cheaper to get a system that pops the doors open...it still wont be cheap, by any stretch, but im a big guy, and i dont worry much about my safety, and my little gf has remote entry on her truck, as does my car.

 

The mechanism itself isn't terribly expensive, but paying someone to install it can be. It depends on how good of a job you want. There's some fabricating that needs to be done and that's never cheap. If you have the handles shaved, that would include body work and painting. That's not cheap either. If you want top-notch work that will last, it'll cost you.

 

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/P...=door%20remote
Starts at $79