04 E320 - 'Remove key' beeping
 

2004 E320 4matic. New to me as of Jan 1 2021. The 'remove key' warning beeping has become unacceptabe to me. This of course occurs any time the driver side door is opened and will persist upwards of a minute before it stops - or when I insert the key. Similarly when stopped, opening the driver door starts the beeping all over again. Is there any way to disable this? It has already caused me to miss the warning beeping associated with leaving the lights on . .

Side snark, while a seemingly good car, there are so many bad design features with this model, that I'm not sure I would buy anything like this car ever again. My point of reference happens to be my '87 300TD diesel which gets better mileage and is a whole lot easier to deal with.

I wish I could help with your actual problem, but I cannot. I can, however, commiserate with your statement above. Despite its relative dependability over 14+ years of ownership, my wife's 2006 E350 wagon has been consistently underwhelming. People post glowing reviews on Diesel Discussion of the w211 CDIs. But I always feel like it's not the engine on my 2006 I dislike (the engine has actually been rock-solid and returns great gas mileage); instead, I feel like the rest of the car is the problem. It's finicky, difficult to dial in, and even when everything is working 100%, it feels just....blah. I'd rather drive my 35 year old diesels (and that's not really intended to be a compliment to them).

Anyway, I hope someone has a constructive solution to your problem.

Why are you keeping the key in the ignition after opening the door?

Set your lights to auto and you'll never have to worry about it.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...de6b76f991.jpg

Granted, my 87 300D is more fuel efficient than my 04 E320 wagon. On the other hand the E320 requires far less maintainance, is easier to work ok, more comfortable, quieter at high speed and generally a more practical daily driver. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I agree that the W211 is underwhelming especially those with the M272 motor, my dad just sold his 2007 E350 wagon and moved on to a torque-monster 2013 ML350 Bluetec, way more fun!

I've become so accustomed to the mountains of low end torque the newer diesels and turbo gas motors churn out that anything NA just feels laggy and slow. My e320 wagon with the M112 has been a dependable beater for 5.5+ years but I'll be selling it soon as its just not needed anymore, and absolutely guzzles fuel around the city. It has never broken down but the body is rusting to no end.

Debating replacing it with a ~2014 Sprinter with the OM651 :D Hard to go wrong with the super long Bluetec scandal warranty coverage on the diesel powertrains now....