I have owned a few C Class (204) Mercs over the years / both petrol and diesel and I recently purchased a 2009 CDI Auto with 221,000km in reasonable condition and at the right price

Needed some TLC and basic service oil and filters and I have some faults on the instrument cluster - which I understand are common

EBV,ABS and ESP Unavailable / Diagnostic / rig test
ABS is also on

The car sometimes goes into limp mode after driving - but its seldom in limp mode after leaving sitting for a few hours or overnight --

I was considering purchasing rhe iCarsoft MD 2 code reader to hopefully assist me with running codes and some fault finding issues - I suspect ABS sensors may be an issue and i need to establish which ABS sensors maybe at fault -

Has anybody used iCarSoft MBii and is it worth the investment and any ideas where I should be looking to try and clear this issue

Apart from the above - the car drives fine and is tight / engine and box seem to be 100% and I think the rear sub-frame was done

Regards from Ireland
Paul

 

Pay a little more for the iCarsoft MB V3.0. It is faster and more automatic. I own both and greatly prefer MB V3.0.

 

Thank you very much for your advice - I was looking at the MBV3.0 version and yes I agree for the additional money I think it Is with the investment / I have some codes I need to understand and correct and I am suspicious its ABS sensors - do you know it the version 3 will identify what wheel sensors are faulty - I understand one sensor will throw up codes - and I hope its whats causing the car of go into Limp mode..

But until I pull the trigger on a scanner - I am sitting in the virtual dark..

Regards
Paul

 

I’m pretty sure it will. But that is more of a function of the Mercedes controller rather than the scanner.

 

I recently had to replace the left front wheel speed sensor and used the MB iCarSoft v3.0 scanner to identify the particular sensor. However, as JettaRed pointed out, the specific codes reported are a function of the vehicle controller rather than the scanner. The scanner merely accesses the faults generated by the vehicle.

 

Curious if you have any experience with the Launch CReader MB? I heard that is a good scanner as well and even heard in some ways better, is that true?

 

I have a Foxwell NT530 with mercedes software. Just recently got it so have no clue really how to use it or what it can really do. Picked it because I wanted something that can read the transmission temp for my upcoming service. It looks like it can do alot from reading the description. Played with it once. Got a few screens about no communication, figure it has to do with the car and not the scanner. Ill have to spend some more time to figure out what im doing.

 

It is more capable or so I heard but not as user friendly to operate.

 

I have no experience with Launch CReader MB. The iCarsoft MB V3.0 works for me. When I tried the Foxwell scanner, coincidence or not, my COMAND unit got jammed up and I had to pull some fuses to reset it. So, I am sticking with iCarsoft. If I need something more advanced, I have an Autel MaxiDAS DS808K. (And I have an XENTRY clone if I really need to do something I'm not qualified to do.)

 

I see, well that seals the deal doesn't it.

 

Thanks for your reply, I am glad to hear you found a scanner that works for you and for your application and like you mentioned, you always have Xentry if you need it.

I was curious because I saw this thread and also considering a scanner: https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...onal-more.html

Does the iCarsoft V3.0 have all the features in that thread and or perhaps more?

 

I don't know, but the Creader Elite MB is on sale for $119 on Amazon right now. So, for that price, you can try it and return it if it doesn't work for you.

https://a.co/d/c3vM06N

 

I ordered the Creader scanner based on the advertised features and will see how well it works. There are some mixed reviews on Amazon with an overall rating of 3.9/5/0. It is unclear if the low ratings might be due to user error, though the user already had an iCarsoft scanner. Then another low rating was due to some features only being available through a paid subscription. Still, there are a lot of 5.0 ratings, as well.

 

Sounds good, looking forward to hearing your impressions on it and if it is a good scanner and if there are some features that iCarsoft doesn't have that sort of thing. Like you mentioned, can always return it if it disappoints.

 

At lease, from the description the Creader seems to have more features than the iCarsoft. However, though it claims free updates and no subscription required, it appears that is only during the first year, much like the Autel device.

The question becomes, does it have the features you NEED? The iCarsoft is truly buy once with free updates for years. I have found iCarsoft to be sufficient for my purposes, which are to scan and reset any faults while on the road. I keep it in the glove box and have one for each car. When I get home, I can use the Autel scanner, if needed, or even the SDS/XENTRY setup.

That said, the Creader "seems" to be more comparable to the Autel scanner, the difference being that the Autel scanner will scan any modern vehicle without buying extra modules.

 

I am a firm believer that every car owner should have a scanner specific to their vehicle, something more than a generic OBD scanner. For $120 or even $180, every Mercedes owner should have one of these or be happy to spend the time and money to have the dealer do it for you.

 

OK, here is my quick comparison. I ran auto diagnostics with both my iCarsoft MB V3.0 and the Creader Elite MB without clearing any codes. The Creader detected a problem with the locking mechanism of the front driver's door (it was open at the time) and the iCarsoft did not (I had closed the door). The Creader did not identify the fault as current or historic. The iCarsoft detected stored (historic) codes for the CAN bus (diagnostic port), but the Creader did not. This may have something to do with using the Creader first, though I did turn off the ignition and opened my door. With my limited test, both scanners appeared to support the same functions.

Creader positive

• Fast
• WiFi update of software; no PC needed
• Less expensive (on sale) than the iCarsoft scanner by about $30

Creader negative

• Updates only for 1 year without a subscription
• Interface seems more awkward than with the iCarsoft or Autel
• Initial setup assumes you know certain things, so if you are not a techie, it will be frustrating (maybe that is why there were a couple of negative reviews on Amazon)
• No differentiation between current or stored DTCs. (This may be because I didn't notice, but the iCarsoft scanner clearly identifies a DTC as either stored or current)

iCarsoft positive

• Fast (with version MB V3.0)
• Lifetime free updates
• Interface is more user friendly and familiar (to me)
• Clear identification of stored (historic) or current codes

iCarsoft negative

• Slightly more expensive than Creader (currently)
• Requires the use of a Windows PC to perform updates to the software (negative if you are a Mac fanboy--I have both)
• Update process requires a couple more steps than the Creader does

Bottom line: I prefer the iCarsoft scanner for a scanner I keep in my car since I have the Autel scanner and SDS/XENTRY clone for home use. However, for someone who is getting a scanner for the first time and wants to save $30, the Creader will probably be OK.

 

I got my NT530 used off Amazon, sold by Amazon not 3rd party, paid $104 with tax. I did like the NT710 better which has the same software just comes as a touch screen tablet but cheapest i could find that was $175 off AliExpress. My plan was to return it if it didnt do what I was hoping so figured best to order from Amazon. When I received it i wasnt able to register it in my name, kept saying it it was already registered. This was a friday night. i emailed Foxwell directly about it. Next day contacted Amazon and told them the issue, they said its non-returnable do to being hazardous, made zero sense. Was told to take a photo of it and forward in an email they were sending me. So thats what I did. Got a confirmation email saying i got a full refund. Monday Foxwell contacted me saying they basically wiped it for me so i can register it under my name, which i then did.

Have to say Foxwell customer service was great in this case, answered me back that Monday, actually they even followed up with 2 more emails asking if i needed anything else. I was still able to use the scanner without registering it, just did not have the latest mercedes software update. I actually downloaded the newest mercedes update and the auto vin feature didnt work, so i reverted back to the previous software. I contacted Foxwell and they said they are looking in to it. I tried it out on my neighbors Wrangler and it scans and looks for codes just fine.

I already have a Konnwei 310 reader i got for around $12 and used it to fix a check engine light in my mercedes and in my fathers chevy truck, both turned out to be the purge valves which was a coincidence.

It is cool to be able to turn things off and on with the scanner, was playing around with interior lights, sunroof, and mirrors. Some screens said not supported, which was obvious since my car doesnt have air ride suspenson and other things. Im guessing.



Car wasnt running so figured values wouldnt be showing.


Shows the gas pedal being pushed.




Can switch to show graphs.




Interesting to see TPMS shown.






Was playing with the heated mirror. I didnt even know it was heated.





I was afraid of messing with any of this stuff. Dont know if the car has to be running or not.



The red battery warning did show up on the dash before, also once or twice i noticed the loose gas cap message pop up. But always went out and no check engine light ever came on. These "stored" codes never showed up on my Konnwei 310 scanner.

 

Thanks for the summary, makes sense!

 

Really appreciate you taking the time to order and test the two units side-by-side ! Thanks for posting it for us forum members and allow us to weigh the pros and cons for our application. I think the conclusion is perfect, iCarsoft it is, especially if it is detecting more stuff from more modules.

 

Thank you too for chiming in sharing detailed images of the Foxwell unit you were using, including but not limited to customer service as well.

again, thank you both for all the valuable information.

 

Here is another positive for the Creader scanner. When you run an automatic "inspection" a report is produced which you can email to yourself. Here is a snippet from the report that identified the problem with the driver's door. I've not tried saving the results on the iCarsoft, so I will need to check it first. But certainly not as nicely laid out as this one.

As I mentioned, the driver's door was open at the time. And I ran the scan with iCarsoft AFTER running a scan with the Creader. So, I'm not ready to conclude one is better than the other at this point. I may do this again using the iCarsoft first. Lastly, I may run a scan with the Autel unit just to see if the results are different at all. I'll run the scans on my C350 this time. The previous scan was on the SL400.

 

I retested the scanners on my C350 to see if I could find any other differences. My observations are shown below.

 

nice that could be useful

 

nice little summary thank you, hmmm interesting, that just made those shopping a scanner slightly more difficult (no obviously not your fault, very appreciate all the insight), if I am understanding you correctly does it mean the CReader has "better" "attention to detail" ?