When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Front SAM micro relay O and R, how consistent is MB positive feed vs actual pin out
I was curious and I did some test..............
There are only 2 micro relays inside the Front SAM.
Relay O , is for horn.
Relay R is for Circuit 87M meaning this is engine computer and/or starting related and is very important.
German car is to follow DIN standard for its relay pin wiring.
These are the Relay R and O on my car, these are new ones a few years ago, because my then existing one was under TSB , supposedly it is problematic.
Above is made by TE Connectivity . This is a 4 pin, if it is a 5 pin version, the missing 5th pin is pin 4.
There is no equivalent numbering to indicate pin 1 and 2 is equal to pin 85 and/or 86 coil, and if pin 3 is the pin 30 power source and pin 5 is the 87 output, like the bigger relay.
The best data I can get is from Hella, but it is not exacty like TE connectivity.
Second relay above, its pin 6 would be pin 4 on my TE Connectivity Relay. The pins 1,2,3 and 5 are all exactly the same position as TE.
============
For Relay O , horn.
The pin 85 is indeed minus or ground.
But pin 5 is the power source aka Pin 30 in normal size relay. This is how MB wired it as such, not complying to DIN standard.
DIN standard would use pin 3 as pin 30 power source.
Thus, MB wiring is on purpose removing any numbering of 85/86/30/87 and even 1,2,3,5 , so that they can draw as easy as they like and we must do physical check on the car.
.
.
==================
Relay R is following DIN standard, pin 3 being pin 30 power source as in normal size relay.
.
============
Good thing is the pin 1 is equal to pin 85 negative for coil is consistent for both relays actual physical wiring. I marked white dot for the 85-ground.
Relay O, pin 1 or pin 85 equivalent
I will check the rest of the normal size relays.
See if they follow DIN standard for pin 30 and pin 86
Shall update..........
Last edited by S-Prihadi; Mar 21, 2026 at 08:20 AM.
Reason: typo