boblupe

Hi all,

I am new to your site as I am new to the MB community. I just bought my first SL55 AMG. An amazing car. I have been looking into buying a Star Diagnosis tool. I plan on doing work on this car and from what I read this is the first tool to buy to avoid much heartache. I see many websites selling this compact C4. Most from overseas. China etc. Is this comparable to: Diagnostic system STAR DIAGNOSIS, compact passenger vehicle, order number 6511 1801 00? Has anyone had luck buying one of these from these overseas vendors? Seems inexpensive for what it does at under $400.00US. If so, will it work on a Windows 7 platform?

Thanks
Bob

rgdeja

Hello There,

I got a 2001 S55 AMG and plan to work on it, did you get yours and where?

The fleabay has around $600USD.

Let me know how it goes.

authurfang

hi, my8, I have purchased one the mb star c3 form chinasinoy one year ago, and now it works perfect. You can have a try.
good luck...

amo1858

I've got one of the "china" ones for the house and we have a german one for the shop. the cheap one is definatly cheap but it does the job. I've had it for four months and it does everything that our expensive one does. I'm a little more careful with it so I don't mess up the wiring. I say buy it!!!!!!!!!!

boblupe

Thanks for the reply,

I did try from one vendor and had problems communicating with the car. It was a version that runs off a usb hard drive through Virtual Machine software. It was unstable. I have since returned and bought an older Dell D620 with a serial port and plan on buying Star C4 directly installed in a Dell D620 hard drive. No Virtual Machine issues. Now fighting to get credit from this China vendor before I try again. Has anyone used a good China vendor you could recommend?

Thanks

rgdeja

I finally bought the mux for about 300usd without the hard drive,

I installed DAS Xentry and WIS on a DELL Laptop.

So far it is working good.

hornet1

is there a c4 compatible with all laptop not only Dell or IBM.

is it reliable and where can I get it ??

rgdeja

I got mine from alibabaexpress

didnt buy the hard drive, just installed the software on my own laptop. Yes it will work on any laptop that has a serial port - db9.

The USB to Serial is unreliable, the VM is also unreliable.

They sold me a C4 but not the wireless kind its just a box with connectors on both ends. The firmware has a 2005 date. But it works on all the cars.

hornet1

rgdeja,

did you get the SD connect ?? and where did you get the software ??

rgdeja

The software is on many places, search google. Thats how I found it, but it was a pain in the neck to download (large files) and also pain to install it (lot of nuances to deal with)

SDConnect - Star Diagnosis Connect - without this you wont be able to communicate with the mux (the hardware box)

I installed Xentry, EPC, WIS, SDMedia on the same laptop.

I am in bay area and drive to so cal on every other weekend or so to see my parents. I can help you out as I got all that stuff on a hard drive now.

hornet1

rgdeja,

Please walk me through this hardware stuff ...

I need the SDConnect and the computer ... right ? or is there something else ?

badboggy

Hello
I was reading the posts and I'm also located in the bay area. I'm interested in getting one of the sds c4 systems. Can you help me with what I need to buy and or download? Do you have copies of all the software? What is the easiest way? Thanks for your help.

Bogdan

hornet1

I just got it from ebay paid around $1000 to get the laptop+c4+ software

osf

i having some problem with sdconnect 4, i got a customer send a fuso truck to check but there a problem with it, the error message was using wrong connector or faulty das database. anyone got the same problem.

cool_lagoon

hi where are you located?

herocar

Hello,Benz Star Compact 4 SD Connect is good?i have MB star c3 now from China,i bought 300$,where can i bought good price and good quality Benz Star Compact 4 SD?

rgdeja

Have you used it? How is it? I am thinking of ordering from Aliexpress.com. For now the C3 works fine on my cars.

rgdeja

Lets see if hornet1 replies, I have C3 and it works fine for my 2001, 1998, and 2006 cars. The only advantage I can see is the WiFi without cables. Not sure if Xentry and DAS have new features only for C4.

herocar

i have heard that Clone Benz Star Compact 4 SD Connect software can not use well,if someone make software himself,will it good work?

awiner

DAS/Xentry are identical no matter what MUX/System you use.

The best bet is staying with a proven type D MUX. They have less problems that the SD Connect with WiFi MUX's have.

Also, the clone SD Connects still have issues with newer cars and black listings.

vladc77

I'd like to verify what Type D MUX really means. Is that MB STAR compact C3? Thank you in advance.

awiner

The nomenclature and naming gets complicated and mis understood. "Compact C3" actually refers to the PC that runs DAS.

The Type D Mux looks likes this:

vladc77

Thank you for the quick reply. I'd like to get a piece of advice on this unit. I found it here: http://www.dhgate.com/by-dhl-latest-...099b0506b.html. The price is good. I am wondering if you find something wrong with the offered package. This unit is C3. As far as I understand, it is the one that should have less issues and also don't have to be connected to the internet for any testing/programming. Please let me know.

awiner

The main thing I warn people about is the Chinese clone multiplexers. Some are very low quality and only last a few months under daily use.

There is a voltage regulator in many of the Chinese clones that is incorrectly spec'd during the build and it leads to early burning out of the unit.

Many have replaced the voltage regulator for the correct spec'd part and have gotten a longer life span out of the unit.

You are correct with your understanding. This unit has less issues than the newer clone SD Connect multiplexer that uses wifi. The clone SD Connect is more prone to being black listed and has some issues connecting with newer models.

vladc77

Thank you again. Can you suggest a reliable Chinese distributor you know? Is that always hit or miss kind of stuff? How to choose the right distributor with a good product?