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Aw c'mon guys, seemingly every other post on this forum contains "get a good scan tool".
Not many like to admit it, but there should be no shame in "people told me it was a good idea". I for one appreciate @twcom 's enthusiasm and humility.
Originally Posted by twcom
What would you do with it?
Besides the obvious - the GL has around a dozen computers, and a good tool lets you both hear what those computers have to say, and talk back to them - there are some mildly frightening yet intriguing features. My favorite is "Variant Coding": You can tell some of the computers about the vehicle and your environment. Did you know that your M273 engine will happily burn regular (87 octane) gas? Related to this, you can instruct the ECU to follow spark timing for much higher octane gas, up to 93 octane. This will improve power and fuel economy; the knock sensors will guard against engine damage. However, one should not do this without also ensuring that fuel octane adaptation is enabled; the ECU will adjust its preprogrammed spark timing curves based on whether knocking is sensed. This is also a way to tell whether you have carbon deposits in the cylinders, typically on the undersides of the intake valves; if the ECU thinks you have bad gas because glowing carbon is causing preignition, it will switch to retarded (heh) spark timing curves. And they can be severely retarded, to the point of the motor effectively not functioning.
By the way, high octane and fuel system cleaning additives are two different things. Make sure you are using Top Tier gasoline or regularly add fuel system cleaner; my favorite is Gumout Regane, which has lots of PEA in it.
I strongly recommend becoming acquainted with the various computer modules; you won't hurt anything just by poking around, and it is much easier to learn now than later, when your vehicle is stranded with the dash display lit up like a Christmas tree.
For ride height level sensors recalibration. A brand new main and mini 4039 aux battery cleared up all the issues as it seems I was have low voltage related issues
I got that particular one to take advantage of adding the BMW brand for a future 2001 740iL purchase and I will add GM as the third brand.
But again now with the Big GL450 performance as designed. I have a room good enough to mess up everything ..lol
So before I do that by just poking around. I figured I might ask what I knowledgeable scanner user might be inclined to check.
I wasn't trying to be snarky, but most folks don't drop a couple hundred $ on a tool without reason.
I had a Smart car for many years and always look at getting the mb v3.0 version, when saw this v4 0 at $229.00 went ahead got it. I still may tinker with the ride height, I may have a blind spot sensor to track down but I dislike the little warning light in the side mirrors so much I turned the blind spot assist off and out the little round blind spot mirrors in those spots.
But I just was not ready to poke around with out cause or clue.
Same, I was curious why OP got it, it wasn't a bandwagon thing for sure.
Partial band wagon in the sense it is one of the first recommended things people will post when a post opens up " I just got a gl450 with 130k runs good but has a few issues ,". So yes at the 2 year mark with my 2012 GL450 now with 141k miles I have a top flight scanner. Lol. I got the vehicle at 126k miles and at the moment it is as goods as it has been during my ownership. So it's in the tool now if I need it.
[QUOTE=streborx;9298954]There are many (as in M-A-N-Y) online resources that demonstrate what an OBD scanner can do. Start with https://www.foxwelldiag.com/blogs/ca...JXvQfzTRdporUo and follow all the connecting links.[/QUOTE
Looking directly to GL450 owners and what they may have found useful to tweak or check either preventively or performance related. A sort of check this and see if that is doing this insider nice to know information.
Aw c'mon guys, seemingly every other post on this forum contains "get a good scan tool".
Not many like to admit it, but there should be no shame in "people told me it was a good idea". I for one appreciate @twcom 's enthusiasm and humility.
Besides the obvious - the GL has around a dozen computers, and a good tool lets you both hear what those computers have to say, and talk back to them - there are some mildly frightening yet intriguing features. My favorite is "Variant Coding": You can tell some of the computers about the vehicle and your environment. Did you know that your M273 engine will happily burn regular (87 octane) gas? Related to this, you can instruct the ECU to follow spark timing for much higher octane gas, up to 93 octane. This will improve power and fuel economy; the knock sensors will guard against engine damage. However, one should not do this without also ensuring that fuel octane adaptation is enabled; the ECU will adjust its preprogrammed spark timing curves based on whether knocking is sensed. This is also a way to tell whether you have carbon deposits in the cylinders, typically on the undersides of the intake valves; if the ECU thinks you have bad gas because glowing carbon is causing preignition, it will switch to retarded (heh) spark timing curves. And they can be severely retarded, to the point of the motor effectively not functioning.
By the way, high octane and fuel system cleaning additives are two different things. Make sure you are using Top Tier gasoline or regularly add fuel system cleaner; my favorite is Gumout Regane, which has lots of PEA in it.
I strongly recommend becoming acquainted with the various computer modules; you won't hurt anything just by poking around, and it is much easier to learn now than later, when your vehicle is stranded with the dash display lit up like a Christmas tree.
And this ladies and gentlemen is the type of mind I was hoping to engage and interact with. I thank you so much for your comment and will indeed formulate a coherent question or two for you in the future. You are appreciated. 🤗
Aw c'mon guys, seemingly every other post on this forum contains "get a good scan tool".
Not many like to admit it, but there should be no shame in "people told me it was a good idea". I for one appreciate @twcom 's enthusiasm and humility.
Besides the obvious - the GL has around a dozen computers, and a good tool lets you both hear what those computers have to say, and talk back to them - there are some mildly frightening yet intriguing features. My favorite is "Variant Coding": You can tell some of the computers about the vehicle and your environment. Did you know that your M273 engine will happily burn regular (87 octane) gas? Related to this, you can instruct the ECU to follow spark timing for much higher octane gas, up to 93 octane. This will improve power and fuel economy; the knock sensors will guard against engine damage. However, one should not do this without also ensuring that fuel octane adaptation is enabled; the ECU will adjust its preprogrammed spark timing curves based on whether knocking is sensed. This is also a way to tell whether you have carbon deposits in the cylinders, typically on the undersides of the intake valves; if the ECU thinks you have bad gas because glowing carbon is causing preignition, it will switch to retarded (heh) spark timing curves. And they can be severely retarded, to the point of the motor effectively not functioning.
By the way, high octane and fuel system cleaning additives are two different things. Make sure you are using Top Tier gasoline or regularly add fuel system cleaner; my favorite is Gumout Regane, which has lots of PEA in it.
I strongly recommend becoming acquainted with the various computer modules; you won't hurt anything just by poking around, and it is much easier to learn now than later, when your vehicle is stranded with the dash display lit up like a Christmas tree.
Don't get me wrong and no offense intended, I apologize if it seemed that way, you know curiosity killed the cat for me. I was curious why OP bought it that is all.
Partial band wagon in the sense it is one of the first recommended things people will post when a post opens up " I just got a gl450 with 130k runs good but has a few issues ,". You yes at the 2 year mark with my 2012 GL450 now with 141k miles I have a too flight scanner. Lol. I got the vehicle at 126k miles and at the moment it is as goods as it has been during my ownership. So it's in the tool now if I need it.
And this ladies and gentlemen is the type of mind I was hoping to engage and interact with. I thank you so much for your comment and will indeed formulate a coherent question or two for you in the future. You are appreciated. 🤗
but don't place too much trust! I keep thinking of posts I need to go back and edit because they contained gross misinformation. I meant well, but like to think I know more than I do. And to think, AI is probably using my words to advise others.
The danger of the scan tools is that they can only report what the modules are saying, and to understand that, you need to understand where the module is getting its information - that is, the underlying meaning. For example, the tool reports Airmatic pressure, but under what conditions? If all the valve block solenoids are closed, which they normally are, that is an almost meaningless figure, as it is just the pressure inside the valve block manifold. So use caution. Prepare to think very hard about what the data means.
Supposedly one of the Apollo landers got a frightening error message on approach to the lunar surface, and it was not until an engineer in the back row piped up, saying it was just a memory data dump, that they called off aborting the mission (and, I suppose, leaving the astronauts to die in lunar orbit or something similarly awful). You need intelligent interpretation of the information.
Just be careful when/if you start messing with coding, you can brick a vehicle by inputting incorrect values. It’s cool, on my Audi, turned off the seatbelt chime, enabled video while in motion, added 3 extra zone blending in the HVAC system, needle sweep when you turn on the car etc… not sure how much can be done on these, my wife doesn’t really care about any of that stuff for her GL.
Just be careful when/if you start messing with coding, you can brick a vehicle by inputting incorrect values. It’s cool, on my Audi, turned off the seatbelt chime, enabled video while in motion, added 3 extra zone blending in the HVAC system, needle sweep when you turn on the car etc… not sure how much can be done on these, my wife doesn’t really care about any of that stuff for her GL.
Here is one I will look to see if it can be done as it is a real potential problem. The rear side pop out windows I have heard are not coded to close with the infra red key hold, that closes/opens all windows and sunroof pannel at the same time, because there was no pinch safety mechanism but that their may be a way to code this in so those rear side windows close with that infrared keyhold. I feel this is a major importance because forgetting to close those windows leaves total exposure to rain into those sam units located below.
Here is one I will look to see if it can be done as it is a real potential problem. The rear side pop out windows I have heard are not coded to close with the infra red key hold, that closes/opens all windows and sunroof pannel at the same time, because there was no pinch safety mechanism but that their may be a way to code this in so those rear side windows close with that infrared keyhold. I feel this is a major importance because forgetting to close those windows leaves total exposure to rain into those sam units located below.
Interesting, mine is closing when I hold the lock button.
IMHO the best use of a scan tool for the GL is for troubleshooting the Airmatic, especially if you have a bi-directional one, that way you can tell the system to start or stop some actions so that you can analyze the codes you are getting.
I have the same icarsoft 3.0, Launch Creader Elite 2.0 and XTool A30M, since I had multiple MBs at some point and still have 3 of them currently.
Launch recently stopped updating and pretty much useless, have to do a factory reset and download the updates again.
iCarsoft is simple and easy to use for a beginner.
XTool is small and compact and gives me the option to command either from my phone or a tablet, can talk to almost all the modules and bi-directional. I actually like it a lot.
To sum it up, if you have an old car especially older European car, scan tool is a good investment, with the technology we have today, they are widely available and affordable, I don`t care about what other people say, keeping a scan tool in the car saved my butt more than a couple of times so I consider it paid itself off.
Interesting, mine is closing when I hold the lock button.
IMHO the best use of a scan tool for the GL is for troubleshooting the Airmatic, especially if you have a bi-directional one, that way you can tell the system to start or stop some actions so that you can analyze the codes you are getting.
I have the same icarsoft 3.0, Launch Creader Elite 2.0 and XTool A30M, since I had multiple MBs at some point and still have 3 of them currently.
Launch recently stopped updating and pretty much useless, have to do a factory reset and download the updates again.
iCarsoft is simple and easy to use for a beginner.
XTool is small and compact and gives me the option to command either from my phone or a tablet, can talk to almost all the modules and bi-directional. I actually like it a lot.
To sum it up, if you have an old car especially older European car, scan tool is a good investment, with the technology we have today, they are widely available and affordable, I don`t care about what other people say, keeping a scan tool in the car saved my butt more than a couple of times so I consider it paid itself off.
I understand you didn't quote me when you mentioned the launch creader but since I asked that question, thank you for indirectly answering my question.
Edit: Thanks.
I understand you didn't quote me when you mentioned the launch creader but since I asked that question, thank you for indirectly answering my question.
Edit: Thanks.
Oh no, I did read your post the night before but when I was typing my message today, totally skipped it, my bad sorry.
For the Launch, I`m right in the middle, neither love it nor hate it, updating is really a pain in the ****, have a really good wifi connection, tried to update all the listed ones, no go, tried to update one by one in a different order every single time, no go, I just did a factory reset tonight, still no go.
Once it works its a decent bidirectional scanner, did a couple coding changes with it in my W212, simple things, nothing too complicated. Did not get a chance to dive deeper to Airmatic with that. I had a front passenger seat Pre-Safe inop message back when the Elite was still working, I scanned/reset and run some actuator tests with it, worked good.
I believe there is a dedicated thread about this particular scanner in the W212 forum, if you do a simple search in W212, it should pop up.
I have no experience with the other brands or scanners, of course Xentry is the best and gives you the most detailed info, pinpoints the issue, if you could get your hands on an affordable clone one, thats the way to go.
Oh no, I did read your post the night before but when I was typing my message today, totally skipped it, my bad sorry.
For the Launch, I`m right in the middle, neither love it nor hate it, updating is really a pain in the ****, have a really good wifi connection, tried to update all the listed ones, no go, tried to update one by one in a different order every single time, no go, I just did a factory reset tonight, still no go.
Once it works its a decent bidirectional scanner, did a couple coding changes with it in my W212, simple things, nothing too complicated. Did not get a chance to dive deeper to Airmatic with that. I had a front passenger seat Pre-Safe inop message back when the Elite was still working, I scanned/reset and run some actuator tests with it, worked good.
I believe there is a dedicated thread about this particular scanner in the W212 forum, if you do a simple search in W212, it should pop up.
I have no experience with the other brands or scanners, of course Xentry is the best and gives you the most detailed info, pinpoints the issue, if you could get your hands on an affordable clone one, thats the way to go.
Hope this answers your question.
Cheers
Don't worry about it : )
Launch was also part of the curisoity why I asked the original thread starter why purchased this scanner as well because Launch was frequently recommended over icarsoft, I asked out of genuine curiosity.
Sorry to hear that you are having trouble updating, it can be finnicky and depending on the server location it does get a bit slow what I heard.
Thanks for sharing your experience, the common thing I heard people using it for on the forums is to register the 12V battery for the models that require it, disable start/stop, perform transmission adaptation resets, etc.
Thanks for the reminder I did come across that thread on this scanner before, it was initially talking about the V1.0 but they expanded to talking about the V2.0 and now the V3.0 version of this scanner.
Can't go wrong with XENTRY, being MB's official tool, I always recommend that over any scanner but the portability of the handheld scanners is a plus, it fits right in the glovebox.
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
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but don't place too much trust! I keep thinking of posts I need to go back and edit because they contained gross misinformation. I meant well, but like to think I know more than I do. And to think, AI is probably using my words to advise others. 
