miike

Years ago I was a boat mechanic and now I do lots of work myself on my cars. I have a lot of tools but never bought my own scanner. I have 3 benzes with ODB ports. Which scanner should I get. I don't want to spend $500 on a snap on scanner but I want a decent one that can do most things.

What do you all recommend for these cars?

Note- the only cars I currently own with ODBs are early 2000s benzes.

bobterry99

I would spend around $350 and put together a Star Diagnosis system -- the Holy Grail of Mercedes diagnostic tools. In addition to reading codes it details troubleshooting procedures and in some cases has programmed routines for testing components and systems. You also get: Mercedes Workshop Information System (WIS) that includes functional descriptions and procedures for removing and installing parts, the Mercedes parts catalogue (EPC), and electrical schematics with part locator (ETM and StarFinder).

Jim's500E

For like $50-60 off Amazon I got a Launch Tech Creader VI Code reader (301050074)....made by Mac Tools.....does a great job IMO for the price.

miike

Ok I bought that device for $45 on amazon. Only 3 left. If it leaves me wanting I'll look at buying the star system but I couldn't find a complete system that would guarantee it's worth the money when I looked. Also lots of star systems are $700+ I've read that some of the expensive ones need $600 per year software updates to stay on top of things.

bobterry99

Assuming you would be using your Star Diagnosis for a 15+ year-old vehicle any software updates are completely immaterial to your needs.

miike

Yeah I was wondering about that. Are the updates just for brand new cars then?

bobterry99

There are three separate diagnostic applications within Star Diagnosis, and each is more or less associated with a decade of production. "HHT-Win" is for '90s-era vehicles, "DAS" is for the '00s, and "XENTRY" is for the '10s. HHT-Win would run for your SL500; I suppose DAS would run for your G500.

I have the notion that updates are generally exclusive to XENTRY and would be for new cars and features as well as correcting errors and bugs in recent releases.

I have two releases of Star Diagnosis: 2008 and 2014. As it pertains to my 2003 SL I have not been able to discern a difference in the two versions of DAS. I suppose DAS is legacy software that isn't being updated any more than Microsoft is updating Windows XP.

YTEE

Would anyone happen to have a model number/hyperlink for the Star Diagniostics equipement they have that seems to work well for them?

bobterry99

My friend purchased this four weeks ago and it arrived last week. Price is $199 without software; $244 with. Software can be downloaded from www.*******.com and other sites.

miike

Thanks Bob, I'll look into that if what I got doesn't work well.

LuckyDollar

So this would work with a 2000 SL500, Bob? Has your friend found it to work well? I'm just a little cautious with some of the foreign sites.

bobterry99

Works fine. He bought it through aliexpress.com, and they have an excellent reputation and protections for buyers.

YTEE

Hey Miike


How is the scanner working for you? I'm still looking and hesitant to pull the trigger on anything yet

w2830

What's the difference between this and the aforementioned more expensive units? I'd be interested to get one for my 2013. Thanks

bobterry99

Maybe those others aren't manufactured in China? If so, I would expect there to be no significant difference in functionality.

w2830

What about the difference between that and iCarsoft MB II? The idea of having the repair instruction from the star system is fantastic, though I don't how useful that actually is and whether I'll be able find those guides separately somewhere on the internet. By the way, I'm actually looking for something tor a w221 s class if that makes a difference.

miike

I've only used it a few times. I was able to reset a code on one car but I forgot which code and car it was. I know I scanned all my cars with it and they all worked. C320, SL500, and G500.