Ingenere

It looks interesting. Has anyone tried it?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171631433347?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

carlsturm

I've been searching scan tools too. BTW Amazon sells this item too.

latemodel21

I just got one of these today. Only $129 shipped (surprisingly no tax charged even though they and I are in California).


comes with a very nice soft case and good instructions.

Out of the box, the unit has 3 sub choices Benz, Smart, and Sprinter

In order to get the basic OBDii functionality (making it useful for ANY car with the obdii port), the unit needs to have its software updated (took less than 15 minutes) I suspect the $175 unit from the same seller comes already updated. It is possible that at the point of update I had to sacrifice Smart and Sprinter (to get OBDii) as I don't see them anymore (as if I cared)

I only had my SLK32 here at the office to plug it into (SL55s accelerator pedal acting up yesterday : ( .... but very pleased with the functionality on the R170. I would describe this as the "star tester light ... travel version" the menus are VERY similar to star das (but streamlined). It was almost comforting to have it ask me "right hand" or "left hand" drive and then select which R170 I was plugging in to.

it lists the modules in a similar order (and name structure) as star .... and allows you to open each, look at and erase codes .... AND check "actual values"


I have 2 full sized Star Das set ups .... but this one fits in my Glove Box!
I love it!


Cheers,
Chris

mickey13

have you tried this on a obd2 compliant w202?

Nor Cal SL55

Chris - are you saying that you can load this tool for 2 types of cars - say MB and BMW - so you don't have to buy two of these tools, one for each type of manufacturer?

I also noticed that the same seller on ebay is offering the i980 unit at different prices? Are all i980 models the same?

Thank you

latemodel21

When I bought mine, the same seller also had 2 different prices. The lower priced one needed a firmware update (instructions provided made that easy enough) ... perhaps the higher priced one is already updated?

now to your first question ... back when I updated the firmware on mine it only offered MBZ firmware updates for my unit (it requests the serial number IIRC). It would not surprise me if having both MBZ and BMW on the same unit is not supported (ie not allowed).

Cheers,
Chris

m-svt-amg

Hey chris, any more experience with this tool? Torque app is fine for datalogging, but im not sure how to clear my service and tire pressure dash warnings... will this do the rodeo and all the other sds stuff?

Ingenere

I bought one last December and its functionality has been great.

It has recorded a couple of codes that I couldn't find exactly what they were. I ran the codes by the dealer and they had no clue as they weren't MB codes.

I haven't tried rodeo. It will clear service lights.

latemodel21

I have not tried the rodeo, but I find it useful for looking at actual values when I don't feel like hooking up DAS.

Like Dino was alluding to above, it calls out oddball codes sometimes ... and

It is a little funky when clearing codes ... not always clear if they have been erased or not .... but it could be they sometimes are indicated as still being present when they have already been erased. Case in point, recently I had the car shut down (turns out there was a short to ground on the coil power line under the Supercharger) ... while I was waiting for the tow truck, I plugged in this scanner and it said I had 8 M.E. codes . I did not erase them at that point because the scanner would not define them except an overboost code (as it often can't) and I wanted to see what they were on DAS. Checked it later with DAS and it only had one code (implausible boost which I get periodically) .

useful tool, but not a replacement for a star tester.

Cheers,
Chris

Vladds

does this read transmission oil temperature?

mickey13

for a little more money you can get STAR clone. make sure it comes with developer tools.

btw, this tool does not work on w202

flowrider99

I use the iCarsoft MB2, great scanner IMO. The STAR clones are very variable in their quality.

grizfish

Is there a seller of STAR clones who is known for good quality, complete systems including Dell 630 laptop, SCN, cables, etc?