I am going to change my SBC unit, but need someone with STAR to program it. I am in the West Palm Beach area, does any one on here know any one with a STAR who I can get to program the SBC. I would be happy to pay them whatever they want.




thanks.

 

You don't need to program the sbc

 

Are you sure no programming is needed? the dealer I am buying it from insists it needs to be married to the car.

 

Nope

Many people buy used sbc and just install it

 

Be sure you get the correct pump for your VIN ,otherwise it will not work,there are a lot of pumps out there!

 

post back your findings and costs please

 

Well, I found a local guy who is a wiz with German cars and has STAR, he told me the code I was getting, C2131, is just a bad accumulator and not the whole pump. Ordered a new accumulator and will install and let everyone know.


Thank you for your input.

 

I told you that a while back lol

 

For the price of the accumulator you might as well buy them pump which comes with the accumulator. They are coming pre-programmed now, they use to require a special tool in the past. The dealer uses the star to flush the brake fluid though.

 

What?
I bought the genuine accumulator for 89$ shipped....
You can find them for under 100$ big difference from a new sbc unit

 

Definitely not genuine at that price point. Possibly OEM. I didn't know they sold them after-market though. That makes sense though


https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...or/0004302694/

 

who do you think makes the sbc?

 

Same one as you posted and I bought it last year

http://www.rmeuropean.com/Products/0...G14-V3888.aspx

 

Brand new Bosch accumulator is $80, a rebuilt Mercedes SBC is $800.00, don't see how that is comparable. I have icarsoft scanner which activates / deactivates and flushes the brakes.

 

I carsoft can only activate and deactivate
It's can't flush

Also when you install the accumulator you might need to repressurize with star
Some cars don't need it but some do to get rid of the code

 

Bosch makes them, Mercedes doesn't, they just put them in a Mercedes box and charge you close to $700 for a part they paid $50 for, unfortunately that is the way Mercedes does business.

 

Sorry I don't want to jump too far down that rabbit hole, but OEM is not always the same as Genuine. I know who makes SBC I said possibly OEM. I was just showing you why I made my statement as I don't deal with anything besides Genuine parts. The OEM could be the same exact one, but it's not sold under the supervision of MB and might not be the same. When you buy OEM it could be used with less expensive components lower load tolerances or built around patents. An example would be

Mercedes new vent filters have patented technology for performance in them and are ECARF certified. If you find an OEM one they cant copy the patented components and I am sure they are not certified either. You can actually see the difference on the part itself.

Now against my argument I has seen conductor plates from a 7226 trans come direct manufacturer into the OEM/Aftermarket against their legal agreements with MB. They come a plain brown box opened them up and it was the same exact part with Mercedes emblems and part numbers on the part itself (a no no). So there really isn't any consistency or way for me to make an argument with facts so kind of the reason I don't want to start that discussion.


In this case I thought the OP was just making a bad decision because with the parts from MB there is only a few hundred dollars difference in that case and the SBC pumps always fail so I usually just advise the person to buy a complete pump If I knew he got an OEM one for $100 my point wouldn't make sense as it has not in this situation. I also don't want to come out trying to say anything negative about another product if I don't know there is something wrong because posting as a company everyone will be skeptical of my interests and rightfully so.

Personally I have used after-market bosch in the past on my M113 wires/coils and both times I had issues which in turn wasted my techs time and my money so I have been turned off since then. Sometimes you have to weigh the benefits to what the part specially does what happens on failure of that part and what type of additional damage it can do to the car if it fails. I could go on with other examples, but I don't want to come off biased as there are just as many positives and arguments against what I think. Hopefully this post is informative and not sales pitchy it really is just my personal opinion on the subject. I know no one here will pay an extra 500 for this part from me either way

 

Mercedes does not make most of the parts for their cars, they contract to outside vendors. Bosch makes almost all of their electronics, and many other parts. When you buy a Mercedes branded part from a dealer, you are paying 3 to 4 times more only so the dealer can make a profit, and for the dealer to warranty the item. Just like brakes, you can buy rotors branded "Mercedes" in "Mercedes" box, but Mercedes does not manufacture the rotors, they buy them from ATE and Zimmerman, so just buy ATE or Zimmerman for half the price.


Same thing with the accumulator, it is the EXACT same one the local dealer here wants $300.00 for.


Lexus does the same thing, though not as outrageous. If I need parts for my LS or ES, I look up the Toyota equivalent part online, and pay a third of what the exact same part with the exact same part number would have cost if it came in a "Lexus" box.


Thank God for the internet and forums like this one where we can share information and no longer have to be screwed over by dealerships.

 

My I carsoft flushes, I did a fluid change when I rebuilt and powder coated the calipers, installed new rotors and pads. It flushed using the SBC, I just had to attach a brake motive pressurized flusher on the mater cylinder. But otherwise it worked just fine.

 

Which icarsoft?
If you had to attach a pressurizer then it's not like star
I had a icarsoft and I sold it because of that

 

oops

 

I know how it works I have been in the industry since I was 16 (18 years) what I am getting at is it's not always the same thing even with brakes. I know a lot of indie shops who wont touch after-market brakes even from the same mfg even though everything else where available they would buy OEM/aftermarket, not genuine. There is no oversight by MB in the after-market for guaranteed quality this is the only thing I am trying to let you guys in on. The problem is everyone thinks every case is the same and it's not, unless you work for bosh and know what their manufacture process is no one can say it's the same part just put in a different box because often it's not. Do I think this specific part is lesser quality? I would have to take a lot of things into consideration.

1. Do I want a bosch or MB original part for my braking system?
2. Is the vendor im buying from supplying the newest available part?
3. How many revisions have there been to this part do I have the newest part number or will this one I am getting have the same flaw as the last one? MB has 3 revisions to this part.
4. Does this vendor have requirements by bosch to return known faulty LOTS like MB would to the dealer?
5. Would the manufacture go cheaper on the process to make more money on a safety item? Probably not.


It's complicated to make these calls even though I have been around it my whole life. In the end if it was my car I would still have replaced the complete SBC pump with a genuine part. The only thing you will ever find online is claims that MB is bad dealers are bad OEM is the same. Just keep an open mind forums are here to spread information and if you think I am not telling the truth that is fine. I just want to help you guys understand that just because it comes from the same place it doesn't mean it is or is not the same quality even though that would not be something popular to say around here and could have people look at me negatively because of it.


If you would like to read someone else talking about this you can read here.

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=923616

 

It shows "MB II" on the front of it. It has a list of instructions you follow, it says "pump up pressure to 5 psi" or something like that, "open rear driver side bleeder, press ok" when you press OK I hear the SBC come on and pump, and fluid squirts out of the bleeder, then you close it off and press OK again and it tell you the next bleeder to open. It might be different then using STAR, but it's doing the same thing and even with the pressure pumped up, nothing comes out of the bleeders until I hear the SBC turn on and off.

 

No one is saying you are not telling the truth, we all come to this from different life experiences and perspectives. Maybe you have been burned before and are extra cautious. There are different levels of quality in parts from the same manufacture, but when I am buying a Lexus part with the SAME part number as a Toyota part, and one costs 2 to 3 times as much as the other, it is only because of the name. The same thing for Mercedes parts for the most part. My father and grandfather have both owned car dealerships, services stations, and rental car agencies with 85 years experience combined between them. When my dad would call Mercedes in Delray and get a part, his price was at the minimum half, it not a third or what the "retail" price was, the price they charge the schmuck who takes it in to the dealer for service. The parts almost always were manufactured by someone other then Mercedes, even though the box showed Mercedes on it. In the past, you didn't know if you ordered an aftermarket part if it came from Mexico or Germany, but with forums like these, we can spread information and let our fellow enthusiasts know. I know a guy in West Palm who has been rebuilding starters, alternators, fuel pumps, anything electronic in cars for 40 yrs, J+J auto electric. He says the accumulator and SBC pump are both Bosch made. When you buy a rebuilt one from Mercedes dealer, it came from the Bosch factory who rebuilt it. Same with the air suspension pump, it's a Bosch and so is the relay.

 

Airmatic pump is wabco iirc