I could probably be persuaded to drop $600-800 or so and buy a Chinese Xentry DAS system. Can anyone make a recommendation as to which package to buy and from which vendor?

Here's a recommendation from someone over on Benzworld.

Nervous about buying Star diagnostics from China? Look here... - Mercedes-Benz Forum

Whatever I get, I'd want it to be "turn key"....laptop, multiplexer, cables, etc. for both W211 and W210 all as one package.

Thanks.

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 157k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 175k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 144k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 70k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

I got one of the cheaper $300 packages and all I can say is it was definitely not "turn key". I spent the better part of two days troubleshooting and trolling the forums to get it to work.

Also, unless you buy a package with the original IBM thinkpad that the software was meant to run on the soft ware will be run inside a virtual machine and as such will be very slow. Also, if you do go this route buy a dedicated laptop for it and DO NOT Let it connect to your internet/network. Most of these Chinese clones are loaded with malware that if given the opportunity will monitor and infect your network.

Now after getting mine to work it has proved useful, however if I were to do it again I'd seriously look at getting a used Autel Maxidas off eBay. I haven't done a lot of research yet but they seem to be able to do a lot of the adaptation functions and pull oem codes. They also have the benefit of working with other makes of car should you *gasp* ever buy something that isn't mercedes.

I'd be happy to answer any other questions for you.

You don't need to spend $600-$800 to get a complete ready to go system that will work on a W210 or W211.

gordysgadgets on eBay has them from time to time. I was going to buy a system from him (only he didn't have any in stock at the time),
but fortunately I found another US eBay seller that had one and it's worked great! My only regret is not purchasing one sooner!

I've got a MaxiDas system and the only MB I have had to send down the road since owning it are the ones that come in with the key issues.

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Jim

Dell running XP is another lap top found for the Star system.

A while back I got mine from a guy in the US that buys and sets them up, I don't have his contact info but Craigslist might net some vendors.

Things I've found.

Don't use the lap top for anything other than the Star system if possible. I do have a EEPROM reader program on mine but that program is easily regenerated if needed.

There is some sort of Brazilian malware that some claim is part of the clone hack and others part of a bank number skimming system. In any event, the clone needs to do clone trickery to work.

On the lap top, disable the WI FI and make sure it stays off. I pulled the card from the multiplexer and lap top. The clones will try to call home ( Bosch ) and the system may brick once the mother ship sees a clone.

Let the lap top boot up for a while. Not only does windows need to get settled, the clone SW needs to do it's tricks.

The Star program is locked to the drive it is on, you can make a copy however it won't run unless you can make a new code.

Don't call the support # in the program it is MB / Bosch.

MB / Bosch is really missing out, if they offered the windows HHT ( Hand Held Tester for 80's / late 90's cars ) at reasonable cost they could sell and make a profit.

Last I knew, a supported star was $ 20 K buy in + $ 6 K per year. Yes, there are development costs and the factory does not want to affect the dealer network too much, but there isn't much dealer traffic for 20 year old cars.

Looks like gordysgadgets has one one available. That's a decent price. In the description, it makes mention of working on most 2000-2012 models. I'm assuming it should work with my 98?

__________________
14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 157k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 175k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 144k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 70k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Will it connect to the 38 pin port on a W210?

__________________
14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 157k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 175k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 144k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 70k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

It is a good price, his systems usually sell in a matter of days (all model years of the W210 are supported).

While the diagnostic capabilities are amazing, I specifically bought mine for changing/enabling a number of vehicle settings and features on my W211. A Star DAS system is the only option for that.

Out of curiosity, what did you change and enable? I have the exact same car as you.

__________________
14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 157k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 175k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 144k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 70k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

The list!
(Note: some of these settings require a Star DAS system with developer mode enabled)

-Adjusted rain/light sensor
-Enabled automatic wiper speed reduction (under 5 km/h)
-Adjusted mpg calculator (my first calculations were off, so reset it back to the factory profile for now)
-Enabled date/time display
-Enabled fuel remaining (in gallons) display
-Enabled tire pressure warning system
-Enabled cornering fog lights
-Enabled replacement light function for headlights (appropriate side fog light will be substituted)
-Set tunnel mode closing feature to automatic

ACC Menu (automatic climate control)

-Set A/C to turn off immediately when A/C button is pressed
-Enabled fan speed display in “Auto” mode (disabled on MY05 and later cars)
-Enabled cabin air pressure relief (for easier door closing)
-Disabled Hot Countries setting
-Set defroster vents in auto mode to fixed value (as the humidity sensor was no longer installed on the two zone ACC starting with MY06)

Two things I was interested in enabling (and was not able to), were the adaptive brake lights (brake lights flash under panic braking)
and rain close function (sunroof/windows close automatically when parked if rain is sensed). Unfortunately my rear sam/overhead
control panel do not currently support these features (perhaps they can be updated ). Only refreshed MY07+ W211 cars have
the setting(s) I guess.

Chris, that's pretty cool, all the stuff you're able to configure.

Did you by any chance come across a good tutorial? Or did you have to figure things out on your own? I have poked my nose around but, thus far, can't seem to find anything.

__________________
14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 157k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 175k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 144k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 70k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Yep

__________________
Jim

Thanks for the link, I just bought it. I have been wanting one of these with 4 MBs in the house but I was leery of sending over $1000 to Hong Kong.

__________________
The OM 642/722.9 powered family
Still going strong
2014 ML350 Bluetec (wife's DD)
2013 E350 Bluetec (my DD)

both my kids cars went to junkyard in 2023
2008 ML320 CDI (Older son’s DD) fatal transmission failure, water soaked/fried rear SAM, numerous other issues, just too far gone to save (165k miles)
2008 E320 Bluetec (Younger son's DD) injector failed open and diluted oil with diesel, spun main bearings (240k miles)

1998 E300DT sold to TimFreeh
1987 300TD sold to vstech

Haha...you beat me to to it! Apparently he lists a new one every ten days or so.

Let us know what you think!

__________________
14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 157k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 175k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 144k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 70k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Do tell. A Mercedes Tech at a dealership in CO said that the W211s were great.....you can do all sorts of mods. w/ the star system. Since I didn't have a way top do it, I didn't ask for specifics. Now I'm curious.....

Thanks for the heads up.

Wonder if there are other settings that can be changed? Also, why disable: Hot Countries setting?

Wonder if anyone would be willing to rent theirs out? Anyone near Cleveland or Baltimore that has one of these they'd be willing to show me??

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-- Chris

'95 E300, 216k miles, Silver Surfer
'05 E320 CDI, 138k miles
'07 S550 4matic, 69k miles

Gone but not forgotten:

'76 300D, 350k miles?, SOLD in 1995
'75 240D, 300k miles, SOLD in 1991