Homelink In '97 W140c
 

so, i acquired this coupe. it was manufactured in 10/96 and sold new in 12/96 as a 1997 model.

it has a homelink 3 switch system built into the rear view mirror.

great, i could stop carrying around my remote garage door opener that is so sensitive and which has such great range it opens my garage door when it is just hanging out in my pocket.

programming this homelink indicated that it had accepted the signal. but nothing happened. lights illuminated, but no action at the door. so i emailed mbusa.

my reply indicated that the homelink system in my vehicle was not compatible with the rolling code tech of my overhead door garage door and that i might want to call homelink so as to learn what my options might be.

i did that. the homelink customer service rep advised me that he did not have any info on m-b vin #'s, but here was the situation as best he knew.

1. at some time in 1997 model year, homelink replaced its unit to allow for rolling code technology. that unit would have amber signal indicating lights.

2. the rolling code technology unit required a revised wiring from homelink units fitted by benz prior to some vin # in the 1997 model year. he could not tell me if my unit had mirror wiring compatible with the rolling code revision or not. if it did not, then the mirror would require a rewiring if i wanted to fit a rolling code homelink system.

3. it was suggested that it might be easier for me to change out the garage door opening system to a non-rolling code version than to upgrade the benz.

i stopped by my houston m-b dealer today. they have never made such an upgrade. they suggested that if it was to be done, the entire mirror unit might have to be replaced.

at a cost of some bucks.

this gets interesting because the selling dealer of this starmarked car must have missed a floppy mounting of the rear view mirror during its inspection and has offered to reimburse me for the repair[i suppose that this means that starmark does not cover this safety item].

even if i don't upgrade the homelink device, my dealer says that the mirror replacement to correct the floppiness will cost about a grand.

hmmmmmmmmmmm?

any comments?

all ears.

Are the indicator lights in the mirror amber or not? I believe the older units have green indicators, not sure though. If they are amber, it can, according to Homelink, operate the rolling code openers. If this is the case, there is an extra step to program it to a rolling code opener, this should be described in the owners manual.

Another option not touched on by Homelink is that I believe there is a converter of some type which may allow your Homelink to operate a rolling code opener, one which recieves the signal from your Homelink transmitter and converts it to a signal your garage door opener will accept. I would check with one of the larger garage door companies to see if they've heard of this device before, someplace like Overhead Door Co: http://www.overheaddoor.com/

Gilly

Here is any easy solution.

Purchase an auxillary reciever unit for your garage door opener, and wire it in parallel with the button I'm sure you have beside your back door. Make sure to get a cheap one without rolling codes, etc. Here is are some examples, about $45.00

http://usdoorcontrol.com/Stan3090.html
or this one:
http://usdoorcontrol.com/geniGR390REC9.html

Then you program your Homelink unit to match you new receiver's code. Bonus is that your old remote will still work too (pass it off to your S.O). Downside is that you lose the "rolling code" feature when you use the Homelink unit.

Good luck,

you have/had starmark and it seems mb did a retrofit as well as a product change mid-cycle.it sounds as if starmark does not cover the retrofit yet they would have redone your mirror if it was under regular warranty period.i'll tell you what i would do:
now i'm pretty sure that the mirror would be replaced under starmark warranty and so i'd be looking to 'make it fail'befor the warranty runs out.these mirrors are famous for failure and so it would be beleivable.it's crazy but it may be your only recourse-other than paying in full:eek:

Interesting topic...

I want to retrofit the Homelink unit to my other vehicles. My 99 ML had it standard and it works fine on my garage doors, which ARE rolling code technology...