Asking for advice on a star system

[amosfella]

I got myself a 2004 mercedes, and I've been looking for a star system to go with it. I found this one on the internet, and was wondering if anyone had experience with the system, or the company selling it:
Package offer MB SD Compact C5 with V2017.3 SSD Plus EVG7 Tablet 4GB Ram

As I'm somewhat impatient, I think that the extra will be worth it for the faster multiplexor, and tablet. I'm not a fan of the old dell or lenovo laptops. They seem to die in my hands. I had 3 for running a RFID chip scanner for cattle, and all 3 broke within weeks of getting them.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[tjts1]

If you're just looking to read / clear codes, see live data from every module and put the SBC to sleep, an icarsoft scanner will do the job. The only thing it can't do is coding. It's also a lot more user friendly and a hell of a lot more portable.

[jake12tech]

Originally Posted by tjts1

If you're just looking to read / clear codes, see live data from every module and put the SBC to sleep, an icarsoft scanner will do the job. The only thing it can't do is coding. It's also a lot more user friendly and a hell of a lot more portable.

Where's a reliable source for it and how much is a carsoft? It does codes from the trans correct?

[tjts1]

Originally Posted by jake12tech

Where's a reliable source for it and how much is a carsoft? It does codes from the trans correct?

I got my i980 for $120 on Amazon. There's an MBii model for $160 that has a few more capabilities like dealing with SBC. Read the reviews on Amazon, there's a ton of info to be had there. I think peachparts carries it too but you never know if it's actually in stock or until after you purchase lol.

Yes it can read and clear 722.6 transmission codes. From what I remember, it doesn't work with the w210 and the first gen SLK because those cars have a weird canbus architecture. Later cars were standardized. Everything else after that up to about 2012 is game. The MBii is good to about 2015 model year. There's a lot more info in the Amazon reviews. It def works with my w203. I bought the w203 stuck in limp home mode and the first thing I did was get the i980 to read and clear the transmission codes. It did that beautifully.

I think mbii also works with sprinters and smart cars, i980 doesnt.

[raymond~]

decent reads here on a few diagnostic tools

[engatwork]

Another option would be to try to pick up a good, used Autel MaxiDas system that has programming for MB.

[anziani]

I had poor luck trying to deal with Chinese knockoffs. No place to ask questions and none would give me a local reference. I finally found Paul Christensen (sp) out of Florida. I thnk he uses European knockoffs. Anyway, give him a try. My last address was
Paul60600@gmail.com
Anziani
'97 CL600 62K

[amosfella]

I'm not just looking for the car listed above. I'm also looking at one that will work on my grandma's 97 e420, and the 95 s320 when I rebuild the trans.

I"ll look at the european knockoff.

[amosfella]

How about obdII365.com?? Do they have good scanners?? Almost looks like the same one that I was looking at.