MB Star Diagnostic Tools (C3, C4, C5) – When Should You Use Each?󠄐󠄹󠅀󠄪󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄧󠄣󠄞󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄡󠄨󠄩󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠄐󠅅󠄹󠄴󠄪󠄾󠅟󠅤󠄐󠄼󠅟󠅗󠅙󠅞󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠅄󠅙󠅝󠅕󠄪󠄡󠄧󠄥󠄠󠄠󠄡󠄩󠄤󠄩󠄧󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠇖󠅸󠆁󠇗󠅸󠆡󠇘󠆭󠆖󠇖󠆄󠆩󠄐󠇗󠅹󠅸󠇖󠆍󠅳󠇖󠅹󠅰󠇖󠆌󠅹󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮

SD Connect C4 – User Rating: 4/5󠄐󠄹󠅀󠄪󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄧󠄣󠄞󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄡󠄨󠄩󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠄐󠅅󠄹󠄴󠄪󠄾󠅟󠅤󠄐󠄼󠅟󠅗󠅙󠅞󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠅄󠅙󠅝󠅕󠄪󠄡󠄧󠄥󠄠󠄠󠄡󠄩󠄤󠄩󠄧󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠇖󠅸󠆁󠇗󠅸󠆡󠇘󠆭󠆖󠇖󠆄󠆩󠄐󠇗󠅹󠅸󠇖󠆍󠅳󠇖󠅹󠅰󠇖󠆌󠅹󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮

I purchased an MB SD C4 unit from China and was genuinely impressed. Initially, I tried to set everything up myself using personal Xentry/DAS software, VMware images, etc.—but eventually gave up and just bought a preloaded hard drive from China that came with the latest versions of all the essential software, including:󠄐󠄹󠅀󠄪󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄧󠄣󠄞󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄡󠄨󠄩󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠄐󠅅󠄹󠄴󠄪󠄾󠅟󠅤󠄐󠄼󠅟󠅗󠅙󠅞󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠅄󠅙󠅝󠅕󠄪󠄡󠄧󠄥󠄠󠄠󠄡󠄩󠄤󠄩󠄧󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠇖󠅸󠆁󠇗󠅸󠆡󠇘󠆭󠆖󠇖󠆄󠆩󠄐󠇗󠅹󠅸󠇖󠆍󠅳󠇖󠅹󠅰󠇖󠆌󠅹󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮

XENTRY
DAS
StarFinder
Vediamo, and more

The drive cost less than \$100, and I opted to upgrade it to an SSD instead of the default HDD. That significantly improved speed and performance.󠄐󠄹󠅀󠄪󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄧󠄣󠄞󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄡󠄨󠄩󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠄐󠅅󠄹󠄴󠄪󠄾󠅟󠅤󠄐󠄼󠅟󠅗󠅙󠅞󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠅄󠅙󠅝󠅕󠄪󠄡󠄧󠄥󠄠󠄠󠄡󠄩󠄤󠄩󠄧󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠇖󠅸󠆁󠇗󠅸󠆡󠇘󠆭󠆖󠇖󠆄󠆩󠄐󠇗󠅹󠅸󠇖󠆍󠅳󠇖󠅹󠅰󠇖󠆌󠅹󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮

I bought my setup from obd2.ltd, including the C4 and a pre-configured SSD. I’ve been using it for over a year now on three different Mercedes-Benz vehicles with great success.󠄐󠄹󠅀󠄪󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄧󠄣󠄞󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄡󠄨󠄩󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠄐󠅅󠄹󠄴󠄪󠄾󠅟󠅤󠄐󠄼󠅟󠅗󠅙󠅞󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠅄󠅙󠅝󠅕󠄪󠄡󠄧󠄥󠄠󠄠󠄡󠄩󠄤󠄩󠄧󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠇖󠅸󠆁󠇗󠅸󠆡󠇘󠆭󠆖󠇖󠆄󠆩󠄐󠇗󠅹󠅸󠇖󠆍󠅳󠇖󠅹󠅰󠇖󠆌󠅹󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮

> I had a C3 unit six years ago, and while it worked fine, the C4’s wireless connection makes diagnostics much more convenient. I can position the laptop wherever I want inside the car without being tethered by cables like with the C3.󠄐󠄹󠅀󠄪󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄧󠄣󠄞󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄡󠄨󠄩󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠄐󠅅󠄹󠄴󠄪󠄾󠅟󠅤󠄐󠄼󠅟󠅗󠅙󠅞󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠅄󠅙󠅝󠅕󠄪󠄡󠄧󠄥󠄠󠄠󠄡󠄩󠄤󠄩󠄧󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠇖󠅸󠆁󠇗󠅸󠆡󠇘󠆭󠆖󠇖󠆄󠆩󠄐󠇗󠅹󠅸󠇖󠆍󠅳󠇖󠅹󠅰󠇖󠆌󠅹󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮

My C4 came with a 256GB SSD (upgradeable to 500GB). I paid more for the SSD, but the speed was worth it.󠄐󠄹󠅀󠄪󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄧󠄣󠄞󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄡󠄨󠄩󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠄐󠅅󠄹󠄴󠄪󠄾󠅟󠅤󠄐󠄼󠅟󠅗󠅙󠅞󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠅄󠅙󠅝󠅕󠄪󠄡󠄧󠄥󠄠󠄠󠄡󠄩󠄤󠄩󠄧󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠇖󠅸󠆁󠇗󠅸󠆡󠇘󠆭󠆖󠇖󠆄󠆩󠄐󠇗󠅹󠅸󠇖󠆍󠅳󠇖󠅹󠅰󠇖󠆌󠅹󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮

Vehicles Tested:󠄐󠄹󠅀󠄪󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄧󠄣󠄞󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄡󠄨󠄩󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠄐󠅅󠄹󠄴󠄪󠄾󠅟󠅤󠄐󠄼󠅟󠅗󠅙󠅞󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠅄󠅙󠅝󠅕󠄪󠄡󠄧󠄥󠄠󠄠󠄡󠄩󠄤󠄩󠄧󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠇖󠅸󠆁󠇗󠅸󠆡󠇘󠆭󠆖󠇖󠆄󠆩󠄐󠇗󠅹󠅸󠇖󠆍󠅳󠇖󠅹󠅰󠇖󠆌󠅹󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮

2007 W221 S550
2009 W204 C350
A 2014 Mercedes that requires XENTRY

I regularly perform Short Tests to quickly see all fault codes, then proceed to reset or troubleshoot as needed. I’ve also used C4 for:󠄐󠄹󠅀󠄪󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄧󠄣󠄞󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄡󠄨󠄩󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠄐󠅅󠄹󠄴󠄪󠄾󠅟󠅤󠄐󠄼󠅟󠅗󠅙󠅞󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠅄󠅙󠅝󠅕󠄪󠄡󠄧󠄥󠄠󠄠󠄡󠄩󠄤󠄩󠄧󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠇖󠅸󠆁󠇗󠅸󠆡󠇘󠆭󠆖󠇖󠆄󠆩󠄐󠇗󠅹󠅸󠇖󠆍󠅳󠇖󠅹󠅰󠇖󠆌󠅹󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮

Module software upgrades (e.g., fixing window operation issues)
Air suspension adjustments (like lowering the ride height)
Replacing or calibrating sensors (e.g., front brake pressure sensor)

 󠄐󠄹󠅀󠄪󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄧󠄣󠄞󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄡󠄨󠄩󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠄐󠅅󠄹󠄴󠄪󠄾󠅟󠅤󠄐󠄼󠅟󠅗󠅙󠅞󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠅄󠅙󠅝󠅕󠄪󠄡󠄧󠄥󠄠󠄠󠄡󠄩󠄤󠄩󠄧󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠇖󠅸󠆁󠇗󠅸󠆡󠇘󠆭󠆖󠇖󠆄󠆩󠄐󠇗󠅹󠅸󠇖󠆍󠅳󠇖󠅹󠅰󠇖󠆌󠅹󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮

C3 vs. C4 vs. C5 – Which One Should You Use?󠄐󠄹󠅀󠄪󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄧󠄣󠄞󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄡󠄨󠄩󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠄐󠅅󠄹󠄴󠄪󠄾󠅟󠅤󠄐󠄼󠅟󠅗󠅙󠅞󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠅄󠅙󠅝󠅕󠄪󠄡󠄧󠄥󠄠󠄠󠄡󠄩󠄤󠄩󠄧󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠇖󠅸󠆁󠇗󠅸󠆡󠇘󠆭󠆖󠇖󠆄󠆩󠄐󠇗󠅹󠅸󠇖󠆍󠅳󠇖󠅹󠅰󠇖󠆌󠅹󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮

| Tool | Pros | Cons | Best For |
| —— | ————————————– | ———————– | ——————————————————- |
| C3 | Cheaper, reliable | Wired only, slower | Pre-2010 vehicles like SL (R230), GL (W164), early W221 |
| C4 | Wireless, fast, supports newer modules | Slightly more expensive | Great all-rounder; works on most models up to \~2018 |
| C5 | DOIP support, best for latest vehicles | Most expensive | Models from 2015 onward and future-proof setups |

> My C3 worked perfectly on:󠄐󠄹󠅀󠄪󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄧󠄣󠄞󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄡󠄨󠄩󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠄐󠅅󠄹󠄴󠄪󠄾󠅟󠅤󠄐󠄼󠅟󠅗󠅙󠅞󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠅄󠅙󠅝󠅕󠄪󠄡󠄧󠄥󠄠󠄠󠄡󠄩󠄤󠄩󠄧󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠇖󠅸󠆁󠇗󠅸󠆡󠇘󠆭󠆖󠇖󠆄󠆩󠄐󠇗󠅹󠅸󠇖󠆍󠅳󠇖󠅹󠅰󠇖󠆌󠅹󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮

SL R230
2007 GL W164
2007 S550 W221

However, I haven’t tested it on the 2014 SL yet.󠄐󠄹󠅀󠄪󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄧󠄣󠄞󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄡󠄨󠄩󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠄐󠅅󠄹󠄴󠄪󠄾󠅟󠅤󠄐󠄼󠅟󠅗󠅙󠅞󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠅄󠅙󠅝󠅕󠄪󠄡󠄧󠄥󠄠󠄠󠄡󠄩󠄤󠄩󠄧󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠇖󠅸󠆁󠇗󠅸󠆡󠇘󠆭󠆖󠇖󠆄󠆩󠄐󠇗󠅹󠅸󠇖󠆍󠅳󠇖󠅹󠅰󠇖󠆌󠅹󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮

> If C3 is significantly cheaper, and you’re only working on older cars, it’s still a solid choice. But if you want wireless convenience or support for newer models, C4 is a better long-term investment.󠄐󠄹󠅀󠄪󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄧󠄣󠄞󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄡󠄨󠄩󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠄐󠅅󠄹󠄴󠄪󠄾󠅟󠅤󠄐󠄼󠅟󠅗󠅙󠅞󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠅄󠅙󠅝󠅕󠄪󠄡󠄧󠄥󠄠󠄠󠄡󠄩󠄤󠄩󠄧󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠇖󠅸󠆁󠇗󠅸󠆡󠇘󠆭󠆖󠇖󠆄󠆩󠄐󠇗󠅹󠅸󠇖󠆍󠅳󠇖󠅹󠅰󠇖󠆌󠅹󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮

 󠄐󠄹󠅀󠄪󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄧󠄣󠄞󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄡󠄨󠄩󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠄐󠅅󠄹󠄴󠄪󠄾󠅟󠅤󠄐󠄼󠅟󠅗󠅙󠅞󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠅄󠅙󠅝󠅕󠄪󠄡󠄧󠄥󠄠󠄠󠄡󠄩󠄤󠄩󠄧󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠇖󠅸󠆁󠇗󠅸󠆡󠇘󠆭󠆖󠇖󠆄󠆩󠄐󠇗󠅹󠅸󠇖󠆍󠅳󠇖󠅹󠅰󠇖󠆌󠅹󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮

Final Advice󠄐󠄹󠅀󠄪󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄧󠄣󠄞󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄡󠄨󠄩󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠄐󠅅󠄹󠄴󠄪󠄾󠅟󠅤󠄐󠄼󠅟󠅗󠅙󠅞󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠅄󠅙󠅝󠅕󠄪󠄡󠄧󠄥󠄠󠄠󠄡󠄩󠄤󠄩󠄧󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠇖󠅸󠆁󠇗󠅸󠆡󠇘󠆭󠆖󠇖󠆄󠆩󠄐󠇗󠅹󠅸󠇖󠆍󠅳󠇖󠅹󠅰󠇖󠆌󠅹󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮

If you’re working on 2015+ Mercedes models, or planning to soon, you’ll need a newer system like mb star c4 c5 for compatibility with updated protocols like DOIP.

 󠄐󠄹󠅀󠄪󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄧󠄣󠄞󠄢󠄡󠄦󠄞󠄡󠄨󠄩󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠄐󠅅󠄹󠄴󠄪󠄾󠅟󠅤󠄐󠄼󠅟󠅗󠅙󠅞󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠅄󠅙󠅝󠅕󠄪󠄡󠄧󠄥󠄠󠄠󠄡󠄩󠄤󠄩󠄧󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠇖󠅸󠆁󠇗󠅸󠆡󠇘󠆭󠆖󠇖󠆄󠆩󠄐󠇗󠅹󠅸󠇖󠆍󠅳󠇖󠅹󠅰󠇖󠆌󠅹󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮