Dealerships won't do it because it is against the law to disable the TPM system. If you can find an indy with a Star tool, it can be done.

 

I called a bunch of independent mercedes repair shops with tools and none of them claim they can do it. Something about how mercedes doesn't sell all the codes to them?

 

If they have a Star C3 or C4 it can be done. I have a C3 and can turn it off or on. It is under the development mode.

 

Thanks for the info!

 

TPMS

Mercedes dealership quoted $ 2,300.00 to repair the system. I bought the sensors from O&E Wheel for $ 168.00 and my friendly tire dealership installed them for $ 20.00. $ 200.00 to have all systems working seems like a bargain to me. Happy Trails.

 

I can confirm that anyone with a Star C3 can do it, and it does NOT require Developer Mode.

I don't remember the exact steps, but I believe I went into the "IC - Instrument Cluster" module and changed Tire Pressure from 'Present' to 'Not Present'. That disabled it permanently.

Note that there is nothing in the TPMS module that will disable it (within Star). You need to do it in the Instrument Cluster module.

Took me 2 mins to disable it. I didn't get Developer Mode until 9 months later, so for sure I did it without Dev Mod.

 

Now that I think about it, you are correct.

 

How did you resolve the issue?

 

I took my 2007 to an indy and had it disabled for $175.00. They told me that they would not disable any 2008 or newer car as it is a safety item.

 

Its a safety item on any car... they wont disable it on 2008+ because it was federally mandated at that point...

 

2 systems in use here the direct system with the senders in the valves, they are a pain if you change the wheels but dead easy to delete in STAR and takes no more than 20 mins max

most newer cars have the indirect system where the speed signal is taken from all 4 wheels, this is part of the car and never any need to remove it, it is possible to added it to some cars that do not have it from new 203's from about 2004/5 can be done with ease.

 

All SL generations use central unit, the first gen 2003- mid 2005 used an antenna per wheel.

2006-2010 used central unit and single central antenna

2010-2012 used 3 antennas, 2 front, and one center.

All of these models can exclude the option by disconnecting the central unit (in the trunk, left side) and disabling the option in IC (instrument cluster) using initial setup for the module, using SDS, C3, or C4, and DAS

 

I don't think you get the point of the system, Yes, an added value to monitor slow leaks over time, and yes you can overcome these leaks by monitoring manually, as what you ve been doing for the last 30 years

However, the main goal of the system is to buy you 30-45 seconds of awareness, should you have a puncture while going 100mph. That could be the difference between "slowing down and pulling over to replace a tire", and "losing control and flipping over a few times"

From personal experience, if I had this on my R129 10 years ago, I would've saved myself a chewed lip on a rare $5000 BBS/Mercedes (Alberio), when I didn't realize I had a puncture, until there was no pressure left, and the wheel touched the ground...

 

If you believe a blowout will take 30 to 45 seconds to deflate I wish you luck, but the only time I had a tire blow out on the freeway as soon as I heard the noise the tire was flat there was no delay so the system would be useless. Plus since having the system sound the alarm and turn my cluster red telling me a tire was flat and I pulled over right away only to find nothing wrong and that happened twice so I would never trust a system that runs on batteries. Maybe for a slow leak it might work but I think people are getting too lazy needing computers to tell them when maintenance is due.

 

When I bought my 07 SL550 the orange light that looks like a tire was lit on the dash. When I got new rear tires followed by front tires followed by new wheels, kind of crazy to do it in that order but that's how it worked out, I also got four new TPMS sensors and now they are inside each wheel and there are no lights on the dash so the car is as it should be. Having bought the wheels and tires all separately, only turned out costing me about $200 more than if I'd bought all at once. Now the car is super smooth all the way past 120MPH and i love the wheels and my Continental Extreme Contact Sports. Thank you, Tirerack dot com! The TPMS sensors cost arouind $65 each but well worth it. On my 08 S550, i can press a button and read all the tire pressures as i am going down the road, that's kind of cool.