MBNA109

C'mon Wayne!
You know the Matrix (Google) has got that updated already.

venchka

I know that. My point is that the canned DVD database offered for sale is not up to date. Therefore, why bother? Skip 1 or 2 "upgrades" and maybe the roads will be more complete. However, missing sections of highways are not a problem. You won't fall off the edge of the earth.

Wayne

MBNA109

Haha -a greed there.
btw as a PSA, the C204 guys on benzworld has got a Nav disc group buy going on

go1ndr

Now that I'm kind of over the bummer of not having the same awesome Navigation my wife's C250 has, I must say that after taking the first road trip upto Big Bear Lake for a couple of days in the mountains with family, both the GLK and it's Version 9.0 Nav worked great! It got us to the rented house on the mountain, to the ski resort and back down the mountain with not even one error. In fact, once I missed a quick turn and at the same time my wife said "make a u-turn", the voice on the Nav said the exact same thing a second later. Too funny for words. Would still like the 3-D and text messages though! Happy New Year everyone!

venchka

A couple of tid bits we learned after 45 hours and 33 minutes in our GLK in a 1 week period.
1. There is a switch to turn on/off street names on the map. Is yours set to display text information on the map? We learned that switching to time & distance to destination turns off street names. Another WTF? from M-B.
2. POI. I learned the hard way after dark on a long driving day. The POI list only includes Holiday Inn and not Holiday Inn Express. A really dumb omission. However, POI at destination allows you to type in Holiday Inn Express and the location appears and can be set as a destination. The Nav. system took us directly to the location in El Dorado, AR. Not exactly a big city. Very good in my book.
3. Updates. Don't fret and don't waste your money. We discovered a section of highway in Tennessee and new bridge across the Mississippi River that are 2-4 years old and not shown on our current version of the maps. I would update every 2nd or 3rd version. Join a Group Buy. They usually work out to be $20 and some postage.

The system has a quirk or 3, but is really very nice. Spend some time with the manual to learn all of the features.

Wayne

go1ndr

Good info Wayne! I have messed around with the text information on the map but will look at it again. I noticed that when in the "Bird's eye view" that very few street names are shown. It's kind of cool to look at but not if it doesn't give the streets.
Like you, as for the actual system, I think it's quite good for what it is. Since the 3D will never be available as an update, I've decided to enjoy what it is. I do however believe that my 2009 E350's navigation was far better than the this 2012 GLK navigation is! And, like you Wayne, I actually love my GLK.
At first I thought it was just ok, but after taking it on a few road trips and up to the mountains over the holidays (where the nav worked like magic and we couldn’t have made it without it), I truly believe it is a world class vehicle like all MB's are. It handled great through the mountains and other than marginal gas mileage, it performed great--and the all wheel drive was truly awesome! So anyway, if you learn anymore tips or tricks on the navigation we are stuck with, or anyone out there does, let us all know. Happy New Year! Jack

venchka

You're welcome! Sharing is what these Forums are about.

Wayne

go1ndr

I just went to lunch and changed the "Text information" to "Time and Distance" but my street names are still there. Must be that I have to have a destination in the system and be in the nav destination mode to have the street names go away. will try it again when I have a destination route programed in and working.
Has anyone used the "Bird's eye view" mode??
Jack

venchka

I find that street names tend to be scale dependant. Which makes sense having been a cartographer in a previous lifetime in a parallel, alternate Universe. I was drving about 70mph when I made this discovery. I will investigate further in the driveway. The next time I have driving duty in the GLK.

Wayne

venchka

Rather than fuss and fume about The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of the navigation system maps, I went to the Navteq site and reported errors in our system base map. It is interesting that the map used by Navteq to report errors is spot on for the two things we found wrong on our trip. Go figure.

Navteq web page:
http://www.navteq.com/

Register and begin reporting anything missing, incorrect or improvements for our system base maps, DVD, etc.

Wayne

MKenM

Wayne it's a great idea but for all the information you give them today do you think they will give you a discount tomorrow?

Well it's always nice to be nice. Happy New Year!

venchka

If we all take the time to report omissions and mistakes, perhaps someday these digital maps will be most nearly correct.

I always try to be nice.

Wayne

MBNA109

Appreciate it. Unlike others who just want to arm chair things.

Leslielp

The integrated Navigation system on any luxury car is a rip off unless you put value into the telephone voice integration into account.
The 2012 Navigation is amazing. The street names now appear in at least the two lowest detail settings 50m and 100m. The new 3D mapping looks fantastic if you are into that sorta thing. The buildings appear as 3D close to shape of existing building in shades of blue. As you drive past them the collapse down to the floor. The road appears to meander through the buildings with POI shown in varying colours and symbols. The voice tone is much better than in my 2010 GLK.
I only picked up my C300 this week so I am still playing around with all the new toys. My salesperson setup all the Nav settings knowing what I wanted in advance.

The map now shows you in bold letters to the top the upcomming intersection.
When you fiddle with the tempreature controls the bottom left of the screen show you the temp setting for a few seconds as well, nice touch.

venchka

Alas. The 2012 GLK is treated like an orphan stepchild.

Wayne

go1ndr

So True! I was playing golf with the owner of a Los Angeles area MB dealership and told him how bummed I was that I ordered my 2012 GLK new in Oct and it didn't come with the same system my wife's new 2012 C250 did. All he could do was shrug his shoulders and say "oh well" you can get it on the next one! Humm! I actually want the text messaging on her screen more than I care about the 3D though that would be too cool!

alanedinger

Wayne,

I just want to chime in on this one point. Just today, I had to plot a course to a Holiday Inn Express, I did know the direct address, but I used the POI feature to find the address (for confirmation with my known address) and it did indeed find the Holiday Inn Express as a POI. Then I dropped it in as an address book entry.

And this was using the 2008 maps on a 2009 W204.

FYI.

-Alan

ps. however, it is nuts that there are two stilted methods to find POI's on the system and if you use the category method, the system is programmed to find far fewer businesses.

venchka

Interesting. I'll check it out. Perhaps it's a GLK thing? I also won't rule out operator error/unfamiliarity/fatigue. The good news is that we found the Inn and it was most satisfactory.

Wayne

MKenM

My GLK is almost 3 1/2 years old now. We took it on a trip ip to Nantucket. Set the Nav and off we went. On RT 95 up near Rhode Island they redid the whole 95 to 195 interchange and changed the exit numbers. Needless to say I missed the turnoff because I was listening to what Judy (that's my Nav systems name) was saying and didn't watch the sign post intently enough. I was able to get off at the next exist less than a half mile away and back track.

That was it just got back and ordered the new 2012 maps and got a $50 rebate. So for $200, I'll let you know if there is anything new and or interesting.

venchka

We have the 2012 map database. It has some glaring omissions for things that are several years old. Like the new Mississippi River Bridge at Greenville, MS. How do you miss a huge new bridge?
Good luck. I tend to wait 5+ years to update and they still don't always get the roads right.

Wayne

MKenM

Since this is 2012.2 version 10 I assume that it new within the past few months. I'll Let you know if the bridge is there or not.

MKenM

Got the disk today and loaded it. It took over 2 hours to complete. Now I'll see if the are any improvements.

cindyclk

I found one one for $20...as Wayne said. Well worth a search

MKenM

I would agree that a group buy is a great idea. For example everyone gets together to but synthetic oil to save a ton of money (bad choice but only thing I could think of quickly). Everyone gets their own case of oil after the buy no duplication and everyone has the original oil they bought in for.

In the case of the a map that someone is going to make copies of and distribute, That's illegal. I know, I know, so you say who cares no one gets hurt. You're right but this forum removed a group buy when it found out that it had been posted.

BenzWorld had a couple of threads for group buys. They caused infighting about what the real cost should be per participant. Yep who cares as long as you get your update.

Can't say that everything in my life has always been above board but when you publicize information about a group buy you are just asking for trouble. Navteq does not sell you the software update they provide you with a license to use it. The same as the software on the computer you use at home. I guess if they thought it were worth while they would come after those people who choose to participate in an illegal group buy.

cindyclk

No one copies the disk, they send the original along. Legally, each person is selling the disk to the next "customer".