AVB-AMG

I own a 2007 M-B ML63 AMG that I purchased new in June 2007, that I ordered with the factory-installed DVD navigation system. This vehicles navigation system uses a removable NAVTEQ DVD for all maps and points-of-interest information for North America. Starting in the Fall of 2009, I have received mailed notices from MBUSA alerting me to the availability of a new NAVTEQ navigation DVD for North America with updated road maps and additional points-of-interest. I am interested in purchasing this but the cost in rather expensive, being essentially the same if I buy it from my MB Dealer or online via NAVTEQ's web site. The MSRP cost is as follows for the appropriate DVD for my vehicle:

Mercedes-Benz - Alpine MCS2 North America Map DVD v.7.0
(Catelog # U0014-0075-908)
NAVTEQ direct price: $249.00
2-Day Shipping & Handling: $9.95
Local Sales Tax: $18.13
Total cost: $277.08

So my questions to this forum are as follows:

1. Does anyone know of where I may be able to purchase this DVD (new, not used), at a lower price? If so, where?

2. What month and year is this DVD v.7.0 from?

3. Is this the most current navigation DVD for my vehicle? If not, what is the most recent version number and date?

4. Will NAVTEQ be making any additional / newer navigation map DVD's for my vehicle or not, since all current MB vehicles use an internal hard drive for navigation information?

As always, any help answering any of these questions would be most appreciated. Thank you in advance for you assistance....

AVB-AMG

lsbrodsky

Navteq is your best source of information for date of release and most current release. I have found them to be helpful.
Occasionally Ebay has new discs for sale but I have never found anything less expensive than Navteq retail price. It seems that all of the car OEM unit updates are expensive. I never understood this because Garmin is quite reasonable. The answer I hear is that car OEM units have fewer units to recover costs where Garmin has a huge user base. I think I'm going to stop buying annual updates though.
Larry

Skylaw

The NAVTEQ site is the best place to get the specific answers to your questions. Although you cannot tell from the Dealer's info or from the NavTeq site, the two discs are identical, and if you order from NavTeq you will get the exact same disc, packaging, part number, etc. as you get from a dealer. I don't know why they make this so hard; wish NavTeq would list the MB part number together with the version, but they don't.

Keeping the information separate lets the dealer clear out old stock, I guess.

In any case, the NavTeq site lists the version number of the latest disc. The dealers usually also have the version number available (on the box label), so with that you can be assured you're getting the latest. Check the disc for your car at http://www.navigation.com/is-bin/INT...llProducts=YES

DVDs for different models are released in different months, but usually between October-December of the year prior to their intended use (e.g, the '10 disc would have come out between Oct-Dec of '09). CD sets usually come out in February of the year of intended use.

It's impossible to say how long MB will keep updating nav DVDs. For example, they stopped updating the W220 "C" nav (used only during part of the 1999 production run of '00 models) CD sets in '04 - so they were updated for 4 years. They still update the "D" nav CD sets that started being used in the late '99 production run, through the '03 facelift model year - a run, so far, of 10 years total, and 7 years past the last date the "D" nav unit was installed.

I skipped the '10 update this year; I am aware of major Interstate construction projects still underway in my city that will not be on the '10 disc; the '09 disc is inaccurate there too, but no worse than the '10 disc. However, if you skip too many years, you may have to ask the dealer to install an interim update to make up for the annual nav firmware updates you skipped, before the system will read the new DVD.

JonMBZ

You wont usually find updated discs for a low price unless a valet swipes one from your car. I work at MB and just bought one for my car and it was just over 200 @ emp pricing. There isn't a huge mark up on these. I even asked navteq if they could give me a lower price since we purchase boat loads of disks from them, but they declined. Also the dealer doesn't need to clear inventory they move pretty fast and we can send back outdated ones for new ones.

jbondox

i am sorry but i just don't see this as being expensive. though I have to ask this, why is a kia map $200 from navteq??????