(08:30 June 02, 2004)
Mercedes hoping to ditch electronics glitches; numerous systems removed

By GEORG AUER | Automotive News Europe

STUTTGART -- It was a rare spectacle: a Mercedes-Benz electronics
executive explaining that the automaker had removed 600 electronic
functions from its vehicles.

During a 20-minute address at an industry symposium here, Stephan
Wolfsried railed against the temptation to overload vehicles with
electronic functions that are useless to the customer.

The features haven't helped Mercedes either. Chronic problems in recent
years have angered customers and sullied the company's reputation.

It is difficult to integrate these gadgets into a vehicle's electronics
infrastructure, said Wolfsried, who is Mercedes-Benz's vice president
for electrical and electronics and chassis development.

Electronic components sometimes work well in isolation but cause other
electronic equipment to go haywire.

Testing is difficult and time-consuming, so Mercedes is reconsidering
its more-is-better approach to gadgets.

"Last year we removed over 600 functions from our cars - functions that
no one really needed and no one knew how to use," Wolfsried said. "It is
our aim to focus on things that make sense. The driver will not have the
option to adjust everything that is adjustable."

One example of an unnecessary feature: individual memory settings on a
key fob for seat adjustments.

The issue of electronics glitches comes at a delicate time.

In April, Mercedes was encouraged by a sharp improvement in J.D. Power's
annual Initial Quality Study. With 106 defects per 100 cars, the
automaker rose to 10th place among automakers, up from 15th place and
132 defects per 100 cars a year earlier.

But that good news was tempered by yet another electronics glitch. In
May, Mercedes recalled 680,000 cars worldwide because of a possible
malfunction of a new brake-by-wire system on some E- and SL-class
models.

Mercedes had developed the brake system, called Sensotronic Brake
Control, with longtime technical partner Robert Bosch GmbH. The defects
can be fixed at the dealership with a software patch, but the recall was
an embarrassing setback.

Bosch has denied German press reports that it introduced the technology
too quickly.

Three years ago Mercedes also suffered problems with Bosch's Comand
communications system, which integrates the onboard navigator, audio
systems and car phone.

When motorists used Comand, the screen sometimes would go blank and
systems would malfunction. Comand's defects proved difficult to track
down. The electronics would fail sporadically, making it difficult to
identify and fix problems.

Mercedes chief Juergen Hubbert subsequently vowed to increase product
testing. And as Wolfsried noted, the automaker also is simplifying its
electronics. If a vehicle has fewer features, fewer things can go wrong.

 

"If a vehicle has fewer features, fewer things can go wrong."
=========================
Well, Hello...

It took how many years to figure this out?

<<Everyone can post their joke comments after me >>

--- PARSIMONY --

 

MB electronics doesn't look like to complicated for me. Simple they need to change partners.

 

This article was pretty well hashed out in previous threads here... however:

This sort of "simplification" is nothing new to Mercedes. Many times a model comes out and then features are removed either to reduce complexity with problematic features, or to lower manufacturing costs to increase profits or hold a price line on a model.

In the first case, the 1995 R129 SL had a motorized memory inside mirror. Have you seen the mirror adjustment knob on cars around that time? The knob is rotated left or right to select the mirror. In most cars, the middle selection is "off", but on some, it is the folding mirror switch. On others, it was the selection to adjust the inside mirror.

Or, the removal of the skyview top for the M-class. A neat feature, but it isn't very reliable.

-s-

 

Gadgets are cool, but only to a certain point. I'm watching some of the stuff that's coming out today, and yeah a lot of it is neat and something to show off to your friends, but useless at the same time. Take the electronic adjustability of the headrest in my 95 C 280. It's cool to show to my friends, but entirely USELESS to my in everyday driving and I could do without it.

 

Well, regardless of the level of simplicity, they need to employ better programmers for sure.. Even the features they offer now are bugged to the point that leaves you wondering how all that stuff made it to the production line... Take the side mirrors convenience feature, for example. It is known to cause mirror position drifting - mirrors' orientation can easily be corrected manually, by pressing and holding the memory button. This means that the position does not get lost, but the car's electronics does not do a good job to return the mirrors back automatically. Clearly a programming bug. My suspicion - they don't provide enough time for the mirror servo system to move them back to original position.

The same goes for the steering wheel convenience feature - in some situations it does not return to its programmed posiion after the smart key is inserved into the ignition lock.

But that would be ok if there were patches/updates that could fix this stuff - problem is, there are none! Even after 4+ years since W203 platform got on the market...