joshg1001

So after a year and a half of ownership, I just found a quirk, or engineering mistake, on the benz radio.

the situation:
So sometimes, I dont bother turning off the COMAND before turning off the engine so I usually just turn down the radio volume and then pull out the key. The next time I start the car, the COMAND automatically starts up, but the volume is much louder than what I left it at.

It seems like there is a preset for this volume and it is actually quite loud. Anybody else have a problem with this?

Niti24

the only time that happens to me is when my dad wants to drive the car and leaves the volume all the way up besides that I don't think it has a preset for the volume

snarlingchicken

Happens to me all the time. It's rather annoying, because I usually prefer my music to be a tad quieter than most others would like. Sadly when I start the car though, I get a loud blast of music that quickly draws my hand towards the center volume knob. X_X

ginkgo

I have the same problem. even went to the dealer to get it fixed. but they blew me off saying its the HD settings, when im not even using the Harddrive for music. I gave up on this issue. I just hit the mute button before i turn off the car. When you start the car back on, it will still be muted.

Diesel Benz

This must be a bug in the Comand SW. Can you (all who have this issue) check your Comand SW release? I'll check it in the wife's car at the next opportunity but this car has only Audio 20 CD head unit. This behaviour should still be the same.

I could understand if the radio automatically tunes volume down if an extremely high setting was used when the car was previously used but this does not seem to be the issue here.

white46

I am having this problem as well.
Took it to dealer and they said they can not find the problem either.
Like Diesel Benz said, I am leaning towards to Comand SW bug as well.

AMGTTV8

this problem has been pissing me off since I stepped foot into this car...who programs a louder than normal sound level on the head unit?

germany failed this design challenge for sure

it's always nice when your fiancee's parents get in the car to be unintentionally blasted with rap music upon start-up...

joshg1001

not sure what you mean, but i snagged a picture. hope this is what you wanted

johnlk25

This annoys me too.....drives me nuts!! There has to be a fix for this.

eminnet

For me is never loud enough.

Diesel Benz

But this was not the issue in this topic. Can you confirm that your radio/Comand keeps the audio volume as adjusted even if ignition is switched off and on again? I've never heard of an MB restarting with a different audio volume level, except now in this thread I think more than one owner complained about this.

I had a look at service bulletins and found nothing that could be related.

Sportstick

My base radio does not change the volume level on restarting the car. I almost never touch the volume, unless I want to turn it up for a particular song.

coolvi

Same here. C300 4Matic 2009 with Navigation and Multimedia package, HK sound. It is neither louder nor quieter, the volume simply resets to a certain level at every start up. BTW, I never turn off the audio system as it always plays off the 32GB flash drive loaded with favourites.

Diesel Benz

Your comment was confusing to me. I interpret that your car actually resets to some specific audio volume at ignition switch on (or when ever the sound starts to play). I thought most owners claim the car starts with the same audio volume as it had when ignition was switched off.

Do we now have three different cars, the normal one I would say that remembers the set audio level and then those that reset either to a comfortable audio volume or those that reset to an uncomfortably high level?

You actually mention an interesting detail. I thought everyone referred to the car being switched on and off (or off and on) but perhaps someone actually talked about switching the audio system off and on. Myself I thought this should not make any difference.

joshg1001

I think switching it on and off, or restarted the car, does the same thing. The volume is definately preset to some level. Obviously to some (like me) who may like a lower volume experience, the sound radio resets it to a higher level, and to others who listen to louder music, it reduces the sound to a "quieter" level.

either way, its annoying.

johnlk25

I dont know what to say except (and I just tested this) if I am in my car listening to the radio and turn the volume down very low to where you can hardly hear it, then turn the key off and pull it out and wait about 15 seconds and put the key back in and turn it to the on position, the radio comes on to a MUCH louder volume than when I originally turned the key off. This is a fact (for my car anyway). I just tried it several times and each time the radio came back on at such a loud volume that the first thing I had to do was turn it down.

Rogwp

Intrigued, I just tried this myself (on my 2010 C300 with Command and HK). There was no change in the volume setting when turned off and then turned on again later. It did not matter whether I had the volume set to very quiet or quite loud when I turned it off, it returned to the same setting. Sounds like MB fixed this problem in later cars.

johnlk25

Yes, it sounds like they fixed it for at least the 2010 model......lucky!! I'm going to mention this to my dealer when I bring it in for by B service in a few weeks.

kowyzg0moo

They also fixed this after I got the latest software update from Mercedes. They updated my Command Unit to resolve the low iPod volume issue and it also resolved the volume adjusting!

Diesel Benz

This must explain the issue, a SW bug that gets fixed with an update. Everyone suffering from the behaviour should insist their dealer taking care of the issue.

delirium

Really? I got an update a few months ago & I still have the issue.

johnlk25

Oh great........not what I wanted to hear

coolvi

Whoa...I just booked an appointment to update the firmware on Monday hoping to fix the volume issue. The service manager did advice that he was unable to find anything that deals with this specific issue, but will try and see if an update will resolve it.

Now that makes me want to try different things until then. I was actually thinking that maybe the issue had to do with certain source that we're playing from, e.g. audio CD, USB, radio, etc...But what's next?

johnlk25

I hope your visit to the dealership fixes the problem. Please keep us posted. I'll be taking mine in the next couple of weeks too.

jerrythesurfer

I just purchased a 2012 CLS550 and the radio controls are far inferior to the VW Passat I had.

On the Passat I was able to set the default volume. I was also able to set whether the radio should start at default volume or last setting. In addition , it would optionally adjust for road noise. It also had 2 sets of presets so that each driver could have their own set.


Mercedes is just poorly designed, it is that simple.