C-Class (W204) 2008 - 2014: C180K, C200K, C230, C280, C300, C350, C200CDI, C220CDI, C320CDI

My 2011 C250 CDI (MY2012 design) - hello from Sydney!

Old 10-06-2011, 11:40 PM
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Originally Posted by JaCe88
I know for me it was a real PITA organising the price because I was also ordering the corporate package and had to provide a business card as well. I think there was a sale or something on until EOFY for the safety pack that I ordered as well (Driver Assistance Plus Package).

As for the music register, I'm surprised that you guys can't copy music to the hard drive. Is that from USB or SD card?
Hi JaCe88, what's PITA?
I am waiting for end of year sale bargain, but sounds like you got your deal through fleet sale? How did you go about that? Always bought my car through dealers for private use, but certainly able to purchase the next one under business use if that means more savings.
Cheers!
Old 10-07-2011, 09:03 AM
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So what's the point of having a HD in the Merc if you can only upload a few CD's? The 6-CD changer has about the same capacity as what fits in the HD + the NAV info. Its stupid.

And since the COMAND hardly works, and no NAV info for most countries, I really just don't get it. Better to just rip everything out and put in an iPad dock, then you have NAV, mail, news and tunes on a reasonably sized touch screen you can take out and use at your local Starbuck's.

Ford and others have such a better, more advanced and useful system. Mercedes brags about their high-tech easy-to-use electronics. But they are lame and it is JUST A LIE. WTF.
Old 10-07-2011, 06:47 PM
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Originally Posted by Nightsky
Hi JaCe88, what's PITA?
I am waiting for end of year sale bargain, but sounds like you got your deal through fleet sale? How did you go about that? Always bought my car through dealers for private use, but certainly able to purchase the next one under business use if that means more savings.
Cheers!
Sorry I should clarify- Corporate Program is still through retail channels but you are meant to be offered 'corporate pricing' plus several benefits (photo below):



That being said, corporate pricing is higher than retail pricing if you negotiate as hard as possible so I was given the choice of corporate benefits for an extra $2-3k or so (didn't quantify since for a variety of reasons such as tax, I wanted this).

Originally Posted by Acapulco Bill
So what's the point of having a HD in the Merc if you can only upload a few CD's? The 6-CD changer has about the same capacity as what fits in the HD + the NAV info. Its stupid.

And since the COMAND hardly works, and no NAV info for most countries, I really just don't get it. Better to just rip everything out and put in an iPad dock, then you have NAV, mail, news and tunes on a reasonably sized touch screen you can take out and use at your local Starbuck's.

Ford and others have such a better, more advanced and useful system. Mercedes brags about their high-tech easy-to-use electronics. But they are lame and it is JUST A LIE. WTF.
I may be ignorant here but I was under the impression the NAV did work in most countries since even Malaysia has it working. Comparing the MB system to various others I have used (e.g. iDrive, MMI), I find that the MB one is definitely most simple/basic in terms of exciting interfaces or features with a very boring looking interface, but it's actually surprisingly well thought out and easy to use without being distracting. The 2012 facelift with the colour LCD in the dash has been integrated very well into the system.

ps. Currently uploading the video to Youtube now but it's quite large so may take another couple of hours before it's uploaded. If I haven't posted a link, just search for "COMAND Online - Music Register (2012)" (that's my title of the video) by "jacejai".

Originally Posted by acr2001
I just checked it out a second time, and no good. It is not an option and cannot be done on a 2012 US C class. There is another thread that confirms this.

You have a CDI so I assume you are outside the US? That would explain it.
Correct, I am Australian.

Last edited by JaCe88; 10-07-2011 at 07:21 PM.
Old 10-07-2011, 07:23 PM
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Lets take a quick look at countries without NAV: China, India, Nigeria, Mexico... the list just goes on and on.

As for the COMAND system, CNET Reviews has tested 7 Mercedes Benz vehicles with the COMAND system, their tech editor could never get one destination identified and into the system. Let alone trying to ask for tunes or dial a number. The review videos are hilarious, actually, the COMAND is so stupid it looks like something out of the Simpsons.

Even selecting commands with the media knob is an illogical labyrinth.
Old 10-07-2011, 07:59 PM
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Originally Posted by Acapulco Bill
Lets take a quick look at countries without NAV: China, India, Nigeria, Mexico... the list just goes on and on.

As for the COMAND system, CNET Reviews has tested 7 Mercedes Benz vehicles with the COMAND system, their tech editor could never get one destination identified and into the system. Let alone trying to ask for tunes or dial a number. The review videos are hilarious, actually, the COMAND is so stupid it looks like something out of the Simpsons.

Even selecting commands with the media knob is an illogical labyrinth.
While the COMAND system could certainly be more user friendly, what you are saying is a little bit out there. The COMAND system in my 05 was quite a pain in the *** to learn, but otherwise worked fairly well. The COMAND system in my 2012 is pretty wonderful. I'd give it an 8/10. I would love to see these comical CNET reviews though!
Old 10-07-2011, 08:04 PM
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Well I'm basing my view on the countries which I live in (i.e. Australia, Malaysia and Singapore), and it works in all three so I haven't got any reason to hold it against them. I can see you're from Mexico in which case, fair point, but for the majority of people on here I'd say it's not necessarily an issue. I'd be interested to know if other OEM satnav solutions work in Mexico?

As for the interface, I find it easier to use that the Audi and BMW equivalents. It's actually one of the reasons I chose the MB over the other two. I consider myself very good with technology but just enjoyed the simplicity of the interface- that being said, it does feel lacking in customisability/prettiness/etc compared to the other two majors, but in outright features it had everything I needed. The photo viewer is good.

What is lacking? I'm surprised it can't read DivX movies off USB/SD considering it can do everything else, and the photo viewer whilst useful, is very difficult to access (took me a while to find it). And finally, the Bluetooth dial up networking profile is very old and barely anyone uses it- fortunately I got a company phone (Blackberry Bold 9900) which works with the car's internet... but it's not much fun to use since it's slow and any apps/info I need, I'd rather get off my iPhone4. That being said, I do like being able to send map/routes from Google Maps to my car remotely.

ps. Here's the video of using the SD card to copy music to the hard drive:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvf5EIAkyOI
Old 10-07-2011, 08:16 PM
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I wish I could copy MP3s like that. The function is totally gone on the US units. Mercedes should be ashamed for caving to the RIAA - there was nothing illegal about it.
Old 10-08-2011, 02:33 AM
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Originally Posted by Acapulco Bill
Even selecting commands with the media knob is an illogical labyrinth.
Never have any prob with the media knob... but then again, not all MB driver is as techie as me... some might not know what Internet is...
Old 10-08-2011, 03:48 AM
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I think it's the most simple of the lot in terms of interface and buttons. The latest iDrive and MMI versions have way too many buttons.

Whilst I would like to have some kind of favourites button or something similar to iDrive where no matter what menu you're in you can press on a radio preset button softly to preview what it'll do, and then set it to do stuff like navigate to a certain address, or call a number. That is, you can change the preset buttons to more than just radio! That, and I find it odd that with 12 buttons on the steering wheel, there isn't any for changing audio track UNLESS you have the audio mode selected on the dash.
Old 10-08-2011, 08:24 PM
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2012 C300 4Matic
Regarding copying MP3s to the Music Register, the plot thickens.
The window sticker and COMAND manual for my 2012 both state that you CAN copy MP3s AAC, and some other file types into the music register from memory cards and USB drives. So now it looks like either my car is funky, or the change was made after the documentation was printed. Either way, now I have to continue burning and re-burning songs to a CD-RW and copying them over. This is bull****, MBUSA!!
Old 10-08-2011, 09:16 PM
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GLE 300d (v167)
Originally Posted by acr2001
Regarding copying MP3s to the Music Register, the plot thickens.
The window sticker and COMAND manual for my 2012 both state that you CAN copy MP3s AAC, and some other file types into the music register from memory cards and USB drives. So now it looks like either my car is funky, or the change was made after the documentation was printed. Either way, now I have to continue burning and re-burning songs to a CD-RW and copying them over. This is bull****, MBUSA!!
I don't know the tech behind it but surely it's just a firmware issue then right? I'd show the people at MB the video on Youtube and point to your manual and ask them to please explain.

(that being said, I personally don't use the music register since iPod compatibility is really good)
Old 10-09-2011, 07:15 AM
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ps. Let me know if there's anything else you want me to take a video of.
Old 10-09-2011, 08:31 PM
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Originally Posted by acr2001
Regarding copying MP3s to the Music Register, the plot thickens.
The window sticker and COMAND manual for my 2012 both state that you CAN copy MP3s AAC, and some other file types into the music register from memory cards and USB drives. So now it looks like either my car is funky, or the change was made after the documentation was printed. Either way, now I have to continue burning and re-burning songs to a CD-RW and copying them over. This is bull****, MBUSA!!
The best way is to go back to the dealer and ask them how...
Old 10-10-2011, 12:05 AM
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Originally Posted by denot
The best way is to go back to the dealer and ask them how...
I promise you, the feature is disabled. I know a lot more than my dealer does with regards to these features.

MBUSA simply didn't correct their documentation in time. Others confirmed that it doesn't work
Old 10-10-2011, 01:31 AM
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GLE 300d (v167)
Maybe there's a dealer option in the software to reenable it? *shrugs*
Old 10-10-2011, 07:16 PM
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Originally Posted by Nightsky
Hi JaCe88, what's PITA?...
Cheers!
Oh Jace, you forgot to explain what PITA is :p

PITA: Pain In The ****
Old 10-10-2011, 07:48 PM
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my bad!
Old 10-10-2011, 09:33 PM
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Originally Posted by acr2001
Regarding copying MP3s to the Music Register, the plot thickens.
The window sticker and COMAND manual for my 2012 both state that you CAN copy MP3s AAC, and some other file types into the music register from memory cards and USB drives. So now it looks like either my car is funky, or the change was made after the documentation was printed. Either way, now I have to continue burning and re-burning songs to a CD-RW and copying them over. This is bull****, MBUSA!!
Can't you play them off a device such as an ipod through the ipod/mp3 cable interface?
Old 10-10-2011, 09:48 PM
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Originally Posted by wireless200
Can't you play them off a device such as an ipod through the ipod/mp3 cable interface?
Presume you can but what's the point of the including a big "Music Register" hard drive then?
Old 10-10-2011, 10:01 PM
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Originally Posted by wireless200
Can't you play them off a device such as an ipod through the ipod/mp3 cable interface?
Yes, you can play them off an ipod or an SD card or you can even plug your own hard drive into the USB port, but what a freaking waste of a feature!

I also find it really stupid that the Grace note database only seems to work for commercial albums - not your own burnt CDs or MP3s. I can't understand why... if the MP3 has a title and an author listed (and mine do) then why not pull the album cover from the database that is on the cars freaking hard drive? I guess I'm being too critical here.
Old 10-10-2011, 10:15 PM
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Originally Posted by acr2001
I also find it really stupid that the Grace note database only seems to work for commercial albums - not your own burnt CDs or MP3s. I can't understand why... if the MP3 has a title and an author listed (and mine do) then why not pull the album cover from the database that is on the cars freaking hard drive? I guess I'm being too critical here.
Erm.. just integrate the album art into the mp3 file then using iTunes? I wouldn't expect any software or systems to do this other than iTunes which has the "Grab album artwork" feature since this is quite difficult to do- what if there is more than one CD with same artist/album name? *shrugs* Not a big deal but fair call.
Old 10-10-2011, 10:21 PM
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Originally Posted by wireless200
Can't you play them off a device such as an ipod through the ipod/mp3 cable interface?
My scenario is always like this:

My Friend: Dude, have you heard this song
(give his ipod/mp3 player to me and I listen to the song)

Me: Man, this is neat stuff! Can you give the file to me?

My Friend: Sure, I just go home, copy the ONE file to SD card and then I give it to you tomorrow.

Me: Thanks, so after you give the SD card, I can go back to my place and copy the file to an MMC card. Then I can put the card on my car so I can register it to the COMMAND HD

HAHAHA!
Old 10-11-2011, 07:59 AM
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Thought I'd update this with another video uploaded for another forum: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQWm4TcHyoM

This video shows the Intelligent Light System in action at night when enabling the inbuilt foglamps. Rather than having separate foglamps, they are built into the headlight assembly and result in the lens changing the focus of the beam.

According to Mercedes-Benz website:
The Intelligent Light System – as an active component of the safety concept – ensures the best possible visibility in all weather conditions and the most diverse traffic situations. When encountering oncoming traffic, in curves, fog or on free stretches of road the system adjusts to the situation adapting the characteristics of the light individually.

In the "country light" mode the light from the low-beam headlamps is distributed such that the edge of the carriageway is significantly better illuminated than with conventional headlamps.

The motorway mode is automatically activated in two levels: from 90 km/h the system increases the performance of the bi-xenon lamps. From 110 km/h the setting of the headlamp on the inside of the traffic lane also changes to uniformly illuminate the entire width of the lane for up to a distance of around 120 metres.

With the expanded fog lamp the system improves the visibility when fog is present. The left bi-xenon headlamp tilts outwards and the light cone is simultaneously lowered downwards. This light function is automatically activated as soon as the rear fog lamp is switched on and the vehicle is not travelling faster than 70 km/h.

The active light function follows the driver’s steering angle: sensor data on the steering angle, yaw rate and vehicle speed allow the bi-xenon headlamps to tilt to the side swiftly as soon as the vehicle drives into a curve. With the "cornering light" function the cornering lamps automatically switch on when the driver activates the turn indicator or turns the steering wheel.
URL: http://www2.mercedes-benz.com.au/con...equipment.html
Old 05-16-2012, 06:16 PM
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2012 C250 w/ AMG upgrades
Love your car - I just purchased a 2012 c250 - what exactly did you do to the lights - I love the way they look - LEDs? and some kind of Merceds licht cover?
Old 06-02-2012, 08:05 AM
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^ They are factory LEDs (at least in AUDM).

On another note, I took the car to a dyno for fun just to see what the factory tune/engine/etc was running. Given that the brochure advertises 150kW/500Nm... well, this is after 17 runs and the results were consistent.



ps. The above is AT THE WHEEL.

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