Anybody else take delivery of a 2019 without the multimedia/nav package?

Mine displays the wrong timezone/time and the compass only ever says you are facing north. At the dealership for service related to my other issues, and they are saying this is by design because you have to either buy the nav or the SD card for the compass and clock to work. Otherwise, set the clock manually and override the auto timezone and just accept that the compass will always show North.

Can I get confirmation from anyone else on this?

Thanks!

 

My compass doesn't work but the time display on the screen is correct. ('19 sedan)

 

Anyone's auto DST not work? I had to turn mine "off" for it to display the correct time. It was an hour ahead.

 

This would infuriate me. Not so much the clock, since I usually make that faster so I get places on time... at least until I remember it fast. But the compass thing would **** me off. I use my compass on my BMW rear view mirror often when I am trying to go around traffic or just exploring. I do this in combination with Waze and Google Maps. Sometimes its a PITA to plug in places I am somewhat familiar with into the phone apps. Both of these should not be dependent upon Nav or Nav SD cards. Especially considering I didnt get pre-wired or Nav.

A long time ago, when I was using a blackberry, AT&T blocked a navigation app on the back end from displaying on the phone, even when it was installed. I reported them to the FCC and it magically started working after a voicemail from AT&T's consumer affairs department. Knowingly disabling or hindering proper use of a product, even as small as a compass, is grounds for a class action. Sure, we would all get 2 dollars for the suit, but I am sure a significant amount of people would not deal well with this. Suppose the cars with navigation have a nav fault? Does the compass fault as well?

 

Are you using the automatic time zone setting? On my car, if you use automatic time time/zone set, it always sets it to GMT time.

I assume everyone else that has a correct time had to change to manually setting the clock? Or is this unique to my car? It clearly is not getting a signal from a gps satelite that it should be able to get regardless of what package you have added. I just can't buy the story from the tech that your brand new $65k car comes with a broken compass and clock on purpose.

 

I had the automatic time zone setting on since I got my car (in EST) until it was Daylight Savings day in which I had to turn off the automatic time zone setting to get it to one hour back (the new time).

I never had to manually adjust the clock other than doing this procedure to get it one hour back.

 

For the compass, I remember I had to calibrate it when I got my most recent car by driving in circles in a parking lot- almost like what we have to do for the iphone app. Whats the manual say?

 

I can't imagine that Mercedes would put a dummy compass in a car that only works if you have NAV. It doesn't make sense, especially since when you have NAV, you usually don't need the compass. I've had Toyotas and Nissans that have had functioning compasses. There has to be something wrong.

Edit: Although as i look at the order guide, the word "compass" is not contained in the document. On the other hand, neither is the word "reverse" and I assume the car can go backwards.

 

I bought a Certified Pre-Owned 2019 C-Class Cabriolet with Android/Apple Auto instead of factory navigation. The compass always points north, and the clock does not change time zones automatically. The dealer could not provide an explanation. This forum did. Apparently, the compass does not work and the time does not automatically change unless you have factory navigation. Neither of these should be tied to navigation!!! Much less expensive cars have compasses and auto time zone change even when they have Android/Apple Auto. I do not always plug in, and the lack of a compass (usually placed in the rear view mirror) is driving me to insanity. Has Mercedes ever advised as to why they did this? Also, another irritating lacking feature. When closing (or opening) the roof, all windows go down, but do not automatically go back up, and they need to be raised manually. I previously had an Audi and a Volvo convertible, and this function was automatic. Why not Mercedes?

 

Can't comment on the compass issue, but as far as automatic time zone and DST goes that is very much tied to navigation. Not sure how these other cheaper cars do this exactly w/o navigation as you say, but in order to accurately change time zone and DST automatically it needs map data. The time zones do not correspond to straight lines down the globe. They are jagged, so you have to know exactly where they run and cross-reference that with the car's current GPS coordinates to correctly figure out which time zone you are in. Same goes for DST. Arizona for example doesn't observe DST with the exception of the Navajo Nation. So if you drive into Arizona from California for example it has to change the time during DST, but then if you happen to drive into the Navajo Nation it has to adjust it again. This only works correctly if the system has access to map data with time zone and DST information. Most cheaper clocks have a DST setting that just switches the clock to DST and back on the respective dates, but doesn't handle Arizona and the Navajo Nation. It just assumes you want DST everywhere you go. I'm guessing that's how these cheaper cars do it.

One alternative is to use the time information from nearby cell towers, but that is not accurate either, as the range of cell towers overlaps time zones etc. So depending on which tower it pings you get the wrong time near the border of a time zone or DST zone.