C63S Coupe: No HUD - Japan Earthquake?
 

So I received notification from the dealership that the April/May/June builds coming to Australia wont have HUD as these are manufactured in Japan and the (recent?) earthquakes there have caused this delay (on the HUD unit - which cannot be retrofitted).

The options are:
1) take the original order (July del) without HUD (with no guarantee of compensation)
2) place a new order but wait until Nov/Dec delivery!

what to do?

wait screw them especially if there not gonna compensate you

That is true; this is the reason why HUD has been delayed. It's not C Class specific; it across all brands.

I removed the HUD from my C43 build. There were a couple of major earthquakes in Japan earlier this year that damaged their vendor's factory. I ended up replacing the HUD with the Parking Assist Package for the 360 camera.

I was told the delay was indefinite, which made me question even the December availability date. I didn't want to be in a holding pattern until next year.

Hey Mate, mines due for delivery in August. They haven't advised me of this yet. I'm going to give them a call to check.

Which dealership did you get yours from?

MB Sydney.

Same situation in the UK. Mine is actually due 2nd August, no HUD. They do not actually know when the factory will come back online as far as I know and there may be a back log from other manufacturers to deal with. I continued with my order - HUD is important, great feature but not essential from my point of view. I'm far more concerned about build quality right now!

My dealership seems pretty useless then, getting tired of having to call and ask them about problems with my order for them to then tell me whether there are problems or not (they should do that in the first place!).

Guess I'm gonna be waiting a while, like you Dragon, I don't see the HUD as essential, but, I'm young and a sucker for car tech so I've got to have it :D

Oh well, I'm a patient man, I can wait.

I'm errr.. older... but also a sucker for car tech. Not sure if I posted this in these forums but I've had a HUD in at least 3 cars - M6, M5 F10, C7 RS6. The latest BMW HUD is easily the best of these. Anyway when I replaced the RS6 with a 911 TTS a year or so ago I missed the HUD for a few days and was irritated that Porsche don't do a HUD at all! However after maybe a week I stopped even noticing it wasn't there and have gotten used to being aware of the dials again. There are some minor advantages:

I don't need to worry about those odd moments when you can't see the HUD (weather/sunglasses/whatever) and have literally no idea where to look on your dials anymore!

With the above in mind, it is easier to switch to a non-HUD equipped car. It was more difficult than I expected to re-learn the ability to read dials.

I also noticed that with a HUD I had a slight tendency to be focusing a little too much on what the HUD said and not enough on the road. You don't do this with dials because you are totally conscious of the fact that you aren't looking at the road when you look at the dials.

Once you get used to dials again you have to re-learn to use the HUD (well at my age anyway) so recent test drives in BMW M cars with HUDs - I didn't even notice it was present!

I would always choose the HUD because, like you, I'm into car tech (tech generally) and it is a cool thing that you can always turn off anyway. I care that I won't get one and would perhaps wait an extra month to get one... but not 3+.

Hud was an option I overlooked. The c63s hud provides some useful info compare to the standard. This is a tough call. As a third option suggestion I would start looking at the existing inventory with hud and try to get into one of those. I'm not sure about the abailability outside us though.

This is a tough call, I have had the HUD in my sedan and have definitely gotten use to it.

I can pay attention to the speed when I need to... Esp around cameras.

This will be harder now that I have to look down every time :/

The HUD is awesome.

I have spoken to my dealer and he has assured me that my C63s Coupe which is due for build on 22nd of June will have HUD. He advised if there was an issue with stock for my build I would have received a call, which I haven't.

My C63 S coupe build is scheduled for 1st decade of Sept, and at this point, the dealer cannot add the HUD to the build order. My hope is that the HUD becomes available to add to the build before the scheduled production date, or available to add with a delayed production date I can live with. Does anyone know how late you can make changes to a build order before production is scheduled?

They should give you a spec lock date ("Option Freeze Date"). The freeze date is normally a month before the production date. My dealer (and several others) have suggested that the information they are getting is that the HUDs will be available again late 2016/early 2017. But could be earlier. They have all stated that it is due to an earthquake in Japan. I have done some googling and I think that Continental make the HUD http://continental-head-up-display.com/#head-up. I haven't been able to find any comment anywhere that an earthquake has affected production. Obviously they may not choose to publish that sort of information.

Just seen a comment on another thread with a link to this:

https://mbworld.org/forums/attachmen...-class-dog.pdf

Which mentions an August production availability for the HUD!

EDIT: Spoken to my dealer. HUD still can't be added on my car. He is investigating with Mercedes technical to get the current situation.

Everyone that I've ever known has thought HUD was cool at first, but ended up not caring for it at all.

In the U.S. the HUD ties into the NAV for speed limit information, so it is only as good as your NAV updates.

To me, seeing your current speed next to the speed limit of the street you are on, is well worth the price of admission.

I would bet that most of the people that don't use it any more, have less than optimal NAV info coming into the HUD.

I guess you don't me then as I love the HUD.
I have the gear and RPM and MPH showing and it helps a lot on the canyon carving days. you always know what is happening without looking down and the eyes have to adjust to the different light of the speedo and tach so it is a little slower to register.
YMMV

This. The HUD is also configured with AMG specific content like gear, speed, shift light indicators, race timer, etc. And if you have navigation and even Distronic Plus, you can view cruise/speed settings as well. It's a very good and useful option to have. Here's the press release on it:


Head-up-Display: In focus – with AMG-exclusive features


An optional head-up display is a new feature in the C-Class. As in a jet fighter, it projects important information directly into the driver's field of vision on the windscreen, ensuring that there is less distraction from the road ahead. The system provides information on vehicle speed, posted speed limits, navigation instructions and DISTRONIC messages. The C 63 also has AMG-exclusive features that include a gear indicator and RACE TIMER.

The head-up display projects important information such as vehicle speed, speed limits, navigation information, traffic signs and information from DISTRONIC PLUS onto the windscreen. The virtual colour display measuring 21 x 7 centimetres appears to float on the bonnet at a distance of about two metres from the driver. This means that the head-up display is perfectly positioned in the driver's field of view. He or she is able to take in relevant information without having to look away from what is happening on the road ahead. In addition, the display shows the digital speed, engine speed and currently selected gear.

In the alternatively selectable AMG mode, the driver sees a coloured bar graphic prompting upshifts and an additional gear indicator. The RACE TIMER provides ideal support for fast lap times on enclosed racetracks: the current lap time is shown at the lower edge, where it is optimally visible to the driver. When AMG mode is activated, the navigation instructions and DISTRONIC PLUS are suppressed.

The technical basis of the head-up display is a specular optics system and a full-colour display module with a resolution of 480 x 240 pixels, operating with high-power LEDs. The resolution of more than 60 pixels per degree of viewing angle ensures a needle-sharp image.

A light sensor located near the top edge of the roof automatically adjusts the brightness of the head-up display to the exterior lighting conditions. Brightness levels of 10,000 cd/m² plus can be achieved on sunny days. Because the contrast ratio is better than 1000:1, the system produces a high-quality display even in the dark.

The driver can adjust the height of the virtual image so that it can be easily viewed. On vehicles with seat memory function this feature stores the individual settings. A range of display content can also be enabled or disabled, and the brightness of the display adjusted individually.

The special head-up windscreen with its wedge-shaped laminated foil eliminates double images produced by reflections on the outer and inner boundary surfaces of the windscreen. It superimposes the secondary image, which is produced on the outer surface, onto the primary image. This offset depends on the particular angle and has been optimised for a driver in a normal seating position.

I got this information from a contact over at the AMG division of MBUSA. It was in regards to a S63 Coupe order but I assume the units are the same across the M-B ilne so likely is applicable to the C Class too. Apparently they are being told by Germany that after August, HUD units will again be available.

I have asked my dealer to recheck the situation. He still can't change the spec on my car and the dealership is unable to option a HUD on any current car order. I have a call logged with Mercedes UK asking them for any further information they can provide. As I've mentioned before - I want a HUD but not if I have to wait months.. One month would be OK.

My Spec was locked yesterday and the HUD is still showing on my order form. Delivery is still slated for beginning of August.

You must have caught one of the last units. My spec gets locked next week.

Lucky me. Sorry to any guys who were looking forward to their HUD and now have to either wait or just accept a car without.