I tried reading the owner's manual and watching some reviews on the tube but I couldn't find anything specific. I know that many of you may find this question inappropriate or even silly, given that the GTC/GTR is not a car intended for touring, but that is also how I would use it, so I would like to hear your opinion on the navi system if somebody of you uses it (also considering that I am not a fan of AA/Carplay).

Does it work enough well?
with the Mercedes Connect subscription, the navigation with live traffic is effective? does it offer the satellite view?

I come from a car that has an excellent sat-nav system, and once you get used to certain features, it's always difficult to do without them (outside of this context, I really miss the LED matrix headlights, but that's another story).

 

My most up-to-date experience is with MBZ nav in a 2016 C63 S and a 2017 C43, both updated in 2019 and a 2020 GTR Pro updated in 2022 (IIRC). My area of use has been western Canada and northwestern US, some rural but mostly urban.

I've found the MBZ maps to be rather terrible with many errors and much missing data ... even for urban areas where the roads/buildings are 10+ years old. Then there's the fact that it won't navigate to an address that comes from an iPhone contact (well, not unless you re-enter it via the infotainment system ... and yes I've demonstrated and reported this to Mercedes).

I stopped paying for map updates since the data was so problematic. I just use a phone. Unlike you, I find Apple CarPlay's navigation to be pretty good (i.e., _much_ more reliable). Personally, if it was an unbundled option, I'd never buy an auto-maker's nav system and opt for a phone tie-in every time.

 

For starters, this depends on the model year. The FL 2020+ models have an updated Infotainment system with widescreen and online map updates as well as much better traffic data. For 2019 and older, the online platform that was backing the system is being shut down. The system in the older GTs uses SiriusXM for live traffic, though, so that should continue to work, but isn't particularly good. The issue of not navigating to a phone contact is also not an issue with the FL. While it was possible with the old system, too, you can send destinations directly to the car from apps like Google Maps etc. on your phone. No need to ever manually enter a destination. All this requires an active Mercedes me connect subscription, though.

I have the new system in my 2019 C63S Coupe and it has worked for me flawlessly. Traffic data is accurate in my area and the map data is updated regularly. It has routed me around congestion and accidents sometimes better than Google Maps does. I've discovered some detours that I didn't know about before. I've always sent destinations to the car using my phone as mentioned above. I've even created a Shortcut on my iPhone to quickly send locations from my calendar appointments to the car.

Having said that, I've let my Mercedes me connect subscription run out in September. I was going away for a month and it didn't make sense to renew before that and I still haven't renewed. The thing is I just don't drive enough. For the last month and half, I drove the car on all of two days. I don't commute, nor do I daily drive. I bought my car mainly for fun and trips. Did European Delivery for example when I first took delivery of the car at the factory in Germany. Travelled around Europe for 2 months and drove about 7000 miles. I was using CarPlay with Google Maps the entire time, because the Mercedes me connect subscription couldn't be activated on an US spec while in Europe.

Not sure what your objection is to AA/CarPlay. I'm not an Android guy, but I'm now using CarPlay when I need navigation. I may eventually renew the Mercedes me connect subscription, but CarPlay has become really good with the iOS 26 update, and I use it anyway when I travel in rental cars or when I have a service loaner. I also have a smart home, so I can open/close my garage from the CarPlay dashboard in any car I happen to drive. What I like about having the built-in navigation is seeing the traffic at all times. I kept the map up at all times and even if I wasn't navigating at the time, it saved me from getting stuck in traffic as I could exit in time. The system announces congestions even without an active route. I do miss that. I have to connect my phone first to see traffic now.

 

Thank you for your opinions. I am glad that the sat-nav works better on the facelift model, as I am interested in this version. ‘Unfortunately,’ on my current car, the system works so well that once you get used to it, it is difficult to go back... In addition to having a dynamic route based on real-time traffic, it offers also a satellite view, the ability to receive destinations sent by Google via phone in a matter of seconds, to enter my personal POIs (e.g. petrol stations with 95 aki/100 ron petrol, which are not very common in several European states) and to receive hazard warnings (obstacles on the road, vehicles driving in the wrong direction, etc.), all of which are useful features when travelling long distances as in my case. AA/Carplay doesn't work badly (I use it in my everyday car, where the sat-nav is terrible), but in my opinion, compared to a well-functioning integrated system, it comes up short....

 

The system in the FL does most of that, too, including the Car-to-X functionality for road hazards. Some of the latest MB models such as the S Class even automatically detect potholes through the suspension and relay that information to other MBs on the road, so you get a warning. Car-to-X in general works better in Europe as far as I know where for example you get a warning about approaching emergency vehicles.

It also has satellite view, although it only works down to a certain zoom level. You can't get a detailed satellite view. I do agree with you that CarPlay does come up short in some areas. What I forgot to mention that I like about the built-in system is that it takes advantage of all the displays and integrates with the rest of the car. You can easily see for example if you have enough fuel left to reach your destination and things like that. Including seeing turn-by-turn instruction and a detail map in the instrument cluster. CarPlay is limited to the center display in this generation of cars, however, I recently spent a month in Europe where I drove a Golf rental car and CarPlay there displayed turn-by-turn directions in the instrument cluster, so certain capabilities of CarPlay depend on whether the car supports it or not. I even got a notification in CarPlay in the Golf when the low fuel light came on asking me if I need directions to the next gas station. My AMG does that, too, but outside of CarPlay using the built-in navigation only. So, CarPlay can be integrated much tighter if the car manufacturer chooses. It can even completely take over the entire instrument cluster as is the case in the latest Aston Martins.

 

Superswiss brings up a good point. Our C43 has a "heads up" display (which I really like, though others don't) and seeing the nav info in the head-up display is a serious plus (but, of course, only if it's correct). If I was considering a vehicle with a heads up display, I'd want to determine whether it's nav system and or CarPlay system could present the nav info via the head-up display.

It's nice to hear others report that the current MBZ nav systems have improved.

 

I agree, the level of integration of AA/Carplay can be more or less high, depending solely on the willingness of car manufacturers, and it will probably become increasingly so in the future, until it completely replaces the built-in sat-nav (see Ferrari 296, which has no native navigation system).