SmashF15C

Greetings all - anyone who remembers me knows that I owe all of you pictures...I promise I'll get to that soon.

Anyway I'm wondering if anyone knows how many items are on the MOST loop on the W211....? COMAND unit, NAV processor....teleaid? FM tuner? The audio AMP is not inside the COMAND unit, right? How about voice audio module of some sort for the Telephone....?

I'm getting a complete shutdown of my COMAND systems after a period of driving...I'm guessing one of the items in the loop is the culprit.

Thanks,

Connor

Diesel Benz

The number of MOST ring devices depends on the options in the car. You must have the Comand head unit, AGW, Navi processor, phone controller and the Tele-Aid unit, perhaps voice control.

All devices are using MOST ring to produce audio with the AGW amplifier and speakers (Tele-Aid might have some redundancy, don't remember).

Have you had the Comand unit SW updated (perhaps AGW too)?

SmashF15C

Sending you PM now..does this forum have a chat room?

I think my AGW is bad, after doing some more research since posting this question. I saw your responses to others who have posted about AGW problems.

Moving to PM

Connor

SmashF15C

Copied from another thread:

I had a similar problem. The screen went black when I hit the NAV button and wouldn't work again until I turned the car off, took out the key, waited 5 min. and restarted the car. When I ejected the NAV DVD, however, everything worked fine (when I went to NAV it said "Navigation is not available" or something like that, but I could change back to radio, etc. w/o issue).

The dealer fixed it and said the problem was a mismatch between the firmware of the DVD unit in the trunk and the AGW and the COMAND software. Basically, CSR said that the last time I went in, the COMAND had been updated with new software, but the drive and AGW had not been updated- so the three devices couldn't talk to each other.

That may all be B/S, but it works now and only took them an hour or so to fix, so that lends some credibility. I can also tell they didn't replace the COMAND or the DVD drive (unless they re-created the little scratches on them).

Any truth to the "mismatch between firmware" item? Yes I've updated the COMAND and the NAV drive but not the AGW - there is no disk drive in the AGW () so how to update it? Disk in the COMAND talks to the AGW? I have a feeling it's not simple firmware.

Thx,

Connor

Diesel Benz

The AGW should not become incompatible from the Comand SW update but never know if it makes an existing issue worse.

AGW needs to be updated with SDS, at the dealer or at an independent who has the tool.

You might want to search for a post from Konigstiger referring to some AGW units that need to be replaced.

I'd try the SW update first.

Polar Bear

DTB P-B-82.60/382b AUG 07 recommends upgrading the AGW to 08/05 and the COMAND with the 46/06 software to resolve issues. DB is right - the only way to update the AGW is to use an SDS and flash the unit.

This applies to US cars. RoW cars probably have a similar update.

The only reason your MOST ring should be misconfigured is if you have added some equipment recently. A quick check on SDS would tell a technician if it is misconfigured and that can easily be fixed.

If you just bought the car there is a chance the MOST ring is misconfigured if someone remove equipment before it was sold (removed CTEL, etc.).

SmashF15C

Dealer hooked up SDS and updated the software - all seems well for now - out in garage blasting 90s pop for an hour now with no problems.

Thanks all for the help and advice.

BTW prices I found for the latest AGW:

German M/B dlr: 600E ($782)
buymbparts: $990
parts.com: $1150
mbdoctor: $400ish but wonder if its used or wrong p/n

Take care and pics....soon.

Smash

SmashF15C

Ok, I just suffered from self-ownage. Went out to garage to turn off COMAND and the system was doing the 'popping' thing and sure enough, after about 30 more minutes and messing with NAV while music was playing, the AGW failed and shut down the system again. We primarily use the car for 3-6 hour road trips so this obviously won't do.

Guess I'm ordering the 600 Euro one tomorrow!

LOL,

Smash

konigstiger

Curious, did this find any fault codes or did they just go ahead and update the AGW software.

tashakes

This is what you need, at only $250 its a steal. Make sure the PN works for you, it should.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Merce...fAudioQ5fVideo

SmashF15C

K-stiger,

Well my German is not so great but from what I could get out of them, there were no codes but they updated the software. The day previous, I had been in there and they DID find a code and cleared it - but unclear what code it was. So, I don't think it failed enough to set a code perhaps. I had left the dealer after they reset the code and saw that the system was starting to hiccup again after only a few minutes - so I shut off the COMAND and didn't use it again until after they replaced the AGW software yesterday.

After I got home, I let the COMAND play for about 65 minutes and all seemed OK (I was waiting to see if it shut down completely), but I went out to the car and began scrolling the NAV, entering destinations, etc and after a few minutes it was obvious that the system was going to fail again. I don't know if messing with the NAV has any real effect but I was trying to simulate driving and max'ing out the system.

Tashakes - I can't get to Ebay on this server - what is it you are recommending? A different price on the AGW or some othe component?

Thanks,

Connor

SmashF15C

Well,

Tonight I put in the new AGW and fixed some other wiring routing I needed to do since I had the entire left rear interior out of the car!

The AGW, in the wagon, is well outboard, forward, and more 'up' than in the sedan, because the wagon has the motorized cargo cover and beefier liftgate mechanism than the sedan. Quite the perfect fit - no room in virtually any direction - I can't see, even with the cooling fan on the 2005-on models, how this unit stays cool.

Ah well, hopefully it lasts. And yep, took lots of pics. Now I need to figure out where to host my pics. Back tomorrow with more.

Thanks to the forum for good archive info. I aaallllmmmooossstt didn't get the re-program done because I was skeptical, based on the research I did here and benzworld, and symptoms I was . Cost me 100 Euro for the software and basically threw it away. Should have gone with the gut and just replaced the part from the beginning.

Ah well. I'll test with 90 minutes of 80's rock tomorrow night while I snap the interior panels back together. Report back in 24 hours.

Tschuss,

Smash

Polar Bear

To make the testing scenario equivalent, you will need to test "out in garage blasting 90s pop."

tashakes

New style AGW (with fan) for US$250

SmashF15C

LOL

Tired of 90 minutes of 90s rock playlist so I had to switch to something else. Actually it was 80s Alternative that ended up being played...

Well got all the panels back together tonight and blasted some good sound for a long while - 2 hrs or so. Still seemed to hear the 'popping' near the end but no system shutdown or anything. I worked the system hard, no family road trip would have the Cure and Pink Floyd blasting that loud for that long! Hopefully it's ok.

If not, I may swap the NAV processor or COMAND. Probably should keep my garmin with me on the next road trip just in case. Going to ski in Meribel, France.

Sorry no pics, v tired and wife is tired of me being out in the garage. Give me another 24 hours!!

Take care fellas,

Smash

SmashF15C

So, update on this saga...

(Tonight was 90's Alternative by the way)

So, back to old issue - after 60-75 minutes or so, system begins popping/crackling and I assume, if continued, would damage the system & shut down as before. Not wanting to damage my new 620 Euro AGW, I went back to dealer today to see if any codes popped - none. Satellite dealer so not any hi-tech MOST troubleshooting tools, but the German-only speaking tech told me that the problem most likely was that the fiber had become bent in a radius smaller than 25mm, or perhaps a problem somewere else in the loop.

I keep going back to the NAV drive - the audio problem seems to get worse when I use the NAV, for some unknown reason. Well just as I was about to order another NAV drive, and try to swap again, I tried the TSB on the grounding issue for the AGW - it specifies replacing the original bracket with a zinc one. I have no desire to take out the interior for the fourth time, so I ran a ground jumper from the chassis to the AGW frame screw where it mounts to the bracket.

90's alternative (enigma) playing now for 2 hours without issue....

Ran a permanent ground lead to the AGW frame...1 hour test drive on the autobahn and no issues...

....am I in the clear? I'll go back to 90s pop for 90 minutes tomorrow morning and post back...stay tuned...

Smash