I've got a bad feeling about this. I don't think i'll be shocked if we find out that those of us who are waiting for this to be retro-fitted can't have it done. I will be extremely pissed off though. I mean, you can get a honda with nav for god's sake. I don't know if it has anything to do with this, but while in the dealer the other day, I noticed a brand new CLK 55 AMG with the OLD command. I even said to my salesguy that I would be pretty annoyed spending 70K and getting the old command, while the "new" (sic) system was right around the corner.

 

I am very glad (well.. maybe not ) that i passed on the W211 E320 now becasue all the gadgets that i wanted and currently have would still not be available by now.

I am starting to get the heebie-jeebies about the new COMAND system and its availability.

 

The best advise was the suggestion that a condition of sale is getting in writing from your dealer's General Manager that COMMAND will be reto-fitted to the car or the car will be replaced with another which has/can have it installed.

I am going to make sure I do this when I pick my car up in a few months if this issue is not 100% sorted by then.

To spend $$$$ on a car and have no Sat Nav is a joke,and I for one will not be a party to it.

I love MB products,have for many,many years but this lack of information on this issue is very disappointing to say the least.
I can understand them trying to keep the E350,etc under wraps as after all they are there to sell current cars but the COMMAND issue is entirely different and they should be keeping all owners and deposit placers well informed of what is going on.

At the very least MB distributers worldwide and dealer principles!!

 

Callaway, here is my thread on what I learned from MBUSA on this subject: https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...12#post270212. Isn't there a MB Australia Customer Assistance toll free number you can try on this?

Jeff

 

One thing I don't understand.
Why would MB stop pre-wiring cars for Sat Nav when they have been ordered with them and at the moment can't honour it by puting in the new system.

Why not continue to pre-wire Sat Nav ordered cars and retro fit them at a later date instead of delaying manufacteur even further.

 

Cost cutting. Probably not so many people are interested in navigation. However, I think that navigation should be standard for E500.

 

I was told they stopped because of concern over liability issues and the retrofit was going to be more complicated than they thought and it may be too difficult to do at dealer. I was told that it may be necessary to be done at port.

 

I don't know about all of you, but I leased my car on the premise that NAV would be retrofitted. If the ar now annot be retrofitted I will demand that MBUSA reacquire my vehicle.

 

Me too...I paid cash so it would be a little more tricky:p
They may not roll over quite so quickly.

 

If your car was produced prior to 1/1/03, there will be no problem with fitting the Navigation. Here is the link to my thread about my contact with MBUSA about this: https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...threadid=28979 and from that contact, I am not worried about having the Navigation fitted upon its release.

Jeff

 

And what about if you are like me,who has an order standing, want DVD Nav, and the car is due to be built this month.

Will MB just delay it or will they make it and give it to me without having the retrofitable pre-wire for the new COMMAND even though in Australia COMMAND with Sat Nav. is standard on both the 320 and 500??

 

Callaway: here is the contact information for Daimler for the Southern area of Australia which I got from the MB site for Australia under the link for "About Mercedes-Benz" and then the sublink "Contact Details":

DaimlerChrysler
Australia/Pacific Pty Ltd
Southern Region
Lexia Place Mulgrave Victoria 3170
Tel. (03) 9566 9266
Facsimile (03) 9566 9323


I suggest that you contact them AND your dealer to clear this up. I assume that either you will get the Navigation because it is somehow different for cars going to Australia or the car will be pre-wired. MB simply decided not to continue to do that for cars coming here because it is an option, not standard equipment.

Keep us posted.

Jeff

PS SEE MY NEXT POST BELOW FOR EVEN BETTER NEWS!!!!!

 

Callaway: Here is an excerpt from the MB Australia site on the standard equipment on your car:

"E 320 (As per E240/E270 CDI including additional

16 - inch alloy wheels, 13 - hole design

COMAND system incorporating navigation and DVD Player (Navigation DVD included). Available from July 03 appx, all other vehicles to be retrofitted by dealership when released.

Elegance package

Full leather upholstery

Memory seat package (3 memory positions for power front seats, steering wheel and side mirrors. Passenger side mirror adjusts to enhance curb parking view when reverse gear is selected)

Metallic paint

Parameter steering (speed dependant)"

So Callaway, there you have it. Yours will be retrofitted!!!!!
Perhaps you will be driving it with Navigation when I come in May for my brother's wedding!!!!!!

Jeff

 

My car was scheduled to be built 2/10, but is on indefinite hold due to COMAND. So unless something is different for Austrailia bound cars, your car won't be built.

If your dealer says your car will be built, make sure you tell him to tell the factory you want COMAND. I basically sent a fax to my dealer asking him to confirm the $1625 price in writing in late Jan. Until then my car was scheduled to be built on 2/10. I suspect that when I sent that fax, he talked to factory and then they realized I wanted COMAND, they put my order on hold. Otherwise I would have got the car with NO pre-wiring and NO later ability to retrofit.

I recommend anyone whose car is built after 1/1/03 to NOT take delivery of the car if you want COMAND and assume it is retrofittable. I do not believe it will be the case.

Apurva

 

abhansali: I do not think your advice is correct that Callaway or anyone else should wait to take delivery until the cars are actually coming with COMAND for cars that come standard with the Navigation as is the case in Australia for the E320 and E500. MBUSA has not said that they cannot pre-wire cars, just that they wont pre-wire US spec cars produced after 1-1-03. I assume that is the case for other country spec cars too.

In Australia and, perhaps elsewhere, some E class models come with the COMAND as standard equipment. Thus, MB has indicated on the MB Australia web site, that they will pre-wire cars and that the COMAND will be installed later. That is the excerpt I posted in my last post before this on this thread. That is consistent with the MBUSA situation for manufacture prior to 1-1-03.

So, I think that your post and advice is absolutely correct for US spec cars and, perhaps, for other countries and models for which COMAND is an option, not standard equipment. It is not correct though for those countries and model levels where COMAND is standard equipment and MB indicates that it will prewire cars delivered without the COMAND installed, but that it can and will be installed later.

In my case for a car manufactured in September with prewiring, when I leased the car in October, I got the COMAND in the sales contract with a $500 discount and an IOU from the dealer for installation upon availability. I was told availability would not be until late winter, or a little later. That all seems to continue to be true.

I, like you, would be frustrated that MB has changed the policy and that I would have to wait. I can only offer this comfort: I paid full MSRP for the capitalized cost going into my lease. There may be a benefit of waiting till March or April for you. I would think that the discount should be pretty good by then. From all indications, there is pretty good discounting taking place now. Perhaps that is something you should take up now with your dealer and pin it down for you to have to wait. Or, do that upon delivery.

So, my advice is for buyers wanting the COMAND is to check the situation out carefully as to the model they are getting in their country and see what the MB commitment is on pre-wiring in their specific case. In Australia with the E320 and E500, I think it is no problem taking delivery now and getting COMAND later.

Jeff

 

Mercedes DVD nav systems to show up late
Customers are wondering what the real story is...


According to many sources the MB DVD navigation systems will be late…

We have been asking MB to respond to us with the real truth but we have yet to hear back from them...

So, until they clarify, here's the current speculation...

Here is one dialogue, of what's going around the net, from a couple MB customers:

I just spoke to my dealer. It is unbelievable, but he just told me that Mercedes told them that the navigation system will never be retrofittable. He said there is some electrical problem with the airbags and phone and that Mercedes is concerned about liability issues. He states that April production will be the first to have it installed at production. They also said they will definately not prewire any more cars after 1/1/03. If you want nav you have to wait until production starts with June as the first possible delivery date.

I just spoke to MBUSA and they still claim if it is prewired than it will be available to retrofit and don't believe what your dealer says.

Auto Spies perspective: MB, why not tell us what's going on here? Or do you LIKE to keep customers who are spending an average of $50K on your cars, in the dark

 

Autospies has no inside information about this. It is pretty clear now that cars produced prior to 1-1-03 are pre-wired and retrofittable, cars produced after 1-1-03 that have the Navigation as standard equipment (for example, in Australia, the E320 and E500) are pre-wired and retrofittable and that cars produced after 1-1-03 that do not have the Navigation as standard equipment are not pre-wired and are not retrofittable. If you are in the latter category and want the Navigation, you will have to wait until MB announces its release and availability to be ordered at production.

Jeff

 

I picked up my car yesterday. Spent over an hour discussing with the dealer the navigation issue. He showed me netstar correspondence as well as calls on speakerphone with MBUSA. I THINK this is the situation

Cars built before 1/1/03 only will be retrofittable. If you actually purchased/leased your car before this MB will in some way figure out how to retrofit your car or arrange some sort of compensation if this was included in your purchase/lease.

Cars built after 1/1/03 will not be retrofittable.

The $1625 deal is no longer in effect.

Most likely retrofit will be available if prewired but no guarantees.

I got my dealer to put in writing he will do nav retrograde at his cost when it comes in.

MBUSA said they have stopped prewiring cars for nav because of low interest level ????? ( i saw that in writing).

 

That's very odd if MB did indeed stop pre-wiring cars because of low interest. I guess we (the mbworld.org) don't represent the overall MB buyer....because it seems like the majority of us have opted for the NAV unit. What do u know the world doesn't revolve around us

 

I had an Alpine navigation system installed in my 98 E320. It was great. It poped out of the dash when it was needed, good sound, integrated into the audio. It is now in DVD. It is an alternative for those who want their cars now.

 

Jeff, thanks very much for all the information given to me relating to the Aussie DVD COMMAND. It helped me sleep a little easier last night and was really appreciated.

I thought our sysytem may be a little different to yours as the COMMAND is a standard fitment for our cars,thus the information provided seems very accurate.

When the car arrives I will definately double check with MB and the dealer, and if required, may get something in writing.

P.S Yes,I hope I have the car before your wedding too.

Thanks again.

 

Perhaps those of you at dealerships who are involved with ordering can better speak to this point, but I assume most orders (at least for the E class) come from dealers and not individual buyers as pre-sold made to order vehicles. Assuming that is correct it makes sense that the dealers themselves had less interest in ordering the pre-wire for the NAV system since they probably didn't want the headache of having to install it themselves. As to whether NAV is that popular of an option itself on the E Class is another matter. At an additional $2000 plus on a car where the cost of adding multiple options pushes it almost into S Class pricing territory, it is an option that is hard to justify for persons who travel on known routes and would have no use for maps anyway which may well include a large percentage of E Class buyers.

 

I have to agree with NorthBenz, the customer who desires the Navi system on the E-classe is a rare breed. I deal with clients on a daily basis and approximatley less than 5% of the E-class buyers are opting for the Navi. system. Just take a look at the W210 body & try to find a pre-owned with the COMAND, it's like trying to find a needle in a hay stack!!

 

I disagree. Everone I have spoken to wants a nav system on their new cars. Almost all cars equivalent to the E either include nav or have it available and included on all cars shipped, especially lexus.

The reason most people aren't taking it is because it isn't available and people want cars now. My dealer said he is constantly harassed about the lack of availability of navigation.

 

Just two points:

1. What is all this talk about pre-wiring, All E's have Tele Aid. Therefore all E's have GPS, GPS antenna, etc. Unlike other systems, MB's Nav units are self-contained, CD/DVD drive is contained in the head unit. Power, amplifier, etc connections are already attached to standard or upgraded (HK) stereo that Command will replace. If you search the forums you will see that someone easily installed a ML Command system in an E430 that had the standard radio and was not supposedly "pre-wired".

2. If customers weren’t interested in the nav, why would MB be so concerned that their system is considered to be archaic compared to Lexus. Why would they offer a special deal if you took delivery without the command. If it were only 5%, they wouldn’t go through the trouble of having to deal with retrofits. Why do the CLK, SL and G all have CD nav?