I used the Mercedes inbuilt nav for 3 years and was happy with it... But then Mercedes wanted an annual subscription to renew it.
So before parting with my cash, I tried the android auto app and Google maps.
My goodness.. I couldn't believe the improvement... No more bad destination pins where at various times the car tried to take me to Iceland and Greece.
Traffic info is also far superior and more immediate with Google maps and radarbot app flags speed limits and radar traps.
Android auto starts up when my phone is in the car.... As does spotify which resumes where I left off my listening indoors.... Easy Peasy.
So.... Why have mercedes applied charges for their system in the face of such capable free alternatives?
If it was free I might possibly use it again (or maybe not) but charging customers for this service seems to be abusing their loyal customer base..As it happens, they have done me a favour and themselves a disservice

But the car is still fantastic!

 

What car do you have? You posted in the W211 forum, but your profile says you have a W213. Google Maps is not free. Google sells your whereabouts and your data in order to fund the development of Google Maps. MB doesn't do that and instead charges a subscription fee. Up to you which one you prefer. I do use both interchangeably in my 2019 C63 and I renewed MB's subscription for live traffic. CarPlay is nice, but it requires the phone to be plugged in, whereas the built-in nav is always there and takes advantage of all screens in the car. Kinda can't beat the setup below for displaying different pieces of navigation information on all the available screens. If I had the HUD I could also have nav instructions on the HUD. For me it's the level of integration with the car that is superior with the built-in navigation system compared to Google Maps being confined to mostly a single screen and relies on the phone to be plugged in. I find the lane guidance also much better with MB's system, because it has more screen real estate to show it, and it even guides me on and off HOV and Express Lanes, which Google Maps doesn't do, and the built-in nav still works even if there's no cell phone coverage.

There are times when I prefer to use Google Maps, particularly when I can't avoid driving during busy times and Google Maps routes me through neighborhood streets, but for the most part, GM rarely has a better route than the MB system, and as mentioned above it's useless in areas with no cell coverage. The offline support of GM is kind of a joke. I do keep the MB maps updated as that is part of the subscription.