With three vehicles I decided to forgo the MB Nav systems and buy a Garmin Street Pilot (portable). Am I glad I did!! Not only did I save almost $3K but I have a user friendly unit that will get me within 50 feet of my destination, touch screen, full color display and cheap software upgrades.

 

I currently have 3 vehicles in the stable with Nav systems.
04 MB E320 (his)
03 Infiniti FX35 (her's)
04 Mazda 3 (son's)

By far, the Nav system in the MB is the worst. The absolute most ridiculous thing is the lack of street names on the screen (both the Infinti and Mazda Navs display the street names -ahead, behind, and parallel- instead of a blank grid like the MB). Every pond and drainage ditch seems to have a name show up on the MB screen - but forget about street names. House numbers can be entered in the Infiniti system instead of a range as is the case with the MB Nav. The Infiniti will literally get me to a driveway - the MB announces my arrival one block away. Additionally, in smaller cities the MB system is woefully lacking in detail. A DVD upgrade may fix it - but more complete information is available stock in the other 2 systems.

I also have times when the MB NAV system will display "No DVD available, please insert NAV DVD" - of course this only happens when I really need the Nav to get me where I need to go!! To fix it I must stop the car, open the trunk and reinsert the DVD (sometimes multiple times to get it to work).

My salesman warned me I would be underwelmed with the MB Nav - he was right. If I had to do it all over again, I would have skipped the MB Nav and bought one of the new Streetpilot units for use in the MB and on my bike.

One parental kinda observation. When I bought my son a new car he talked me into the Nav system for it (Mazda 3). Frankly, I thought it was a toy to him. After seeing him use it, I will now insist on one in my Daughter's car when it is her turn. It becomes a safety feature for these young drivers that are apt to get lost - a touch of a button gets them out of bad area they may have stumbled into.

I apologize for the long post - obviously the topic hit a nerve!

 

On the C-class comand is not bad like what you got. you would enter the street name, the house number, and then the city. the navigation screen would display the street you are on and the street you need to turn into. the multifunction display on the instrument cluster would also display the street name that you need to turn into and both the multifunction display and navigation screen would have a left / right turn symbol and the distance when you should make the turn. When you reach the destination, the multifunction display would display a racing flag and the lady would say "you've reached your destination." it's pretty precise (within one or two driveways) and works just like the one on your infiniti.

 

Sounds like you need to hit the + button for more of a (zoom in) setting...

My nav shows every street name, cross street, side street and parallel street name. The catch is you need to be in the most zoomed in setting... If this isn't working then you either have problems with your system or they simply didn't name the streets in your town

 

My nav also shows everything. I might get out and take some pictures of it to show you guys, but it is 8 degrees Fahrenheit outside! Not normal for November.

Steve

 

is it possible to have the C-class NAV system/software instaled on W211 since it is so much better? I checked NAVTEQ website (the DVD developer for the W211 and volvo and many other cars) and there you could buy new map softwares but NOT for the MB brand where you have to buy it directly from the dealer.

 

If you CALL Navteq, they WILL sell you the W 211 NavUp subscription.

 

I like the MB Navi, and it’s even better if you have Linguatronic. Here is how I make the input:

Me: Enter destination
She: Please spell the name of the town
Me: O-S-L-O
She: List of towns now loading. Please select a line number
Me: Two
She: Do you like to enter a street name
Me: Yes
She: Please spell the name of the street
Me: T-R
She: List of streets now loading. Please select a line number
Me: 4
She: Do you like to enter a house number
Me: Yes
She: Please enter the house number in single digits
Me: 2-4 Confirm
She: Do you like to start route guidance
Me: Yes
She: Route guidance started

 

As mentioned by Scrorchie I believe..

On the E Class you can search destinations. You just need to do this from the top by entering CITY. Give it a try and you will see what I mean..

So in the end, I did find a bunch of things I was looking for..

 

Oslo, thanks for the info. I had the voice recog system and I completely didn't know I could use it for the navigation. So to initiate it, do you just say navigation, etc? (I've used the linguatronic for phone, CD, and radio). Were you able to ask for a specific point of interest with it as well? Such as Starbucks instead of having to scroll through all the listings? That would be a great addition.

Thanks.

 

I hate to burst your bubble, but I don't think that the US 211s have the Nav Linguatronic set up. I have tried it and it does not work.

At least we do have Sirius Satellite radio! I really love it!!!!

Steve

 

As SAguirre says, I don't think Linguatronic is available in the US. If interested, here is the complete list of commands you can input via Linguatronic:

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w211/62490-linguatronic-commands-complete-list-long.html

 

The Acura Navs are much better. Although some have mentioned not liking a touchscreen, I find them much easier to use, especially inputting an address while driving.

Another feature that the Acura has is a joystick, rather than the 9 button switch the MB Nav has to move about the screen. Again, this is especially useful when either inputting an address in, or when checking out other areas of the map on the screen. On the MB, you have to keep taking your eye off the road to see which button to use. There is also a delay when switching to another button.

The Acura Nav also has a dedicated Zoom in/out button, rather than having to make it appear on the screen before using the button. The MB Nav is also much slower to zoom in and out.

One less gripe! When the Nav is on, it takes forever to change the preset buttons on the radio.

 

It is always interesting to read the differences of supposedly the same vehicle.

Oslo has correctly pointed out that in European versions of COMAND you can input house numbers, but what really annoys me is that Linguatronic offers more navigational options than the standard version without this option.

In the US I believe you have a 'Zip Code' over here we have what is known as a 'Postcode' no doubt these are very similar.

On the normal COMAND you can only input the first four letters\numbers i.e: EX2 8

whereas I am informed that with Linguatronic you can enter the whole code???? Could any of our European members with Linguatronic confirm or deny this please?

Try EX2 8EF

Thanks
John

 

Hi there

In the "petit" country of ours, we only have 4 digits post codes. I will try it out as soon as I am on my feet again after my sinusitis problems are gone.

 

Ouch!! sorry to here about that. Get well soon.

Take care,
John

 

On our USA 211's we can't even enter zipcodes at all. They should have given us voice commands for the Nav or at least Zip Code entry as it saves going thru a few screens.

 

Now that I am thinking about this. I am going to try switching the command head to W211 EU mode and see if the voice recognition will work in the NAV mode. I will use the 5. . .37 thing.

Who knows, but it might work!! My command unit does not have the DVD capability and when I did switch it to the Europe mode, I did not notice any change in the buttons. But I also need to see if I loose the Weather Band in the radio menu, I really like that.

Steve

 

So once again we learn something very interesting. It is crazy. Surely lawyers cannot be blamed for everything that is missing??

We also do not get any disclaimer type warning. That would annoy me.

How difficult is it to import a European spec vehicle?

Or 'accidentally go on a European collection and come back with the 'wrong' vehicle

Regards,
John

Regards for now,
John

 

I think the differences are decided by MB USA the "official importer/distributor" of MB cars in the USA. I'm sure their decisions are based on keeping the number of variations of the car available in the US, as small as possible without sacrificing market share, and also in keeping the number of warranty claims as low as possible, considering the skill level of the US service people vs European Techs, and how much time they are allowed to spend on a vehicle per job VS Europe. The parts alone here are more expensive than there, and the cost of being in business is more here...
(Not that the techs anywhere else are better then ours, its just the amount of time/money AmerMBUSA is willing to allow per car.)

so I guess they see how much they can leave off and still have a 211. (Its like the cheap donut shops in this area say..."How much can we leave out and still have a donut?"

 

No way !! The Linguatronic is operated by this stalk:

 

I got the stalk too. Look at the 'LASER parking aid' thread and you will see it. The reason that I am thinking that the liguatronic does not work on the NAV is because it was purposely deactivated by software in the US market. That is why I am thinking that if I boot the command unit as a Euro command, it might enable the European voice recognition software and make the liguatronic operate the navigation system.

It might not work at all, but do you get my reasoning now??

Steve

 

Is it less than MBUSA?

 

I still don't think it will work. The Linguatronic is a 700 USD option here in Europe. I find it hard to believe that they through it in, just to disable it....

 

My linguatronic still works on my phone, radio, cd, and cdc. It would not bee too hard to disable it to work on the NAV (wich they did), but then enable it on the Euro version. That is software usually.

Like you said, it might not work, but it is worth a shot.

Steve