The MB Navigation system is by far the worst on the market, I have volvo 03 XC90 and 03 CTS. both of them have NAV system and both are much better than the 04 E500 NAV. I will be more specific:
* in MB NAV you cann't enter the house number!!. the other NAV systems would tell you if the destination is on your right or your left in the exact location (not only the block).
* all what you see in the MB NAV is a grid with no street names! . the CTS and volvo' NAV would show you clearly the street names your are passing by and you could even write on the map (costco, George' office, etc.).
* the CTS offers 3D view and very nice ways to search for your destination such as entering the phone number and beaming the address directly from your palm pilot .
* a lot of missing POI's, and you cann't search by the name for the POI? I thought this is the most usefull feature in the NAV.
* it is next to impossible to enter a detour!! in the other NAV systems it is so easy to select the undesirable street/freeway from the list.

don't get me wrong guys. I love my E500 and I truly beleive it is the best on the market. what makes me wonder is why the MB choosed to go with the cheapist NAV system? by the way the volvo and the MB's NAV are provided by NAVTEQ but apparently volvo bought the A version

 

i think the 05 e-class comand must have at least some of those features. mine got all of them and I only got a c-class comand.

if the 05 e-class comand doesn't have them, somebody at mb should be fired.

 

I have the similar feeling with my 05 E500 NAV. My 99 ML320 NAV will tell me where about the number of the house, pretty close. But my 6 year later E500 will only tell I'm within that block of number and I need to tell my wife or kids to look for the house...

Thanks!

 

whoa. i think mb must have mistakenly putting the E-class comands in the C-class cars and the C-class comands in the E-class cars. on mine, there's no need for looking. the lady would tell me the location is on the right or left and she would say "you've reached your destination" when the car reaches the destination. she's amazingly accurate.

 

And then I drove a Honda...

 

My 04 NAV does clearly write the street names while on the default zoom setting. I read it before on another thread that the street names were not showing up. I find that if I am in a s**t-hole town, then the street names don't appear. I am hoping that when the new DVDs come out it will be better updated.

As per the street/house numbers. I think that it is marginally good. Sometimes it gets it right on the nose, other times it just brings me to the nearest block. I also hope this will get better. I find it less accurate when I am in a newly developed neighborhood (aprox. 3 years old or newer). It has been great for older areas.

I like how it works, but it is the only NAV system I have ever had in a car that I drove primarily. It does not mean however, that it could not be improved. Compared to the 2001 Audi A8L's navigation system, this one rocks.

Steve A.

 

Any opinion on other European nav systems, like Audi, BMW, and others?

 

my brother got a 2005 bmw x-5 with navigation and he told me on the bmw system you got to click accept (to the terms) to use the NAV and you got to do this everytime you use it. I don't like that. On the mb, the message would appear for about 2 seconds and then go away by itself.

 

I, too, can't believe that M-B would offer a system that's so far behind what Honda puts in their cars. Not being able to input exact house numbers only gets you close, unlike what you get in Honda's which will get you to your exact destination.

 

For me, the house number is acceptable in 2004 W211. The thing that I hate is why don't make the NAV like Lexus? My friend got SUV Lexus RX330. The thing I like is the NAV is touch screen. In MB blaahhh... it's too difficult to write the address etc. Touch screen work much better for me.

 

I used to think the MB Nav wasn't that great until I used the Nav on my wife's 2004 Lexus GX 470. Here are some of the annoyances on the Lexus:

- Requiring you to enter acceptance at initial disclaimer screen everytime car is started.
- Upcoming adjacent street names are not displayed.
- Require a long time to re-compute trip if you do not follow the Nav route.
- No way to show details of route like MB Nav.
- Number one annoyance is that you cannot enter destination (other than a preset Home) if you are driving!

I appreciate Mercedes Nav system a lot more now.

 

Well, we can all blame the lawyers for having to hit the accept button. Not having to hit that and the fact that the MB Nav will autorecalculate the route if purposely (or by mistake) detoured are the two features that I like most about the MB Nav.

But, outside of that, it is weak. The POI interface is difficult to get around, and the information provided is many times wrong or incomplete. A touch screen, especially while driving, would be a major help.

 

My 04 E320 has stopped displaying the street names. We live in a large suburb of DC. Have I zoomed in too far?

Thanks

 

First of all, there are about six different versions of "MB Nav" available at this time. (Siemens, Bosch, two from Becker, and two different Alpines). All of them are different and have different quirks.

To address your statements:

1) Can't enter the house number? I can take you to many streets around where I live where navigation systems don't get the house number correct. Some streets around here are up one side and down the other; many are not the traditional "even on one side odd on the other" arrangement. It seems that most nav systems make an assumption about the blocks, and can't REALLY find the correct house. Also where I live the lots are all differently sized and so the spacing between houses varies. (The Alpine systems from MB let you enter the house number and do suffer from the problem of not really knowing where the houses are.)

2) The W211 E-class COMAND in my car shows the street names around where I do the most traveling, only if zoomed in all the way. The data on the disc for your area may not have this, but that's difficult to believe that if it can take you to the street but not show the name....

3) No 3D view on W211... this is probably a future upgrade. The SIemens MB Nav systems do have this. The Alpines also let you enter phone numbers and also let you call the POIs from the integrated phones.

4) POIs on the W211 DVD nav seem to be lacking. The CD version had more, but also had more raw data. The W211 nav probably has compressed data (which is OK due to the improved processor speed) but the disk is less than 25% full, so there's room for more data. I thought you CAN search by name on the W211, but only if you enter the city name as well (rather than current position or destination). I do know the Alpine versions let you enter the names. The other features may vary among models, and by this point in the post I am probably getting stuff confused.

5) Bosch COMAND had a simple ability to enter the detour. I don't recall how to do this (or if it is possible on the W211).

I personally don't care for touch screens, and maybe my input in focus groups has made the touch screen not appear in MBs.

The older Alpine software seems to require the "ACCEPT" confirmation as well, even in MBs.

-s-

 

If you want to see how a NAV system SHOULD work, check out the Hertz NeverLost system. The E-Class system is a very expensive joke in comparison.

With Hertz, you get:

1. Street number entry

2. All streets identified by name

3. A very comprehensive listing of POIs, including restaurants, tourist sites, and businesses.

4. Selection of route type: Maximum freeways, Minimum freeways, Shortest time, Shortest route

5. Distance to target location

6. Direction of travel

Needless to say, I am VERY unsatisfied with the MB system.

I corresponded with MB about the poor implementation of the NAV, and I was referred to the company that makes the software for the unit.

 

And...

 

What is the point. If MB isn't going to apply leverage to their selected supplier to provide a decent product, no individual, especially one who has already given them their money, is going to influence them. But I can say that they (the software folks) aren't going to get any more of my money through "update DVDs".

Another point regarding street names. Dallas, TX is hardly a small town, but very few of the streets are named on the NAV display. If there is a US highway or state highway number, however, it is shown.

 

Yes the MB Nav sucks. But it sure as hell is better than Lexus with its ghetto messages that pop up everytime and its lack of features. By far the best Nav is by Honda/Acura. Its user friendly, way too many POI, voice recognition for everything, and well implemented.

 

My expieriences with the nav in my car have been great.... Although this is my first car with a nav system, perhaps my opion should be taken with a grain of salt as I've not used many... My brother in-law drives a lexus (gs430) and although I notice his nav shows some streets mine does not, I definatly see quirks in it (as noted) as well as mine. One thing I'm glad about is that I don't have touch screen. I noticed my brother inlaws screen was an absolute mess.... Finger prints everywhere and he noted it is difficult to keep clean. Each is unique in its own way but bottom line they both get you where you want to go... Mine has the capability to enter addresses but only in blocks of numbers. This is very adiquit as I can easily find the house once on the street. The P.O.I feature is awesome.... Simply enter the town or city, enter what your looking for restaurant, city center, park, etc, hit O.K and off you go... How sweet.
Perhaps I'm just a simpleton, but at least I'm happy with my purchase....

 

I agree! I think that we both must have the same version. POIs have worked well in Colorado and New Mexico too.

Steve A.

 

Every summer I and my family travels (by car) to Idaho to see relatives.... This past summer (and just getting our "E") I was very excited to get to check this thing out, especially on the hi-way.... Anyway, Just for "****s and grins" I decided to enter the address of our destination in Idaho. I was amazed how this thing literaly talked my way to the house... I did notice it took me on the major streets throught town (instead of the short cuts I use) but I was very impressed how accurate this system is on long distances.

 

I love the fact that it lists all the steps of the trip. Also, it is pretty accurate in knowing how much time you have left of driving. If that is not totally correct, the miles remaining feature is GREAT! Also, being in the mountains, it is really very nice to have the ALTITUDE!! (Even if it is rounded to the nearest 100 feet). O, the lady. . . "Helga" has a really sexy German voice (this is a joke since German is not sexy by design). The Spanish language speaks with a lisp! I sometimes just switch the languages around to laugh a little.

OOO!! I love the fact that the MFD will state the direction of travel and what street I am driving on! When there is no destination entered. It has a great compass since it points to true north and not magnetic north and can't be distorted. All sat. nav. systems should have this, but the AUDI didn’t even have a compass.

I did not pay for this feature, Glauser Mercedes gave it to me along with SIRIUS because of a screw up they wanted to make good on. However, I would still buy it if I had to pay for it.

The NAV system I have is by no means BAD, but I am sure there are better ones out there. I personally prefer to have a clean screen than a dirty touch screen.

Steve A.

 

I have to agree that the touchscreen really isn't all that great. As was previously stated, the fingerprints on the screen would just drive me nuts. I'm so glad I can navigate and enter my destinations without ever touching the screen.

 

Amen to that one brother....

 

Can anyone list the major differences between these versions (good and bad features). I got on ebay the Bosch version and also think it's a bit of a hassle to scroll through the points of interest menu when it would have been simpler to enter by name (bosch release date 1/04). Curious if other versions have better inputs.