Navigation system
I use the navigation system a lot and really like the Lexus implementation. It's very accurate, and even lets me know what side of the street my destination is on.
I understand that the MB navigation system doesn't allow for exact street addresses, only a block range.
Is this true? Is an updated version expected?
Thanks for any information.
HBH
Even the previous generation on my current 2008 CLK allows for exact address input and tell you which side of the street the place is located on. That is on the old DVD navigation system which required you to buy a new disc every year if you wanted the updates.
I understand on the HD navigation system MB downloads updates for free to the HD automatically.
Regarding block or exact number accuracy, when I put my MB in garage it shows me my cirrect home address.
I hope it is helps.




I prefer the Lexus User-interface (UI) over the MB UI for several reasons:
- The MB UI isn't consistant. Sometimes it asks for a Yes/No response to confirm a selection and other times it wants an OK response.
- The Lexus recognizes my voice accurately more often than the MB, although I've "trained" my car to my voice per the MB voice training system
- The MB seems to take more effort to voice enter an address than the Lexus.
Don't get me wrong, I love my MB, but the Lexus UI is more refined.
You can certainly enter the exact address and most of the time the car will tell you what side of the road it is. For my house for example it says "your destination is on the left." Something to note is that even Lexus is switching from touch screen based systems to a remote-display concept which is what the Mercedes COMAND system in the W212 is. It is safer because the driver is seated in the appropriate driving position and not leaning forward to touch the screen.
I also find the Lexus voice control system irritating because each time you press the voice control button, it says "after the beep, please say a command." The MB system just makes the beep and then you know you can speak. This may sound dumb, but after the third or fourth time I hear that, you don't want to hear it again.
I would recommend spending some time playing with the system, if you spend a small amount of time exploring it, you will find it a great system to use.
Last edited by pmb600; Mar 27, 2010 at 03:12 PM.
Last edited by greasegun; Mar 28, 2010 at 12:02 PM.
Trending Topics
The Best of Mercedes & AMG




One thing is that it may tend to show road numbers instead of names for some "major" roads, e.g. state highways.
It also will try to direct you to main roads if you take a know shortcut, but resets pretty quickly once it figures out what you have done.
Personally I prefer not having touch screen-no messy finger prints.
Voice responds very well, but takes getting used to. It is slower than manual entries though.
Have input lots of street numbers and it found them all.
BTW, my wife has named the voice "Eva."
My biggest beef, however, is that the POI's are practically useless. Trying to find normal places in my own city is incredibly frustrating. And these aren't new establishments either. For instance, I can type in the name of a restaurant and instead of getting the one 10 miles away, I get ones on the other side of the country.
At another point I was trying to find the listing for the nearby Sprint store in order to get the phone # and there was no way I could find that actually made it show up. This happens in other cities too and while traveling down the highway so it's just a matter of failing to live in a giant city. Maybe I need to re-read the manual - perhaps there's a secret procedure that I'm missing. Sadly, the old Garmin is more useful when it comes to POIs.
One lacking component is that the nav will not accept a zip code as a correct "town", as the nav sysytem on my Verizon phone will. For example, often a business will be near where several small municipalities come together that share a similar zip code - I know the zip, but don't know which specific town the business is in. The Mercedes nav will be extremely fussy about getting the correct town, which I will not be able to determine. Therefore, I can't use the nav in these situations, despite knowing the zip code....
While it DOES allow precise address entry and it DOES tell you which side of
the street your destination is, it does not show many cross streets in the map
mode, it has many missing streets and its guidance function is in a bad need of
reprogramming. It is a joke compard to the NAVI in the current S-class
CL-class and even the W211 / C219 (E /CLS).
Futhernore the Linguatronic voice recognition is so precise that if you change
your intonation ever so slightly it will not recognise the stored names.
Very frustrating.




