2011E350

This is brought to you by the....."Even I Can't make this up" department.

Started the 2018 NAV/Data base update. Started yesterday, ran to about 70% After that the prompt came up to insert DVD #2 I hit Disc button figuring it would eject. NO JOY, tried some troubleshooting over phone with MAP vendor tech support. Again NO JOY recommended dealer visit and hopefully they might have more tricks. Call dealer and of course immediately go on the offensive figuring I am not paying a $100 diagnostic fee for a MB approved vendor that I already spent almost $300 on. He calmed me down on that and said bring it in. Had to work last night and took a quick nap this morning. Woke up around noon and started heading over. Arrived service advisor said probably not much they can do but would take a quick look. About 10 minutes later comes back with battery reset trick....Again NOTHING!!!. Figured start over again and set up appointment with selling dealer. Start home and get stuck at a traffic light, not just stuck but you know the turns red about 100 feet from me being already halfway through the intersection. Erring on side of caution I stop, and bang my fist in frustration...…..Here is where the "I cant make this up" part comes in. As I hit the console in frustration of getting caught at the light, I see the screen change and CD motor starts coming alive to eject DVD #1. Prompts to insert DVD#2 and took me a minute to realize what I did. Apparently when I hit the console I hit the console mounted COMAND Cursor, Apparently the magic key was hitting the COMAND cursor DOWN, not down as in direction but down and in like pressing a button. That apparently is the OK button and whatever I did about 45 minutes later update complete and on my way. There was never any prompt in the instructions to say hit COMAND button down....oh well NAV, camera, phone and audio working. Heated seats is another story but I can probably work that in the off season before next winter.

pezzy669

Ha!!! Not laughing at your headache of what you had to go through but with how it ended up resolved, just think if you were not frustrated at the red light situation you may have never figured it out!

Thanks for info though as I was thinking about shortly updating the nav on my '11 as it is still running on the original from 2010 I guess. Quick ? - did you have to leave the car running the whole time while updating?

2011E350

It does say in the DID instructions that it could take up to 2+20 (140 minutes. It does also give the warning bout either engine running or hooked to a battery charger. I know it will kill gas mileage but to be safe I would keep engine running. The DVD does not say one way or the other about driving so your discretion. Also remember it does say reduce use of additional electrical items, yes phone, Bluetooth, even Radio. I was so shocked I drove back about 15 minutes in rush hour traffic back to dealer. I figured dealer would never believe me and pulled up to service bay. Made a statement to the service advisor...……..

"I know everyone comes back when something that your mechanics did goes WRONG!.....how many customers come back when something goes RIGHT? He was shocked and saw where I was going....he answered....:Not many but judging by the tone of your question I am guessing the answer is at least one!! We both got a laugh and I moved on. Yes part of the return trip is to help the update process along. About five minutes after leaving the dealership I got the sweet sweet message of victory...…...UPDATE COMPLETE...Please remove DVD #2 First test was to see if my address was listed...it was. I like the format already, asks you to enter ZIP CODE first, which narrows down city choices. After that narrows down street choices than last is house number. It figures if the city or street isn't in the data base no sense in going much further. Voice prompt believe it or not and no stereotype or profiling here......The voice prompt on my German Luxury sedan recognized my address and voice prompts about 300 times better than my American navigation system...(Ford SYNC3)

Anyway thought people might get a kick out of the story and if anyone gets stumped might be a good starting point. As for the $280 for the update DVD your call, the book says if it doesn't have the rectangular SD memory card slot it is a dealer visit for installation. This DVD although pricey seems to work and now that I have the learning curve established it can be good for others. $259 for DVD I paid another $20 for two day shipping and it was right on time. Definitely carve out at least three hours to be safe. The DVD says run un interrupted but in my case I did stop engine for other tasks...(Mobile key fob visit). To be safe when it does completer I would run DVD 1 through one more time if the update was successful it should prompt right away.. Update resumed when engine re started and picked up where it left off.

As they say...…"Another Satisfied Customer"

The other funny part was right about the time I hit the cursor button my phone was lighting up like a Christmas tree with news alerts about the Government Shutdown being over, however short lived it will be.

Oda112

That was a funny read, thanks for sharing. Who would have known that MB cars react to what I refer to as "the russian method" ? What version were your new maps? I have the NTG 4 command version and was reading on another thread here that it can't be updated to the last maps version because there's not enough space on the integrated HDD. I would like the upgrade since I dislike having phones sticking anywhere else than in the center arm rest.

2011E350

If you have a 2010 then this is probably your DVD. The DVD is a little pricey but again being eight years old a MAP/NAV/Software update would not be wrong. Even with the frustration of having the dealer visit still probably cheaper. Local dealer quoted me around $200 Plus the cost of the DVD. The MB NAV site shows $249 plus shipping/taxes. Mine was around $280 even with taxes and that was with two day shipping. Even if the dealer cost was the same or close I would still take this site... For plug and play....although time consuming the voice prompts work great. Allows you to speak ZIPCODE First then filters the cities in that prompt. Speak Zip code, Line Number, (city), Line Number (Street) then address. Display even has a option for LAT/LONG display and yes it works. I was watching LAT/LONG Degrees, Minutes, Seconds count down/up as you travel,if your into that sort of geekdom!! which sometimes I am.

I personally would recommend especially with it being almost ten years old, you could save money in extra trips, missed turns, etc.... Fairly easy to install just time consuming.

For those of you with 2011 pay attention to the site before you order, there are two different versions of COMAND NTG4-212 and NTG4.5 I am guessing that the NTG4.5 versions is the later one since I also noticed that on the 2012 models as the only system available. 2010 is NTG4-212 ONLY and 2012 is NTG4.5 ONLY so check your version closely before ordering.

Again it doesn't say specifically DO NOT OPERATE vehicle during install, the only definite restriction it does say is KEEP ENGINE RUNNING, A fairly standard procedure for most system/software/map updates for various vehicles. Also remember DO NOT use other electrical demand items, audio, Bluetooth etc... I think the system want's to shield itself from Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) which maybe a little overkill but not too out of the ordinary.

https://mb.navigation.com/home/en_US/MBNA/USD

pezzy669

Thanks for heads up on the update process - think I will go ahead and order through the site you linked. Fortunately I learned I can lock my doors with the valet key with the engine running so I can just let it do the update and check on it periodically.

I really don't use the NAV much but the few times I have it has been super clunky so looking forward to the easier input (zip code first is HUGE).

Oda112

I am trying to avoid Stealerships like the plague. It will be a very sad day when I will eventually have to take my car in for such a visit. So far I was lucky and didn't need to do it.
You were saying something about needing to take the car in for the maps update if the head unit doesn't have the SD card slot? Mine has the PCMCIA card slot (wider, older standard) which has an adapter for an SD card that I added.
Did you have to punch in a PIN or any sort of password to get the update started?

Mud

Just info, heated seats require 2 dash hits and a 5lb hammer at the left rear track.....

j/k!, I'm always glad to see solutions posted, the forums are full of problems, many of which are never resolved, at least online.

2011E350

ODA: If you have a 2010 then it should be the NTG4-212 version...THAT IS THE ONE FOR SELF INSTALL. $250 DVD but no labor just block out about three hours with engine running and press the Center console Cursor DOWN like a button to remove DVD#1 and install DVD #2. The only part of the dealer visit was when the COMAND screen froze and for base troubleshooting. If you learn from my mistake and press the cursor DOWN when prompted to Remove DVD #1 and switch to DVD #2 for the rest of the install then there should be no dealer visit involved. Unless you want to gloat to them how you saved their outrageous labor/install fees!!. The MAP update is on the MBNAV.com website so it is a approved vendor.

NO PIN INVOLVED the wider slot below is still a SD card slot just no needed. I ordered the USB media interface cable so when that comes in I can put that in the glove compartment for my comedy/music flash drive.