Some great posts, SuperSwiss. Like you, and after manually upgrading to the 2020 maps and voice, I have been using the OEM navigation a lot more than I used to. The integration with the rest of the car is excellent. Your recommendations to keep center screen NAV at 2 miles and then allocate a dashboard screen to directions is clever while I'm using navigation. Currently I used the progressive interface with music on the left and driving data since start on right. But I like your idea. Thanks.

 

I did miss the automatic showing of alternative routes when starting to navigate, it is too far hidden in the menu.

My solution is to use voice command (one touch on the steering wheel) and then say "Alternative Routes" , and there it is. Pity only 1 alternative is shown..........(used to be 2 or 3)
BTW, in the (hidden) Engineering Menu you can adjust this number, but still nobody knows how to enter this menu without help of MB HQ..........

The previous COMAND NTG 5*2 was much better imho (3 alternative routes from the start, and more other features now gone........).

 

Totally agree with you. In addition the Comand nav system in 2018-2020 S-Class and CLS450 does not accept address files downloaded from Android phone. The address shows up on the screen when selected via the Contacts file, but the nav system does not recognize it and says "NO RESULT". It does not work at all like described in the Owner's Manual. The Contact file is totally useless for navigation -- it does not work, period, and Mercedes has not bothered to develop a fix.

I think it is time for a class action suit.

 

The only cars that should continue with "in house" navigation systems are EV's where charging stations are listed.

Remember 25 years ago when car manufacturers had built in telephones for $2,500? The flip phone made that obsolete.

I predict in a few years car manufacturers will discontinue built in navigation: As I posted I never use the Mercedes navigation, only WAZE.

In a few years WAZE will have charging stations as well making the navigation systems in EV's obsolete.

Just my $.02.

 

The issue is not Waze, but of Mercedes nav systems that don't work as intended.

 

The issue is not Waze, but Mercedes nav systems that don't work as intended. A class action suit is fully justified.

 

I have not had any issues with COMAND navigation. I primarily use voice commands such as Navigate to <contact>. I send POIs to it from my phone and PC frequently for navigation use - Navigate to <POI>. I tried Waze for a few minutes but did not like the loss of privacy. I avoid everything Google because of their privacy issues.

The only feature I miss that was on my other nav systems is a list with a synopsis of traffic issues along my route.

 

What year/model Mercedes do you have? I never had problems with the nav system with my 2015 S550 and earlier cars. The 2019 S-Class and the 2020 CLS, both have useless nav systems that don't accept addresses from Android that have been downloaded to the Comand navigation Contact file. Obviously a software issue or the Contact file would not be available in the nav system.

 

Issues in conjunction with Android don't surprise me one bit unfortunately. Android is a fragmented landscape and unless you use Google hardware, there's no such thing as a single Android. Pretty much every other phone is running a tweaked and customized fork of Android and third party developers can further replace parts of the OS such as the Bluetooth stack via their apps. So syncing issues with contacts are equally likely a bug or incompatibility with the phone and not COMAND. Being able to tweak the OS to one's heart content is great until it starts causing issues. Android is the new Windows, and I'm a Windows user, but I've pretty much given up on third-party PCs and currently use a Surface Book. I'm a software engineer myself and at some point you'll realize that few companies have the means to thoroughly test their stuff against all the potential flavors out there. Every time Microsoft releases an update there are issues with third-party drivers etc. It's just the nature of the beast. It takes a huge effort to test something against all the potential customized installation of an OS. That's a big reason I'm using an iPhone. I rather give up the ability to tweak everything in exchange for a more consistent platform that is updated regularly and the same OS is pushed to all the hardware, and the carriers don't add their crap to the mix or hold up updates. I'd suggest you try resetting your phone to factory settings and before installing any third-party apps etc. sync the contacts to the car to rule out any interference from third-party software. That obviously doesn't rule out issues with the customization of Android that your phone's OEM did, unless you have a Pixel phone or something and it's running the latest official Android.

 

My Samsung Galaxy S 9 works flawlessly with my '18 E300 including contacts synchronization.

 

My Phone is an Android 5 and should be compatible with the 2019 and 2020 Comand system according to the MB Owner's Manual. The same phone does not have a problem with the nav systems in a 2020 BMW 840i or a 2019 BMW X3. It did not have a problem with the Comand nav system in the 2015 S550. I would like to hear from 2019-2020 MB owners whose Android address files have been downloaded to the Comand Contact file, accepted by the nav system and the nav system navigates to the selected address.

 

How did you make it happen?

 

Would you suggest I get an iphone so that the addresses in the Comand Contact file will be accepted by the nav system?

 

Just to clarify, COMAND in the 2018 E Class is essentially the same as in the 2019 and 2020 E Class. The E Class was the first model to get NTG 5.5, and then subsequently models like the S Class, C Class etc. got it as part of their respective facelifts. 2019+ models have a new online platform called Mercedes Me Connect and support for OTA updates, but the rest is essentially the same. It seems that contact syncing is working fine for others with Android phones, so that would indicate your problem is specific to your phone and setup.

 

And just to add, Android 5 is frankly ancient. That was released in 2014. You are something like 6 major versions behind. Android 5 is not even supported anymore by Google I think. This is what is meant by Android fragmentation. Don't be surprised if your phone which is running an OS from 2014 doesn't work properly anymore with a car in 2020. Get a new phone that is running a version of Android that is newer. The latest version is 11. The Galaxy S9 mentioned above I believe is running 8.

 

For whatever reason I think it was safety concerns MB went backwards with the nav in the newer cars. I have a 2019 E450 Wagon and like the nav much better in my 2017 S class. I can list where I'm going and much more information than on the 2019 E450. I normally use waze in the 2019 Wagon. I like to know what is entered into the nav and where I'm going lol.

 

I would be happy if my 2017 wagon at least showed me where I am. It seems that for no reason the Navigation shows me plowing through the fields, running underwater, or being off in the wild by some 200km and sometimes 4000km. It's a running joke with MB service department. I show them a picture of me going to the mountains but the map shows me underwater in a lake somewhere. Apparently, as I was informed Navigation is no longer covered under extended warranty and this issue I reported to MB as least 3 if not 4 times before the car reached the 80K km warranty stage. Go figure. The infotainment on the best of days is a POS on the worse it's simply just my car.

 

Consider replacing the GPS antenna located in the left side mirror.

 

I will go back to service and see if they will listen.

 

replacing the antenna fixed it for me
though as a temporary fix hard rebooting comand worked as well

 

superswiss: tried my wife's Android 10. No difference. Same bad result as with my Android 5. The owner's manual says that Comand will accept Android 5.

 

hard reboot that’s new

 

I might have just found the issue. What is the country in your contacts? Is it United States or United States of America? It appears COMAND doesn't recognize United States as it is strictly speaking ambiguous. It only recognizes United States of America. I have a few contacts on my phone that only say United States and I can't navigate to them. It says the address is incomplete, but I can navigate fine to any contact that says United States of America, which most of them do, because that's what Outlook/Exchange sets it to. I discovered that the iPhone when entering an address on the phone also sets it to United States instead of United States of America, but I rarely enter contacts directly on my phone. I've actually had similar issues with this in conjunction with some apps, which would not recognize United States of America, and instead only recognize United States. So the opposite, but equally annoying.

 

superswiss: Thanks, I'll check and let you know,

 

Also beware of address abbreviations for street, court, etc. IRC the navigation only accepts "official" names.