bizinsider

Hi, I have a 2017 E300. My live traffic stopped working today. While the "Live Traffic" indicator shows up, the actual live traffic on the roads doesn't. MB support said the car has to be returned to the dealer for a software update. Crazy thing is - I had it in for the 20k service a few weeks ago. Has anybody else had a similar issue?

knoppe01

I have noticed this occasionally - typically early morning on my commute, later in the day all is fine, my sense in my case is it has to do with the traffic provider and not the vehicle

The_Judge

I've also seen a couple of instances of this recently, generally during my morning drives.

Benz44

Same here - I've called Mbrace 3 times over a 40 day period. I believe the ROOT cause for Live Traffic not working is due to the car's built-in internet not starting after you turn the car on. You can prove this theory the next time Live Traffic fails to start by browsing over to the built-in weather app (or any webpage) in COMMAND. You'll see that there is NO internet connectivity. I notice it failing to start-up 2-3 days a week, usually mornings. I was told by Mbrace that I need to take the car in for service and have the system "reset" then upgraded. Interestingly, it WAS upgraded 5 months ago during the last service. I have a 2018 E400 (coupe).

ua549

I've never had the car fail to connect to the internet except when there was no cell service of any kind available such as within a steel parking building. In the US a blue 4G indicator light in the upper right of the center display turns on when connected.

Marty Johnson

Yes, I have a 2017 E300 as well. I've noticed this problem over the past few weeks. In my frustration, yesterday I took it to the MB dealer and they're thinking it might need a software update. I'm scheduled to do that on Monday. We will see if that provides the solution to the "Most advanced vehicle in the world."

I should also add that this is my 6th MB. It is by far the most technologically advanced car I've ever owned. It also has the worst navigation system I've ever owned. It constantly instructs me to leave the freeway, go to an intersection, make a u-turn, and return to the freeway I just left. It is just horrible in its accuracy. Once, it asked me to drive 40 miles out of my way to get to my home destination. When it instructed me to take the route, I told myself there is NO WAY that I'm going to take that route as it makes absolutely zero sense. Instead, I continued on the more direct route I was on and saved myself an extra hour of driving. Mercedes needs to do MUCH better as many "lesser" cars have vastly superior Nav systems.

Further, the hardware processor on the Comand system is woefully slow. I find myself hitting a command more than once thinking that it didn't "take." What actually happened is the processor just works very slowly. It's frustrating.

Marty Johnson

The traffic provider is SiriusXM. If it's them then MB should change how they provide traffic. I've not seen ANY other system have this problem other than Mercedes. As far as I'm concerned, it's their car; their problem. It will be clearly demonstrated that it's their problem when my lease is up and I move to Tesla or Lexus!

bizinsider

Can't wait to hear if the update fixes it. I cancelled an appointment for the update after the traffic started working - only to have it crash so frequently now that I figure it's a broader, system-wide problem. That said, the new Google Maps on Car Play is a winner and a great substitute. If only it was wireless!!!

Marty Johnson

I took my E300 to Walter's Mercedes in So Cal. They did a thorough diagnostic to determine why the Live Traffic works intermittently. According to them, the hardware in the car is working perfectly. They suggested that the problem must be with SiriusXM. They said that on occasion the car is not receiving the signal and that is the source of the problem. My response to them was if it is a temporary problem with getting the signal, why would it not pick up the SiriusXM signal on a 60 mile drive? Further, it signal was refreshed numerous times along the route and still no Live Traffic. They didn't know the answer.

This is totally unacceptable from Mercedes. Frankly, I don't care if the source of the problem is SiriusXM. As far as I'm concerned, it's still Mercedes Benz' problem as they provide the car to me with a system that doesn't work properly. This is my 6th E-Class and I've never had a problem with my previous models with receiving Live Traffic. It's up to Mercedes to find a third party provider for Live Traffic that is more reliable. I don't appreciate MB throwing up their hands claiming there is nothing they can do. For a luxury car costing premium money my expectations are higher than they're delivering.

This will loom large when my my lease runs out next year. It will encourage me to look elsewhere for my next lease. Perhaps Lexus or Tesla.

rbrylaw

Did you contact SiriusXM to see if they have any solution for you?

ua549

I've never had an issue with live traffic, however I have a paid (12 for $60) SiriusXM subscription.

sb45

Funny... I just wrote that Sirius cancelled my traffic subscription, although per Mercedes its supposed to be included for 5 years.

bizinsider

Something is not adding up here. My traffic is spottier by the day. I have Sirius - and the five year live traffic, which I thought was provided by MB, not Sirius. Makes zero sense and the few of us cannot be the only ones to notice this.

sb45

I just called the complaint into MB Corp. The say they are going to look into the problem. I guess we are the only ones Sirius is doing this to?

bizinsider

Keep us in the loop, if you don't mind. I've had zero success w/MB.

sb45

I reached out to MB HQ customer service. They didn't know about issues with live traffic, but did investigate. Since 2017, MB dropped Sirius and it is now part of Embrace. They suggest pushing on its button in the car, and ask them to see whats wrong with their service.

bizinsider

Been there, done that. Left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. I know run-arounds when I see them and this is the ultimate run-around. Google Maps on Car Play is my new default.

midwestamv8

Just chiming in. 2018 E43 here. On the command software from the factory. Live traffic is very intermittent. I'd say on 15-20% of my trips it doesn't work at all. Something tells me it times out on the initial connection and just never retries... because when it doesn't work it stays not working until the next hard rest of the car (4 hours parked). Pretty bad software writing if that's the case...

ua549

You can reboot COMAND using the on/off switch on the console.

bizinsider

I've tried it all - nothing works. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Used to be very consistent. Adding insult to injury - when I call Mbrace they say I need to pay for the concierge service to troubleshoot it. I told them that's nonsense b/c plenty of people have this issue. My dealer said just yesterday they're hearing the Sirius issue. Who knows, but I think MB customers deserve better than this, certainly a good, honest answer.

sb45

bizinsider

I hadn't tried the remote start - first it failed, then it started and stopped; tried again, same thing - message said there are issues. Seems you are onto something.

eltatum

I have E-300 2017. The Live Traffic provider is TomTom. In the Navigation Menu you can find the license information. It doesn't work, and it is a shame that MB is partner with such a bad company. MB support doesn't have a clue, which is unbelievable . Top models with such problems.

E-300 2017 TomTom Live Traffic provider.

bizinsider

Oh, that's very interesting. I'll check it out. But I will say I took my car into the dealer to get a closer read on this. They claimed a control unit has to be replaced - which is happening this week. I will provide an update.

eltatum

Many issues indeed. Command restart in the middle of the road, no live traffic, half of the lights on, really a shame MB puts ouy a car with such problems. Internet doesn't work...etc.