Now that is scary.

Doing software right is hard. Doing embedded software right is even harder.

I read a story about how GM wanted to do their own Apple CarPlay. (Which itself shows a lack of understanding of CarPlay, since CarPlay is just showing on the car screen what is processing on the iPhone. It is thus impossible for anyone other than Apple to make CarPlay. Lack of CarPlay is why I didn't even bother to look at GM vehicles. I like my CarPlay maps and music. A nice plus with the E53 is it includes Atmos and Apple Spatial music. Musicians haven't figured out how to use spatial music yet, but it's still nice to have.) The GM Manager told the Apple manager. "Making cars is much more complex than making software. It takes us five years to design a car." The Apple manager responded, "How long do you think it takes for us to design the next iPhone?"

Manufacturing managers think that if you aren't manufacturing but sitting at a desk coding, then it must be easy. The result is Mercedes having "transmission" issues due to software bugs.

 

I've worked in both worlds - hardware and software, but IMO software is the most challenging. Hardware is mostly static in its environment. Whereas software is typically very dynamic in its environment. That being said they are mutually dependent like Siamese twins linked at the hip. Figuring out where the bugs are is one reason I retired early.

 

A great example of this is Immelt wanting to turn GE into a software company with predictably disastrous results. GE was a great manufacturing company. I never thought they had a chance of competing with Google, Apple, Microsoft or Oracle in software.

Now that cars are rolling computers, auto manufacturers must become software experts. Auto manufactures should have a software CTO that reports into the CEO. That's how important software is now. Software goes across the models. I bet that software management is buried somewhere under R&D near the guys that redesign the steering wheel each generation.

I always use Apple CarPlay maps in my BMW. CarPlay maps gives me what I want to see: Estimated time to arrival, estimated time at arrival, distance to go. The "map" in Apple Maps is abstracted out to a general route picture where you can quickly see which route options Maps has selected and which other routes are available. In contrast, the BWM navigation displays a map that looks exactly like a paper map with way more detail than I need for an automated guidance system. Every time I look at the BMW navigation maps, I want to switch back to Apple maps as quickly as possible. Apple Maps gives turn directions at the right time and in a way that is easy to understand. I can download the latest Apple map data for free. It is far easier to enter a destination in Apple Maps than in my Mercedes Navigation system. Apple Maps even knows a destination to suggest from my calendar.

I tried the augmented reality navigation in the 2025 E-Class. It's a cool technology, but I found that I prefer having the next navigation turn in the heads-up display rather than having to look down at the entertainments screen to try to see a street name overlayed on a moving picture.

Software engineering is not just about not having bugs. It is also about human factors and interface design. Apple has researched interface design and is far ahead of any car manufacturer in usability. I look forward to having CarPlay in both the entertainment display and the driver display. When the CEO of GM says they are going to get rid of CarPlay, it makes me realize how clueless auto manufacturers are.

 

Makes sense.

 

I spent a good amount of time in the auto space, working at several German OEMs and later in autonomous vehicles. I led teams that launched many first-to-market features that are now ubiquitous in other cars to ours first. If I had to rank, Mercedes would rank in the top 5. Nobody is perfect, but having worked at Daimler, I came away pretty impressed. Everybody has had issues. It happens.

 

This is good to hear. Thanks!

Did you work on autonomous driving at Daimler? It seems like Mercedes, BMW and Audi are working up the SAE levels of autonomous driving quickly.

 

Quickly is a pretty severe overstatement. My 2014 W212 has essentially the same driving features as the current E-class. They're both Level 2 driving assist systems, nothing more, nothing less. In 2013 it was absolutely revolutionary. To this day I still think the Mercedes system is the best there is but the current iteration is no different than the 12+ year old technology I got with some minor improvements. I have the exact same level of confidence in the E350 from 12 years ago than my daughter's brand new GLC.

Also remember, we had a minivan cross the entire US coast to coast without GPS with 98%+ autonomy in 1995. https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~tjochem/nhaa/Journal.html We've been trying to solve the last 2% for three decades.

 

A couple of questions for those that have gotten or are close to getting their E53 wagons:
My build date is supposed to be October 31st when should the car get a VIN so i can get it from the dealer?
Is there anywhere online or someone here that can provide updates during build/shipping?

TIA

 

Looked at the E53 yestersday...I am out. Maybe if they put the 4ltr back and take the battery out....as for the above? Tesla and a few others took care of that last 2% - the laws have not caught up.

 

making progress on the PPF install. Crossing my fingers I will get her back this Saturday!

 

 

What does this have to do with my questions?

 

Tesla absolutely has not taken care of the last 2%. Tesla has a level 2 driver assist system that tries to masquerade as a level 4 system and lulls people into a false sense of security and safety. It's an extremely dangerous proposition and eventually it will catch up with them, it's just a matter of time.

Even Waymo, an arguably superior and better system than Tesla, has yet to solve the problem. They're confined to limited areas and spaces that are well mapped and understood. They can't operate fully autonomously at any location in any weather conditions, a requirement for Level 5 systems. They constantly get stranded in severe rain and get fooled by construction and weird circumstances.

As for being out on the E53, trust me, not a single one of us cares...

 

Some people don't know how to properly use the quote button....

 

from my experience bugging your dealer is the only way. At some point they will give you the name of the boat it is on and then you can track that online.

 

Go to https://www.walleniuswilhelmsen.com. There you can track your vehicle by VIN (cargo ID).

 

^ Wallenius is only one of the shipping companies used, so not a great solution.

The car is given a VIN roughly a week before production in my experience. Once it is loaded on a ship, the dealer will have access to the vessel name. Then you can track it on marinetraffic.com or other sites.

 

I did for both Daimler and VW AG (but mainly Audi). I left the OEMs to join a startup that was building software, hardware, maps, and cloud-support infrastructure to power self-driving vehicles, with autonomous cars operating on public roadways with our tech stack. One of the previous German OEMs I worked for (and never wanted to work for again... heh) made a significant investment in the firm, so I bailed. That's when I left the industry for good.

 

Thanks for the info folks!

 

Seems like my unsubstantiated claims are now substantiated.
Tesla 'Robotaxis' keep crashing despite 'safety monitors' | Electrek https://share.google/FsqJfRqntkRHeEWLB

 

@GregTR Yesterday I was watching the new Wham Baam Tesla Cam crash video. One vid they say "Driver should have been using auto-drive" very next video a Tesla drive itself into a median in Houston.

Granted, another topic - "self drive" requires consistancey and compentancy in properly painting the needed road barriers in the proper ways buy our local governments....hell, they cant even make sure a CDL driver can speak English.

 

my build date has now been moved to November 6th. wonder how many times that's going to slide.

 

My E53 Wagon has been in Baltimore since 09/22 being held due to the ECU/software issue. Has anyone had an update on the timeline for release of the cars held with this issue?

 

Mine is being held on the west coast going on two months. No word.

 

It's amazing that I haven't crashed when driving in foreign countries where I don't speak the language...oh...wait...

Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals - Wikipedia