OTA Updates Observation
Last edited by FLGatorz; Jan 31, 2023 at 10:11 PM.




I drove manual transmissions for almost 20 years, so I didn't need a bunch of gizmos in the car to keep me entertained. Even now, I drive an ICE that offers an awesome driving experience, so 95% of the time I don't even interact with the tech. The OTA update phenomena has lead to lazy developers releasing products that are not quite ready, because they can fix it with updates later. I don't think that's something to aspire to. Yes, MBUX is one of those systems that was released half baked, and so really requires some fixes.
Speaking of my personal experience with my C63, it doesn't have MBUX. It has the latest COMAND system which offers many of the same features and even uses the same online platform and supports OTA updates, but it is very mature. The only OTA updates I've received and really needed are map updates and a recall fix for the eCall system. I did recently complain about intermittent black screens when I start the car and they updated the software while it was in for service. So there was an update, but for some reason MB decided not to proactively push it out to every car. It wasn't something that bothered me much as it happened rarely and really didn't make a difference that it required a dealer visit to get the update since it was done during regular service. As said, I have my car to drive and not to play video games or watch movies in it.
It all depends on what you are after. Some people seem to want a smartphone on wheels and receive new features periodically to keep the product interesting. I don't need that, because I drive an AMG which is by definition interesting. It doesn't have to be an ICE, either. I recently attended an AMG winter driving event in Austria and one of the cars we drove was the EQE 53. That car also kept my attention and interest with how it drove, and not with all the software gizmos and touchscreens. I couldn't care less if it was able to drive itself, because I like to drive. Level 2 automation to take over some of the workload on long drives or in traffic is fine, but if I didn't wanna drive I'd take the train.
Last edited by superswiss; Feb 1, 2023 at 06:58 PM.




I drove manual transmissions for almost 20 years, so I didn't need a bunch of gizmos in the car to keep me entertained. Even now, I drive an ICE that offers an awesome driving experience, so 95% of the time I don't even interact with the tech. The OTA update phenomena has lead to lazy developers releasing products that are not quite ready, because they can fix it with updates later. I don't think that's something to aspire to. Yes, MBUX is one of those systems that was released half baked, and so really requires some fixes.
Speaking of my personal experience with my C63, it doesn't have MBUX. It has the latest COMAND system which offers many of the same features and even uses the same online platform and supports OTA updates, but it is very mature. The only OTA updates I've received and really needed are map updates and a recall fix for the eCall system. I did recently complain about intermittent black screens when I start the car and they updated the software while it was in for service. So there was an update, but for some reason MB decided not to proactively push it out to every car. It wasn't something that bothered me much as it happened rarely and really didn't make a difference that it required a dealer visit to get the update since it was done during regular service. As said, I have my car to drive and not to play video games or watch movies in it.
It all depends on what you are after. Some people seem to want a smartphone on wheels and receive new features periodically to keep the product interesting. I don't need that, because I drive an AMG which is by definition interesting. It doesn't have to be an ICE, either. I recently attended an AMG winter driving event in Austria and one of the cars we drove was the EQE 53. That car also kept my attention and interest with how it drove, and not with all the software gizmos and touchscreens. I couldn't care less if it was able to drive itself, because I like to drive. Level 2 automation to take over some of the workload on long drives or in traffic is fine, but if I didn't wanna drive I'd take the train.
We love our "soulless, uninvolved transportation appliance"

Last edited by FLGatorz; Feb 1, 2023 at 10:10 PM.
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