GL Class (X164) 2007-2012: GL320CDI, GL420CDI, GL450, GL550

SD Memory Card Slot

Old Feb 28, 2010 | 02:16 PM
  #1  
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14 GL550; 14 E63s
SD Memory Card Slot

Does anyone know if there is a specific type of SD card that will work in the card slot? I'm looking to put some music on there and it doesn't seem to work.

I did it the same was as in my C-class that has a PC Card slot. But I when I place the SD card in there, it recognizes there is a card in there, but doesn't show any of my music.

Any suggestions?
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Old Feb 28, 2010 | 06:47 PM
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I don't think the High capacity SD cards are accepted. Mine only works with the <2gb version
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Old Feb 28, 2010 | 09:43 PM
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I own a 2007 so no SD slot, but I was wondering if you can show pictures on the display? Might be nice for vacations, etc.

I guess since it won't even take SDHC they probably didn't think that far ahead.
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Old Mar 4, 2010 | 10:40 AM
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Mine is a 2007, but I upgraded to the new Comand, haven't tried with pictures, but I seriously doubt it.
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Old Mar 4, 2010 | 01:05 PM
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sd Memory card slot

What type of music files (wma, mp3, mp4) are you trying to play? I have a month old MY2010 GL450 with a sd card reader and I use 2 GB sd card with mp3 files on it. They are separate tracks on the root directory of the memory card. I have yet tried wma files on a memory card but will try it soon...

Mike Martin
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Old Mar 4, 2010 | 08:42 PM
  #6  
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Originally Posted by mortenmol
Mine is a 2007, but I upgraded to the new Comand
May I ask how much it cost?
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Old Mar 4, 2010 | 09:54 PM
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Originally Posted by mmartinjr
What type of music files (wma, mp3, mp4) are you trying to play? I have a month old MY2010 GL450 with a sd card reader and I use 2 GB sd card with mp3 files on it. They are separate tracks on the root directory of the memory card. I have yet tried wma files on a memory card but will try it soon...

Mike Martin
They were all .mp3 files. But I've only tried it on a 4gb and a 16gb sd card. I have not tried a 2gb sd card. That's my next try.

I did not get the COMAND owner's manual with my pre-owned. Does it say anywhere what type of card is supported?

On my C class COMAND, I'm able to use a 16gb CF card. I thought since my GL COMAND was a newer version, there would be no problem. Guess not.

At least the ipod interface on the GL is light years ahead of my C class which is borderline worthless. And its a 2009!!

I highly doubt you can view pictures, but i could be wrong.
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Old Mar 6, 2010 | 12:04 PM
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Originally Posted by JimBarnhart
May I ask how much it cost?
Good question. I bought for around $150 cables, i got the Comand of eBay for around $1500 give or take, had it checked by my dealer that it wasn't stolen.

Then I put in my self, wired the new mic, had the dealer move a few cables around and code it by putting it in a facelift model and code it.

around $2000 would be my guess.

BUT it's only this easy if you don't have the H/K soundsystem, with it, you need a new amp and everything.
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Old Mar 6, 2010 | 02:12 PM
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My H/K command system will play wma files on a 2 gb sd memory card with no problems....
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Old Apr 18, 2011 | 11:04 PM
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I am using a 16GB SD card formatted in FAT32 and it works with no problems.

All SD cards are almost exactly the same except for their speed ratings - there is no reason even the slowest and cheapest SD cards won't work fine.

I paid about $20 for the 16GB card. I think the brand is Patriot Memory.

I will try loading some audio and video files on it and see what happens - I expect that the head unit only supports audio files.
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Old Apr 28, 2011 | 10:27 PM
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I recently put all my CDs into my computer and then copied the music files to a PNY 8 GB micro SD (High capacity Class 4) card with an SD adaptor. The Command module reads the SD card (mp3) and even displays title/artist info. No problems here, except that unfortunately, compared to the stereo in my CL, the GL sound is inferior. I wish MB would put a decent system in our beloved GL.
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Old May 17, 2011 | 04:44 PM
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2011 GL 350-Lighting Pkg-P2-Parktronic-Blind spot assist-Heated everything-Running brds ,etc
Does anyone know if High Capacity Class "6" SD cards work with the 2011 GL? I am thinking of buying a bunch of these (http://www.adorama.com/KGSD6G28GB.ht...rce=cj_3629892) and want to distribute my audio to 5 or 6 of these cards.
Use 'em like 'CD's
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Old May 18, 2011 | 12:09 AM
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All I have are the minuscule microSD cards for my DroidX but if I can use them in an adapter formatted to FAT32 I'd be setup with 2 16GB cards. That's if I can find the adapters.....
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Old Jun 4, 2011 | 12:22 AM
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Yes, SD High Capacity (SDHC) cards work just fine. The "Class" of the card does not matter when it comes to audio playback - Class is mostly about write speed. Even lowly class 2 cards are more than fast enough to play audio files - no need to spend the money on more expensive class 6 or 10 cards.

I did load up a 16 GB card with a bunch of different audio and video file types to test out what was supported - only audio works, and some of the more geekly audio file formats are not supported.

MicroSD to SD card adapters are easy to find - just search for MicroSD adapter on Amazon and you can get one for $1.50 delivered.
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Old Jun 4, 2011 | 04:29 AM
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Has anyone tried just burning a DL DVD with a grip of music on it? I have a whole stack of blanks that I realized I'll never use and 6 DVDs X 8GB each is a lot of music. Does the dvd player read data as well as movies?
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Old Jun 4, 2011 | 01:10 PM
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I think there are hard limits on the numbers of songs and/or folders per disc - and/or songs per folder - I remember reading something about this in the COMAND manual. The manual was not real clear whether the same limits exist for tracks stored on SD Cards or for the USB interface. I've not tried to burn and play a data DVD - it should be very easy for you to see whether it works. I would also do a quick test to see whether you run into the above limits before spending a lot of time going down this path.

If you do decide to use DVDs, for sure you will want to use folders to organize - the unit does not read id3 tags just file and folder names, and it also does not understand mp3 playlists, so you've got to think about how to organize your files if you want a large collection to be usable. It's pretty clear the designers of the user interface never thought about people traveling with large music collections.

It will only play mp3 or wma files.

I've been using the SD Card slot which is a fairly convenient way to get music into the system. I played around with a terabyte laptop hard drive with my entire music collection attached to the USB connector in the glove box, but the system just isn't designed to deal with thousands of folders and 100,000 files - and without id3 support it's really hard to navigate this much content.
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Old Jun 4, 2011 | 01:56 PM
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Originally Posted by ddruker
-------. I played around with a terabyte laptop hard drive with my entire music collection attached to the USB connector in the glove box, but the system just isn't designed to deal with thousands of folders and 100,000 files - and without id3 support it's really hard to navigate this much content.
Can you pl let me know where the USB connector is ... I have a 2011 BlueTEC and have the standard iPhone connector and a 3.5 mm female.

I would love to put my music collection in a spare HDD and connect it via USB permanently to the truck. Dont have to worry about connecting/disconnecting the iPhone whenever I get in/out.

BTW, the designers were probably smoking something when they designed the iPod connectivity. The short cable means that you have to keep your iPhone in the glove box and remember to get it out when you leave the vehicle. Many times, I have forgotten to remove my iPhone on my way to work!
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Old Jun 4, 2011 | 04:29 PM
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Mercedes makes a USB adapter cable which plugs into the same jack in the glove box that your current iPhone adapter plugs in to. You just swap one out for the other.

In their infinite wisdom, Mercedes doesn't include said $2 USB adapter with your new $70k truck- they want to charge you $50 extra for this "accessory." Nice margins...

I complained enough to my dealer about this "I don't have an iphone, what good is an iphone cable" that they gave me the USB cable.

Once plugged in, the cable does provide sufficient power to spin up a laptop hard drive.
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Old Jun 4, 2011 | 07:14 PM
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Well, I already tried a CD with mp3s on it and it worked great. Took a long time to access it the first time around and I thought I failed but it finally came through. Now it starts quickly. Next I'll try the DVDs and post my results. Blank DVDs would obviously be far cheaper than any flash memory and the ability to leave 6 in there would be a little over 50GB of music when using DL DVDs. Even if it can only address a 4.3GB regular DVD that still seems superior to buying a PCMCIA memory card reader just for my flash cards that I would have to swap out. Having microSD cards floating around my car just sounds like asking to lose them.
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Old Jun 10, 2011 | 11:24 AM
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I used an 8g HCSD card all mp3 in one folder and worked like a charm...maybe even better than my sat radio.
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Old Jun 10, 2011 | 11:25 AM
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Is there a way to put video on a card or via an ipod to show in the RSE instead of loading dvd's....
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Old May 10, 2012 | 10:29 AM
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My 2009 GL320 will not read MP3's on the 4GB and 8GB cards I have tried. In the manual it says that ony 2GB and smaller cards will work. I am going to try a 2GB card next and see if it works. I think the poster who said his 16GB card works has a 2011, so maybe they fixed that issue.
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Old Jul 23, 2012 | 11:38 PM
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I'd forgotten about this thread and the fact that I hadn't updated my results..

Anyways, yes, DVDs worked fine but for the love of all that's holy remember to folder your mp3s or you're going to have a huge mess of music that's impossible to navigate with the COMAND system's limited interface.

The first time you throw the DVD in it's going to take a hell of a long time to access it, (minutes not seconds) but after that it will load as fast as a regular cd. Every once in a while it will say disk is unreadable upon startup but I just pop it out then back in and it works fine. Small price to pay for 4GB@$.50 each.
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Old Jan 21, 2015 | 06:36 AM
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R300 MY10
SD card - try class 4 type

I've had a similar issue with class 10 SD card. Comand recognised the card but not the files.
When I downgraded to class 4 SD card it worked for MP4 and MP3 files.
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Old May 16, 2015 | 01:48 PM
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SD card limits in 2010 MB

Originally Posted by ddruker
I think there are hard limits on the numbers of songs and/or folders per disc - and/or songs per folder - I remember reading something about this in the COMAND manual. The manual was not real clear whether the same limits exist for tracks stored on SD Cards or for the USB interface. I've not tried to burn and play a data DVD - it should be very easy for you to see whether it works. I would also do a quick test to see whether you run into the above limits before spending a lot of time going down this path.


I've been using the SD Card slot which is a fairly convenient way to get music into the system. I played around with a terabyte laptop hard drive with my entire music collection attached to the USB connector in the glove box, but the system just isn't designed to deal with thousands of folders and 100,000 files - and without id3 support it's really hard to navigate this much content.
I just went through my library of many many thousands of songs and picked the ones to take me through at least a year of driving.

That was a few days ago. I have noticed that when a particular song plays...say #312....it looks like it is over 90% of the way down the list on the horizontal gauge of songs. I am having a hard time remembering any songs that have played that start with a letter below "B", and I have the thing in mix mode.

So...is there a limit on the number of songs that it will accept? I guess I can just forward through for a while to see if anything comes up toward the bottom of the alphabet and check the song number.

Before, I had about 88 songs loaded and rode those to death for a couple of months and finally got time to really load that sucker up and now I seem to be stuck with 350+/- tunes. I really don't like swapping out SD cards because that is not benefiting the player which, BTW was replaced under warranty and would have cost $2500 plus labor (for the guys asking in previous posts.).

Last edited by ufgatorfan4life; May 16, 2015 at 01:49 PM. Reason: typo
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