I'm sure this has been beaten to death, but can a car company be any more insulting to its customers than disabling the navigation input once the car is moving?

Disable the phone if you want to do something that makes a difference. The Command system is so unintuitive and obtuse that just changing audio sources can be more perplexing than using the navigation - but that's not disabled underway? And what of the passenger? They can't use the nav. either? It's straight up stupid in an entirely un-German way. Which leads me to this post -

in the late 90s some BMWs in Europe came with a TV tuner to watch TV on the sat nav screen. This tuner was omitted on cars sold in the U.S. You see where this is going.. Does anyone know if X166 GLs sold in other markets have this stupid navigation handicap?

I called MB and of course they said there is nothing you can do except use voice control (anyone with kids knows how futile that can be).

Perhaps there is an aftermarket hack or workaround. Its really a big issue for me. Some people may not be able to relate. But I like to use tech. to find gas stations, detours traffic etc.. I don't want any of that disabled under any circumstances. I never - never put in an address before I set off (as logical as it may seem - it's also Clark W. Griswold nerdy)

Anyway. Has anyone looked into this? Are the command systems in other markets the same way? Is there a hack or mod that can be done

Thanks,
Drpesq

 

1st - please understand in-motion disabling of auto Nav is a Federal new car mandate - has zero to to with MB.

2nd - same Federal thing goes for in-motion lock out COMAND front screen DVD playback

Frankly - for me and for most of my customer's MB voice control works fine for in-motion Nav ...

Keep the beat !

 

ok now that we have the "thank the fed asshats" reasoning... can it be disabled / reprogrammed so a passenger can use it?

Because, and lets be honest about this, the alternative that well EVERYONE is going to use will just be their smartphone.

Talk about the pinnacle of stupid. This is about as counter productive as I can imagine.

 

dvdinmotion.com sells the solution!!!

I won't be using Waze anymore. Just a shame I have to pay $200.00 for it.

You may want to tell BMW and Porsche about the Feds... They don't seem to be complying LOL.

DRPesq.

 

federal mandate as of when?

 

+1 on the other German manufacturers that are apparently flaunting the law.

Why wouldn't you just use Waze - superior on many fronts. Surely the age of car navigation will end soon, in favor of integration with your smart mobile device.

Oh wait, that's called Apple Car Play (although I don't think it supports Waze so far)!

 

has to do with limiting distractions while driving. i know, phones can be more of a distraction than anything. having functional splitview in some states is still not allowed. louisiana had to be presented a functional splitview at the state capital to get approval. when vehicles equipped with splitview enter the states, during the PDI process, the splitview has to be unlocked to make it functional. my wife's old denali wouldn't allow input for navigation addresses when the vehicle was in motion, either. matter of fact, you had to be in park to type in an address. at least in the MB vehicles, you can input while stationary (ie red light, stop sign, traffic, etc)

 

Blame lawyers for this one.

 

I used a poor choice of wording - on anti-In-Motion Nav - for Nav it's a Recommended and Voluntrary Federal Guideline (anti-distraction) - unlike anti-In-Motion-Driver-DVD is a Federal mandate, and in some states front screen In-Motion-Front-Motion-Passenger-DVD is prohibited in some states as well.

Yes - Mercedes chooses to follow the Federal guidelines on In-Motion-Nav - some other manufacturers choose to follow too, and some others do not.

http://www.distraction.gov/

http://www.distraction.gov/downloads...ic-devices.pdf

 

I haven't really narrowed it down to the exact circumstances but there are times when it does allow inputs while driving. It might be when putting in the name of a town or place when searching under POI, that it lets you scroll and enter individual letters while still driving. The voice command in my 2012 is hit or miss. The voice command in a '15 C300 loaner I had not too long ago was a lot better.

 

I've been finding that if I start entering an address with voice control, it let's me finish with the regular controls. Nifty work around.

I have been eyeing the Midcity Engineering Solution as it seems to have dropped about $1k since I last looked. I want it more for the DVD controls though. Having your DVD stop playing while on the highway with a hungry kid is not fund.

 

It seems that in my '16 E350 the address input while in motion becomes accessible with a passenger in the seat. Anyone else confirm?

 

There are two things no man will admit he can't do well, drive and make love. - Sir Sterling Moss

Regulating "distractions" is necessary to cover up for bad drivers....

DRP

 

You can get it unlocked in under a minute using a software unlock. bimmerguru.com/mercedes_benz sells them