add navigation or aftermarket?
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Newbie
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 1
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GL350
add navigation or aftermarket?
Just bought a 2014 GL350 and I guess I just made a huge assumption that the "nav" button meant it had navigation. It doesn't!!! I had no idea MB made strippy versions of these rigs but I'm finding out the hard way that all these cool features I had read about are not included. Waaaa i know should have done my homework but there weren't many used ones for sale and I needed a car quickly.
So can I add it through SD card? or??? if I get one off of eBay will it have to be programmed to work? I've searched theses forums and I don't see anyone else asking this, which surprises me.
So can I add it through SD card? or??? if I get one off of eBay will it have to be programmed to work? I've searched theses forums and I don't see anyone else asking this, which surprises me.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 1,189
Likes: 189
From: TX
2023 GLE3502W, 2024 GLC3002W, 1967 Pontiac GTO 4 sp (sold...sniff)
Sorry I can't answer your question directly. I have had my '14 GL450 for about a year now. The Nav is almost useless. The lack of a touch screen and the exorbitant cost of updates makes it the worst of any nav-equipped car we've ever owned. My wife ('14 ML350) and I both use Waze. I bought a magnetic phone holder that sticks straight up out of the cig lighter socket. I have a Mophie battery pack on my iPhone and I stuck the steel plate on the back of the Mophie. Waze is free, always has the latest street additions, and warns you when police are around. You can set up your route before you leave the house. The one slight drawback is that Waze is a battery hog. So be sure to plug your phone into your charger.
Member
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 162
Likes: 11
From: Greenville Delaware
2015 GL 550
The MB navigation system works well for me, but it's no Waze. The objections that 'pjw1967' and others raise are valid ... obsolete mapping information, expensive updates and lack of touch-screen ... it is cumbersome to control without touching the screen. Its only advantage is that navigation is built-in rather than added on, which preserves the aesthetics of the dashboard.
Don't waste your time and money trying to resurrect it ... it may be impossible depending on how MB disabled navigation in your vehicle. If someone discovers a way to do so they'll likely post it on this forum, but why bother?
Don't waste your time and money trying to resurrect it ... it may be impossible depending on how MB disabled navigation in your vehicle. If someone discovers a way to do so they'll likely post it on this forum, but why bother?
Member
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 148
Likes: 17
From: NJ, USA
2013 GL450, 2023 Tesla Model Y LR, 2024 Outback L XT
Please read this thread about an aftermarket screen which includes touchscreen and navi. However, I am not sure if Navi will work on non-Navi vechicles since they may not have GPS antenna, speed sensor, etc. If the product is all self contained (like a cell phone/tablet), then Navi will likely work on non-navi vehicles.
https://mbworld.org/forums/gl-class-...9-carplay.html
https://mbworld.org/forums/gl-class-...9-carplay.html
Member
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 120
Likes: 2
From: Austin, TX
2005 E55 AMG
Please read this thread about an aftermarket screen which includes touchscreen and navi. However, I am not sure if Navi will work on non-Navi vechicles since they may not have GPS antenna, speed sensor, etc. If the product is all self contained (like a cell phone/tablet), then Navi will likely work on non-navi vehicles.
https://mbworld.org/forums/gl-class-...9-carplay.html
https://mbworld.org/forums/gl-class-...9-carplay.html
Super Member
Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 897
Likes: 94
From: at the mercedes dealer next to you
2020 GLE350 2020 Toyota Rav4H AWD XLE
Before i got my E350, this was in 2013, i saw a CPO ML350 4matic and it literally had nothing, not even premium 1 and no navigation and i literally was like this isnt happening so i passed right away.
Unfortunately your left to the days of driving a car without navigation and using a cell phone to help get you places, I use google maps myself but several occasions ive used the mercedes map which isnt that bad, but it is a bit outdated and i havent updated it myself but i dont see any need to (not worth the 200 as it is)
Unfortunately your left to the days of driving a car without navigation and using a cell phone to help get you places, I use google maps myself but several occasions ive used the mercedes map which isnt that bad, but it is a bit outdated and i havent updated it myself but i dont see any need to (not worth the 200 as it is)
Member
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 162
Likes: 11
From: Greenville Delaware
2015 GL 550
Try the following experiment. Sit in the vehicle with everything shut down and in a quiet environment ... preferably a garage. Wait until everything is quiet and touch the center knob labeled 'ON' under the display. The screen should "come to life" and if your vehicle has navigation you will hear a computer drive spin. The display will say something like "Activating Navigation" and a map should appear. Press the ON knob again, the screen should go dark and the computer drive will stop ... it's not loud, but you can hear it if you listen carefully.
If you see and hear none of these cues it is a safe bet that the navigation computer isn't installed although the problem may be the display. What happens when you shift into reverse ... do you see back-up camera view? If the display checks out, but the navigation computer is missing there's nothing to be done.
If you see and hear none of these cues it is a safe bet that the navigation computer isn't installed although the problem may be the display. What happens when you shift into reverse ... do you see back-up camera view? If the display checks out, but the navigation computer is missing there's nothing to be done.
Last edited by SaniDel; Jul 30, 2018 at 03:07 PM.
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Newbie
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 5
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GL350
GL350 nav
I think my question was misunderstood (I had to create new account, keeps saying my password is wrong even after I reset it)
i don’t think there’s anything wrong with my navigation. I was asking whether the nav is there and “activatable” by paying. There is a navi button which seems strange to me ...did they all have that button? There is an SD card slot and a DVD player ...are either of these the source of the navigation update ?
i can always get the hardware used if that’s what it takes - it’s available for less than the android options. I really like the integrated look. I’m still baffled by this ...it’s a great truck but seems 10 years behind my wife’s 2014 BMW technology wise.
i don’t think there’s anything wrong with my navigation. I was asking whether the nav is there and “activatable” by paying. There is a navi button which seems strange to me ...did they all have that button? There is an SD card slot and a DVD player ...are either of these the source of the navigation update ?
i can always get the hardware used if that’s what it takes - it’s available for less than the android options. I really like the integrated look. I’m still baffled by this ...it’s a great truck but seems 10 years behind my wife’s 2014 BMW technology wise.
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Super Member
Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 897
Likes: 94
From: at the mercedes dealer next to you
2020 GLE350 2020 Toyota Rav4H AWD XLE
I think my question was misunderstood (I had to create new account, keeps saying my password is wrong even after I reset it)
i don’t think there’s anything wrong with my navigation. I was asking whether the nav is there and “activatable” by paying. There is a navi button which seems strange to me ...did they all have that button? There is an SD card slot and a DVD player ...are either of these the source of the navigation update ?
i can always get the hardware used if that’s what it takes - it’s available for less than the android options. I really like the integrated look. I’m still baffled by this ...it’s a great truck but seems 10 years behind my wife’s 2014 BMW technology wise.
i don’t think there’s anything wrong with my navigation. I was asking whether the nav is there and “activatable” by paying. There is a navi button which seems strange to me ...did they all have that button? There is an SD card slot and a DVD player ...are either of these the source of the navigation update ?
i can always get the hardware used if that’s what it takes - it’s available for less than the android options. I really like the integrated look. I’m still baffled by this ...it’s a great truck but seems 10 years behind my wife’s 2014 BMW technology wise.
Member
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 162
Likes: 11
From: Greenville Delaware
2015 GL 550
Conversely, what they offer works well. For example, the Lexus navigation that was centered around a touch screen automatically locked out when the vehicle was driven, which was an enormous frustration. Lexus' lawyers won, but their customers lost. At least the M-B system operates while the vehicle is being driven ... unsafe as that may be!
Newbie
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
GL350
Are their cars that great
Mercedes-Benz doesn't do technology ... they do cars ... and they do them well. I hold the same poor opinion about the M-B navigation system compared to Lexus as you do compared to BMW. Part of the problem is M-B's insistence not to use touch screens, which makes their systems cumbersome, limited and at times incomprehensible. Is it any wonder they are a decade behind the other manufacturers who have adopted CarPlay and similar systems?
Conversely, what they offer works well. For example, the Lexus navigation that was centered around a touch screen automatically locked out when the vehicle was driven, which was an enormous frustration. Lexus' lawyers won, but their customers lost. At least the M-B system operates while the vehicle is being driven ... unsafe as that may be!
Conversely, what they offer works well. For example, the Lexus navigation that was centered around a touch screen automatically locked out when the vehicle was driven, which was an enormous frustration. Lexus' lawyers won, but their customers lost. At least the M-B system operates while the vehicle is being driven ... unsafe as that may be!
