This is the second time it’s happened, but for whatever reason Mercedes Navigation will try and route me around hundreds of miles out of my way to a destination for no apparent reason. I compared the navigation to Google and Apple and both would take a direct route. I checked all settings like avoid toll roads, etc., and nothing was checked that could explain the inexplicable routing. There was no accident or other road obstructions that I could see and Google and Apple Maps are pretty good at routing around known traffic hazards and backups.

During my last trip I kept canceling and restarting and it would recognize the shortest route then after a few minutes route me 150 miles out of my way. I would Siri and Google Voice search the same destination and it didn’t see whatever Mercedes saw.

 

The MB navigation is crap that is always behind on updates, sometimes for more than a year in large cities in the US. I've given up on it completely.

 

I'm glad I haven't encountered these issues. I like the MB maps a lot better due to being full screen compared to Google maps or Waze.

 

I prefer MB as well because of the full screen and “Hey Mercedes” navigation recognition, but I can’t explain the routing. I mean going one block out of the way is one thing but routing me 150 miles and 3 hours more makes it unusable.

It’s happened twice and I’m wondering if anyone else experienced this.

 

With my other vehicles, I would exclusively use Apple maps with Carplay. In fact, one of my requirements for the last few years was that the vehicle support CarPlay.

Happy to say that since owning my GLE, I’ve relied exclusively on the built-in Nav unit and it has been wonderful. I run it along with Waze when on trips for early warning police radar, and thus far, I’ve not experienced any routing issues. Even the traffic conditions closely match Waze, so I suspect these may be passively crowd-sourced based on data our vehicles share with the cloud in real ime. Pretty fantastic.

 

Seems like your car has some gremlins. It might help to specify your location correctly in your profile so people know where you are located. Navigation issues are very regional. I'm one generation behind your MBUX, but I've never had issues with the MB navigation. It has always gotten me where I needed to go via the most direct route depending on traffic.

Have you ever updated your maps? Map updates come out twice a year and the factory doesn't always ship the latest maps. My car was two versions behind when I took delivery and subsequently received two OTA updates to update the maps. However, the OTA updates only update your home region. To update all the other regions, you need to manually download the update from the Mercedes me connect portal and install it in the car.

I have noticed a glitch in the traffic data recently on a particular stretch of highway around here. It occasionally reports heavier traffic congestion than there actually is and corrects itself a few minutes later, but it hasn't resulted in rerouting. When yours reroutes you does it claim that it found a faster route? Mine doesn't automatically reroute. I get a prompt when it finds a faster route and then I can accept the new route or stay on the current route. I think there's a setting that controls that. You can also try to temporarily turn off dynamic routing in the settings to see if it's the traffic data. I'm guessing it is, as rerouting generally only happens based on traffic reports.

One other possibility is that Car-to-X is reporting incorrect information from other cars in your area. Maybe somebody reported a road closure. You can turn off Car-to-X under Manage Services in the app or the portal. I've had a few instances where my system kept reporting traffic events from days ago that for some reason didn't clear. Eventually they clear, but they could cause rerouting if it's a road closure for example. In your case, though, it seems like a massive detour even if there were an incorrectly reported road closure for some reason, unless you live in the middle of nowhere with few alternate routes. Again, location, location, location matters with these types of issues.

BTW, related to your LKA/Active Steering Assist issue. Just so you know, the Active Steering Assist and DISTRONIC use the navigation data to get information on the road you are driving on, such as what type of road it is, how many lanes it has etc. and this information influences decisions the system makes, so if your nav is on the fritz, that could also explain the issues with your LKA/Active Steering Assist.

 

Superswiss beat me to it. I've seen some odd behavior a few times, linked to traffic data.

 

I panned to the area it rerouted me around and it didn’t show any traffic jams or other road hazards on MB’s map. Nothing showed up on Google and Apple Maps, either, and I drove straight through the area no problem. Next time it happens I’ll GoPro it.

Also, LKA acting like it’s on but it’s actually off happened while I was driving without navigation.

 

Superswiss - I enjoy reading your in depth observations and it's really good information. Please consider using more paragraphs in some of your longer posts to make it easier to read.

 

+1 for @superswiss comments.
Unfortunately, entering text from the phone app removes paragraphs.

 

You sure? Can't you double tap the spacebar or something to create a new paragraph. This is/should be a basic function.

 

Thanks. Yes, sorry about that. I usually go back and add paragraphs if the response ends up longer than I thought at first. I wrote this one at 6am today. Recovering from a recent Hernia surgery at the moment.

 

I meant when dictating. You could dictate, then go back and add paragraphs before posting. It's tedious.
I just talk and consider it a "Stream of Consciousness" post.

 

I had a situation where it repeatedly told me to get off the Interstate and back up on the same exit. Nothing complicated from Tampa to Vero beach. Another time same route sent me twenty miles southwest for no reason. I rely on Google maps which on an occasion or two has been known to be wrong but a lot more trustworthy.

 

Yeah, it happened again but my GoPro was dead so I couldn’t record it. So, this was at 6 AM and no traffic whatsoever and it tried routing me 30 miles down two freeways back and up versus just keeping me on the freeway I was already on, which was closest to the destination I was trying to get to. I again compared Google and Apple and nothing. What a joke.

I am going to record one of these laughable navigation adventures this car tries to take me on. I need to post it on YouTube, twitter or Reddit and maybe I’ll go viral at the absolutely bonkers routing MB tries to do sometimes.

The only thing I can think of is that its “real-time” traffic information is an absolute joke; it’s seeing something that isn’t there. I even went back and looked to see if there were any reported traffic accidents along my route over the past 24 hours and nothing.

 

I'm going to venture and say you may have some settings in your preference? I have not used the Navi once. The colors are so off and it does not display speed limits (hers doesn't have driver assistance pro). So I'm forced to use tiny wired CarPlay when I drive hers.

 

Here are my NAV settings for those that think it’s user error, unless there’s a setting I’m misinterpreting.

1. Short route
2. Suggest Alternative Route Off
3. Activate Commuter Route Off
4. Dynamic guidance on
5. All avoid off

 

MB's Nokia/HERE nav system is pretty awful for nearly all of my trips when compared to Google. I only use HERE to track upcoming rest areas. Google maps is much more accurate imo. Somewhat anecdotal - I sent a request in to HERE asking for a list of US cities that they have live traffic light data for via the MB subscription, so I can try it out on my travels. Crickets.

 

Yes, I'm pretty sure number 1 is your issue. Change that to Fastest route. The shortest route does not equal the fastest route. Google Maps and most navigation systems use fastest route algorithms, not shortest route. I don't really even understand why it is an option in the MB navigation. It rarely makes sense as an option. Shortest route optimizes for distance and not travel time. I never use it. Always use Fastest route.

 

I would try #2 On.
Then it will show you how it prioritizes several routes. You may not see the most acceptable route pop up first.
Wait an extra 20 seconds and you may see some extra long routes. (Actually, the wait is usually less than a second.)

​​​​​​Also make sure you haven't selected "RV" or "avoid xxx" in the map options.

I use the "fastest," #2 ON setting.
It shows fastest first, but it also shows scenic and shortest, I believe. I then choose.

 

So short route means 30+ more miles? That doesn’t sound short to me.

 

If it worked properly than no. Don't really know how well they test shortest route. As I said, I don't really know why the option is there and who would use it other than by mistake. Fastest route is pretty much always the way to go, unless you specifically want to take a scenic route or something. Also the above post reminds me, isn't there a trailer option in the GLE as well, so it picks a route that's more towing friendly? Make sure you review all the options. BTW, Google Maps now by default chooses the most fuel efficient route, which may not be the fastest route. This can be changed in the settings as well. I changed it back to fastest route.

 

Superswiss, do you even know what the other nav option is?

 

Yes, I do. Not sure which ones you refer to. I don't have them all in my head for all models, but the general options are all the same. I don't drive SUVs, so things like offroad settings and such is not something I regularly see or use, so I'm just giving you potential other suggestions of things I'm aware of. You do seem to wanna debate suggestions that are given to you constantly instead of trying them out. I can tell you from personal experience the shortest route setting can yield strange results. I've used it accidently in the past. You may wanna listen to those of us who don't seem to have these issues and go with the settings that are being suggested and report back if it solved your issue.

 

It’s “FAST.” I can understand MBUSA trying to route me 30 miles out of the way because it thinks it’s faster due to a traffic jam, but to route me 30 miles out of the way even though I selected SHORT doesn’t make sense, ERGO, why do you think my SHORT setting had anything to do with what happened to me?