ML350inLA

Hi -

I have a brand new ML350. Never owned an MB before. I like the voice command in busy traffic but am unable to find the right command for accessing my iPod. If there is no CD in the player, I have been able to access it by saying "disc", but this is not a guarantee. Sometimes it will tell me there is no disc to play.

"She" (the voice) and I occasionally have arguments. I find she doesn't respond well to swearing. She'll just cancel you. Very annoying.

Anyway, I have tried a variety commands for the iPod. If anyone knows the right thing to say to "her" to please her, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

Lee

baxterdown

Sorry to be the one to deliver the bad news but "she" doesn't speak iPod. She doesn't speak climate or addressbook either. I just bought a Ford Flex with Sync and she is fluent in all of the above and more! I'm loving it!!!!

ML350inLA

Ahhhh.....it is as I feared, "she" is not too bright. I wondered the first time I gave her a number to call and had to do it in just the right cadence (that's when I first learned about swearing at her). I thought she did speak addressbook though I haven't tried yet. Hmmm....I feel another swearing session coming on.

I guess I will have to continue to reach ALL the way to the console then. :-))

Thanks for the info baxterdown!

baxterdown

LOL! Too funny. Yeah, not to deviate from your original post too much but I am AMAZED at the VR (voice recognition) capabilities of the Sync system on the Ford. Beyond the typical commands available in other systems (nav, radio, CD), Sync allows you to control the iPod, hard drive jukebox, ask for movie times, sports results, weather and traffic information, and my favorite: "what's playing?" where "she" tells you what you're listening to!

She's also trilingual and speaks fluent English, Spanish and French. And, you don't have to switch languages! Just tell it the name of a song in Spanish and she'll understand.

Enjoy your new ML!!!

roadrutz

Wow. This is the first time I have seen anybody say anything good about Microsoft for months!

ML350inLA

Funny! Well, thanks for the info. If I need to have a fluent intelligent conversation, I'll come talk to your car. :-)

ML350inLA

Just thought I'd share that the day after we had this chat, my iPod and my car had an issue. My iPod completely locked up with the MB screen display showing the entire time. If I hooked it up to the car, the COMAND display would show it running through every song title very fast but not play anything.

I had to wipe my iPod and entirely reload software and music.

(I have to whisper this story because apparently "she" heard me badmouthing her and took it out on my iPod.)

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

dante&david

After GM collapse and american cars finishing like an era, not becouse people hate them but just becouse they are poorly built, I find it very brave for someone today to be proud of a Ford command........

baxterdown

Dante,

Without wanting to provoke an argument, brave is the man who gets sucked into thinking that vinyl seats in a $60,000 car are actually better than leather. I don't consider myself brave. I'm a technogeek and nothing, I repeat, NOTHING comes close to Ford's Sync.

ML350,

LOLOL!!!! ROTFL!!!!! Man, you made me laugh so hard!!! Yep, she's mean indeed. The odd thing is that she's mean only when she speaks English. The other day we switched her to speak Espanol and all of the sudden she's going "por favor" turn here and in 300 meters "por favor" turn there. She's really nice when she speaks Spanish!

dante&david

Where I live, I payed 82.000 Euro for the new ML 320 CDI (about 110.000 $) and I did this not to speak to my car but to make 90000 km (as I did until today) in raff roads and long trips filling my car only with diesel and water for windscreen-wash so far (1 pair brakes padle too in 90000 km!).

I payed this money to have first of all ride comfort, maximum affidability, 500 Nmeter torque, 5* crash test car, protection, silent cabine, smooth ride, status, good fuel economy, and also a small piece of this brand's history - all this together in one, serving me with loyalty!

I will not compromise all this for a better voice-command thing...

Only hearing the name Ford makes me have bad dreams.....

Hopefully I could afford to not live with those dreams.....

dante&david

My nice is married and lives in Iowa, she was pregnant in the 9-th month, when while driving with her husband Jake on their Jeep Grand Cherokee (new and fully services) heard a booooom...the engine exploded, they could by a miracle control the car, without brakes, nor shifts, barely falling from a bridge where the car decided to stop, in the middle of the winter, freezing there for almost 2 hourse before someone resqued them - My nice fortunately gave birth normally after some days, but she was very close to a disastre....

There must be a reason why these big - ugly cars cost 25000 $ and a ML cost 60000 $. It must not be all about leather or shining real walnut. It is about quality! It is about all!

I convinced Jake to pass to german cars, he now owns a VW Touareg and he understood what the difference means....and what is a Jeep grand Cherokee compared to a german first class SUV.

So please - who can, I wish all should, bu good cars and throw away cheap and limited driving objects like those made by GM, FORD, etj....

ML350inLA

I will try Spanish. Being in LA I really should have a better command of it than I do, so this may help my skills.

(ignoring other commentary right now...unnecessary generalizing smacking of elitism)

roadrutz

The Jeep Grand Cherokee was designed by Mercedes. Maybe that's why the engine blew up.

Anybody who has ever owned a Corvette knows that GM is capable of building excellent, fast, reliable, characterful cars. GM's problem is not their engineering or production quality, it is their management and their bean counters. Buick was recently ranked by JD Powers as the brand with Fewest New Vehicle Problems, beating Toyota/Lexus, every German company, and everybody else.

I own my second Chrysler PT Cruiser. Both have been totally reliable. All I have ever done is change the oil once a year, and they chug along happily forever. They have been abused -- towed behind my motorhome, used for transporting my Great Dane, used for carrying anything dirty or heavy -- and yet they are cheap to buy, cheap to run, and cheap to fix.

My neighbour has a Touareg. I asked what he thought of it. He said "It's OK. Yawn."

I love my ML550, but let's stop making silly comments about American cars just because it is fashionable to do so.

davidbho

My car (Lilo) seems to have feelings too. I have an 02 ML55 with the VCS. It stores 10 name and numbers that I program in...teller her to dial someone and she does it no problem.

Lately I've been on the phone a lot, via blue tooth puck, and I think she's jelous. Started some rattling sound in the engine bay. I guess I have to take her out on a date to the shop, and spend some money on her.

Typical...she's been in the garage a lot lately talking smack with the others...haha

ML350inLA

LOL! That's funny. I only have the one car so she hasn't got anyone to talk smack to....but she WOULD, I know it.

I am still working on speaking Spanish to her to see if that works. So far she's not loving my accent.

ps. I got a real chuckle out of your note - sold Ducati to buy kids - ha!

dante&david

I see how reliable this TRUCK was for you, great. Just a question: Did you ever driven this TRUCK with 225 km/hour, usually, daily, did you ever make with that TRUCK 90 thousand km on the road, rarely overpassed by someone else (I mean almost always driving it in full throttle and doing this in those speeds I told), did you?

I also have a good reliable iron table in my garden, strong, heavy, bold, out there in rain or snow.....but it can't cruise me and my family as safe, smooth and fast and economically as the ML compared to a TRUCK that can burn the same fuel that ML burns in 900 km trip for doing a neighboorhood job.....

I have nothing against cars built in America as also MB ML is built there...but the project makes the difference...and betwen the two philosofies, from decades, there is no comparison and german cars are way ahead in all terms..

roadrutz

Er, actually no. We have gentlemen in uniforms over here who kind of discourage driving at 225 km/h.

dante&david

Look at this TRUCK - 325 HP, a monster in its look but a delusion inside - this is the empire of vinyl. Cheap. Ugly. Even if this may be a afidable car, reliable, roomy, it does not mean that it is a car. This is a moving object that can carry people from point A to B. This thing is so slow, so dump in its interiors, so predictable that would be liked only by some childreen who love to play "hidding", never by a driver. This is a monument that proves how cars should not be! In this thing one can only drive it's steering weel, not the whole car, as the feeling of driving something on the road will never reach the driver - lack of control means lack of safety, just look at the poor poor (like a charity design) instrument cluster, a proof of lack of love and a declaration of a lack of performance.......wheeeeeeee

The ******* who designed this interior should drive for the rest of his life in this environment. So trist...So sad design.....and they want up to 54000 $ for this!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH!

I am so happy we do not buy this things in Europe






CHEVROLET SUBURBAN
Puting a good voice command into this will not make this a car....

And they dare to put this in the SUV category....a crime. This must be a SLUV

dante&david

Just a glance of the new Audi Q5, in order to restore the taste......

http://microsites.audi.com/campaigns...it/Q5x_it.html



PRICE: (base) $37,200; (loaded) $52,475
SPECS: Engine: 270hp, 3.2L V6 DOHC engine w/ FSI Direct Injection
MPG: 18 city/22 mpg
The voice-command system—the navigation is programmed to respond to basic statements like “I need money” or “I’m hungry”—is cool in theory but a little gimmicky in execution. Way better than Ford Sync though.
















This is a SUV, a real car, a LOVE!

ML350inLA

To those who were helpful in responding to my question, thank you!

To Dante, you might need to get a life.

dante&david

Beeing a little off topic can never be so sad like the SUBURBAN!

If you did not get the point (sorry only for my english - not my first language) it's your problem.

I made a clear response to those who accused me of sitting in a vinyl car (my ML 320 CDI) and also to those who make wrong comparisons betwen things and cars.

I have a life, I am 39, 3 activities, 2 boys, happy family, 3 homes (no mortgages), and live in the mediterranian where fish, olive oil, sun and sea reign!

I just could'nt believe someone will call a ML a vinyl car infront of a better voice command thing inside a cheap ugly Ford...or that someone else would compare it with a TRUCK...and make assumptions without considering the whole performance...

When I spoke for speeding, driving in high speeds, I know that police does not allow that, and we also have police and radars, but I wanted to say that driving (140-180-sometimes even 200-220 > daily, is better with a ML compared to doing that with a SLUV which burns your pockets and also can not keep that pace just becouse there is no comparison. A car which has its max speed at 280 km/h certainly gives you a much much better feeling when driving with 160-180 km/h, seems like you are with 90 km/h. That means relax, safety, better ride.
A thing which has a maximum of 200 km/h (the real at 180 km/h) certainly seems like driving with 220 km/h while you are with 120 km/h....

I wish you a good life though - and for those who live many hours in the car, due to work and many trips, I wish you only good german cars!

Franman

I recall when flipping through the bible-sized manual that came with my GL (the COMAND one, not the CAR one), there was a page or two of all the commands that the voice recognition will recognize. I dont have it here but will check. I dont understand why COMAND calls the ipod a "MUSIC INTERFACE" on the audio menu instead of just calling it IPOD <?> perhaps a trademark infringement or other types of devices might be used there?

Anyway - make sure you train "her" to your voice using the option to do so - it drastically helped her understand me better. Also, I found it useful to "speed her up" via another menu where you can have her read back faster so it doesnt take 10 minutes to repeat a phone number you just told her.

ML350inLA

Thanks Franman.

I was just looking up information on training her to my voice. I will try the 'music interface' command and see what she says.

Thanks again!

ML500RUS

She probably never gone to college