For a vehicle that was over $65K new, the navigation system just plain sucks. I have the most current disc installed. I live in a city that has a metro population of over 1 million and the damn thing can't even find a house on a street that has been there for 20 years. I have had so many bad experiences with it not being able to find addresses, that I keep a Garmin in the glove box. IT'S A MERCEDES! THE DAMN THING SHOULD WORK!!

This being said does anyone know of any third party options to the current navigation disc? IMO, Garmin, Tom-Tom or Magellan could rack up with their own disc.

 

dwnash,

I feel your pain. 2007's nav is no different than 2002, 2003, or 2005 in my experience. I have an android phone and use VZNavigator (Verizon) and Google Maps as backups when I'm driving the R. Someone elsewhere in the forums recommended getting a a later model COMAND unit that has a hard drive that allows downloads of maps from the service provider. I did an eBay search. They are available for a price.

JR

 

Although I agree the NAV system is not user friendly and seems outdated, comparing it with a device like a Garmin of today is unfair. Comparing it with a Garmin of the same era would be more appropriate. NAV units have come a long way the past ten years and the one in our Rs is ten year old technology. As far as updates, one need to blame NAVTEQ and not MB.

I have read on the forums that upgrading to a new NAV unit is not plug and play and it requires retrofitting.

 

My 07 Acura RL Nav uses Navteq DVD and my wife told me that ACURA Nav is much better than our MB R350 and easy to use too.

 

Agree. If you run down the list of car brands that has the worst navigation in 06, I am sure the R500's one is right up there.

 

My 08 was pretty good on the nav finding addresses.

Then I upgraded to the "new disc" & all my stored memories started being a few miles off and I could never get them back.

My 11 is perfect on miles but the destination time will be way off - like 2 hours or more.

 

Go figure. My 2010 is spot on. It seems to even take into calculation the traffic report from Sirius.

 

The GPS in my 2006 R500 works OK, but is not user friendly and the data is not up to date. If we need to navigate then we use our Mio C520 of a similar vintage but performs much better.
The GPS in my 2007Acura TL was much superior to that in the 06 MB. The 2011 Acura system is outstanding as it should be since technology has advanced.
Is an updated navigation disc available for the MB?

 

A new navigation disc is available from the dealer, but it won't add any features from the new Command system and Nav on the newer cars, just maps.

 

Well, I am driving a 2011 ML350 loaner and the navigation is not much better. The voice command is pretty useless and I was having a hard time to go up and down of the menu.

 

My problem is that even with the most up to date disc, it still can not find a large percentage of the addresses I enter. Understandably, if the street is fairly new, it might not be in there, but when it is a 20 year old home in a city with a metro population of over 1M, I just don't get it.

 

What I have never figured out on the R500 nav, is that many times the map displays the road I am, but states it is an area that it can not provide guidance for...seems to be mainly 2-lane roads...I carry a Garmin in the glove box when the Mercedes Nav just doesn't cut it. I like the size of the screen, the many POIs, but the whole joystick thing sucks...should have been touch screen. Definately much room for improvement for MB when it comes to their Nav units. Perhaps next time they need to team up with a better provider.

 

If you read reviews of the COMAND-APS NTG2.0 system (and earlier versions) they say that it is terrible. I had one in my 2007 ML500 (my inlaws have one in ther '07 E and '07 SL) and I agree it was horrible and yes, the joystick was horrendous. The BMW, NAVTEQ CD-ROM based NAV in my 2003 Range Rover was better.

Now, the COMAND-APS NTG2.5 in our 2010 R350 is nice. The bluetooth functionality is great (no $300 puck to get your non-mercedes approved phone to work) as well as the HD for music files and the iPod & mp3 interface cables in the glovebox. It also supports rear back-up camera. I wish it was touch-screen but Mbenz has not been a proponent of the touch screen for, as they calim, safety reasons. Personally, I feel the touchscreen is much quicker, safer and easier to use than the new rotory knob found in the current model line-up and and far better then the arrow/OK pad in our R.

If I still had my '07 ML500 I'd upgrade to the COMAND-APS NTG2.5. There are retailers that sell them, they are not cheap though. However, I am one for aesthetics and would not want a factory Nav and a Garmin (or other) unit sitting on my dash, but hey thats my opinion. Here is some more info: http://www.mercupgrades.com/COMAND+A...AQ-faq-14.html

Another simple, and less costly, solution already mention is your phone. If you have a smart phone you can buy mounts and holders to put your phone within your view while driving.

New Maps Discs are ~$200; I think. My street is brand new (still building houses) and doesn't show on our 2010 Map edition. I'll update in 2012.

 

The Mercedes NAV system will get you to a number block on a street, but you can't enter a specific house number. Once you're on the 4000 block, you really ought to be able to find 4006 or whatever.

I can't live without the MAP function it seems, but in the 5 years I've had it I've used NAV twice. Both successfully.