Can the COMMAND system with GPS from a 2004 or newer S-Class replace the system in a 2003?

I recently bought a 2003 S500 with the CD GPS Command system which, even with the newest CD package, lacks many of the roads and POI's in rural areas. I am wondering if the Command system with GPS from a 2004 or newer S500 can be easily substituted for it and if the newer versions are a lot more up to date and have good coverage of rural roads and POI's.

I'd appreciate any information and/or suggestions you might be able to offer.

 

No, from 04 the system is DVD.

 

I know the 2004 and later models use DVDs rather than CDs. If I replace the entire COMMAND unit with a later one I don't see why the change in media would matter.

 

The command unit itself does not play the DVD, there is a head unit in the trunk which does. I am also pretty sure the fiber optics for the newer cars uses a different protocal which may be another problem.

 

The DVD-based nav systems are designed for the MOST fiber optics bus. The CD-based systems are designed for the D2B fiber optics bus. The two are not interchangeable. It has nothing to do with the media.

 

Thanks for your replies. I guess getting a GPS navigation system in my S500 that is any good for navigation requires using a portable unit like my Magellan Maestro 450, and I wasted my time finding a S500 with navigation.

 

don't feel too bad, the 2004 W220 nav is not very good. for instance, you can't enter "500 Main Street", you have to enter "Main Street" then select from a range of numbers such as "1-300" or "301-600". When you physically arrive at 301 Main Street the unit proudly announces "you have reached your destination", but you aren't at 500 Main Street yet, are you. That is such a great design, isn't it? Who the f*ck thought that one up?

You can find better units for $100 (any Garmin)

 

The Garmin unit I use in my '78 R107 is much more capable than the '05 DVD based system in my S500. But don't feel too bad. Just about every S-Class imported for retail sale in the U.S. has a nav system. You'd have had to search very hard to find one without nav.

But don't forget - your COMAND 2.5 nav was likely designed in 1998 or earlier, and that Garmin you get at Best Buy was designed 10 years later.

The disappointment to me is that MB does not implement a great deal of the information available in the NavTeq database - such as specific house numbers and a decent "yellow pages" (points of interest) feature even in its DVD systems.

 

in the world would put such a crummy GPS navigation system in their vehicles.
My daughter bought a used Jaguar XK-8 about two years before I bought my MB S500 and the navigation system (Alpine) in it was as bad as the MB systems. I thought the MB systems had to be better but I see I was wrong.
What really hurts is the nav system in my wife's previous Chevy Suburban and my Cadillac were great - light years
ahead of those in these foreign luxury cars.

 

And what model years were those cars? Did they have aftermarket systems, or were they OE? Don't forget, your current MB is not exactly a new model. The major updates were in '04, '07, '09, and '10 for MB telematics. If you had older domestic cars with relatively new aftermarket systems, you would have better nav function than your early MB equipment. Same if you compared a '00 vintage Garmin to a new one.

As for Jaguar, it was Ford for a long time. And the newer domestic Fords ('09-'11) have perhaps the best telematics equipment currently sold.

 

mercedes navigation pre 04' was the worst! compared to lexus, infinity vs. same year mercedes was antiquated. (my opinion)

 

On my 2004 MB S500, I swapped out my old NAV DVD player (located on the LHS in the trunk), with an exact working replacement. Part #: 2208206085. I bought the used player from California and I live in Maryland. The replacement NAV player accepted my NAV DVD, updated the software but defaulted to the LAST destination it has been – somewhere in California. How do I reset the NAV system to show my current location?

 

On my 2004 MB S500, I swapped out my old NAV DVD player (located on the LHS in the trunk), with an exact working replacement. Part #: 2208206085. I bought the used player from California and I live in Maryland. The replacement NAV player accepted my NAV DVD, updated the software but defaulted to the LAST destination it has been – somewhere in California. How do I reset the NAV system to show my current location?

 

If the GPS works, it will automatically show the current location, not a past "default" location. No reset required or possible.