akburton

Does the new S550 navigation system have traffic updates to let you know if your choosen route is congested and does it suggest alternate routes?

Nevada Jack

I don't think that feature is supported in the US. I would be pleasantly surprised if it did. Some sections of Europe and the Far East may have that capability.

rgbyhkr

Europe has a radio traffic data service called RDS TMS and I believe the COMAND system in vehicles over there supports it (could be wrong though). XM has a traffic data dservice (XM NavTraffic) to go along with there audio traffic stations. Newer Nav systems are starting to take advantage of this to incorporate the data into Nav routing. Acura already has this available in their nav systems.

Sirius has rolled out their own system, Sirius Traffic, but I haven't seen anything to suggest that the US COMAND nav systems will be compatible or that the Sirius tuners in the W221s will be able to receive this traffic data. That's one downside to the satellite radio technology. New features and services are being introduced regularly by XM and Sirius but most of them require new hardware which isn't something easy to accomoodate on stock systems.

Jeff

kenstudios

This feature is available in the Acura brands. The Nav even aids in turning the adaptive headlights.

Mercedes22

Yes we have TMS in the UK, which predicts traffic hold ups and diverts you to a more traffic free route.

Nevada Jack

I'll take the S550 with COMAND without traffic notices and rely on the steering wheel to turn the adaptive lights...:-) I have bad vibes from an earlier adventure with a Acura Vigor...

akburton

Well hopefully Mercedes will update to this functionality for users who have Sirius Radio or for everyone who has navigation. Personally living in Washington DC, where the traffic is absolutely horrible. This feature is a must have. I'm considering leasing my LE anyway, so hopefully if I don't get the update by the time my lease is up I'll get a new vehicle that has it installed.

Nevada Jack

I think that feature will be a while in coming to MB...they are not trendsetters with electronics like the Japanese.

I drove in DC for over 20 years so I can feel your pain...:-) LV is getting that way but being retired I don't have to fight it every day.

akburton

I know what you are saying about Benz and technology. But the traffic updates is a must. Shouldn't take that much of a modification to have it included. So hopefully when my lease is up and If I want another Benz they will have it.

delphipro

Do you know how they use it for the headlights? Can't imagine how it would be of any use, even the most accurate Nav reading (civilian) can't possibly be accurate enough to know when to turn the headlights.

vraa

The signal from the sat doesn't have to be super accurate. I believe they can estimate it quite well. Just like when you're driving on a feeder versus the highway itself the navigation (at least in my BMW and Lexus) can differentiate between what road.

I think it's called 'dead reckoning' ? I'm not exactly sure.

But anyways, for me traffice updates isn't a big deal. For me it's simple. 59N is always clear. Avoid 59S from 5PM to 7PM. If I need to go to the office and come back in between that time, take an alternative route a.k.a. off road

Much easier in the X5 than it was in the LS400 now

delphipro

Even with dead reckoning (which I fully understand) you’re still not getting much more than within 10 feet of where you are, and a lot more elevation wise. I really can’t image why someone would take this method to aim the headlights. They already having steering wheel angle (used for the traction control system), I’m hard pressed to come up with a reason they would want to tie that to the Nav system.

Germancar1

How so?

M