trumpet1

Here is something that is strange. Yesterday while I had everything wired back to factory, the reverse backup camera showed the "park assist" image as if I still had the '07 telematics !! As I backed out of the garage, it would automatically be in the "parallel park assist" mode as if I were trying to park next to a curb between two cars when actually all I was doing was backing out of the garage and into the street. As I turned the steering wheel backing out, a message would pop up saying that the steering wheel has been turned too far (or something like that). Now after driving around, the reverse camera and image were later normal. This only happens just after cranking up the car initially.

So, I decided to hook up my VIM module again and now everything works again as it's supposed to. The "park assist" image has not returned while in reverse. The normal diagram pops up while in reverse (the parallel lines with the curving line as you turn the wheel) and I noticed today that the VIM has not blacked out at all !! That may be temporary but I'll just have to keep an eye on it. It could very well be that disconnecting it for 24 hours may have allowed the telematics to settle down and reset which then will hopefully allow my VIM to operate normally.
We'll see.

Diesel Benz

There have been cases where the Comand display flickers because of the connector not being properly in place. I thought you did not have to touch the Comand display and the wiring though. Also I understood that your display was not really flickering but just faded momentarily. In any case, if it reappears, you might want to check the connectors. I hope it works fine now and nothing further is needed.

trumpet1

Good news. I don't know exactly what happened but unplugging the module and running the car for a day with it hooked up as from the factory and then rehooking up the module seems to have corrected all of my problems. The last several start cycles and driving the car for a total of two hours so far has not seen a black out at all. Hopefully this will hold up.

RajwanyS550

U DA MAN

trumpet1

I sure hope so.

sanjaysingh

HI Chief, I am having the same black out problems in my car ever since I installed the VIM, although I have not had a problem like you experienced earlier. Notwithstanding I have disconnected my VIM module today and going to rehook it after 2 days (more settling down time!!), and then let's hope it works without blanking out at random. THANKS FOR YOUR HIGHLY INFORMATIVE POSTS...

trumpet1

My screen blacked out again today just like before and my service advisor witnessed it this time. He said he wants to do a telematics /comand system flash one more time. He believes something got missed in my update and wants to flash the software one more time just to see if this solves the problem.

Red Marko

Sorry to report ...but the same (blacking out) is happening to me. My car is 2008, so no flashing or reflashing was ever performed. Driving with VIM221 for one week and then it started. Third day, 1 sec. blank screen, then ok. Two days ago, blank screen for a sec. then the phone was off. Couldn't connect with numerous attempts. I had to re pair bluetooth to fix it. All no big deal, one sec. of inconvenience then back to normal. Than today... a big one. Screen blanks out for over an hour, I've got pissed off, pulled over, restarted the car, back to normal again. Overall I think that the VIM211 needs to be redesigned. Great concept to keep your wife quiet or any other noisy passenger ...but Midcity has to know about the problem and act upon it.
Let see/hear some other feedback from our great community.

XJ9

Do you by any chance have the factory ipod kit on your S class. I had heard about a similar issue happening with some of the 2007 S class models having problems with the screen blinking on and off. I dont know if it applies to this situation though, just something to think about.

For what its worth, I have the VIM but on my C class and it hasnt had any problems like this.

jbondox

I have done several VIM's, I don't use Rob's/midcity brand, but I have never had a problem yet like what you are mentioning. I called and talked to Rob the other day and mentioned that trumpet was having an issue, he informed me to let you know to call him. So if anyone else needs to get a hold of him, call him. I am sure he will get this figured out.

As for the software needing a re-install, I highly doubt it Trumpet, that is just an advisor saying I *** don't know nicely! have him go into command and set the video to play 5mph and below.

Good Luck guys,

trumpet1

Wow! Mine has only been one second black outs about once a day. Not a bad problem , just something that makes you think it is It does look like their is a design problem now that the problem is clearly common.

trumpet1

No. I don't have an ipod kit on my S. My wife does on her C class though.
I guess $144,000 doesn't get you a piece of wire
I would have gladly paid $144,020 to get that extra piece of wire.

trumpet1

I think you're right. The flash probably won't help now that we see a 2008 model car having the same problem. My advisor said he doesn't know what's going on here....just that this might be a starting point since he really doesn't have an obligation to help me here at all. He is just a good guy and seems to want to help out. I'll pass along to him that this might not be necessary to do.

srice

I have had mine in for a week, and I have put in at least 1,500 miles on the road (Yes, a long week!). I have not had any problems or "black outs." My "early" 2008 has the ipod kit and was re-flashed with the regular 2008 software update for Command.

sanjaysingh

I had disconnected my VIM for over two days and connected it back today. Was driving a little over an hour or so to get to San Francisco (in high trafffic) and it blacked off once for that split second as others have been experiencing. I have the factory installed iPod wire in my glove compartment but I don't think it is all the effective as when you do connect the Ipod it doesn't give you all the options of shuffle, etc that the Ipod actually offers.
Bottomline: I think Midcity will have to figure out this problem of split second screen blanking off (at random).

XJ9

Hey guys, rob was at the dealership yesterday and I had a chance to talk to him about the glitch you guys were experiencing:

He said that it is not a design issue with the VIM module and that the instances you guys are reporting are the only ones that he has heard of. I can somewhat comfirm this as we have a few customers here at the dealer that have the VIM module and none of them have called to report this issue.

He did however say that he is very interested in getting this issue resolved with you guys but nobody has called him and asks that you please give him a call or email him with any info relating to how and when the glitch happens so that he can get replacemet units out to you guys to try.


As a side note, I have noticed in my time working in service that this seems to be a somewhat common occurance in the aftermarket industry; the reason that rob came by was that we started having these new lower cost bluetooth kits (made by a different company) installed for some of our customers that are actually pretty cool: they are a replacement for the normally $2500 factory phone kit that works the same. So yesterday I had one of my customers come in freaking out because his car was acting crazy since he got the bluetooth kit installed last week and proceeds to hand me a half-page list of problems: radio changes stations by itself, audio cuts out, phone disconnects from kit, screen blinks on and off. I ask how often its happening and he says, lets go to the car, its happening all the time. So we go to look and sure enough the radio goes blink, blink, blink and then locks up.

So we go back to my office and we do a conference call with the manufacturer in florida and I read down the whole list of problems ending with the " and now the radio is locked up." and the guy responds:

"But other than that it works ok, right?..."

jbondox

XJ9 I was having lunch with the service director of the biggest volume dealer in the Midwest, North Olmsted, anyways they usually sell about a dozen S class's a week and almost all of them have a VIM installed. I mentioned to him about the VIM's because i helped trained a tech to do the install and they have never had a complaint, in fact they rarely see an S in for service issues. I am sure it is an issue with the module, or there is an issue with a client installing it themselves?!

What type of vehicle was that on with the bluetooth unit? I did a few back in Nov, preproduction units, and had 2-3 problems but i believe they were fixed since then. did the Most system have more than 1 module on it? such as changer, amp, etc... because i did notice that it will power up and do a type of flash (on/off/on/off...) with no other modules coming off the command

That unit should work great with most of the Benz's

XJ9

What he told me was that he thought that it could be either of the issues that you stated which is why he wanted to get replacements out. I know they are pretty obsessive about getting these types of issues resolved, at least with the vehicles they do with us. I agree with you on the S Class reliability, they have issues obviously but not nearly as much as other models but we often have pecularities with certain products that we install. Before we did the midcity vim we did a vim from another company and I remember this issue in particular because we did two S550's that were almost identical: one worked perfectly but the other while the vim worked fine, the messages stopped displaying on the instrument cluster. I dont remember if that particular issue was ever resolved, I think the guy just dealt with it.

The car that came in with the bluetooth problem was an E class, either 04 or 05 and its the same sort of thing. We had an R class about the same time that got the same kit and I called that guy and he is not having any problems, just this guy... go figure. The funny thing is that the guy loves the kit, he just wants it to work (probably because he is saving $1500 this way.)

sanjaysingh

Dear XJ9, thank you very much for taking up the issue of screen blanking off with Rob of Midcity. I shall positively call him on Monday and find out if there is anything that can be done. I am having the problems of screen blanking off quite a few times although at random. However, the worst of the blanking was today when my iPhone that was paired with the bluetooth device of the car was automatically "depaired or unpaired" after the screen blanked. Thereafter I had to again pair the same and then it worked fine. THANKS ONCE AGAIN FOR ALL YOUR HELP

Red Marko

I'll do the same thing no Monday, call Rob/Midcity and ask him for a replacement. Let see what happens

trumpet1

I suppose I will do the same. I really don't think it is the module but it's worth a try to swap for a new one and see if the problem goes away. I think it is something about the car that is doing this as it happens exactly the same way and for the same length of time (about 1 second).

I think there is something in the car's software that is disagreeing with the module or vice versa but only in certain cars.
Funny thing is, I might go for 3 days and it not happen then all of a sudden on the 4th day it might black out twice> Even if this doesn't get resolved, I'm happy because it happens so quick that most people may not notice it. I do know this, it not only affects the DVD feature but it also affects radio, nav, and even when all functions are turned off, the screen still can black out for that one second so it's not a "DVD thing". It is a comand unit problem.

gjarlson

$36 a Year here in NYC 2008 S550 4Matic

Red Marko

Here is the thing, if it happens twice a day (max) for a second, on big deal. we may not even notice anything. But.... for over an hour in my case, that's not acceptable. I see pepole not reporting anything. Maybe, because it happens for a split second.
I bet NOBODY is looking at the screen constantly while driving. We should take this under consideration also.

WSH

Slightly off-topic....North Olmsted the biggest vol MB dealer in Midwest?????

Am reasonably familiar w/Midwest....would have guessed a dealer in Chic or one of Chic NShore suburbs....(in my book, Chic is an honorary member of the SF/NYC/LA fraternity....if it weren't for its awful weather/topography, Chic would easily be one of world's 2-3 greatest cities)

Does N Olm aggressively sell all over Midwest? I'm stunned as Cleveland region is one of US' worst economies...and Western suburbs of Cleve have always been much less affluent than Eastern suburbs like HuntingVy/GatesMills, etc....

trumpet1

I have been keeping my tongue in cheek about this but I feel you are right, some are just not noticing it. One thing I have noticed is that sometimes instead of a blackout occurring, the backup camera will come on while driving down the road (again, only for a split second) and today while putting my car in Reverse, the "park assist" feature pops up instead of the usual parallel lines needed for backing up. The "park assist" was supposedly done away with when I had the 2008 telematics update! I guess it's time for a refund or a replacement

Question:

For those of you who installed the VIM yourself, how many of you pulled the wrong wire the first or second time???? I know I did the first time. I almost wonder if those that are not having the problem chose the correct wire on the first try and therefore never "upset" the other features causing fault codes to pop up????
I often wonder if the blackout is caused by something that was disturbed/disrupted by pulling the wrong wire (which is a part of the instructions....some get lucky , some don't) and what we are seeing has nothing to do with the radio wire but instead is still a leftover fault trying to recover from pulling that wrong wire???
That's why I'm under the belief that taking it to the shop and letting them reflash the 2008 software might just solve this problem since some people are not having the problem. Now that I am seeing the backup "park assist" feature coming up on the screen while in reverse, I'm really confused. You would think that if it was a design issue with the module, it would affect everyone fairly equally.