Wonderman

I’m going to try your method Kunzy. I’ve had this car since 2007 and never a problem with changing the analogue clock until this spring. Why now? I’m well aware that nothing is ever free from the dealership, advice included.

Polar Bear

The Xentry TIPS document posted above only says to adjust the clock on the COMAND to the correct time, so adjust the time on the COMAND (it should correct or one hour off, which you can adjust through the COMAND interface depending on DST). Once it is correct, you can remove two fuses under the hood at the front SAM which will pull the power from the Instrument Cluster. Reinsert them and the cluster will come back on, and the analog clock will begin to rotate to display the time the COMAND is set to. There are two 7.5 amp fuses on the driver side near the firewall in the fuse compartment. Remove fuses 25 an 39 and reinsert them and it should take care of your issue.

This essentially accomplishes the same thing the dealer would do, but you are restarting the Instrument Cluster by removing and reinstalling the fuses and not restarting the cluster through software, but the effect will be the same. And you don't need a diagnostic machine to do it.

steveb9771

Problem resolved itself. I have one of the first W216 CL550, build date Sept 2006. I checked today and it shows the correct date and time. I did nothing to fix the problem. My vehicle DID have a massive software update in early 2009 that might have changed how it handles GPA time. I have the same NTG3 configuration as the W221 S Class.

Wonderman

Greetings to Volkl158 and kunzy80...I used the method outlined by kunzy80 in my garage (no gps signal there), and it worked perfectly. The clock advanced to the proper time set on the screen. I think the gps signal is the problem here. I won’t touch the time until fall for the time change and see if it will go back when I reset it from the screen. If it won’t, I know how to do it without gps signal in my garage! Thanks for the help from forum members, this saved me $300.00 plus tax by not going to the local MB service people.

mrtonyn

Do it first thing in the morning inside the garage and it will work.
It definitely did work like a charm for me.

Wonderman

You bet, it worked fine for me doing that!

DaddyHook

I just emailed them also.

Albi Doci

G

Rick Cell

Having problem setting date and synchronizing the dash clock with the command unit clock on my 2008 CL65. Put the car in the garage no satellite signal.
Pushed keyless go button to position one, set the date, time and the dash clock moved forward the same as the clock in the
command unit. Hope it holds the current settings.

DaleB

I just did the same on my '07 S600. I just had it in the garage for a couple of hours while installing my intercooler expansion reservoir. Turned it on and set the date and time, the clock set itself to match, all's right with the world.

Shadly1

This solves a LOT of problems.

GR81

Hi. I have a S550 4Matic. Time is fine. Date doesn't set. Same issue as you all are discussing. Question: Do I need to completely switch COMMAND to OFF or will it work even if the car has been off overnight without specifically turning COMMAND switch off? Thanks!

DaleB

Who cares about the date? I was happy to just get the time to finally set. I just parked mine in the garage long enough to lose the GPS signal. It only took an hour or so, and as long as you don’t have a GPS signal you don’t even need to turn COMAND completely off or rush setting the clock.

The date on mine won’t set, but I’m fine with that. We’ll see how it goes when I need to adjust for DST ending.

Polar Bear

Just an update for W221 pre-MoPF owners - The official technique that was publish by MBUSA no longer works, but the document has not changed. If you happen to manipulate your clock accidentally, resetting the Instrument Cluster or momentarily removing the two fuses no longer invoke a synchronization between the COMAND and the analog clock. I am not exactly sure when this first started occurring, however I have personally witnessed it, as has others in the forum. The original non-working technique described in the MBUSA TIPS document is attached. Please try the @DaleB technique and isolate the COMAND from receiving the GPS signal by whatever means you prefer (typically four GPS satellites must be "seen" by COMAND before it attempts to start syncing the time with the GPS system). Although inconvenient the "official" way to perform synchronization does not appear to apply any longer, doing what @DaleB suggest my be the only option unless new firmware is released for the NTG 3 systems.

Any feedback on this issue would be appreciated. There have been mixed outcomes with the NTG 3 systems specifically, and reports so far include:

- Passing Week Number 1024 and the rollover to Week Number 0 fixed the issue that began when Week Number 999 rolled over into a four-digit decimal notation of 1000 (this is what broke the clocks and the date on the COMAND NTG 3 systems initially).
- No change in the functionality of the clock and it continues to sync and date is correct.
- Date and Time are incorrect, and the only solution to get an accurate clock is to (in the past) perform the procedure in the TIPS document or restart the Instrument Cluster via alternative means by removing the fuses to the cluster and reinserting them, and this technique no longer is applicable for an unknown reason.

The only outcomes I have personally witnessed, and I see several of these vehicles, is:
- Date will always be incorrect. Date can be corrected, but only temporarily, when set without GPS signal, date will revert to incorrect 2003 year when GPS signal is received by 4 or more satelllites
- If you manage to set the time without GPS reception, COMAND is no longer running the faulty code attempting to calculate the Time and Date from GPS, and allows manual manipulation of both. It is this faulty code that runs and likely crashes while executing that does not allow it to get to the function to carry out the manually invoked analog clock sync.

It would be valuable if you don't mind posting the current behavior of your COMAND, (i.e. cannot set clock by removing fuses, clock and date/time is working properly, etc) and the year of your vehicle, as well as, if known, the software/Telematics release your COMAND is using (or even if you have had it updated at your dealer - if so, when?). This would help the W221 owners community if we can drill down to a real solution.

Thanks!

BOTUS

thought I share the fix you can do at home, based on European NTG3 but I expect its the same idea (the fun happens when you use the daylight saving features that are now broken)

W221 and W216 time and date issues are because the car can no longer correctly understand the signals coming from satellites after a 19 year epoch ended. On some latest Mercedes there's an update that brings a new secret menu to select the next epoch, without it older cars get confused. I did notice about once a month if it spots a later satellite that doesn't do dates the old way, for a few minutes the date corrects itself, but within 10 minutes as the world moves it will soon find an older one.

There is no manual override or ability to stop it looking automatically for these satellite signals. It can not be fixed (a software update Mercedes can't be bothered to support is required).

There is a complex Mercedes dealer time wasting work around, its totally unnecessary and almost pointless. It needs doing each time the analogue clock gets muddled or out of sync and we swap for daylight saving.

The date from now on will always be incorrect and un-adjustable (even when you waste your life at the dealership).
The digital clock also no longer supports automatic changes for day light saving.

For BST (in the UK we always run an hour behind Central Europe CET and both UK and Europe in the summer do one our daylight saving and switch at the same time)
In comand, go to change the time zone, select a central European country and ensure you untick daylight saving

For GMT
In comand go to change the time zone, select UK and ensure you untick daylight saving

If you can set a time zone where the time matches where you live (and have unticked daylight saving) the digital clock will be correct at the next cold start of the vehicle (if its within sight of satellites), the date will be garbage, if you have to run a time zone outside the one you live to accommodate daylight saving the sat nav during the summer will show time of arrival incorrectly (by a factor of the hours related to the zone you've chosen), traffic updates work normally

if the analogue clock has slipped back (1 min a year on average) and or is an hour out and won't get over itself. At 11:57 unlock the car and open the boot. Lift the spare wheel cover and in-line with the wheel centre on the right side of the wheel well is an earth strap with a 13mm bolt. Undo this bolt (No sparks, no issues, no drama). Lift for a few seconds and at 11:59.58 seconds push it against the body and wind in the bolt and tighten (whilst maintaining good contact of the strap to the body). As you reconnect the power the clock spins to 12:00

Polar Bear

Thank you for your addition to the thread and subject

In the US, Daimler or MBUSA (not sure the entity that made the decision) elected not to created maps after 2016, but I think they continue to create maps longer in the ECE and support old systems for a decent amount of time unlike here in the US.

In any event, I am still trying to determine the conditions in which some of these behaviors apply and it is interesting that the TIPS article stopped being effective suddenly.

I do know an engineering menu exists in the NTG3 by looking at the firmware files, but I am unaware if it can be accessed externally from the unit (i.e connecting to the JTAG and invoking it from the console in QNX, or having a specific file on the PCMCIA media they it would read to enable it). I am still researching and you post is appreciated!

khwaja

Hi I had the same problem with my W221; followed ALL the steps in the manual;no luck with adjusting the dashboard clock.
Then I read about switching ignition on in key position 1 in this Forum(unfortunately not mentioned in the manual).I did this and then followed
all the steps in the manual ie "vehicle -settings-time-time(again)-adjust time in hours & minutes-press command
switch & the dashboard clock started adjusting itself immediately.

EasyPhil

I had a problem with the date being somewhere in 2003 and the car was made in 2007! I updated the date by doing it in an underground garage because the problem with the date has to do with the GPS. The date is now set correctly.

DaleB

Although why we’d care about the date at all is a mystery...

johnheerhold

I just had this issue but when i changed my battery...it fixed itself.

Polar Bear

I just confirmed a fix for the NTG 3.0 date/time issue that will restore 100% functionality. I will post more details shortly.

Mercedes-w221

sounds good can wait to here what to do, cant understand mercedes dont do anything to this problem

Is it the sw update in the enginering menu you have done ?

Polar Bear

Mercedes-w221

Thats so Nice 😃 Will this software Also work on Europe commands ?

Polar Bear

Indeed it will.