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I have an interesting problem. Having recently purchased a 2019 S450 (W222) I am now getting acquainted with the mirriad of different functions it has to offer. When it cam eo t voice control of the navigation and/or radio etc I found a problem. At first it would not respond to my commands at all ie "Navigate to' or 'station XX' etc however by chance and out of shear frustration I discovered it all works but only if I yell !?!?!? Yes, yell or say the command very loudly 'NAVIGATE TO' My question now is can you adjust the sensitivity of the microphone on the S450 ??? If not what else could be causing this rather strange symptom. Maybe my car is just deaf ha ha ha
Not sure about voice command voice setting, it's normal, and I suspect CarPlay would be your friend here (it's flawless); Congrats on the new W222 ... here are couple things and tips I did when I switched from pre-facelift to facelift W222 (hope this will help):
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Activate the Mercedes Me app; schedule remote cooling/heating from distance before leaving home or after-work --> That was a big upgrade for me. Lock and Unlock for my apply watch when car is in the garage was also great. It takes exactly 1 second (2 max) for the car to respond (as fast as a text message over the 4G/LTE network). Surprisingly it works faster on the Apple watch than the phone. When cooling/heating pre-conditioning is activated, both the phone and watch shows the interior temperature of the car.
Use Apple CarPlay for some complicated navigation (this was a must have feature that I need in every car going forward). This will improve voice command too.
Update the Mercedes car navigation system and use it for most routes. The route projections on the Head-Up Display (HUD) are effective, and having maps displayed on the driver screen frees up the entertainment screen for music, massage seat controls, and other functions during long trips.
Got the headlights ILS+ feature encoded; big upgrade in my view not just for ILS but the facelift has improved brighter lights overall even before I coded ILS+.
Fine-tune the music settings really well, especially if you have 3D Burmester, but even without, each cabin is different and hence I suggest coding it your optimal liking. If it's 3D Burmester, make sure the Driver Seat VIP sound setting is activating/on. I would adjust the music setting for any car sound settings to follow the smile curve for Bass - Mid - Treble
Invest in the best tires you could get for the car!. The tires on mine were good and had good life on them; but comfort is a must-have feature so I got the best ones (in my view) for the W222 (CONTINENTAL EXTREMECONTACT DWS 06 "PLUS).
Treat the interior leather with some zero-scent cleaner and conditioner (I use Sonax foamer cleaner, no scent and safe on perforated leather) followed by Sonax Creme for conditioning). First, that maintains the original leather scent of Mbenz if the car still has it, and it also leaves original no-shine non-oily surface touch and look). Do not use randomly other products, as you will lose the Mbenz factory smell forever then. Take care of the W222 leather really well.. Maintenance is the key before the leather deteriorates over time under heat/sun which is common "You can see that commonly in the older 2014 high mileage W222s now".
Fill up and enjoy the Mbenz perfume bottle with your preferred product ... I tried a few options on the market and settled on one that's designed specifically for cars (ETONNER ED50) and smells even better than factory.
If it's preowned, do NOT shampoo-clean the original car carpet under the mats unless needed. That's were some of the original/factory new-MBenz smell (just as discussed for the leather) comes from. I didn't need to do that to mine as there were winter mats insulted all it's lifetime.; Deep high suction Dyson vacuum dry-cleaning was enough.
Lastly, of course, give it a light polishing correction or hire a Pro to do it and give a ceramic coating finish for longevity (I use on all my cars the Graphene Ceramic Coating Advanced by Adams, 9-years and >10H hardness). It beads water, rain and dust like nothing else. Reviewed by most YouTubers with best to excellent results. I am not a fan of PPF as it reduced the shine of the paint in my view.
Good luck with your new toy; enjoy it. Feel free to chat anytime for any questions, and congrats again on your new W222.
Thanks so much for your feedback especially S_W222 who has made some great suggestions. There has however been a development and I've infact solved the problem. Ultimately I went back to the guys at MB Star Motors in Perth WA where I purchased the car. Their chief mechanic is a guru on the S450 and they told me straight away it actually was a fairly common problem on the S450 W222's. There are two small microphones just above the sun visors on both the driver and passenger side. It appeared my drivers side microphone as not performing properly and by yelling or talking louder the passenger microphone was compensating for it. The problem is a small white membrane/filter that is held in place, behind the plastic grill of the microphone by a black rubber insert.
Over time apparently this white membrane can go hard and start to restrict the sound passing through it. I was told to pop off the plastic grills (the pop off with a firm fingernail under the edges) remove this membrane (I also left the rubber insert out as well) and put the plastic grills back without them.
Low and behold the car now hears my commands perfectly with a normal tone voice. Did the the same to the passenger side just to be sure and now every command for the navigation, phone call, radio station change etc is understood first time everytime!! Did a couple of telephone calls to the Mrs and friends just to check if sound quality might have been affected at all and they said they could hear me loud and clear. So problem solved.
Have to say I have been loving my new S450 and can't wait to get it out for a cruise each day. It is such a high quality car, built so well and the motor (I have the M256 straight 6 engine with EQ boost in mine. Same as current model S450) is just sooooo smooth, quiet and responsive. The car is a true mechanical masterpiece.
Last edited by Reddesire360; 08-07-2023 at 05:56 AM.
I believe I also have the facelift version with the AMG line package (wheels front bumper etc) Will certainly take up some of your suggestions here. As yet I have not activated Mercedes Me app yet although keen to do so. Will need to go to the local dealer to sort that out as it is unfortunately not that intuitive to setup!?!?!
However could you clarify this one for me please?
Got the headlights ILS+ feature encoded; big upgrade in my view not just for ILS but the facelift has improved brighter lights overall even before I coded ILS+.
Last edited by Reddesire360; 08-07-2023 at 06:01 AM.
Its a beautifully smooth motor and the EQ boost adds to the quietness and smoothness of it while running. Car is also very quick off the mark when it needs to be.
Very nice! So strange to see the SWB since we don't have them here
No SWB options. Thats a shame. I looked at a couple of LWB cars and you do feel the extra length. Its just long enough to become a problem in your average garage I do like all the comfort package extra's you can get in the rear of the LWB models but I figure my kiddies and friends who sit in the back will just have to tough it out without the TV or ottama recliner
No SWB options. Thats a shame. I looked at a couple of LWB cars and you do feel the extra length. Its just long enough to become a problem in your average garage I do like all the comfort package extra's you can get in the rear of the LWB models but I figure my kiddies and friends who sit in the back will just have to tough it out without the TV or ottama recliner
Here its not really an issue, its still short enough to fit in a standard US garage which is ~ 20 feet deep.
Here its not really an issue, its still short enough to fit in a standard US garage which is ~ 20 feet deep.
Ha ha that's not surprising given the huge SUV and 4X4 cabs you drive. We have them appearing here in Melbourne. Beasts such as the RAMs and Chevy trucks. They are huge on the road and there are calls to ban them as they take up multiple parking bays in shopping centres and street parking.
08-06-2023, 03:28 AM
My new 2019 S450 (W222)
