zitsky

Note I'm describing the behavior of the mbConnect app, not trying this in the vehicle. I know it's dynamic. I just didn't think it would change in just 15-20 minutes. I was just planning out a future trip and asked mbConnect for a route from NC to PA. It gives me a route that avoids DC / 495. 15-20 minutes later I wanted to go back and zoom into it but when I checked the navigation route in mbConnect, it routed me right up 95/495 by Washington, DC. I was trying to avoid DC and go up through Virginia/MD/WV.

That drives me a bit batty. I know the system is dynamic but if I get a good routing that avoids traffic I'd like to be able to save it. Don't our cars have an avoid geographic location feature? I guess I'll play with it.

BTW, we just added a 2024 BMW 530i to our garage. It has a lot of tech and is interesting in a lot of ways, but I prefer the drive and the systems in my 2020 W222. Plus I find the folks here on this forum more helpful than the BMW forums. All they say is "read the manual herp derp". The manual which I have partially read says stuff like "Do step 1 then maybe step 3. Go to step 7 next." The Mercedes manual just says "Tell your butler to read this book."

superswiss

I don't know what the MB connect app uses for routing, but it's unrelated to the vehicle. If you are planning a trip, you probably just wanna use Google Maps, Apple Maps etc. to get an idea of the route. However, traffic is by definition dynamic. It can change from one minute to the other, so planning a route in advance is somewhat pointless. By the time you are actually leaving, the traffic situation will look completely different and the best route may no longer be the one you've planned in advance and the traffic situation will change again once you are on the way and a new alternate faster route may present itself.

I believe BMW has a feature where you can plan a route online and then send the exact route to the car. I suppose this is a nice feature if you are plotting a specifically scenic route and are not concerned with traffic. With MB's app you can really only send the destination to the car and then let the car come up with the route dynamically based on the current traffic situation, road closures and whatever. The closest you can get is by using waypoints that avoid specific areas. There is an option to exclude geographic areas, but if I remember correctly this is only from within the car where you can say avoid the current route for the next x miles and it finds an alternate route.

If you are looking to drive scenic or interesting routes, take a look at the ROADS app by Porsche or calimoto. The latter is more geared towards motorcycles, but both of these apps have a library of great roads/routes and users can upload new roads/routes, and then they navigate you through the exact route. Both support CarPlay/Android Auto if I remember correctly. These are nice apps for fun driving.

zitsky

Thanks. I’m looking for a feature on my 2001 C240 where you could select roads or routes to not take.

i totally understand that traffic changes but I shouldn’t see two different routes 100 miles apart with no way to select one or the other.

I will see if I can set up an avoid area.