Heisenberg

Posting to confirm that DVDinmotion.com indeed has a working software patch for the refresh S class. I was skeptical since the website only mentions NTG5.0, but their coder has indeed cracked NTG5.5. Software was easy to install and load via .bin file on a USB stick, it masquerades as a contact which can be imported into COMAND system then installed. Took 5 minutes, well worth the $199 - it's cheaper than the aftermarket harness and no need to tear apart the console to install it.

I had Bimmerguru's unlock software in my 2015, it worked great and inquired with them first, but was told it is not working with NTG5.5 and the a full rewrite of the code would be necessary with no time frame provided.

HAWKiS63

Good to hear. Can you check if online functions, like internet browing, also work during driving?

In general there seems a huge problem with that anyway (free webbrowsing disabled error, see other thread)

Heisenberg

Yes web browser, navi data entry, etc all work while driving.
I have AT&T mobile so have the car as a device on the shared data plan ($10/mo)

HAWKiS63

Great, apparantly the disabled web browsing might be a (temporary) EU problem. We'll wait and see.

AlphaG

How do you play video in your car with this mod?

Heisenberg

I use a SD card with MP4 files, USB stick should work too.

Should be able to play Youtube or other video using the Internet Browser too. However, the browser is so outdated and difficult to use that it is not generally a viable option. Youtube site says it will 'shortly stop supporting this browser and it should be upgraded' or something like that... of course there is no way to upgrade it. It seems about 50x slower than it should be based on internet speed when tethering another device, so the software and hardware are just not up to task. Which is pretty sad considering you can buy a decent Android tablet for < $100 these days.

HAWKiS63

It is indeed unbelievable that viewing video in/via the browser is so difficult...........especially in the facelift cars with COMAND 5*5 it is a crime. In my pre facelift car, with COMAND 5*2, it worked acceptable with most movies/clips. At the moment, however, the whole browser is not functioning at all (at least here in EU), because of a back-end problem(?).

Watching video via USB, SD, etc works still flawlessly I must say, as is the DVB-T2 tuner, which is more critical in reception quality than the previous DVB-T, but ok, that is not due to MB but to the broadcaster overhere (KPN in NL, in Germany it works like a charm, even at high Autobahn speeds!).

[of course all done by the co-driver! ]

Heisenberg

Just select the video source (USB or SD), or DVD or TV-tuner if your car has one. Video will only play in a thumbnail. In the options off to the right there is one for 'full screen'. I have realized that after starting the car that full screen option cannot be selected, rather you have to put it in gear, than back into park which enables full screen option. You can activate that either while in park or after shifting back into drive and it will continue playing while the car is moving.

Same applies to the internet browser.

I did let the DVDinmotion folk know about this extra step, not sure if it is a bug they can fix or a necessary extra step to get around the car's software, but it isn't a big deal at all and product does work as promised.

If anyone is considering it and wants to see how it works I can make a video and post it to YouTube.