2003_sl55

Can anyone give me instructions on how to turn-on my COMAND voice system in my R230? I bought my car used and unfortunately I did not get the COMAND manual. I would really like to use the feature of speaking to the car. I also have a BMW 745LI and I can press a button on my steering wheel and just speak and it would work. However, I cannot seem to find a button on my SL that is similar to the one on my BMW. Someone, please give me instructions on turning on this feature. Uunfortunately I am in a different country and cannot get to a dealer to order a manual.

andytsai996

are you sure you have the voice command option? It's a stick (like the cruise control switch) on the right side behind the shift up bottom if you don't then I guess you don't have the option. Sorry, it doesn't come as standard.

elbowyeish

exactly what he said. it looks just like the cruise control stick. it's on the right side of the steering wheel. you pull it towards you and it will make a beep sound. then you speak your voice commands. if you don't have the "stick" then that means your car doesn't have the voice command features. sorry.

Leej

Hi, I know this is an old thread, but I need some help with the VOICE Command.

I just purchased a 2008 SL550, I have the voice command stick and there are voice command "tips" in the system menu on the command unit. However, when I pull the Voice Command stick, nothing happens. The previous owner said they never used voice command and didn't know if the car actually has it.

My questions are:
1. Is there a possibility that I DON'T have voice command even though I have the stick?
2. Is it just not working (all other functions working fine: phone with Mercedes Bluetooth module working great).
3. Do I need to enable it somewhere?
4. Is it possible the volume is just turned way down on the voice command????

I'm definitely a newbie with this car (I have had several other much older Mercedes, but none with voice command) and I am a newbie on this forum, but I did do some searching and found some info, but mainly on replacing the command and voice command units. The answers to my questions are probably already out on the forum, but I have tried to look and I'm hoping it is some stupid mistake I'm making and someone will take pity and help me out with some advice.

Any help or advice would be much appreciated. THANKS.

Lee
08 SL550

Rudeney

If you have the stalk, you have Linguitronic. Does the radio volume drop after you pull the stalk? If so, then it coudl be that the voice volume is truned down - just turn the volume wheel up when the radio volume goes down to see if you can adjust it.

Leej

Rodney

Thanks for the reply. Yes I have the stalk. However, when I pull the stalk, the radio stays the same volume. Its like the stalk does nothing?

Any other ideas? Could it be turned off somewhere in a setting?

Thanks

Lee

Rudeney

Your's is a MY2008, right? (BTW, you should add model year and location to your profile in the User Control Panel settings). Yours is an NTG 2.0 COMAND unit, so it might be slightly different from mine which is NTG2.5. On mine, when I pull the lever, the radio mutes and I get a beep with a list of available commands shown on the screen. Note that it takes a few minutes after boot-up of the COMAND unit before Linguitronic will work, so if I pull the lever before that, I just get a message on the screen that states something like "Voice control initializing...".

Like I said, mine is a later version of COMAND, but I think the NTG 2.0 Linguitronic fuinction was pretty much the same. It is possible that the switch itself is bad. There is no user setting to disable Linguitronic, but it can be disabled using SDS. SDS can also test the actuation of the switch to see if that's the problem. One other thing to try is to reset the audio system. Press and hold the power button on the COMAN unit until it resets. Sometimes that wakes-up misbehaving devices.

Leej

Rodney, THANKS. Yes, I'm pretty sure mine is MY2008, NTG 2.0 COMAND. I'll try resetting COMAND unit this afternoon, and then look for ways to test the switch. When I pull the switch, I get nothing (not voice, radio doesn't get quiet, no beep, nothing on the screen, no "initializing message or anything...)

I'll let you know how it goes resetting...

Also, I did add model/year and location in profile - thanks for the reminder.

THANKS again.

Lee

Rudeney

I saw your post on benzworld, too. A lot of us are on both forums, but there are also some that only use one or the other, so maybe you'll get some better answers.

Leej

I still can't get my voice control to do anything.

I tried resetting the COMAND unit (holding the on button till it reboots), but this didn't have any affect on the voice control; when I pull the stick, nothing happens.

It might be the stick/switch, however when I go into the the COMAND system menu, and go to the Voice Control, and select "Start New Individualization", it doesn't do anything there as well (no beeps, no voice instructions, radio stays at same level). This makes me think it is more than just the switch? I don't have SDS, but it may be in my future.

Any ideas?

Lee
08 SL550

Rudeney

It could be that the Linguitronic module is faulty. I think when COMAND goes into individualization mode, it hands that off to Linguitronic. First, check fuse 64 on the rear panel. If that's good, then you could check the Linguitronic module itself to see if it's disconnected or look for any obvious wiring problems. It's located under the panel behind the center console. To remove that, open the console lid lid and remove the two bolts (T20 Torx). Here's the WIS doc:

http://benzbits.com/r230/Linguitronic.pdf

Leej

Still no luck in getting Linquitronic to do anything.

I have checked fuse 64 (and the contacts) as suggested above, and all looked good. I did take a look at the Linguitronic module under the rear armrest, and all wiring looked fine (I did re-seat the main wiring connector just for good measure), but still no change.

When I pull the voice stalk, or try the "individualization" mode on the COMAND unit, nothing happens (radio stays at same volume, no beeps, and no voice prompts).

I haven't tested the switch in the stalk, but I would assume individualization would start even if it was just the switch (maybe not)? I also presume SDS might give me some additional insight (I currently don't have SDS).

From what I've heard, I'm not really missing much, but it would be nice to know why it isn't working. If anyone has any other suggestions please let me know.

Thanks

Lee
2008 SL550

Rudeney

Yeah, probably time for some diagnostics with SDS or at least something that can read beyond OBDII codes.