Phil Mcnaste

Today started out great! Until I discovered a minor flaw on the cup holder of my 2006 SL500. A small piece of plastic broke off the cupholder exposing a small spring.
No big deal right? Wrong! I placed an unopened Diet Coke can in the holder and the damn spring poked a pinhole in the can. Holy Sh*t! Aerosol beverage was now spraying EVERYWHERE.

To make matters worse, the spring had penetrated the can preventing its removal from the cupholder! Panic quickly set in watching the cold Cola Mist douse the dash, the windshield, the instrument cluster and the COMAND/NAV screen. It all took place in seconds, but I guestimate 4-5 ounces of fluid entered the cockpit. After an hour of cleaning up the mess, I noticed all the instruments were working, but the COMAND/NAV/AUDIO were dead. Interestingly, the screen does come up with the MBZ logo when you open the trunk, but otherwise it is black/silent.

I checked all the fuses behind the passenger seat and all checked out fine. I noticed that the diagrams I have seen of the COMAND connector has a fuse in it, so that's next on the list. I'm not sure what that fuse actually protects, since the screen apparently still functions But before I tear the COMAND unit out, I thought I would run this by the forum experts and see what you had to say.

bobterry99

I am not a forum expert but have chosen to reply nevertheless.

There's just one fuse for your COMAND. It's a 15 or 20-amp fuse located in the rear fuse box.

It might be worthwhile to disassemble COMAND, clean any traces of dried cola, reassemble, and hope for the best. But personally, I'd start looking at eBay for a used replacement.

chad500sl

Holding the command power button for 5-10 seconds causes a reset. Unlikely to help, but worth a try.

Buying and installing a new cup holder is fairly easy. There are great YouTube videos of removing the commands unit and cup holders

Frederick NL

OMG that sounds horrible! I just felt I want to share my sympathy with you. PLUS I have just decided to NEVER EVER take along a fuzzy beverage with me in the car.

Phil Mcnaste

Thanks for the sympathy and quick replies! Chad, I was crossing my fingers as I tried the reset you suggested, but no joy. I will double-check the fuses behind the passenger seat, but the first inspection showed no anomalies. Agreed! The COMAND needs to come out for the suggested inspection, cleaning, and/or replacement. Who knew that a tiny little defect in the cupholder would cause this disaster!

Phil Mcnaste

UPDATE:
Before actually pulling the unit, I tried messing around with the COMAND buttons and whaddya know, the SAT screen came alive showing my ESN and the phone # to hook up with Sirius. Not really interested in Sirius, but the screen coming to life again A) surprised the hell out of me and B) gave me a glimmer of hope that all is not lost.

Next, I pried up the power/volume switch and tried to clean it as Bob suggested. All of a sudden, the CD player screen came alive! The CD played music but the sound kept cutting in and out. The more I messed with the volume pot, the better it got, and now the sound is perfect again! Still no NAV, MAP, Radio, but I was able to take the COMAND off life support. I think I will have another go at the switches again with alcohol or contact cleaner. The switches are similar in style to the typical TV remote with a soft conducting material completing the circuit via exposed traces on the board.

Frederick NL

Tough stuff.

Phil Mcnaste

UPDATE update: Miracles do happen. I am happy to announce that my COMAND is out of surgery, healthy once again with ALL buttons and functions operating at 100%. I was getting ready to spend another kilobuck getting it functional again, but for a dime's worth of isopropyl-OH and Q-tips it lives again. Thanks everyone for the comments.

Frederick NL

Congrats... how did you actually get behind all those buttons?