SL-Class (R230) 2003 -- 2012: Discussion on the SL500, SL550, SL600

SL/R230: Updating 2008 SL 550 command unit

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Old Mar 13, 2021 | 10:00 PM
  #1  
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Updating 2008 SL 550 command unit

What are the pros and cons of replacing the command unit with more up to date electronics. Members on the site keep saying how out of date the system is yet I see people selling these out of date command units from $600 -$1000 on eBay. The radio is fine just prefer better gps and blue tooth capabilities
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Old Mar 14, 2021 | 08:03 AM
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Originally Posted by KCG
What are the pros and cons of replacing the command unit with more up to date electronics. Members on the site keep saying how out of date the system is yet I see people selling these out of date command units from $600 -$1000 on eBay. The radio is fine just prefer better gps and blue tooth capabilities
You can just do what I did and buy a bluetooth streaming module, that also gives USB and AUX, this can allow you to then add DAB if you like.


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bluetooth...kAAOSwaPFfz1qZ
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Old Mar 14, 2021 | 09:50 AM
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Be sure to update your US maps to 2016 before judging the NAV unit. It's dated, but works well. I use it regularly. Like A1EK, I added the bluetooth module above. Not perfect, but works well enough.
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Old Mar 14, 2021 | 09:57 AM
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Originally Posted by chad500sl
Be sure to update your US maps to 2016 before judging the NAV unit. It's dated, but works well. I use it regularly. Like A1EK, I added the bluetooth module above. Not perfect, but works well enough.
how can I tell what map version I have
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Old Mar 14, 2021 | 10:06 AM
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The NAV DVD is in the trunk, behind a small carpet door. Eject it and look. For me it always takes a couple of attempts. my car still had the original 2005 DVD in it. You can burn one with a DVD-R at slow speed.

Last edited by chad500sl; Mar 16, 2021 at 07:34 AM. Reason: Change +R to DVD-R
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Old Mar 14, 2021 | 11:39 AM
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Originally Posted by chad500sl
The NAV DVD is in the trunk, behind a small carpet door. Eject it and look. For me it always takes a couple of attempts. my car still had the original 2005 DVD in it. You can burn one with a DVD+R at slow speed.

ok just checked my DVD is 2006-2


I don’t think this is the latest version, I’ve checked eBay and it’s not very clear on which dvd I should get






Last edited by KCG; Mar 14, 2021 at 12:10 PM.
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Old Mar 14, 2021 | 01:18 PM
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PM'ed you with info about 2016 ISO. When you do the update it can take a while as it also updates the NAV unit. If your battery is weak, be sure to hookup a charger just in case. I updated from a 2005 to a 2016 on two cars without issue. Good luck!
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Old Mar 14, 2021 | 01:33 PM
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Originally Posted by chad500sl
Be sure to update your US maps to 2016 before judging the NAV unit. It's dated, but works well. I use it regularly. Like A1EK, I added the bluetooth module above. Not perfect, but works well enough.
I agree about the maps, I have the whole of Europe on mine. I have to say the maps navigation is very good, almost slightly better I think than Waze or Google Maps, however interms of functional and traffic it's far from the modern phone sat navs!
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Old Mar 15, 2021 | 12:40 PM
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Fellow Europeans: as shared elsewhere on this forum, I simply swapped a Western Europe 2004 DvD for a 2019 DvD without any issues. Sofar has worked flawlessly in 5 countries.

Once or twice a year, navigation fails to start up; a re-start (of the engine) solves that (pulling and reinserting the fuse behind the seat is too clumsy).
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Old Mar 16, 2021 | 03:10 AM
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Originally Posted by chad500sl
PM'ed you with info about 2016 ISO. When you do the update it can take a while as it also updates the NAV unit. If your battery is weak, be sure to hookup a charger just in case. I updated from a 2005 to a 2016 on two cars without issue. Good luck!
Can a 2003 R230 be update as well?
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Old Mar 16, 2021 | 06:32 AM
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Sorry, I can't help with the 2003-2004 command. I've only tracked the 2005-2008 (NTG1) as that is what I have. Hopefully someone knowledgeable will speak up.
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Old Mar 16, 2021 | 07:36 AM
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Fixing a mistake above, use a DVD-R. I checked my car and realized I'd misspoken earlier, DVD-R is what worked.
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Old Mar 17, 2021 | 07:53 PM
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Hi Chad, I finally was able to burn a disk, loaded it and it appeared to work. I took the car out for a drive and after a couple of miles when I hit the gas the engine got loud with no exceleration, I thought the car was going to stall. I returned home and installed the original disk and the car ran fine. Wondering if the burned disk had an impact on the computer system or just a coincidence.
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Old Mar 18, 2021 | 07:02 AM
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The COMMAND and NAV unit are completely independent of the drive systems. They communicate over MOST, which only has audio, telephone, etc on it. My guess is you are having intermediate issues with the throttle sender. I've seen people post similar issues related to the throttle that cause "limp mode". Thankfully I've not had those issue and am ignorant about them.

I've been using the 2016 map in two SLs for 4 years without issue.
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