Bilbo7

Well it is an often discussed here BUT I wish to upgrade my NAVI map EUROPE 2014/2015 V11.0 on my NTG 4.5 COMAND that shows all petrol stations and parking etc as well as a list of the nearest petrol stations when the fuel gauge reaches reserve

To do this my local dealership want £160 OUCH and the car left for hours and say its normally done at a service. It’s recently had one at the North of England MB dealership where I bought the car and they kept telling me it can all be done via Mercedes Me. Now I find that’s simply not true as stated by Mercedes Me.

Out of the 7 part downloaded to the car upgrade package available on Mercedes Me the SL63 only can have 1 due to lack of hardware and that is the traffic information and for that I will only pay a cut price of £90 as I do not get the other 6 items that include the latest NAVI map directly downloaded to the car.

The existing out of date traffic is via TOM TOM and I know the new downloaded one available will not be that system according to my local dealership and they say:-

Your car is one of the pre-facelift models. The operating system for this iteration of the car is designated NTG 4.5. The hardware design for the COMAND system was finalised around 13 years ago and has been superseded by several newer variants, including the new NTG 6.0 and 6.1 (also known as MBUX). The latest map version for systems running NTG 4.5 is the 2019/2020 release. It seems Daimler do not intend to release further map updates for systems running NTG 4.5.

So if anyone wondering if a later than V19 will be available this confirms it will nor be so

My map version in my 2015 SL63 AMG is the original "EUROPE 2014/2015 V11.0" early owners never bothered or were never offered the free upgrades therefore upgrades are either "EUROPE 2019 V18.0" & "EUROPE 2019/2020 V19.0"

On the internet there is "EUROPE 2022/2023 V20" that’s sold via a USB or CD’s

A few questions so I can chose between on the WEB download and the MB Dealership

1. Has anyone used these people and does it actually work? https://www.satnavishop.co.uk/merced...2023-703-p.asp
2. That is for Mercedes NTG4.5 & NTG4.7 Sat Nav Map Update Disc UK & Europe 2022-2023 via USB for £90. They have advised me it’s the map only no petrol stations etc
3. On these forums people say the dealership map upgrade via STAR (that I guess is a serial port connection hence so slow) also updates the firmware. So what do you get added in the upgrades that’s not in the above NAVI map? Is this appearance and/or does it retain the petrol stations locations that I would have thought are inbuilt to the NAVI map POI points of interest?
4. My current NAVI map shows parking, road speeds but some out of date minor roads speeds together with location of local petrol stations and when reaching reserve a list of the petrol stations will that be retained on the download version in fact most importantly will they be on the MB Dealership upgrade which would be worth paying the additional £70
5. My NTG 4.5 has a carousel view that shows the rather useless on loaded from CD manual that constantly reads see the paperback manual plus internet that does not seem to work and Mercedes-Benz App and Sirius radio that’s a defunct option being pre DAB that my radio has. Is that pat of the firmware upgrade
6. I know there are 3 generations of NTG 4.5 how do I tell which I have installed?
7. All the above really amounts to what do you get in the firmware upgrade from V11 to V19 NAVI

Any advice will be much welcomed as £160 for the map upgrade that is wrote in 2018 plus another £90 costs £120 more than my 10year old Garmin unit that still has lifetime map and traffic upgrades!

crconsulting

If it were one of my Friends & Family's SL63 AMG, I would tell them not to even fool around and just spend the £160
But to make sure they check/include ANY other firmware updates that may be available for that car.


Since we were talking about engineering menu this morning

Since your car is 2015, most likely Gen 3 (4.7)
It should be fitted to cars produced after March 2014

You should be able to confirm by going into engineering mode:
1 Press and hold down RED PHONE button, the # button and 1 button simultaneously, for longer than 10 seconds to get into engineering mode.
2 Go to Engineering Mode > 3. HU information > 3.1 Navi core information.

The versions of 4.5: (BLD-NR-172 stands for NTG 4.5)
FL Ver.: BLD-NR-172 3.13
FL Ver.: BLD-NR-172 10.07
FL Ver.: BLD-NTG47 stands for NTG 4.7

Use the Back button to reverse out of the menus, go to page 2, press END to get out of the engineering menu.
(and like I told the last person : don't muck around too much in there, as you can really hose your car!)

Good Luck.

tx170754

(and like I told the last person : don't muck around too much in there, as you can really hose your car!)
That is a really good one !

Bilbo7

Hi CrConsulting and thank you for the reply
I did know how to get into engineering mode but failed to appreciate the meaning of HU version numbers and as you rightly say its not a place to mess about in

Mine reads BLG-NTG 47 6.25 being NTG 4.7
That is very interesting as both Mercedes-Benz dealerships say from the cars records its NTG 4.5 but in fact its 4.7 as I kept telling them from the screen appearance etc but told I was wrong

My opinion was based on these web pageshttps://hifimax.net/blog/how-to-check-mercedes-ntg-version/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comand_APS#COMAND-APS_NTG4.7

So anyone have options on

1. what firmware is left to be added if this is the last generation???
2. Also on retention of petrol stations etc if I go the could be dodgy USB stick route!

I note Mr Tode in the related threads below only paid $99 (say £76 verse £160 I was quoted) to the main dealership we in the UK often pay a premium price

Russj

I don't think you'll need any firmware upgrades if you've got NTG 4.7.
I have V19 installed on my 2013 SL63 and it works OK but its old tech and can't really compare with the latest sat navs.
The petrol station database is not brilliant. For example it showed the garage in our village as available when they stopped selling petrol about 10 years ago.
There are way and means of installing a later version of the map for free but do come with risks. I tried and managed to screw things up which put Comand into a loop. Fortunately I have Star so was able to reformat the hard drive partition and load from scratch. All now OK but did have some brown trouser moments!
One thing you might consider would be to go the Android Auto/CarPlay route. A UK company called Integrated automotive sell an excellent box (£450ish) which works seamlessly with Comand.
That way you will get access to Waze or Google maps which are state of the art.
Russ

Bilbo7

Hi Russj
Well last year I found it very good for petrol stations in rural France and Spain hence wanting to retail them. My main complaint with the graphics screen is its well out of my line of vision so I rely to verbal instructions. going to Spain we took my old Gramin as well and in effect both argued over the route
So I am not sure I will benefit from apple play or I will be looking down far too much and that almost caused a problem already but only once. Those POI that the UK calls speed camera or in France zones of Danger are on my IPhone 11 and I have always use is mounted on a bracket that slots in the CD player slot. It retained by the piece slotted in expanding on a thumb screw. That is really good bright red when your too fast and shows your speed in huge numbers and orange when within the correct speed the only downside is it hides a few buttons such as auto switch off on idle the On button and CD controls that I never use but annoyingly the hazard switch that I always use as last car in standing traffic. Going to Spain the Garmin SmartDrive 7" screen was mounted on the CD slot and the IPhone on a RAM mounts Drinks Bottle Holder on the 2 x 650 mile a day trips each way. Once there I used just the Head Unit in the car

I am usually very very good at fast decisions but in this case I am failing common sense say get the V19 update as its known to work and maybe later have the V20 later off the WEB. My skinflint side is annoyed at paying £160 for a map that's written in 2018 that it has to be to be called "EUROPE 2019/2020 V19.0" if it was £90 it would be done by now
Still hopefully the latter will load up some of the 6 bits that Mercedes me will not load one of those is the map anyway!

So next I will ring a few more dealerships for a better price but given they are well down on new car sales etc its unlikely and I get the impression IF it was in for a service it would be cheaper but the sales dealership messed me about on that option as in all I need is Mercedes Me

I will provide feed back later thanks all

Wolfman

The value of upgrading the Comand seems marginal at best, given the limited benefit compared to what you get with your phone.

I would just install a CarPlay module that offers real up-to-date maps, traffic info and easy navigation for gas stations, etc.

JettaRed

iTrader: (1)

Again, can you recommend a product? I found this one and it seems to be compatible, but was wondering if there is something recommended. (I will search the forum.)

https://eurozonetuning.com/products/...0aAjymEALw_wcB

Wolfman

I faced the same issue with our AMG GTC roadster. Given the low production volume of these cars, MB only added CarPlay in MY2020 GT's. We first tried a Joyeauto which was complete crap and then installed a Road Top unit which at least works as advertised. Ours was NTG5.2 but they also make one for NTG4.5.

Reason why this maybe easier as it's sold via Amazon, so the purchase or return (if needed) will be easy. The only issue we encountered is that the sound output bypasses our Burmester sound processor but I can easily flip between BT/USB and CarPlay which is wireless. Given the simpler audio setup in the SL, this may not be an issue...

JettaRed

iTrader: (1)

Awesome! Thanks. It's not only $100 cheaper than the ones I was looking at, but it says it does work with NGT 4.7.

JettaRed

iTrader: (1)

UPDATE: I've had the RoadTop CarPlay module in my 2015 SL400 for about 6 weeks now (guessing) and absolutely love it. It seems to "get better" the more I use it (which is whenever I am driving). It seems much more stable or I realize simple fixes if it seems to hank up. Usually switching the phone's WiFi or Bluetooth off and on "resets" the wireless connection if it seems hung up.

renewgeorgia

Hi, you said it bypassed the "Burmester sound processor" Do you mean because of that, it does not sound as good?
I am very tempted to get something like this. I have the B&O system in my 2013 SL550, and I love the sound from it. Very clear, very loud... My concern is, will the sound go through rhe B&O like an audio input, and be processed and amplified as any other sound? or does this unit do it all itself and its not as good? Anyone know?

Thanks