The NAV in the car is almost unforgivable... it was unable to route me from NYC back to DC.. it kept saying "unable to calculate route" then I called MB assist and they told me that it can't direct to routes off of the current CD. It made me so angry. So i had to pay $2 for teleaid directions. really a terrible unit. BUT the car was soooo much fun.. I have the passport SR7 with laser shifters running.. it worked perfectly.. avoided 3 speed traps!

I trust your nav isn't DVD based. That is the problem - you need regional discs applynig to whereever you travel. The nav disc should, however, be able to plot major freeways.

--Dan

I have all the discs and tried it with each other them in the unit. I am pretty good with that sort of thing, so I was not doing anything wrong.

what a pain in the ***. Can u just set it by the map?

Not too familiar with the east coast disc set but I don't think MB includes national routing information on their CD's. This is the ONLY area in which BMW has a superior navigation system... each CD has national highway info and can route you to major destinations which don't exist within your CD's region. I don't believe MB does this, thus it wouldn't be able to route you to NYC because it doesn't know anything about it. Perhaps I'm wrong?

Is a DVD-based navigation system offered in any '03 Benz-- S, C or E?

i think the later cars will have DVD navigation..

man mercedes is extremely late!

my honda odyssey for 2000 i think .. maybe 2001 has dvd based nav!

The current MB "Command" navigation system is driven by CD's. Each CD covers a few states, no more. I understand that crossing the border between CD's creates major problems. A friend told me that driving from NY to Pennsylvania required a disc change, which means that route planning is difficult, if not impossible. (Phil, if I have this wrong, speak up.)

The Jaguar system uses a DVD, and there's a world of difference. Among other things, one disc covers the entire US. I'm sorry to say that the Jag system puts the MB Command system to shame.

I understand that the MB "Command II" system will be DVD driven, so I would expect that this issue will disappear when the new system arrives, but that is not expected for at least several months.

The 2003 M-Class has a DVD based navi system.

...............this is well known problem with a solution that Mb apparently will not adopt till at least 2004. I have a friend that has a Euro command and simply ignores his comand navigation and uses its CD slot for audio Cd's. He bought a panasonic DVD navigation and integrated it with the comand and it uses only one disc for the entire country. Trip planning is so easy...........you can enter only the telephone of wjere you are going and the system will calculate it. You can enter all info for trip planning by voice. I thought about getting one, but I guess I'm too loyal or cheap to just ignore the comand that I have.

Ted

jaguar?? my honda does that!!

Had the same problem with the NAV in Europe when we left Germany and went over the border into Austria. Most astonishing thing though was after we got back in Germany the command could not locate Munich. We tried Munchen and every other permeation of Munich we could think of. Finally just put the name of the hotel in Munich we were heading to and it worked like a charm. DVD based NAV can't get here fast enough.

" I have a friend that has a Euro command and simply ignores his comand navigation and uses its CD slot for audio Cd's. He bought a panasonic DVD navigation and integrated it with the comand and it uses only one disc for the entire country. Trip planning is so easy...........you can enter only the telephone of wjere you are going and the system will calculate it. You can enter all info for trip planning by voice."

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Sure would like to see pictures and learn how it was done. After spending over $100,000 for a car, another thousand or two to get to this result would be worth it unless it messes up the interior with wires, screens, brackets, etc.

Can you get us more information?