rhwd2003

So when entering an address into the navigation it only lets me choose a range of house numbers and not the exact house number I am going too... anyway around this or is this the only way?

AMGPilot

Upgrading to NTG 2.5 is the only way to get address level maping. Comand 1.0 (what is in all E55's) only does block level mapping

LB63

My 2008 E63 only allows a range of house numbers too.

emoving

Thats why MB navi is a complete joke. Worst in the business.

Limen

220S

fwiw, they changed the system in 2009. The 2009 W211s got the new COMAND and Sat Nav that's the same as the current W212 system.

But a crappy change they made on the W212 is to not allow input while driving. At least in the 2009 (and earlier) you can still input addresses while driving the car.

grantwoodtx

If you have access to STAR that can be changed

grantwoodtx

The Comand in the wife's new ML550 is awesome. It has media interface, HD radio and lots of other goodies. Maps are 3D or heads up or north and are rich graphically. Funny thing is the voice is still the stern english speaking Fräulein

AMGPilot

Yup that's Comand NTG 2.5. I converted my 2004 W211 E55 to it and it's a HUGE improvement in everything especially sound quality

efivefiveamg

Mind telling me how you upgraded?

AMGPilot

I removed all the Comand 1 devices, installed all the Comand NTG 2.5 Devices, add a wiring sub harness and then starcoded the components

220S

If you can upgrade, then do it. I have the new one too, and you get all the integrated media stuff, HDD instead of DVD, and real time traffic. Plus the main thing is a true voice control that works with radio, nav, telephone, etc.. Not sure if you can upgrade that but probably.....

Nasty50-Five

You haven't driven in a Lexus yet have you. MB navi is a simpler navi but much easier to use, I think anyway. Lexus navi is way too complicated and not to mention the voice recognition is a joke.

pearlpower

Lexus>Benz or BMW every single time in nav. What, you test a ES300 system? MB could not produce a nav system worthy of an Iphone app, yet alone one for their cars. Nobody buys a German car for the nav system. Kia even has them beat. As long as it take me within a few blocks of my destination I'm good, gheesh, I'm not that inept yet. I still remember the days of a Thomas Guide.

06E55

I honestly don't mind the Nav system in my 06 E55... It's obviously not the best out there, but it gets the job done...

Scott Lenger

Keep a Garmin in the console...$150 bucks.

emoving

Lexus is one of the best navs in the business.

sack5000

+1 the lexus owners brag about the navi but they never use voice control. they can't input while driving, either.

sack5000

the '09 E63 allows you to enter a specific house number and you can input addresses while driving. The '09 is better than the '07 but not significantly.

grantwoodtx

DO you have any pics? Do you also have the part numbers for the harness and AGW needed to do this?

AMGPilot

I did not do a writeup it's very straight forward but I suggest getting a 7 day subscription to WIS and learning how to get the info you need from it.

Parts were about $4800. You need to remove anything on the most ring that is NOT NTG 2.5 (In other words EVERYTHING that is in the car stock. Radio, Audio Gateway (Amp/tuner unit in the trunk) CTEL module, SDAR module (If installed) Lignuatronic module (If installed), CD Changer, Ipod Interface (If installed) Nav Processor/DVD Drive (If installed) Bluetooth Phone interface (If installed) You replace all that with NTG 2.5 headunit (which has Nav, Linguatronic, Bluetooth and DVD Changer built in), Main Amp, Sub Amp, SDAR/HD Radio module, Media Interface (Ipod interface) and a Conversion wiring harness from Comandonline.co.uk

All the parts are available from Comand Online except for the head unit and the SDAR which you can get from a vendor in Socal.

Install took me 8 hours going very slowly, if I did it again I can probably do it in 4 hours

Sound quality is what this car should have had from the start. The sub amp makes a HUGE difference and the main amp is much better EQ'd. You will need to do some star coding on the system and thats where it get's interesting. Everyone I talked to about doing this said that you couldn't access the system via STAR, and that's incorrect. You can, You just have to tell STAR that you are working on a ML163, it won't see anything in the car except for the audio gateway

220S

^^^
I have the NTG 2.5. What kind of star coding can be done to get it "interesting?" Are there some menu items accessible like DVD Video in motion (like the Euro version)? Anything else? The only thing that seems disabled in mine (US version) is the DVD in motion.

I did listen and play around with an E55 non-NTG 2.5 and you're right there's a big difference. I'd say it's worth the time and $$ to go with the conversion. The pre-2009 systems are poor.

AMGPilot

The Interesting part is how you have to access the AGW

Mantooth

+1!

GregMB

Had a disappointing discovery today. My "new" 2006 E55 nav system is a lot older than my "old" 2005 E500 was.... Apparently when I bought the car as a CPO in 2009 they updated the nav firmware and gave me the latest (2009) map DVD.

So in reality newer car now is a lot less capable than my old one. For starters, the road I live on isn't even on the map DVD... My house is considered "off road". LOL!

Also, a feature that i used to enjoy was being able to hit the "mute" button while the nav voice was speaking to mute all announcements. This was useful when I was driving somewhere familiar but still wanted to track my arrival time with the nav system. My current system will only mute temporarily....at the next required turn, she comes back on to tell me what to do. I'm guessing this has noting to do with the map DVD but must be a firmware upgrade that my old car got that my 2006 never had?

Anyway, I guess I'll bring my car in at some point for the latest firmware updates for all systems, the start looking eBay or somewhere for a 2011 map DVD that doesn't cost $250.


-G