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Another question. The 2020 E63S Wagon has the old command system and heard many bad things about it. Don't know if that statement is true or not. I did test drive a 2020 GLE580 with the MBUX system that was pretty dam good but I know the E63S won't get that until either late fall with the 2021 coming out. Any impressions on the old 2020 command system would be appreciated.
The pre 2021 system is just fine. MBUX makes everything touch screen capable. I don’t really see what the big deal is other than wanting latest and greatest. As we all know, that’s a losing battle.
Our 2018 E63s had the earlier firmware/hardware and that thing is slower than molasses and had some limitations. But that was resolved in late 18 models and up.
I have used many MBs with the 18/19/20 Comand and 20 models with MBUX.
The question is what you try to get out of the system. Never bothered with voice commands so I can't comment on that. MBUX has user profiles and touch screen (could be considered a Pro or a Con). They also have augmented navigation. This is actually cool and from a guidance standpoint beats all other navigation systems. But in terms of usable info I prefer Waze although it's ugly to look at.
We primarily use Apple CarPlay and for that the old Comand system is better as it uses the full screen while MBUX only fills 2/3rd of the screen real estate. Which is a dumb move. I hope that the new E will finally have wireless CarPlay; if not, there is a $160 adapter that gives you the convenience.
In short, I couldn't care less for MBUX. The primary decision factors for me would be the exterior, engine/performance and suspension changes.
I guess the question would then be is it worth buying a 2020 E63S wagon or wait for 2021? I really don't know what will change other than it will get MBUX. If anyone else has input to the changes to the 2021 E63S wagon please comment.
Voice commands on COMAND 5*5 work fine. Internet search is awful, but for that you use CarPlay/Android Auto. But for changing radio stations and the like, it works well. For phone calls, Android Auto has the edge, but if the phone is not plugged in COMAND works reasonably well.
Voice commands on COMAND 5*5 work fine. Internet search is awful, but for that you use CarPlay/Android Auto. But for changing radio stations and the like, it works well. For phone calls, Android Auto has the edge, but if the phone is not plugged in COMAND works reasonably well.
+1
Regarding Internet features, the COMAND 5*2 was much better, but for the rest it works well. Doubt if the newer MBUX (6) will have bluetooth tehtering to use internet, they probably want to sell more data subscriptions (which are useless, because built-in webbrowsing and TuneIN don't work...............CarPlay AndroidAuto work much better).
BTW, it also has User Profiles (very handy) that remembers lot of user settings.
[QUOTE=Wolfman;7982431]We primarily use Apple CarPlay and for that the old Comand system is better as it uses the full screen while MBUX only fills 2/3rd of the screen real estate. Which is a dumb move. I hope that the new E will finally have wireless CarPlay; if not, there is a $160 adapter that gives you the convenience.
I was not aware of an adapter that will turn the CarPlay wireless. Mind sharing some more info about that?
I was not aware of an adapter that will turn the CarPlay wireless. Mind sharing some more info about that?
I started researching these, just google “wireless carplay adapter” and you’ll see several. So far, looks like they’re all from somewhat questionable Chinese vendors that may just be labeling/marketing another product. They do seem to work okay…but one Amazon reviewer of the “Carlinkit 3.0” product said the sound quality takes a hit versus wired, which would keep me from using it much. I love the high SQ of my Tidal streaming service over the excellent Burmester system in our cars.
Still researching…anyone here have much experience with these in our cars??
I just bought the $77 white USB-C only version off Amazon to try out, will report back how well it works. I've only used wired CarPlay twice in 3 months since buying the car. I find MBUX good enough to not really need CarPlay.
I find it difficult to use any other navigation system after getting used to Waze. I can’t tell you how many times it’s saved me from speed traps or routed me around a traffic jams. I also prefer to use the streaming music services on my phone (satellite sounds terrible), and news apps like CNBC. I’d also rather just deal with Siri than learn another voice command system as well. In other words, I guess I don’t care how good a car’s system is because its never going to have whats on my phone. Although, I’m glad MBUX works well for all the other non-nav/entertainment related functions.
I agree, I meant that bluetooth connection to MBUX is good enough for me, easy to talk to Siri and give it commands while playing streaming Apple music or podcasts or google maps.
After doing research, im seeing similar things to what bullmrkt said. There seems to be a large audio delay which would be annoying. Audio quality might suffer, but im not seeing as many people talking about that.
Also, these adapters add an additional UI between Command/MBUX and Carplay, which in a nice Mercedes will look tacky, imo.
It seems like a nice convenience to not need to plug in your phone, but the cost of audio quality seems to make it not worth it. I have not heard it in person. My friend who sent me that link already ordered one. I'll go give it a listen once he has it.
Our 2018 E63s had the earlier firmware/hardware and that thing is slower than molasses and had some limitations. But that was resolved in late 18 models and up.
I have used many MBs with the 18/19/20 Comand and 20 models with MBUX.
The question is what you try to get out of the system. Never bothered with voice commands so I can't comment on that. MBUX has user profiles and touch screen (could be considered a Pro or a Con). They also have augmented navigation. This is actually cool and from a guidance standpoint beats all other navigation systems. But in terms of usable info I prefer Waze although it's ugly to look at.
We primarily use Apple CarPlay and for that the old Comand system is better as it uses the full screen while MBUX only fills 2/3rd of the screen real estate. Which is a dumb move. I hope that the new E will finally have wireless CarPlay; if not, there is a $160 adapter that gives you the convenience.
In short, I couldn't care less for MBUX. The primary decision factors for me would be the exterior, engine/performance and suspension changes.
I agree. I really enjoy the 100% full screen CarPlay on the COMAND system. 12.3 inches of Waze on a road trip is hard to beat. It is weird how much they shrunk the CarPlay size on the NEWER MBUX. The F90 had smaller CarPlay than the E 63 S until 2021 with the LCI M5 coming out. Now Mercedes made the CarPlay smaller, so an M5 has a bigger CarPlay screen.
I agree. I really enjoy the 100% full screen CarPlay on the COMAND system. 12.3 inches of Waze on a road trip is hard to beat. It is weird how much they shrunk the CarPlay size on the NEWER MBUX. The F90 had smaller CarPlay than the E 63 S until 2021 with the LCI M5 coming out. Now Mercedes made the CarPlay smaller, so an M5 has a bigger CarPlay screen.
Probably a glitch or programming error for MBUX 1st gen but at least they fixed it in the 2nd gen MBUX however that is exclusive to the newer vehicles. They could totally push an OTA update to MBUX gen 1 customers to fix the aspect ratio problem but it doesn't seem like they want to. I wonder why...
The pre 2021 system is just fine. MBUX makes everything touch screen capable. I don’t really see what the big deal is other than wanting latest and greatest. As we all know, that’s a losing battle.
Got this one today. Took a while to get it connected successfully. Plugged into car and CarPlay starts, and then shows the dongle's set up screen. It kept failing to connect/pair via BT (and thus doesn't negotiate wifi connection) and iPhone kept popping up failed pairing messages. Plugged dongle into computer and saw that its firmware/software was up to date. Tried it again in the car, and it finally worked, just seems to be slow and unresponsive during the initial set up where it seems to fail, but eventually just starts working.
After initial set up, connectivity seems to be pretty fast. MBUX takes like 10 seconds to start up, followed by a few seconds to initiate CarPlay, and then the dongle begins working, and after about 10 more seconds CarPlay is on the screen. I can't tell much difference in audio quality compared to bluetooth, and UI seems pretty responsive.
Thankfully you don't have to use the screen for MBUX vehicles, you can use the trackpad or the capacitive touch pads on the steering wheel to navigate, if you like talking you could talk to MBUX. I still wish they kept the rotary wheel just like the A238 pre-facelift and facelift not sure why they didn't do the same for the other body styles. Either way though, glad to hear you enjoy your 2019.
Thankfully you don't have to use the screen for MBUX vehicles, you can use the trackpad or the capacitive touch pads on the steering wheel to navigate, if you like talking you could talk to MBUX. I still wish they kept the rotary wheel just like the A238 pre-facelift and facelift not sure why they didn't do the same for the other body styles. Either way though, glad to hear you enjoy your 2019.
I’m told the cabriolet doesn’t have room for the touchpad because the buttons to operate the roof are in the way, so the facelift had to keep the rotary dial.
CarPlay is torture without a touch screen.
edit - that’s definitely not true. The trackpad takes up way less room.
I’m told the cabriolet doesn’t have room for the touchpad because the buttons to operate the roof are in the way, so the facelift had to keep the rotary dial.
CarPlay is torture without a touch screen.
edit - that’s definitely not true. The trackpad takes up way less room.
Thanks for your comment hmmm, I thought so too until you did your due diligence and looked it up (thanks for that) so now the mystery remains, what could be the reason?
You'd think a flagship vehicle like the G-wagon would have MBUX by now but it doesn't either. Quite a mystery as to how they decide which vehicles get the system upgrades and when––multiple factors no doubt.
You'd think a flagship vehicle like the G-wagon would have MBUX by now but it doesn't either. Quite a mystery as to how they decide which vehicles get the system upgrades and when––multiple factors no doubt.
Manufacturers usually only implement a new feature in a few vehicles in their lineup first and see the market's response before putting it in the rest of the lineup. This is to prevent something going horribly wrong and even if it does the other vehicles are not affected. Another thing (in the G-wagen's case) MBUX was announced not too long ago after the W463 A was announced so they didn't have time to implement it. However, it is mainly because the G-wagen is a cash cow so every decision must be made carefully. The S-Class too (another cash cow), the facelift W222 didn't get MBUX either because MBUX was not ready. The W213 didn't get MBUX until facelift. The G-wagen will most likely be getting MBUX for its facelift.
You'd think a flagship vehicle like the G-wagon would have MBUX by now but it doesn't either.
Well the G-Wagon has never really been synonymous with being modern or up to date. The last W463 chassis ran from 1990-2018 as an example. The new W463A generation is truly a huge leap into the present compared to the prior generation even with the outdated infotainment. That being said, there is a rumor that there will be a facelifted G-Wagon arriving for 2024 with MBUX and possibly hybridized (likely due to emissions).
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