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@boblo I have seen the widget that lets you connect Android Auto to the native Mercedes Command thingy. You can get one that uses the original screen and all the control knobs and buttons, and it is exactly stock until you connect your phone via Bluetooth and then it becomes Android Auto. It's £500 though, and I use Amazon Music which doesn't work very well with Android Auto.
Re the wheels - original 19" wheels:
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New 18" wheels:
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The new ones are a stock option, I think they are popular for winter wheels in Germany but it seems like no-one specs them in the UK, almost every CLS I've seen has the AMG sport option with the 19" wheels.
The difference is tremendous. So much quieter, which was expected as the P-Zeros on the old wheels are notoriously noisy. Everything's softer and smoother and so much more relaxing; the turn-in is just as quick but every so slightly softer. Grip is great (of course, the tyres are new), road holding is probably better again down to the newness and the fact that they are more supple. The only thing is that when you take advantage of the grip and corner hard there's slightly more roll as the tyre compresses more. Overall vastly better though, as it's not a track day car - and I actually think they look better. I could've spent double on some staggered AMG wheels in 18", but I'm glad I didn't. I'm going to flog the old wheels, even if it means the car fetches less when I sell it on.
Thanks Moly. I agree, looks better though the change visually is very subtle. If it improves the ride, then it's a good thing. I had a succession of A6's before defecting to antique dealer land. The first was a 'sport' and harsh and jiggly. I went for standard suspension after that.
The Android Auto integration is on special offer with Vulva ATM @£180 less an extra bit of cheeky discount. They fit a dedicated 'special' USB port and install the software. It runs the free version of Spotify, Tom Tom if you want, Sounds and Google Podcasts plus of course, Google Maps. You still can't plan on your phone, just plug it in and go which is what I really wanted as it's a parallel implementation of Google Maps. It does call up your history/favourites though so you can go straight to those rather than starting from the beginning.
I'm happy with it particulary Spotify without subscribing.
Got a link?
Google doesn't really seem to help. They're either crap at marketing or keeping it a secret...
Not one I'd want to google at work...
How's the OEM sat nav?
I like it, except that the maps are 9 years out of date obvs. It has voice recognition that is also 9 years old meaning it's offline, but the best thing about that is that as soon as you press the voice button it shows you the things it's expecting you to say. This is a massive help and makes the system run smoothly. My new Hyundai is proud of the fact it uses online natural language recognition so in theory you can just ask for what you want; however you can't, you can still only say what it's expecting you to say even if you can use a variety of sentence forms. So trying to get directions to a postcode on the Hyundai was a disaster until I consulted the manual and discovered you had to ask it to search first then give it a postcode. On the Merc, the prompts made it obvious what to do without reading the manual.
You also get the directional arrow on the instrument panel with the built in nav, although this is less intuitive. The big distance number it displays is the distance to destination, and the small number is the distance to your next turn. I feel this is the wrong way round.
The Merc satnav also has a load of different routing options above the normal fastest and shortest. One of them is 'dynamic' which sounds rather intriguing.
Oh, and the voice prompts are funny. She says 'Please take the next left' which is superfluous, I mean I'm not doing it for you, I'm the one who wants to go there not you; but she also puts a little pause in so it says 'Please, take the next left' which makes it sound like she's a bit desperate and pleading. And when she says a road number, whilst she does get the pronunciation rules correct* she makes each number a question: "Please, take the A? Four? Two? Three? Two?" like she's not quite sure maybe, possibly..?
* you know the unspoken rules - definite article for road numbers (e.g. the M4 not just M4) and the fact that you say the individual numbers unless it's a two digit number. So you say A four five six rather than A four hundred and fifty six, but you don't say A four nine. The Hyundai one (and previous Toyota) would say 'Take the A four thousand three hundred and twenty three' which is stupid. Oh yeah and Hyundai says 'in a quarter mile, take..' instead of 'in a quarter OF A mile'. This really grates.
Oh, and the voice prompts are funny
You should try being fluent in Spanish and using Google Maps in English - apparently the upcoming version of Android will allow you to set the language on a per-app basis, but at the moment if your phone is in English, so are all the apps. At the moment it's a bit like listening to an American tourist butchering the pronunciation of Worcester, or Cholondley...
Anyway nice looking (albeit filthy) car - I hadn't bothered to Google it previously, just assumed it was the typical old man's Mercedes that I get stuck behind here on a Sunday morning, doing 30 in a 50 🙂
I'm borrowing a Yeti at the moment and the sat nav is both hilarious and infuriating; it says things like "stay on this road for a long time" and it doe the "A three thousand four hundred" thing, but I can't work out how to zoom out to see the destination.
I like it, except that the maps are 9 years out of date obvs.
Any reason why you haven't updated it?
Usually it's because updating costs more than a decent satnav with a lifetime subscription
Looks like it's about 100 quid for the update and no superfluous device asking to be stolen stuck on the dash.
Hmm, £100 might be worth it, I thought it was way more than that.
You should try being fluent in Spanish and using Google Maps in English
Similar experience living in or simply travelling somewhere in Wales.
I’d agree on the smaller wheels. Have an X5. On the usual staggered enormous wheels it always wore the inside of the rears no matter what tracking etc was done on it. Swapped it to smaller winters and som much more comfortable and much less tyre wear. They just stay on though I have kept the big ones for when I sell it.
singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/so-ive-got-this-mercedes-and-i-have-questions/page/29/#post-12236555
Jesus Christ that is the most hideous machine I've ever seen. What was the 'designer' thinking?
Just had a good read of this thread after avoiding it since the first few pages, don't know why as a molgrips car thread is usually comedy gold. All I will say is this:
Good in you for persevering with it and sorting out the Merc and getting the Passat through another MOT. BUT you bought a car from Trade Centre Wales with one of their add-on warranties? 🤣😲🤣 Tgr place that keeps the Welsh consumer programmes in stories for decades?* The place that has been warned about sharp advertising practices multiple times?* The place that buys other dealer cast-offs and ex-rental fleets then passes them off as nearly-new with massive savings when they're no different to the stuff you find at The Car Shop, Motorpoint etc? The place owned by a person who likes to show off in his flash cars but complains about kids playing opposite his house on a council-built skate park? This thread is classic molgrips gold. I'm not having a dig at you at all and hope you do sort out the car but you have stacked the deck against yourself.
* X-Ray, a Welsh Watchdog, has for nearly a decade run stories about the warranties being completely useless, cars having undisclosed histories, being over-prepped to look good in the showroom but with underlying issues 'that the warranty will cover', finance deals being ridiculously expensive and advertising cars that they don't have. If you've been in South Wales and filled up with petrol you will have seen the adverts they run on fuel pumps advertising a Fiesta/Corsa/500 for £3995, down from £6995. They will only ever have 1 or 2 of these available every 3-4 months but continue to advertise it to get people in the door only to try and sell them a tatty version for £6995. Anyone who knows about this here goes to Ron Skinner's if they want to buy a car Supermarket-style. I know it was a distress purchase for you but how did you not know all of this? Again, not a dig at you but it is very funny!
What was the ‘designer’ thinking?
I want to sell lots of cars in China. Dashes in current Mercedes’ are an abomination too
Surely android/CarPlay integration a better investment than updating inbuilt maps? GPS without live trafgic data is way inferior ( though I’m judging by a 3 year old VW)
just assumed it was the typical old man’s Mercedes that I get stuck behind here on a Sunday morning, doing 30 in a 50
In our house these sorts of mercs are called a "Sports Hearse"
No idea, mainly because I don’t understand the question.
how did you not know all of this?
No, it's a fair comment 🙂 I don't watch X-Ray or any regional telly so all that passed me by. But to be fair I'd assumed all car supermarket places were like that.
The warranty - yeah I never normally get them, but I was imagining huge repair bills on exploding gearboxes and the like. To be fair, I wasn't wrong... Car is very well sorted now. Just in the garage today for a service and they have given it a clean bill of health bar the battery.
Jesus Christ that is the most hideous machine I’ve ever seen
I wasn't sure at first but it's grown on me, now I like it. And it's far from the most hideous machine I've ever seen. I've been to America for a start.
No idea, mainly because I don’t understand the question.
Sorry. Are you linking to a source of software theft?
I don't even live in Wales but was aware the bell-end who owns TCW was Wales' most unreasonable man, after threads on here, on FB & pretty sure the skate-park thing made the national news!!BUT you bought a car from Trade Centre Wales with one of their add-on warranties?
To be fair I only found out about TCW's dodgy practices after a colleague bought a car from them and had issues like you. This was when they first opened. But then I'd never buy a car from a Supermarket place anyway, it's either new or banger for me. I've heard of too many people getting burned, either by poor quality cars, poor value finance deals or both.
Are you linking to a source of software theft?
Not as far as I am aware. I assume you haven't read the web page? The map update is linked to the VIN and a PIN is obtained from (I assume) Mercedes to enable a single update.
Jesus Christ that is the most hideous machine I’ve ever seen
I wasn’t sure at first but it’s grown on me, now I like it.
I bought one precisely because of the way it looks!
Not as far as I am aware. I assume you haven’t read the web page?
Yeah I had a look. It reminded me of those eBay pages that sell MS Office copies hence the question. Fair enough if it's legit. Best be sure though otherwise you'll get aggro here if it's not.
Fair enough. I assumed that as it needed a PIN from (presumably) Mercedes it was legit. There is a sat nav update listed on the service printout fore the car, I'll call the seller later and ask him how much it was.
I've had a surprising number of people comment on how good it looks and I've seen loads of people eyeing it up in car parks.
Mine's only flat black but even then the finish is great; when it's clean and waxed it's really deep and shiny, it looks pretty good.
Just googling about map updates and found this thread:
https://forums.mbclub.co.uk/threads/map-updates-ntg4-5-and-activiation-pin.250989/
Someone got theirs done for £105 at the dealer.
FWIW the maps on my Prius were from 2005 and there were very few issues with missing roads. Even our house wasn't on it. I was on a missing road on Friday though, the A556 linking the M6 and M56. No big deal though.
I regarly use the newish A14/M1/M6 interchange and the new A14 past Cambridge. It's quite funny watching the nav have a fit pre update...
I can do the update on my v90 myself. It takes about 2hrs and the car goes to sleep every ~20mins. Delightful...
Some more lolz for you - just had the major service at an indy, £600! Ok so half was for the car and half for the gearbox which I'd asked for based on this thread. Tranny seems smoother so far and engine is definitely quieter, so dunno what dishwater the last dubious sounding garage in the service history filled it with.
I'd say 'well that's Mercedes for you' but the same thing happened 10 years ago on the Passat with a full service and gearbox fluid change, same sort of price. At least I haven't got a cambelt to change every 40k on this car.
Was that the schedule B service?
Yes.
Just heard back from the seller. My car was updated in October 2020 as part of a service for the princely sum of £43.53 plus VAT so I'd be checking a MB main dealer before buying an upgrade anywhere else.
Picked my car up this morning and I just realised it doesn't have a sunglasses holder...
Lol. I bought two of these, only in the light grey:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/124963055945
There are aftermarket and genuine Merc ones available, new or used, but they all seem to be the same price.
They go in place of the grab handles, and there are videos on how to fit them. Takes a bit more persuasion than you'll want to exert on your nice new luxury car but it's ok in the end. Having two is quite handy.
Mine is nice and smooth since the engine and tranny service, and I put in a new battery. It was on the original, which at 9 years old had done fairly well. The stop/start was barely working even though it started fine, and the battery test showed it was only giving out 400A instead of 800. With a new battery the stop/start light goes green almost straight away if you don't have the heating on, and there's no judder whatsoever when it does.
Do you have the AMG sport kit on yours?
Thanks. I’ll order one of those later.
I think I do have the AMG sport kit, it’s certainly got 19” AMG wheels. I’d have to check the dealer printout to be sure.
Apparently they are ok if you have Airmatic. If there's a button next to the command wheel with something like sport/comfort on it or one that looks like a car lowering, you might. There will be one with E/S/M on it as well, that's for the transmission.
Can't see a button like that. On one side of the command wheel is the back button and on the other is a button marked "C". I haven't looked at the manual yet to see what it's for.
There appears to be a Mercedes Me dongle in the car, but I haven't found it yet.
Morning everyone.
So on this particular engine I have, there are two common problems. One is the inlet manifold not being bolted on properly, as we've seen. The other is that the timing chain can wear prematurely. This is noticeable by a few seconds of rattling on a cold start.
Guess what?
On one side of the command wheel is the back button and on the other is a button marked “C”. I haven’t looked at the manual yet to see what it’s for.
C is for cancel I suppose - it's the delete key for when you are entering text.
Don't press the other one?
Picked my car up this morning and I just realised it doesn’t have a sunglasses holder…
Christ! I didn’t think it was possible these days to buy any car without a sunglasses holder! For most of the last four years whenever I did arrivals checks on cars, it was part of the process to check for any glasses/sunglasses that had been left in by mistake, and I cannot believe that a luxury vehicle like a Merc wouldn’t have one. Certainly my EcoSport has one, and I keep a pair of sunglasses in it.
I’ve moved out of logistics at work, so I won’t have much chance to check any of the Mercs we have on site; the V12 S600 has the keys locked away to remove any temptation for a quick run up the road… 😉
I cannot believe that a luxury vehicle like a Merc wouldn’t have one
I think they all do these days. Seems to have been a bit of an oversight on the ones Doomaniac and I have, or maybe it was an option since the part exists.