NTG1 APS Reset to W211_ECE

[JustIgnore]

Hi.

A mate of mine played around on my E55 and wanted to switch it to the AMG logo during boot up, which he succeeded but selected the AMG211_USA option instead of AMG211_ECE...

Anyways, now I lack the DVD and TA feature but have the WB softkey, plus I just can't get into the config menu at all. I have spent hours on Google to find any possible combination but nothing works, so I believe I have no option left to do it except via STAR?

My local Indy has given me a quote of £110 to do so which I think is a bit expensive. Can you guys recommend me something else or maybe someone with the expertise and tools could do it for a bit less?

Thanks

 

[JustIgnore]

Went to comand.co.uk to get this issue fixed.
The conversation with them sounded very certain that they will be able to fix this and know already what I am talking about.

However when I got there, I could see the question marks over his head that he has never seen this before..
Well, unfortunately they were not able to fix it but still charged me. Fine, as it's part of labor but justifying it as "We have to pay the yearly fees and for Star as well" is a bit rude imho. Also the fees were quite excessive for 30 min work, but nothing I can change....
Next time I may have to pay for stepping into any shop as I am using their carpet and they have to pay for the cleaner...

Anyways.. command.co.uk might know what they are doing, and people may have good experience with them (That's why I used them) however unfortunately my experience was anything but good.

 

[Alfie]

Went to comand.co.uk to get this issue fixed.
The conversation with them sounded very certain that they will be able to fix this and know already what I am talking about.

However when I got there, I could see the question marks over his head that he has never seen this before..
Well, unfortunately they were not able to fix it but still charged me. Fine, as it's part of labor but justifying it as "We have to pay the yearly fees and for Star as well" is a bit rude imho. Also the fees were quite excessive for 30 min work, but nothing I can change....
Next time I may have to pay for stepping into any shop as I am using their carpet and they have to pay for the cleaner...

Anyways.. command.co.uk might know what they are doing, and people may have good experience with them (That's why I used them) however unfortunately my experience was anything but good.

We spent some time working on your car. You had access to one of the best resources around (richard www.mercupgrades.com) and occupied our workshop for at least 30 minutes. Richard has seen this issue before as have I so unsure why you felt their were question marks. We have in the past fixed very similar issues. We charged you half the rate we quoted you (£60) and you now know that you need to replace the head unit as your 'mate' broke it beyond repair for you. What your mate did was to render your comand near useless. We spent some time trying to fix it for you but it is beyond repair. If you feel that £60 is a high cost then perhaps Mercedes ownership is not for you. Our local Mercedes dealer in Ascot currently charge £225 plus VAt per hour.

 

[JustIgnore]

Thanks for taking the time in replying to the thread.

Richard has seen this issue before as have I so unsure why you felt their were question marks.

That's valid question, same question I have been asking. Either way if he has seen this before, then I am still wondering why he acted surprised and asked me what exactly is wrong, whereas I did explain every detail in the email before getting an appointment

We have in the past fixed very similar issues. We charged you half the rate we quoted you (£60) and you now know that you need to replace the head unit as your 'mate' broke it beyond repair for you. What your mate did was to render your comand near useless.

I don't have to spend £60 to realize that replacing the unit will overcome the issue.

We spent some time trying to fix it for you but it is beyond repair. If you feel that £60 is a high cost then perhaps Mercedes ownership is not for you. Our local Mercedes dealer in Ascot currently charge £225 plus VAt per hour.

Again, it is not about what is being spent here, but the conversation I had via Email, that gave me a certainty from your side

We can sort this out for you

that you will be able to fix this.
A "We will have a look before we can make a statement and we will charge you £XX for the diagnostics" would have make a customer think before deciding to commit.
That was the problem here. I was been given a 100% certainty and I was happy to pay £120 or £225 plus VAT or whatever per hour for being it fixed.

 

[OneForTheRoad]

press 5-3-7 ...

 

[AMGeed]

I don't have to spend £60 to realize that replacing the unit will overcome the issue.

No, but you paid £60 for someone with huge experience of the product to try and fix your unit. Are you implying it should have been looked at for free?

Again, it is not about what is being spent here, but the conversation I had via Email, that gave me a certainty from your side that you will be able to fix this.
.

You should be reminded of the saying, "There are only two things certain in life.....death and taxation"
I would respectfully suggest you hand the Comand online bill to your friend along with the one for a replacement unit and tell him not to play with something he doesn't understand.

 

[JustIgnore]

No, but you paid £60 for someone with huge experience of the product to try and fix your unit. Are you implying it should have been looked at for free?

Exactly, the word "try" should have been used beforehand.
I am not implying that it should be looked for free, but I am implying to be told beforehand how much it would cost looking at it, but letting me know that it can't be fixed but "here's the bill" afterwards is the fact I am annoyed about.

You should be reminded of the saying, "There are only two things certain in life.....death and taxation"
I would respectfully suggest you hand the Comand online bill to your friend along with the one for a replacement unit and tell him not to play with something he doesn't understand.

That's the next step on my list

Anyways, I don't want this thread to be changing into a bashing thread.
I only wanted to describe my experience as above. Other people have had good experience with them, I didn't.

 

[Alfie]

You havnt quite painted the whole picture. Your bill was discounted (halved in fact!) when you expressed surprise at being asked to pay anything at all. If you go to a Dentist and he tells you you need work done but you elect not to have it done, you still get a bill. Similarly you go to a solicitor for advice but you dont like that advice you still get a bill for his/her time. Do they halve their bill when you say 'I wasnt told there would be a bill'?. To draw the analogy of stepping on a carpet and being charged is unfair.

If you expect never to be charged for peoples time in life then I respectfully suggest you are a little naive. As I said already take your car to the local Mercedes dealer and they will relieve you of £225 per hour plus VAT just for their time. It goes further because if they use parts that dont fix the issue you still get billed for them! We dont do that.

We (Richard and I) have seem similar issues and have fixed most of them. There can be no certainty unless we actually see the unit and look at it. Its impossible to diagnose precise faults and cures over the phone or via email. From what you said in your email we were very confident of fixing it however once in a while there will be an occasion that we cannot fix something without a replacement part, especially when someone with no real understanding has been let loose to fiddle in an engineering menu he doesnt understand. The exercise was to try and fix it without parts. So to say you didnt need to be told that a replacement part would fix it is again a bit misleading. You did need to be told that because up until that point we (and you) were hopeful of a far cheaper fix. Now you know there isnt another fix. You walked away having been told by someone, whom Mercedes consult themselves on hard to diagnose faults, that it couldnt be fixed without a new part.

We suspect that your 'mate' really did fiddle with the comand and it is his actions that have rendered your Comand in the state it is in. Not us. Perhaps your frustration should be directed towards him instead.

 

[JustIgnore]

Update:

If someone is having the same issue (Comand NGT1 set to US mode by selected the W211_US or AMG_US) - you can fix it with the following steps:

1. Set key at position 1
2. Turn on Comand and select "AUX" under Audio
3. Press the "Serv" button
4. Press the number "5" and keep it pressed for 5 seconds - do not let it go yet
5. Keep "5" pressed and keep number "3" and "7" pressed and do not release
6. After couple of seconds you are in the menu where you can now select W211_ECE or AMG_ECE

I can confirm this has worked for me, haven't tried a DVD yet tho.

No need to visit any "specialists" here, even though they sound most confident in fixing it but not being able too and charge you money for "trying" or replacing any parts.... /rant over.

 

[OneForTheRoad]

Told ya lol.

 

[JustIgnore]

Told ya lol.

yeah , I couldn't make sense of that "press 3+5+7" at that time. I tried couple of times..