Software upgrade

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fordgt40

Active Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2011
Messages
237
Car
C63 AMG estate
I've been offered a free software upgrade, before I get in touch with the dealer, has anyone knowledge of this latest upgrade.
 
Software for what?
 
Just found out, the only upgrade my car needs is for the sat nav and there's me thinking it could be a power increase.
 
If you have COMAND, then map updates are free for the first 3 years.

After that, it's £150-£200 per update....

But there are also firmware updates, so not sure which one (or both?) the dealer was referring to.
 
Mercedes tells me that my car has got all the updates on it apart from the sat nav, the message came from the dealer I bought my previous W204 C63 from which was on the same reg number and would explain the initial free upgrade confusion.

What's the difference between software and firmware.
 
Firmware is the actual operating system and application driving DOMAND. Firmware upgrades usually either introduce new features to the COMAND system, or bug fixes, or both. They are released whenever there's a need to add a feature or fix a bug.... so this can be very frequent, or not at all.

Map updates are simply new/updated maps for the SatNav element in COMAND. They do not add new features to COMAND and do not fix bugs. A new version is usually released once a year.

Firmware upgrades are usually free (apart from labour cost if the car is out of warranty). The maps on the other hand are sold at a price (even in cases where the owners carry out the updates themselves).
 
Mercedes tells me that my car has got all the updates on it apart from the sat nav, the message came from the dealer I bought my previous W204 C63 from which was on the same reg number and would explain the initial free upgrade confusion.

What's the difference between software and firmware.


The need for updates should be checked against the car's VIN really, not the license plate. You can work-out the VIN from the license plate, but as you found-out this is not always accurate.
 
can anybody other than dealer can check VIN for updates?
 
Anybody with a genuine online STAR/Xentry system
 
What I spoke to Mercedes I was put through to the dealer, well I think it was, and they checked against the VIN.

I had a software upgrade at the end of last year because the eco had stopped working, it wasn't successful, all it did was make the exhaust quiet, a software patch was installed, at least that's what I was told, and all was well again, so as you can imagine I'm nervous about having it done again.
 
What I spoke to Mercedes I was put through to the dealer, well I think it was, and they checked against the VIN.

I had a software upgrade at the end of last year because the eco had stopped working, it wasn't successful, all it did was make the exhaust quiet, a software patch was installed, at least that's what I was told, and all was well again, so as you can imagine I'm nervous about having it done again.

Can software / firmware be downgraded if you are not happy with the new version, or are they one way like apple ios?
 
Just found out, the only upgrade my car needs is for the sat nav and there's me thinking it could be a power increase.

Is it to upgrade to the current version? If so what version are you running on at the moment my 2017 C43 is V10.0 2017.
 
I suspect not,it is a sat nav not a laptop where you can sometimes revert to a earlier version of software,without doubt I and many others have popped a CD into the sat nav on
our Mercedes and said a little prayer I was looking at going from version 4 to 16,on my S320 it took some time but all was well,would I do it again,well no, quiet happy with 2015 maps.
 
Can software / firmware be downgraded if you are not happy with the new version, or are they one way like apple ios?

I was told they couldn't put it back to the original.
 
Can software / firmware be downgraded if you are not happy with the new version, or are they one way like apple ios?


From the technical point of view yes, firmware and software can upgraded or downgraded, however these days you need a Software Calibration Number code (aka SCN code) from MB in order to upgrade firmware (it's a code generated by MB central computer that says that the firmware update is approved for your vehicle, to prevent techs from wrongly uploading the wrong firmware), and it will most probably not allow you to downgrade, unless there is a known issue with the new version of the firmware etc.
 
Is it to upgrade to the current version? If so what version are you running on at the moment my 2017 C43 is V10.0 2017.

hi ya, my car is going back in today as the ECO has never worked since I had the car from November.My exhaust is quite too, how did you get the patch to bring back the volume???
 
hi ya, my car is going back in today as the ECO has never worked since I had the car from November.My exhaust is quite too, how did you get the patch to bring back the volume???

After a few, how shall I say, discussions, they put a new battery on and it now works after a fashion, sometimes it comes on almost immediately after starting up, other times it's on during a long run then shuts off when coming to traffic lights, I generally switch it off now.

I'd complained, after the software upgrade that the exhaust had gone quiet, when I picked it up it was back to normal, a software patch was the explanation, apparently Mercedes had been aware of the issue.
 
I think mine is battery too. All the other parameters are met, temps etc, it never turns green unless I drive on the motorway for 2 hours lol. Will mention the exhaust sound, jerky shifts, sat nav update, and patch!
 

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