£365 FOR A SATNAV UPDATE FROM MERCEDES

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Hi there.
I have a 2014 S212 E250 car with NTG 4.7.

Purchased my key from a dealership in Europe, and then downloaded the V19 2019/2020 map update myself.
Decided to give it a go. I work in IT so what could be there too difficult?
You need about 21GB storage and it must be formatted with FAT32.
I prepared an ultrafast 32GB SDHC Card which has a rating of 95x, put it into my SD Card, and set off to see a friend.
  1. The process is as easy as popping the SDHC card with update into the slot and starting the igniton.
    1. It is automatically detected and starts the process.
  2. You then are asked for a PIN code. It is 6 alpha-num characters and you can enter them with the COMAND wheel.
    1. The code is specific to (a) Car VIN, (b) Update version.
    2. Meaning that someone else's code will not work for you, and
    3. Same code won't work for next update. It's not a PIN-for-life unfortunately. Greed.
  3. The process then goes linearly from 0% to 100%.
    1. In addition to maps it also updates the GraceNote database.
  4. I specifically wanted to test whether you can interrupt the update and then continue where you left off.
    1. The answer is YES.
    2. What happens when you continue: You turn on the car and it quickly resumes the update by itself.
    3. That means you don't have to drive that far in one go. You can just do your chores, and they'll continue to install the update, until you're done.
    4. No need for battery charger then.
  5. Took me about 1h 05m overall to install.
    1. If you have fast storage device, it will be much faster to complete. Do use fast storage, it will save a lot of time.
    2. From what I heard around; SD Card slot is better than USB slot. This is hearsay and I haven't confirmed this myself.
  6. What if you started the car after update and reset, but forgot the SDCard with update in the slot?
    1. It will say something like "So-and-so version detected and you already have it. Reinstall it?" Why? Just pop out the SD Card. No harm done.
I honestly don't understand why would you pay the dealer the silly prices like £130+? To me it cost around £80, they do ask for VIN and map version to install.
This is probably as far down as you can go without hacking the algorithm yourself. Which should be possible -- after updating the unit yourself you have all the software available. But I'm not into that, too lazy.

For those who want convenience, last year I asked my dealer for quotes when my car went for the service. Good thing about it, is that your car will be on the lift anyway, so they don't require to occupy extra space. They quoted me something in the area of £85 inc. VAT. I went ahead with it. Voila, car serviced, cleaned, and with the new version.

Just this time I didn't want to wait 2 months till the current service, so did it myself.
Where did you get the PIN from for £80?
 
I bought an SD card and PIN off eBay for £80 a couple of weeks ago. I appreciate it's not quite legit but it worked a treat. Latest version but still more out of date than you get with a Halfords bought Garmin!
 
A dealership in Spain, trading via eBay. I didn't rush to buy, but put it on watch just in case they would want to shift.
Soon there was an offer in the eBay app to be issued. At €82 it should have been cheaper in ££, but conversion rate is quite poor when buying via eBay, so it appeared eventually around £79 with pennies.
You confirm first with your car's VIN number that your car/VIN is needing exactly this version of map and NTG.
Then you can purchase. Why, good service indeed.

Attention, I saw a few offers on eBay at half the price. Scams. They offer to download maps only for that price - which are free anyway to download! They however conveniently "fail" to mention you need a key, or use small font to state the need for a key. Those are the ones to avoid.

I understand so that until you confirm everything works to your satisfaction, the funds are not released to them. So they even followed up to ensure I was able to install :)

My car has just recently been to a B service, no blab from my dealer. Who cares, if you ask them to upgrade, the upgrade is the same if you upgrade from V12, V16 or V18...

RE: Free updates for 3 years, which I was eligible for until my car turned 3, I can confirm I had to ask for the map upgrades, they didn't tell me explicitly I should upgrade the maps, -- but at that, I always got quite positive response, no attempts to deny or talk themselves out of it. The last one I did at the 3-years service which was right before my car turned 3. Then every year I kept installing them at the dealers alongside my annual service, and always got quite good prices. This time I wanted to try it myself.
 
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To be fair, Mercedes have been like that for decades!

I looked at the versions inside the upgrade data, and it seemed to me (can't prove it 100%) that the Here maps were from 2018 in NTG 4.7 maps V19 (2019/2020).

I must say though Mercedes navigation systems are quite good quality at that. E.g. the ETA they offer is very often spot on. How they do it I don't know. Other maps are known to be off.
I couple that with subscription for traffic updates which is OK at £119 for 3 years, can't complain, useful.
 
A dealership in Spain, trading via eBay. I didn't rush to buy, but put it on watch just in case they would want to shift.
Soon there was an offer in the eBay app to be issued. At €82 it should have been cheaper in ££, but conversion rate is quite poor when buying via eBay, so it appeared eventually around £79 with pennies.
You confirm first with your car's VIN number that your car/VIN is needing exactly this version of map and NTG.
Then you can purchase. Why, good service indeed.

Attention, I saw a few offers on eBay at half the price. Scams. They offer to download maps only for that price - which are free anyway to download! They however conveniently "fail" to mention you need a key, or use small font to state the need for a key. Those are the ones to avoid.

I understand so that until you confirm everything works to your satisfaction, the funds are not released to them. So they even followed up to ensure I was able to install :)

My car has just recently been to a B service, no blab from my dealer. Who cares, if you ask them to upgrade, the upgrade is the same if you upgrade from V12, V16 or V18...

RE: Free updates for 3 years, which I was eligible for until my car turned 3, I can confirm I had to ask for the map upgrades, they didn't tell me explicitly I should upgrade the maps, -- but at that, I always got quite positive response, no attempts to deny or talk themselves out of it. The last one I did at the 3-years service which was right before my car turned 3. Then every year I kept installing them at the dealers alongside my annual service, and always got quite good prices. This time I wanted to try it myself.
I have to add that every second hand Mercedes I've purchased from a dealer I've made them update the sat nav as part of the deal :thumb:
 
Purchased my key from a dealership in Europe, and then downloaded the V19 2019/2020 map update myself.

Where did you download the V19 2019/2020 map from?
 
I have to add that every second hand Mercedes I've purchased from a dealer I've made them update the sat nav as part of the deal :thumb:
Update forever, or - more typically - three years of free firmware and map updates?
Could be the marker of what should be asked when buying a new Merc.
 
Where did you download the V19 2019/2020 map from?

It's possible to use Mercedes application for download locally.
But for my convenience, the dealer put it up on Mega upload for me.
Also, being free to download (bar the code), it's on Torrents as well.
 
MB Guildford quoted me £99.
 
Can anyone confirm if map updates will improve the routing? I have 2015 maps and it tries to send me on some very random routes. I carry on the way I know and it reduced the eta by 10 mins. Would the latest maps help, or is that just the way it is?
 
This all seems to relate to Command systems? When I bought my CLA45 new back in 2016, I was told on collection that I could buy the sat nav SD card (non-Command cars only car with “prep” for sat nav!) for £499. Needless to say I politely declined because I was p*ss*d off this wasn’t mentioned when I ordered the car but then checked on eBay when I got home and found unbrandEd claimed Genuine SD cards on ebay

£99 later I had working sat nav - but of course now well out of date. Guessing if I want to update, I just need to buy a latest version SD card and start again?
 
This all seems to relate to Command systems? When I bought my CLA45 new back in 2016, I was told on collection that I could buy the sat nav SD card (non-Command cars only car with “prep” for sat nav!) for £499. Needless to say I politely declined because I was p*ss*d off this wasn’t mentioned when I ordered the car but then checked on eBay when I got home and found unbrandEd claimed Genuine SD cards on ebay

£99 later I had working sat nav - but of course now well out of date. Guessing if I want to update, I just need to buy a latest version SD card and start again?

Most of the ebay cards will not include three year Tomtom Live Traffic. The £99 update card from MB will.
 
Can anyone confirm if map updates will improve the routing? I have 2015 maps and it tries to send me on some very random routes. I carry on the way I know and it reduced the eta by 10 mins. Would the latest maps help, or is that just the way it is?

A firmware upgrade (not maps update) will update the software on the navigation unit. That said, I dont know if there's a newer firmware for your unit, and even if there was, I wouldn't know if it includes improvements to the routing. The only way to find-out is by visiting the dealer or an Indie with genuine STAR, and getting the firnware checked and then if need-be upgraded.

BTW, are you using the Dynamic Route option? And do you have the TomTom Live Traffic subscription?
 
Most of the ebay cards will not include three year Tomtom Live Traffic. The £99 update card from MB will.

You are supposed to by the licence for £499 from MB once, then buy updates for £99 from MB every time a newer version of the maps becomes available.

A £99 update from MB will have the TomTom Live Traffic subscription as you say.
 
This all seems to relate to Command systems? When I bought my CLA45 new back in 2016, I was told on collection that I could buy the sat nav SD card (non-Command cars only car with “prep” for sat nav!) for £499. Needless to say I politely declined because I was p*ss*d off this wasn’t mentioned when I ordered the car but then checked on eBay when I got home and found unbrandEd claimed Genuine SD cards on ebay

£99 later I had working sat nav - but of course now well out of date. Guessing if I want to update, I just need to buy a latest version SD card and start again?

Correct, with the Garmin Map Pilot, the SD-Card contains both the navigation software and the maps. The navigation software can be updated on the existing SD-Card for free. Maps update can under some circumstances be updated online, but usually a new SD-Card is required.
 
A £99 update from MB will have the TomTom Live Traffic subscription as you say.

Can you elaborate on this statement please, I just had my sat nav updated this week at my local MB dealership, How will i know if I have the Tom Tom Live Traffic subscription?
 
Can you elaborate on this statement please, I just had my sat nav updated this week at my local MB dealership, How will i know if I have the Tom Tom Live Traffic subscription?
Go to:

Settings, Traffic & Alerts, Subscriptions
 
Go to:

Settings, Traffic & Alerts, Subscriptions

Where is this, i have looked under NAVI and cannot find anything like what you are quoting?
 
A firmware upgrade (not maps update) will update the software on the navigation unit. That said, I dont know if there's a newer firmware for your unit, and even if there was, I wouldn't know if it includes improvements to the routing. The only way to find-out is by visiting the dealer or an Indie with genuine STAR, and getting the firnware checked and then if need-be upgraded.

BTW, are you using the Dynamic Route option? And do you have the TomTom Live Traffic subscription?
I am using dynamic route option, I don't think that the NTG 4.5 has the option for TomTom live traffic, its just the TMC free traffic that is available. Unless I just do not have that so its not showing.
I'm probably going to go for the £99 update on eBay and see if it improves the routing.
 

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