Coding?

[Mickyh7]

Still new to Mercedes but already astonished that the brand is so different to get into!
Surely there must be a few 'Coders' around who can break into the system. All my local places say they can't help.
I'm already fed up with Collision Avoidance and Stop Start defaulting to back to on every start up. And having to go into the Menu to switching off the C/A.
Does anyone know where I can get help? Please!
Thanks.

 

[AMGeed]

Its a decent drive away in Lightwater Surrey,, but Comand online can assist with coding of features in your car.

Have your Vin# handy and give them a call and see what they can do for you.

Catalog

We have the parts you need to upgrade & update your Mercedes In-Car Entertainment Systems. We provide Genuine Mercedes map updates (and map updates for more than just Mercedes), Reversing Camera, Phone & Bluetooth solutions, iPod integration, Sat-Nav retrofit parts and much more for you to...

www.commandonline.co.uk

 

[DSM10000]

Still new to Mercedes but already astonished that the brand is so different to get into!
Surely there must be a few 'Coders' around who can break into the system. All my local places say they can't help.
I'm already fed up with Collision Avoidance and Stop Start defaulting to back to on every start up. And having to go into the Menu to switching off the C/A.
Does anyone know where I can get help? Please!
Thanks.

Deleting collision avoidance without informing your insurer may invalidate your policy.

 

[Mickyh7]

Deleting collision avoidance without informing your insurer may invalidate your policy.

That's fantastic to know. Thank you for reaching out to me!
Can you explain why there is an off switch please?

 

[Mickyh7]

Its a decent drive away in Lightwater Surrey,, but Comand online can assist with coding of features in your car.

Have your Vin# handy and give them a call and see what they can do for you.

Catalog

We have the parts you need to upgrade & update your Mercedes In-Car Entertainment Systems. We provide Genuine Mercedes map updates (and map updates for more than just Mercedes), Reversing Camera, Phone & Bluetooth solutions, iPod integration, Sat-Nav retrofit parts and much more for you to...

www.commandonline.co.uk

Many thanks, I have family down South, so it's not a problem.
I'll get in touch- Great news!

 

[DSM10000]

That's fantastic to know. Thank you for reaching out to me!
Can you explain why there is an off switch please

You are wishing to permanently disable a system designed to help prevent collisions.

The on /off switch is there for specific situations

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

That's fantastic to know. Thank you for reaching out to me!
Can you explain why there is an off switch please?

I’ve never seen a switch for that, only a switch for tinting off parking sensors. Where is the switch?

 

[Mickyh7]

I’ve never seen a switch for that, only a switch for tinting off parking sensors. Where is the switch?

It's in the menu.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

It's in the menu.

Why do you need to turn it off?

Coincidentally mine triggered an alert this evening, but I can Mg remember the last time that happened.

 

[Mickyh7]

You are wishing to permanently disable a system designed to help prevent collisions.

The on /off switch is there for specific situations

What are the specific situations?
I've always managed to prevent collisions by myself.
No one likes or trusts them. The manufacturers are seeing this now in their retrieved data. They see them being turned off for almost every journey.
When sales are affected, and some brands have seen this, things will change.
Seat have had to desensitise their system because of high numbers of rear end shunts.
If someone cuts you up on the Motorway, your car slams on, full emergency stop in the middle lane and Mr BMW/Audi/Merc. choose one you like, drives into the back of your car at 80/90/100mph.
When they are fit for purpose, ie all cars have the same system, that talk to each other, I'll use it.
How many years have you worked in the Automotive Business? I've done around 20 years, as a Certified Inspector. Working with such systems.
I know a tiny bit about this!
However,you are entitled to your opinion.

 

[markjay]

The simple fact is that you need to inform your insurer about any changes to the original specifications. This includes coding.

You do not need to inform your insurer if you've disabled any system in the car using a factory-fitted on/off button, or that can be disabled by the driver from the end-user menus.

Safety doesn't come into it... for example, if you fit bigger discs, you could argue that the car is now in fact ever safer, but you still need to inform your insurer, or your cover may be invalidated.

I am not suggesting that your insurer will necessarily care (my guess is that some insurers will, others won't), or that it will affect the premium. The important thing is that once you've declared it, you'll have it on record and the insurer won't be able to use it against you in the event of a claim.

Obviously, people mod their cars all the time and many don't bother informing their insurer. That's your call, no one is moralising you for considering it. But we have to remain factual - every mod needs to be declared. What you actually end up doing is entirely down to you.

 

[markjay]

Its a decent drive away in Lightwater Surrey,, but Comand online can assist with coding of features in your car.

Have your Vin# handy and give them a call and see what they can do for you.

Catalog

We have the parts you need to upgrade & update your Mercedes In-Car Entertainment Systems. We provide Genuine Mercedes map updates (and map updates for more than just Mercedes), Reversing Camera, Phone & Bluetooth solutions, iPod integration, Sat-Nav retrofit parts and much more for you to...

www.commandonline.co.uk

Hmmmm..... I don't think that Comand Online will actually permanently disable a factory-fitted safety system. Apart from the obvious moral issue, there's a massive issue of liability that can put the business at risk. Personally, if I had a reputable business, I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole - not worth the risk.

 

[markjay]

What are the specific situations?
I've always managed to prevent collisions by myself.
No one likes or trusts them. The manufacturers are seeing this now in their retrieved data. They see them being turned off for almost every journey.
When sales are affected, and some brands have seen this, things will change.
Seat have had to desensitise their system because of high numbers of rear end shunts.
If someone cuts you up on the Motorway, your car slams on, full emergency stop in the middle lane and Mr BMW/Audi/Merc. choose one you like, drives into the back of your car at 80/90/100mph.
When they are fit for purpose, ie all cars have the same system, that talk to each other, I'll use it.
How many years have you worked in the Automotive Business? I've done around 20 years, as a Certified Inspector. Working with such systems.
I know a tiny bit about this!
However,you are entitled to your opinion.

You're not wrong, but it's a question of statistics.

Look at seatbelts, for example. There certainly have been cases where people survived a car crash because they weren't wearing a seatbelt (got thrown out of a vehicle before it caught fire), as well as cases where people died because they were wearing it (couldn't get out of a burning vehicle).

And you could point to these cases as an argument against wearing seatbelts.

But statistically, the probability of a seatbelt saving your life is overwhelmingly higher than the probability that it will kill you.

The same applies to anti l-collision systems: yes the car might stop unexpectedly and someone might rear end you. But statistically, your car is overwhelmingly safer with an active anti-collision system, than without it

I'll quote Warren Buffet, who says that when he was 19 he went to Las Vegas on his honeymoon, and on seeing people gambling in the casino he told his wife "we're going to be rich".... he spotted that the majority of people simply cannot understand probabilities and statistics, and those few who can, will always have the upper hand.

 

[Mickyh7]

All good points Gents.
But.....
What happens if a previous owner did the coding/Modding, and they weren't dated on the ECU?
Which Insurer would even bother looking?
And in a serious accident, who would be alive to care?
All hypothetical, but come on, I change a Headlight Bulb, and someone thinks I should be informing the Insurance Company.
Not in my 'Real World' Sorry!

 

[Mickyh7]

Hmmmm..... I don't think that Comand Online will actually permanently disable a factory-fitted safety system. Apart from the obvious moral issue, there's a massive issue of liability that can put the business at risk. Personally, if I had a reputable business, I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole - not worth the risk.

I'm guessing Comand won't do it as it stands.
Not without some clever coding person to break into the system.
These people/companies do exist.

 

[markjay]

I'm guessing Comand won't do it as it stands.
Not without some clever coding person to break into the system.
These people/companies do exist.

Comand Online are probably the most experienced in the UK with SCN coding, but as you said there will be others who can also do this, and probably will, too.

 

[Borris1954]

Wow interesting discussion. Of course you can also change the coding accidentally in you fit a second hand module or even a new one and it isn't recoded to car spec. There's lots of examples on the net of people replacing an alarm siren and finding it now chirps on lock and unlock where it didn't before. Lots of chargeable options on a new car are just implemented by coding (e.g cornering lights) so could appear or disappear with a second hand front SAM of identical part number.

 

[Mickyh7]

I really don't want to come across as argumentative, especially as I'm very new here, but I've been on lots of car forums.
Gaining and passing on knowledge, and it seems work well, but there is always someone who joins in, and in my mind, they have a Kenith Williams Voice and always say "Ooh no, you can't do that"! Or, "Ooh no, you mustn't do that"!
It just doesn't bring anything to the Party. It's just unnecessary on any post.
Read and help, if you can. But If you can't, there's no need to join in.
On my posts anyway!
Glass half full and all that?

 

[ToeKnee]

Read and help, if you can. But If you can't, there's no need to join in.

I hope you'll take your own advice and only reply to posts where you can be positive and not say anything negative at all Micky??

 

[DSM10000]

What are the specific situations?
I've always managed to prevent collisions by myself.
No one likes or trusts them. The manufacturers are seeing this now in their retrieved data. They see them being turned off for almost every journey.
When sales are affected, and some brands have seen this, things will change.
Seat have had to desensitise their system because of high numbers of rear end shunts.
If someone cuts you up on the Motorway, your car slams on, full emergency stop in the middle lane and Mr BMW/Audi/Merc. choose one you like, drives into the back of your car at 80/90/100mph.
When they are fit for purpose, ie all cars have the same system, that talk to each other, I'll use it.
How many years have you worked in the Automotive Business? I've done around 20 years, as a Certified Inspector. Working with such systems.
I know a tiny bit about this!
However,you are entitled to your opinion.

You are ignoring the principle of my post. If a system is fitted to aid safety (regardless of your opinion) and that system is disabled then your insurer may take a view that any accident you may have have been avoided or minimised if that system had been operational.