Comand not holding memory?.......

[kop-al-74]

Not sure if this is a fault or not but it's bloody annoying.Whenever i turn my car off and lock it,on my return to the car and start it up,the radio for some reason always comes on with either kiss100 or sometimes classic fm,never what i had been listening to when i switched it off.It could have been a cd,ipod or even a station on mw.I can't find anything in the comand book in reference to it.........any help on this,please?

 

[Nibbo]

This should not be happening. Mine goes back to whatever radio station I was listening to or to the CD. It even carries on from mid track if CD.
It sounds like the unit does not have a permanent live! Was it fitted at the factory or is it a retrofit?

There are some real experts on here with comand but it may help to post your vehicle model and year also.

 

[chitaxmoto]

have u tried resetting the comand

 

[kop-al-74]

This should not be happening. Mine goes back to whatever radio station I was listening to or to the CD. It even carries on from mid track if CD.
It sounds like the unit does not have a permanent live! Was it fitted at the factory or is it a retrofit?

There are some real experts on here with comand but it may help to post your vehicle model and year also.

I thought so.It's a factory fitted unit.The car hasn't had any retro fitted bits on it yet as it's only 30 months old and still in warranty.I just wanted to know if it was normal before i waste my time going back to the dealer.

The car info used to be under my avatar,but it seems to have gone from there

The car is a 2006 w203 C230 auto with comand aps.

 

[kop-al-74]

have u tried resetting the comand

I havn't done this yet.I thought i would see if anyone else has had this problem first.

 

[kop-al-74]

So i guess I'm the only one to have experienced this.............A trip to the stealership it is then.

 

[Nibbo]

Hopefully someone will respond tomorrow on a working day. Not many members log in over the weekend.
Our resident experts will no doubt spot this one and advise accordingly.
I still suspect that the permanent live is the problem. Can you turn it on without the key in the ignition?

 

[oldcro]

Check something else which is on a permanent live circuit, like the cigarette lighter (if that is live) for example.

 

[Diesel Benz]

I still suspect that the permanent live is the problem. Can you turn it on without the key in the ignition?

But a 2006 car should only have permanent power feed to the Comand, no switched power at all (power on/off is signalled via the CAN bus).

A good idea to test if it turns on when ignition is switched off, if for some odd reason it does not get power when ignition is off. Some fuse positions have two options, depending where you insert the fuse, power will be switched or continuous but I thought there was no such option for the Comand fuse.

 

[kop-al-74]

It does power up when the engine is switched off.It really is a strange fault.Could there be an option to set the unit to come onto a preference setting whenever the engine is turned off and back on again?

Also,one more thing i just noticed is that the car has to be switched off for more than about a minute for this to happen.If I turn it off and back on straight away,it doesn't lose the setting.

 

[kop-al-74]

I have just got back fron Hertford main dealer.They don't know why it does what it's doing.They want to book the car in for another day and strip the comand out.I was thinking possibly a software related problem,maybe an update would sort out.

They possibly think that it could be the ipod unit thats causing the problem.They asked me if I had the comand unit/ipod retro fitted afterwoods as if this is the case,the warranty wont cover it.

I explained to him that this is how it came out of the factory and that they would have the details of the factory spec on their system.He said "oh,we do have those details!" So why on earth is he asking me if it was retro fitted?

I have a print out from them when i first bought the car which details the factory fitted spec,which they themselves gave me.

Does anyone in these places really know what they are doing?

 

[corned]

Doesn't give you a very warm and fuzzy feeling, does it?

Hope it gets sorted out nevertheless.

When I went down the my local dealer this weekend (at their invitation I might add) to see the new E-Classes, they couldn't have been less helpful. I talked to the one bloke for a few minutes but he made it bloody obvious that I was keeping him from something far more important. No drive offered, etc etc. So when I am next in a position to make a purchase, guess where I won't be going!!

 

[kop-al-74]

I just thought I would update on this.I took the car in yesterday morning for them to sort this problem.They gave me a courtesy car (B class,yuk) and said they would need to have the car for the weekend.

I gave them my keys and off I went.An hour later someone phoned me telling me I should maybe have a couple of tyres replaced as they had between 5 and 4 mm of tread.They wanted £200 a piece.I told them to leave it as i would sort it miyself.

About 2 hours later,I get another call telling me that they are unable to repair the fault and that they would need to replace the complete comand and ipod itergration unit but beacuse the cost of the repair will cost thousands,they would need to get permission from Germany before they go ahead.

When I initially took the car in about 4 weeks ago,they told me that they would need more time as they wasn't sure what the problem was.Yet after just maybe 3 hours on the car the second time,they came to the same conclusion as before that they didn't have clue.

It does seem to be quite alot of work for such a small problem,you'd think.Are they really that clued up at Main dealers?

They will phone me in the week to tell me when they can change the comand.

 

[kop-al-74]

Got a call from the MB today.The work has been authorized from MB Germany and it's booked in for next wednesday for a brand new Comand system.I still think it's a software issue myself!

 

[Mudster]

It does seem to be quite alot of work for such a small problem,you'd think.Are they really that clued up at Main dealers?

A lot of the guys working at these dealers (but by no means all) are not mechanics as you would understand it. They are trained fitters who follow a procedure in a manual and replace modular components in a specific order until the problem is solved.

Most decent mechanics with a little initiative generally set up their own business when they realise they can do a better job than a main dealer.

Of course this is a sweeping generalisation and there will be isolated cases of great mechanics at main dealers.....but as a rule of thumb it's not far off the mark.

The thing is though, with something as complex as a Comand unit, you'd need to be an electrical engineer to correct that..it's hardly mechanics is it.

 

[Diesel Benz]

The thing is though, with something as complex as a Comand unit, you'd need to be an electrical engineer to correct that..it's hardly mechanics is it.

But would it be SW either (you did not state that but did not comment on the speculation from the OP either)?

I assume these parts swappers did update the Comand unit to its latest SW as one of the first attempts to fix it.

It simply sounds odd to me if the unit does not remember different settings when ignition is switched off. It should not be an issue with continuous power supply, based on previous info. Is there anything else left than a HW issue with the unit itself? But if it was a memory circuit, it should appear equally when the engine is running. Will be interesting to see how the new device behaves.

 

[kop-al-74]

But would it be SW either (you did not state that but did not comment on the speculation from the OP either)?

I assume these parts swappers did update the Comand unit to its latest SW as one of the first attempts to fix it.

It simply sounds odd to me if the unit does not remember different settings when ignition is switched off. It should not be an issue with continuous power supply, based on previous info. Is there anything else left than a HW issue with the unit itself? But if it was a memory circuit, it should appear equally when the engine is running. Will be interesting to see how the new device behaves.

Will the new comand come with the most updated software?If thats the case,the sat nav DVDwhich I have,I think is 4.1, won't work in the unit as the new software won't support it hence the reason for the update disc when going from and old version to the newest version.

 

[darrellr]

P'raps you'get the HDD version. You can hope

 

[w124coupe]

I like the attempt to get you to swap perfectly good tyres - a good indication of how you should rate this dealer!!

Also, if the car is only 2.5 years old the DVD should be at least version 5.1 (unless "someone" did a quick shuffle before you took delivery...).

 

[kop-al-74]

Took the car in yesterday for the repair.I was told last time that they would need to replace the comand unit as it was that which was faulty.I took it in and was told by the woman at the service dept that they would be replacing the ipod interface instead.

I asked her why the guy who was originaly dealing with it told me they would need to replace the comand unit as a whole to which she said she didn't know and that they had gone through a diagnostics process and that the ipod interface was at fault.

I said Ok,as long as the fault is repaired,I don't care.I gave her the keys and drove away in a brand new C180.It was almost fully loaded apart from comand so I wasn't too disappointed although it was a bit of a snail in comparison to my car! Seats were really nice bucket type which really hold you nicely in the seat.

I wonder if i can replace my ones for ones like those?

Anyway,an hour later I got the call telling me about my tyres again.An hour after that,I get a call from the woman at the service dept telling me that they have changed the ipod interface but the problem was still there and that they would need to replace the comand!

She said that they can replace it tommorow(today) and that I can pick up my car then.I had there brand new C class so i wasn't too bothered waiting another day.

I get the call at 3pm today that my car was ready to be picked up.

Well,I have to say that I am really pleased with the outcome of such a trivial fault.Not only have they replaced the comand system and ipod interface,I now have the very latest version of the sat nav dvd aswell and a full valet thrown in for good measures.

Overall,Mercedes Benz Hertford have come up trumps for me and it's good to come away from one of these places 100% satisfied.In fact ,I got much more than I expected.

I will definitely consider an extended warranty when the original one runs out in october.