W204 2011 on: Audio 20 and DAB or Becker poll

[texasjohn]

Please can you help me gather some information. This is applicable to facelift C Class cars with Audio 20 only, and specifically Audio 20 integration with the Becker Nav unit and the DAB radio option.


Please respond 'other' if you have both problems (I should have added a poll option for the combination of problem 1 and 2, sorry)

My response is 'other' because I suffer from both the first and second poll options.


Please don't poll if you have COMAND or a pre-facelift C Class car.

MANY THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

 

[SmartMAC]

I suffer from the Becker Nav not fading the sound for instructions and the DAB volume gets stuck after a short stop.

 

[jonnyMercUK]

I don't really have any problems here, sometimes the Becker freezes and sometimes the DAB cuts out but it just loses signal in a 'hilly' area.

SmartMac - I was reading a previous post about the fading problems with the Becker, there is an option to do this right? Also (only just found this myself) when an instruction is being made to increase the volume you simply turn the volume whilst it is being spoken, does this help?

 

[SmartMAC]

I don't really have any problems here, sometimes the Becker freezes and sometimes the DAB cuts out but it just loses signal in a 'hilly' area.

SmartMac - I was reading a previous post about the fading problems with the Becker, there is an option to do this right? Also (only just found this myself) when an instruction is being made to increase the volume you simply turn the volume whilst it is being spoken, does this help?

You can increase the volume on the instructions as you explained but that just makes the woman speak louder than the music, it doesn't fade the music at all. If you like to listen to loud music and the voice command comes on top of the already loud music volume, the results are quite messy.
I had forgotten about this as I have muted her anyway. The DAB is pretty useless where I live as its very rural and reception is rubbish. It might be better on the motorway.

 

[jonnyMercUK]

You can increase the volume on the instructions as you explained but that just makes the woman speak louder than the music, it doesn't fade the music at all. If you like to listen to loud music and the voice command comes on top of the already loud music volume, the results are quite messy.
I had forgotten about this as I have muted her anyway. The DAB is pretty useless where I live as its very rural and reception is rubbish. It might be better on the motorway.

Weird...mine seems to fade OK (I think...)

 

[jonnyMercUK]

Weird...mine seems to fade OK (I think...)

Ok so mine isn't fine at all, I must have been totally oblivious to these problems. Anyone think they have a fix? Should I book it into the dealer?

 

[Red C220]

My Becker now fades to predetermined volume which I've got used to. It did used to mute.

It requires a reboot every 5-7days.

It has the latest software downloaded.

Other than that, it does what it says on the tin but is still beaten by a TomTom for clarity and easy of use.

The big bonus is integration.

 

[jonnyMercUK]

It does work if I reset everything however as soon as I touch the volume it bug*ers up again

 

[SmartMAC]

It does work if I reset everything however as soon as I touch the volume it bug*ers up again

I know. That's is exactly what mine does. It has already been to the dealers and I was told that the unit was working as is expected to do (yeah right!). I got used to have it in mute so it doesn't bother me anymore.

 

[jonnyMercUK]

I know. That's is exactly what mine does. It has already been to the dealers and I was told that the unit was working as is expected to do (yeah right!). I got used to have it in mute so it doesn't bother me anymore.

That is definitely not how it is meant to work. I'm going to try and get it in tomorrow. Not sure why is goes into km either. It's annoying now I know about it

 

[texasjohn]

Can any of you with 1. Becker or control system inputs for Becker freezing (or requiring regular reboots) and 2. Becker flipping into KMs randomly please PM me with:

1. Name of dealership and town you took the car into for investigation or simply spoke to discuss the fault
2. Your name in initials i.e. 'Mr M.' or 'Mr. L' should suffice
3. Your car's reg number, or, if you don't want to provide that, just the last three digits of it.

The reason is that I am trying to collate similar examples of the problems I am having in order to give Arval (my lease company who have a lot more clout than us mere drivers) some leverage to force MB to do something.

It's clearly a software/firmware/system integration issue and all MB seems to be doing so far is taking the 'it's an accessory, speak to Becker or update it online' stance.

Not acceptable. MB is responsible as the supplier of the device.

I will provide any necessary technical or remedy information back to you individually once I have an acceptable solution!

Thanks!

 

[craig1912]

Mine does 1 & 2. Everytime I turn on the DAB it reverts to "Gold" rateher than the station it was left on.
The Becker also goes to km occasionally.
Also if I just turn the ignition on without pausing before firing the engine the Ipod link freezes and the DAB volume can't be changed. MB Southampton had it in 4 times and acn't solve the latter. Now I have it sussed and wait 2/3 secs before firing the engine its OK everytime. 1 & 2 I can live with although a little annoying.

 

[texasjohn]

Mine does 1 & 2. Everytime I turn on the DAB it reverts to "Gold" rateher than the station it was left on.
The Becker also goes to km occasionally.
Also if I just turn the ignition on without pausing before firing the engine the Ipod link freezes and the DAB volume can't be changed. MB Southampton had it in 4 times and acn't solve the latter. Now I have it sussed and wait 2/3 secs before firing the engine its OK everytime. 1 & 2 I can live with although a little annoying.

Thank you very much. Incidentally, when I first got the car it used to revert to 'Gold' but after the first week the gremlin decided that it would flip the DAB to 'Kerrang' instead, and has done ever since.

You don't happen to have the Audio 20 with 6 disc CD changer do you?

 

[craig1912]

You don't happen to have the Audio 20 with 6 disc CD changer do you?

Yes I do

 

[jonnyMercUK]

You don't happen to have the Audio 20 with 6 disc CD changer do you?

I also have this...my DAB I think is ok.

 

[jonnyMercUK]

Took it into Mercedes Chesterfield today, the technician had a quick look and asked to have it all day but as I was late for work it will have to be next week. He did say he had never seen this problem before

 

[craig1912]

Took it into Mercedes Chesterfield today, the technician had a quick look and asked to have it all day but as I was late for work it will have to be next week. He did say he had never seen this problem before

Mines been in for 4 days. They say they have replaced the head unit twice and updated software etc. The Dab switching stations didn't used to happen but they obviously did something when they had it in.

 

[robtt]

Had my car to dealer today re bad dab reception. They agreed it is not right and have ordered a couple of parts to improve things. Firstly a dab booster and, I think, a better aerial. Let you know when they are fitted in a couple of weeks

 

[withabix]

Becker flips to KM

Audio 20 volume control stops working (standard Audio 20, no DAB).

 

[grober]

Its digital init !-----------Here's a little " way out in left field" offering. There appears to be some "anecdotal evidence" that it may be battery supply voltage related. Being digital it might be sensitive to supply bus voltage fluctuations causing software glitches. Now recent Mercs are all stop start technology which I would guess will mean battery charge going up and down like a YO YO the older the battery/ higher the load the worse it becomes. Just out of curiosity might be worth taking the car for a good daylight run to charge up the battery and then switching off the stop/start facility- {think you have to do this every time from a "initial " start as it defaults to ON otherwise} to see if that helps? If it does then you know what's causing it--- doesn't solve it of course.

ps if these cars have 2 batteries like the higher end mercs then this scenario is less likely of course.