Quote:
Originally Posted by ILUVMILS
Didn't come with a DVD or NAVI?
The NAVI DVD won't work if you put it in the head unit. The NAVI drive unit is in the trunk on the left.
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Not necessarily. My wife's 2008 ML320 CDI's unit has two slots behind the faceplate. You push the EJECT button below the LCD, and the faceplate swings up. There is a CD slot and a NAV-DVD slot. Your unit may not be like this but I wanted to throw that out there for others who may be reading this post.
I have seen examples of the trunk mounted drive in eBay pictures of mid-2000s models with NAV, so your statement is true, just not all the time.
I agree, the factory NAV unit is light years behind what you can do using your iPhone/Android or a dedicated Garmin/TomTom GPS. The user interface is antiquated and sheer frustration to use. To be fair, the system was probably designed in the early 2000s so it is at least 10 years old.
Its only saving grace is that it puts the next turn information in the instrument cluster (if you page through to it on the menu) so it is easy to see. Plus the fact that it is always there and you don't have to worry with sticking something to the windshield.
I was lucky enough to get an 2013 E350 for a rental car a while back (I rent a LOT of cars because I travel almost every week for work). The factory NAV uses the rotary dial in the center console, only marginally better than the tempermental joystick. The menu structure is essentially the same. Instead of having to push the joystick this way and that way, you spin the knob back and forth through the list. It also wobbles back and forth to pick your letters from the "bingo board".
I have tried using Google Maps/Wayze on my phone and it works pretty good. Except for one problem. My iPhone is owned/provided by my work and so it has access to my corporate e-mail and network. They have a group policy enforced that locks the phone down after 1 minute no matter what after the last time it is touched. At that point it stops providing updates and the screen goes blank. And we have to use a "strong" password, requiring both letters and numbers. So there is no way to unlock the phone while driving, not to mention our company's "no phone while driving, or you'll be terminated" policy. Therefore I carry a Garmin everywhere I go while traveling for work.