I'VE DECIDED TO SPEND EXTRA MONEY AND INSTALL NAVIGATION SYSTEM IN MY '97 E320. DO YOU GUYS KNOW WHAT'S BEST AND WHERE TO GET IT ? DOES MERCEDES SELL ADD ON NAVIGATION SYSTEMS ???

Agree 100% with blackmercedes. I have a '97 Acura with a very good Alpine. I had an after-market Alpine put in an Explorer which was even better and and now going to put the dvd Alpine in a 2001 E320 wagon because the Bosch Nav which came with comand is feeble in comparison with Alpine. This will also let me play cd music on the dash cd slot while concurrently navigating.

I believe MB does have a pod-type add-on Nav system. It may be made to fit the car, but I believe you may be happier with a dvd-type nav system that rablake is describing. the addition of COMAND would be a wallet-breaking experience, even on a new E-class. The 97 would be worse, they never offered it, at least in the US. please refrain from locking your caps on, it is irritating to a lot of people, myself included.....Gilly

Mercedes did offer an add on GPS/Nav system for cars made prior to the integration of the MCS/Command system in their cars. It was about $1,200.00 if memory serves. On nearly the other end of the cost spectrum, I saw a reference recently to an add on for a Palm PDA that works as a Nav system for about $65

Hope this helps

…Tracy

Hi Gilly:

i have a 98 e320 and am looking to get an aftermarket dvd navigation unit that does the following:

DVD movie playback, DVD navigation with voice assist and map, Cd playback, Mp3 playback.

I like alpline alot. Do you know if the company manufactures any units that does all the functions i described above? If so, how much will it cost me?

I was in Paris earlier this month and took a mercedes taxi to center of city from airport. He had a terrific nav system with flat screen that emerged from his dash. Looked to be factory equipment. He keyed in the address to the hotel (small and almost impossible to find) and Vola, directions are given.

As we got closer, his system started saying "turn right in one block", etc., until we drove right up to the door.

Simply amazing. And this is a taxi! The ride cost me about $50.

Nic

I have a software/hardware package from Teletype company that I run on my laptop and my Compaq iPaq. It was difficult to learn how to use, the directions were not very good. Now that I know it well, it works well.

Long learning curve but works great. You can learn more at www.teletype.com

I would love to have comand in my C Class, but it was not available when the 203 first came out. They also were honest and told me that it could not be easily retrofitted.

Good luck,

That is not honest...it is BS. Installing a comand in a w203 is a 1 hour job (including putting the dash back together).

greetingz,

Larry,
Yes it's possible to retrofit a comand on your w203,I have a comand on my 96 e320 courtesy of Steve(mbenznL).The price is cheap compare to dealer.

1 Hr. to do a 203? I would be very interested in doing this, maybe we could get a group order for the command parts. How much are the parts and what exactly is required? Does anybody have photos to share??:cool:

Basically it's almost plug and play for the

w203.Email steve at Mbenznl@hotmail.com

I was going through the same thing a few months ago and finally decided to buy a portable unit instead. I bought the Street Pilot III from Circuit City and it comes with the map of the entire US, Canada, and the Virgin Islands. I can buy Europe and Asia map if I want. Paid $999 but found an ad on the internet and return to Circuit City for refund plus extra 10% matching. Total cost was a little over $700. Now I can use the unit in any of my vehicle.

Come to find out it is the same unit they sold back in '98 for the ML. Or at least very close to it. I saw that in the Road Side Assistance ML when the guy came to my house to jump my car couple weeks ago. I asked him if it is a Street Pilot III on his dash and he told me it is something similar except it comes with the MB logo. The only thing I wish I have is the voice command that comes with the higher end units. Guess Garmen will have that feature in a year or so on the Street Pilot III.

somebody beat you to that: link to comand thread
Here are some pictures of comands I recently installed in (US) 163, 202, 203, 208 & 210: link 1 & link 2

greetingz,