S-Class W221 My one REAL beef w/ the W221...

[Deutsch]

as discussed by Car & Driver

Dude, Who Stole Your Radio?

We’re not gonna launch into a red-faced rant about the complicated COMAND system. For one thing, we don’t have enough pages. But it does strike us as risky to force the average S-class owner—he is, after all, 61 years old—to corral the cognitive courage necessary to wend his way, via an aluminum mouse, through approximately as many computer programs as are required to launch an ICBM from the USS Alaska. To summon music, for instance, you must:

a. Tilt the mouse forward to get to the top of the computer screen’s main menu.

b. Twist the mouse left or right to place the cursor on “Audio.”

c. Push the mouse straight down to say, “Yes, I do want to view the audio menu.”

d. Repeatedly tilt the mouse backward to toggle through your options: FM, AM, Satellite Radio, CD, DVD, MP3, or Audio Off.

e. Poke the mouse straight down to select the mode you desire.

f. Twirl the mouse left or right, now that an FM radio dial has magically appeared, to advance from channel to channel. (Note: You’re in seek mode only. If you wish to listen to weak stations, prepare to start all over again.)

g. Direct your attention away from the computer and away from the mouse and to the top-right spoke of the steering wheel, where a five-function rubber pad the size of a silver dollar will allow you to hear the station you’ve so diligently pursued.

h. Should that prove too complex, direct your attention to a small knurled wheel on the passenger side of the center console, where volume can alternately be adjusted.

Up, down, sideways. Twist, turn, poke. Hands for some functions, fingers for others, eyes continuously scanning the steering wheel, dash, screen, and center console. Exactly where is the radio? It’s everywhere. And nowhere. Can the COMAND system be mastered? Of course. Just not today.

That's just too much hassle to simply turn the radio on and listen to a radio station. < I bet that sentence is just to complicated for any of the "COMMAND" engineers at MB in Germany.

 

[warot]

Well Benz fans... welcome to the battle

 

[MoSs]

why r the germans making there cars soo complicated ...
BMW > MB ... i dont know about audi ...

 

[ZicZachZo]

Yea ok this is why I say who gives a flying fack...

If you buy an S class you are going to have this car for more than a few days like the Car and Driver writers do. You are eventually going to get used to Command. So that's why all of the rants are pointless.

 

[georgl]

Stupid magazines again:

There is a button in front of the big aluminium wheel, it says "Disc/Radio" - when you press it you can choose between Radio and other music sources, the rest is absolutly logic, you just move the big wheel where you want to go.
You can always "write it difficult" (?), changing radio station on my '74 /8 W115 with Becker radio:
1. move head and look on the "radio display"
2. move right hand from the steering wheel to the right radio wheel
3. turn the wheel to the left to move backwards
...

You know what I mean? You make all these actions and when you never did it, you would think it is pretty difficult - but it's not, you make it automaticly just as you move through logical menus like in the W221!

The screen is big and brilliant, you don't have to lean forward and turn a little plastic wheel, just rest your arm on the "Handschmeichler" (that's the name of the little leather thing on the top of the center wheel) and control everything with great graphics and logical names.

The only thing I don't like is the slowness of the movement through the radio stations (where the stations are shown like an an old radio).

 

[SDNR]

Yea ok this is why I say who gives a flying fack...

If you buy an S class you are going to have this car for more than a few days like the Car and Driver writers do. You are eventually going to get used to Command. So that's why all of the rants are pointless.

Yes I agree with this, people should stop complaining and just learn how to use it - these things soon become quite intuitive - have you used a cellphone recently?

 

[Zafiro]

If you buy an S class you are going to have this car for more than a few days like the Car and Driver writers do. You are eventually going to get used to Command. So that's why all of the rants are pointless.

the same goes for I-Drive but we still hear complaints about it.

 

[Vivaki]

the same goes for I-Drive but we still hear complaints about it.

Obviously owners got used to it but you have to admit the 7 series I-drive was/is complicated and I-drive 2.0 (the one on the 5er,6er,3er) is much more easier to use..

 

[Zonda]

Obviously owners got used to it but you have to admit the 7 series I-drive was/is complicated and I-drive 2.0 (the one one 5er,6er,3er) is much more easier to use..

And still people complain about that. But I think all this complaining has sometihing to do that the people testdriving don't have anything more advanced at home than a computer with windows 95. Put a gadget freak in any technicaly advanced car, and he will not complain!

 

[Zafiro]

Obviously owners got used to it but you have to admit the 7 series I-drive was/is complicated and I-drive 2.0 (the one one 5er,6er,3er) is much more easier to use..

yes 2.0 is better than the first generation but its good they are improving it, instead of being stubborn and keeping as it was in the beginning.

 

[NevadaJack]

Yea ok this is why I say who gives a flying fack...

If you buy an S class you are going to have this car for more than a few days like the Car and Driver writers do. You are eventually going to get used to Command. So that's why all of the rants are pointless.

100% correct! They have to fill their space and prove they are the experts.

I also get tired of seeing a reference to "61 year old's" as being incapable of doing anything more than ring their "Help I can't get up" alarm. I am 74 and I had no problems at all getting to know the COMAND in my new S430 and I am sure I will not have a problem with the W221 when I decide to put it in my garage (if I am capable of starting it at the dealership on delivery...)

 

[Centurion]

These dudes are delibrately making the S seem complicated to use. Too much bitching.

 

[jrlcarrera]

The question is not whether you can get used to or "learn" these complicated computer programs...the question is WHY SHOULD YOU HAVE TO?...just because the thechnology exists it doesnt mean you have to force it on everyone!
Maybe they should make I drive and the MB brother, optional ! instead of all the other cool stuff that you have to pay for in options , like more horsepower and better looking rims!
As far as I'm concerned I have all the thech computer stuff in my office and at home, where I can concentrate on it and maximize its value...when I'm in a car...I want to drive it and get the bennefit of all the technology that makes it go .

 

[georgl]

Because this technology, when developed properly, is easier to use!
The old navigation-system are put into the car like a radio, pretending it wouldn't make a difference. Then you have dozens of buttons with cryptic symbols and these are not even in a very ergonomic position.
The new systems force you to think differently, but this is the problem of the user and not of the car. When you get used to it, you will notice that it is much easier to use.

 

[Deutsch]

The question is not whether you can get used to or "learn" these complicated computer programs...the question is WHY SHOULD YOU HAVE TO?...just because the thechnology exists it doesnt mean you have to force it on everyone!
Maybe they should make I drive and the MB brother, optional ! instead of all the other cool stuff that you have to pay for in options , like more horsepower and better looking rims!
As far as I'm concerned I have all the thech computer stuff in my office and at home, where I can concentrate on it and maximize its value...when I'm in a car...I want to drive it and get the bennefit of all the technology that makes it go .

I agree, perhaps one of the very few people posting in this thread that isn't letting their "brand loyalty" jade their thinking. I highly doubt the vast majority of those posting in this thread have actually ever tried using the new COMMAND sys. in the new S. While it's not hard as rocks to learn how to use, it shouldn't take 120 seconds to select my fav radio station and listen to it. This "bitching" has a basis, and funny enough tney're not the only one doing it so that tells you something Jessica Simpson could sit in absolute bewilderment in a A8 in absolute amazement that she could master the MMI system in a matter of seconds because it's so intuitive and advanced w/ out bein uneccesarily and overly complex.

 

[georgl]

"120 seconds to select my fav radio station"

Have YOU ever used the new comand?

 

[Deutsch]

"120 seconds to select my fav radio station"

Have YOU ever used the new comand?

Uh, YEH.

 

[Yaz]

Uh, YEH.

Dude, you used it for a max of 30 mins. How can you judge it just like that? How about asking some REAL w221 owners here who use it everyday?

As for selecting your favorite radio station, who the hell hasn't heard of a preset and who the hell wants a weak station? Ask the BMW owners here who use Idrive, they'll tell you they use presets all the time as they've mentioned before.
This person must be stupid or a computer illiterate.... Get real

And as for 61 year old thing, this is 2006 not 1906, more and more people are able to buy this car at a younger age. I personally don't know a person that old who has an S-Class. All the S-Class owners I know are in thier 30's and 40's.

 

[Deutsch]

Dude, you used it for a max of 30 mins. How can you judge it just like that? How about asking some REAL w221 owners here who use it everyday?

As for selecting your favorite radio station, who the hell hasn't heard of a preset and who the hell wants a weak station? Ask the BMW owners here who use Idrive, they'll tell you they use presets all the time as they've mentioned before.
This person must be stupid or a computer illiterate.... Get real

And as for 61 year old thing, this is 2006 not 1906, more and more people are able to buy this car at a younger age. I personally don't know a person that old who has an S-Class. All the S-Class owners I know are in thier 30's and 40's.

An overly passionate MB owner. Lovely Luckily for W221 owners there are NO preset buttons, unless you use the steering wheel mounted controls(I guess?). Either way, I'm over the situation, and only posted this topic to start some discussion, and looks like I created more than that. Yay for me. < Gotta love the dancing smiley

 

[jrlcarrera]

Because this technology, when developed properly, is easier to use!
The old navigation-system are put into the car like a radio, pretending it wouldn't make a difference. Then you have dozens of buttons with cryptic symbols and these are not even in a very ergonomic position.
The new systems force you to think differently, but this is the problem of the user and not of the car. When you get used to it, you will notice that it is much easier to use.

Not the point...I bet if they would offer it as an option they would eventually phase it out!as many people would passon it. I would rather spend the money(I'm assuming all that technology is not cheap) on things that improve performance ...horsepower and engine upgrades etc. and looks ! I dont need a very expensive alternative system to help me turn the radio on and change stations...or to adjust my seats

My 2006 carrera 4s does this ...they have some of that tech stuff but it's all optional...you still turn the radio on with a button and adjust the air conditioning with your hands etc. but when you step on the accelerator and dive the thing...you know where the money was spent!