Mercedes dealer updated my Comand & now its crashing

[Mr Ben]

Has anyone experienced this?

I have a Mercedes W204, 2011, C200 thats only ever seen main dealer for EVERYTHING!

With the MOT due, the misses takes it in and they announce there is a diesel update! free of charge and they can update it while its in! brilliant ! free update do not usually get that!

Anyway MOT and update completed the misses sets off and leaves for home, 5 min down the road pulls over and calls me to say! the car is going crazy! none of the controls are working, the bluetooth is cutting in and out and the screen comes up showed the Mercedes logo and displays the nav and then restarts all over again!

The misses spins round and heads back as i call them to let them know she is on her way back and we have an issue. The guy says immediately "this is noting to do with us we only did the diesel update, its nothing to do with the comand system at all its totally separate but we can take a look"


..... 2 hours later and no joy!

With the school run edging close i request a courtesy car, to the reply, "we dont have nothing at all we can give you the cars are all out" After a word with the guy they magic one out of thin air and send her on the way "no paperwork to sign just gave the key and sent her on the way. Just before they did this they said to her do not worry about coming back until we call you, hopefully by end of play tomorrow.

So 48 hours on and im calling to see if there is any news and they say "we have checked all wiring and hardware and all is fine, ignition is fine we do not know what the problem is" so i asked if they can roll back the update and see if this solves the issue? they say the car is not stable enough to retain the software update without restarting!

Mercedes still insist this update has nothing to do with the issue they have and are now trying to see if they can get a new comand unit dispatched from Germany, as a (good will gesture) This requires authorisation and its out of warranty and might not go to plan they say.

Where do i stand guys?

Has anyone heard of these update doing this to the comand units? do all updates run via the comand or are they telling fibs? Mercedes said it could be a coincidence as they updated it and its failed.... how likely is this? every year main dealer update the navi and firmware and they always seem very reluctant to want to do so (because its a comand) and try to talk me out of it... thats at 3 separate dealers too.

I am wondering if someone inside has messed up and they are now trying to play the cover game possibly?

I am getting no where at the moment and i feel they are hiding something, so im trying to get some answers from you guys and see if what they are saying is true!


Apologies for the long life story, and any info would be very much appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Botus]

whilst it sounds scary and disappointing this could be a really good thing !

the way they used to work is the telematics system has the tuner, comand, nav other stuff on one loop and these are the only ones that they flash in one hit with each needing a corresponding update

the rest of the car is one by one standalone. I guess either one module was dying and its keeled over while programming or they didn't have the voltage right and something lost the plot and wont behave

all cars need updating - its now a standard part of maintaining anything inside 5 years old - and if something was dying this just gets the breakdown happening whilst in the garage.

usually the big boys will check a few log files in germany and they give it another kick in the morning and magically it'll get over itself

or if really lucky you may get brand new comand unit with later hardware and later software and possibly 2020 mapping for free

 

[Botus]

its unlikely they did anything wrong...

probably did the engine management update, then saw there were some other things they should update and

1) mid programming either a module broke or the power supply stabilising voltage dropped out (it might have been someone interrupted the power or the connection to the vehicle).

2) other times it can be they release something new in Germany and not all cars are happy with it…. and the boys now need to do some homework fixing some software they did wrong.

they will never acknowledge what went wrong, all manu love to keep all of this stuff top secret. And pretend they never updated things... it would be an admission that they built it badly or need to hide some naughty emission tricks

lets hope you get some new later spec toys for free

 

[Mr Ben]

whilst it sounds scary and disappointing this could be a really good thing !

the way they used to work is the telematics system has the tuner, comand, nav other stuff on one loop and these are the only ones that they flash in one hit with each needing a corresponding update

the rest of the car is one by one standalone. I guess either one module was dying and its keeled over while programming or they didn't have the voltage right and something lost the plot and wont behave

all cars need updating - its now a standard part of maintaining anything inside 5 years old - and if something was dying this just gets the breakdown happening whilst in the garage.

usually the big boys will check a few log files in germany and they give it another kick in the morning and magically it'll get over itself

or if really lucky you may get brand new comand unit with later hardware and later software and possibly 2020 mapping for free

Really do appreciate the rapid reply!! thank you very much!

I did notice when they sent the video over of the MOT inspection like a service they do ( hi im barry from Mercedes benz and im servicing your car today........) that usual video! i did notice a big machine was hooked up to the engine bay. Could this be a voltage spiking the ECU or navi unit of some sort? why would they hook up something to the engine for an update or let alone an MOT (black and red machine about wheel arch height)

Thanks again guys!

 

[Mr Ben]

its unlikely they did anything wrong...

probably did the engine management update, then saw there were some other things they should update and

1) mid programming either a module broke or the power supply stabilising voltage dropped out (it might have been someone interrupted the power or the connection to the vehicle).

2) other times it can be they release something new in Germany and not all cars are happy with it…. and the boys now need to do some homework fixing some software they did wrong.

lets hope you get some new later spec toys for free

Its very strange all was perfectly fine when it went in and if there was an issue prior to the install it wouldn't let the update complete would it? They say its unstable and they can not connect to the unit due to the resetting but everything is taking to each unit fine, all is fine other than the navi unit needs to be replaced now they think.

As soon as it was updated they called the misses and she hopped in and set off no mention of anything and few min down the road its resetting.

Lets hope thy resolve the issue as and some bonehead has incorrectly installed the wrong firmware.

 

[Botus]

the fact the odd car goes and dies its not strange at all. Sadly things wear out, but a toy you may not use or don't know is close to end of life and about to die is part of a loop and as the programming is pushed round the car it says I feel a bit ill and the system crashes - you should feel sorry for the garage they were doing as Merc wants and trying to help. Now your car has let them down, they now have hours of tech time tied up giving them a headache they can't charge you for. Its quite possible it'll cost the garage 3 or 4k especially if the fault was a dodgy update Merc wrote and or if they fit a new module as Merc might refuse to pay out.

you can't put on the wrong software.... its all idiot proof from that side. Germany decides what your car needs, the tech this end is just supposed to say OK - no idea why or what it does but here we go..

to programme things the dealer tool will not allow it to flash anything with later software unless some massive power supply is hooked up to stabilise the voltage… under the bonnet will be connecting up to an 80 amp power stabiliser pushing 14.6 volts at the car

the actual software they are programming with will go via a gadget inside the car near the steering wheel in to the car's ODBC socket.
the latest kit is all going wireless - they are now more confident about the connection... but the odd important module can ask for both wired and wireless

 

[Mr Ben]

to programme things the dealer tool will not allow it to flash anything with later software unless some massive power supply is hooked up to stabilise the voltage… under the bonnet will be connecting up to an 80 amp power stabiliser push 14.6 volts at the car

the actual software they are programming with will go via a gadget inside the car near the steering wheel in to the car's ODBC socket.
the latest kit is all going wireless - they are now more confident about the connection... but the odd important module can ask for does both wired and wireless

thank you for your post!

I did think the car might require a solid voltage but a set amount could have caused disturbance on the sensitive equipment from over voltage . Do all updates go via the ODBC port? and will this run though the Navi unit at some point?

 

[Gazwould]

Diesel update?

 

[Botus]

diesel gate update (but don't quote me)

 

[Mr Ben]

Diesel update?

thats whats they told me and the misses.

 

[Blobcat]

Diesel update?

That worries me, think it’s post emissions testing. VW’s have had loads of issues after they’ve been updated, hope Mercedes are better...

 

[Mr Ben]

That worries me, think it’s post emissions testing. VW’s have had loads of issues after they’ve been updated, hope Mercedes are better...

looking online i think they are just as bad then... hahahaha! Recall! the statistics for the fuel and MPG re displayed on the navi screen, this must have some reflection as to this dam update crashing the system then??

it must pass the screen displaying the update completion and status.

 

[Gazwould]

That worries me, think it’s post emissions testing. VW’s have had loads of issues after they’ve been updated, hope Mercedes are better...

Probably aimed at reducing NOx , more sooty exhaust gasses entering the air inlet thus producing more incomplete combustion so even more soot for the soot nest to deal with .

More frequent regens , more fuel in oil .

 

[Mr Ben]

just found online somebody had the same issue, but they decided to update the system themselves, they found an old firmware disc and managed to get that booted back on within the 25-30 seconds before reset and the disc span up. i was always told my comand do not use a disc its on USB is this correct?


https://forums.mbclub.co.uk/threads/ntg4-comand-hangs-and-reboots-following-v10-nav-upgrade.132174/

 

[Botus]

the dealer tools will be far more reliable and far more likely to be using the correct current software, and with a power supply suitable for the job.

you are reading far to much into why it broke - these things happen

the engine software update (which is very likely related to the fact Mercedes and virtually ALL manufacturers were pushing emissions the other side of legal) has nothing at all to do with comand having a moment, its a totally separate part of the car running on a totally different can bus and no software update for either component has any influence on the other

 

[Botus]

its could be as simple as the much needed software update for the DPF so it has a chance to actually compete an automatic regen successfully - rather than another update to make the emissions remotely legal (but we won't talk about that one )

 

[ajlsl600]

until and unless i get a problem i aint going anywhere near any update . i have plenty of experience of issues as soon as i restart after a Microsoft update that i did not want. i will need another bottle of gin if i had same issues with cars. its simply nuts. in my view if you buy a new car from the recognized dealer updates and the guarantee of same should be foc for life if car correctly maintained . we all buy the so called great tech and so called time/labour saving tech .THEN spend half our time/cash trying to keep it working or find out why it does not..nuts

sorry, hope OP gets sorted i would be oilin my gun.

 

[davidsl500]

until and unless i get a problem i aint going anywhere near any update . i have plenty of experience of issues as soon as i restart after a Microsoft update that i did not want. i will need another bottle of gin if i had same issues with cars. its simply nuts. in my view if you buy a new car from the recognized dealer updates and the guarantee of same should be foc for life if car correctly maintained . we all buy the so called great tech and so called time/labour saving tech .THEN spend half our time/cash trying to keep it working or find out why it does not..nuts

sorry, hope OP gets sorted i would be oilin my gun.

But if Microsoft did the car o/s then you could just close and then reopen the windows to fix it......

 

[ajlsl600]

not quite it seems microsoft dont much like software they dont develop. if you do a search you will find thousands who have unexplained issues directly following one of their "forced" updates . one advantage ,due to sheer volumes, they is often a fairly quick fix to the issue. often the problem is time researching to find that solution that you never needed to find a few days earlier.

 

[davidsl500]

not quite it seems microsoft dont much like software they dont develop. if you do a search you will find thousands who have unexplained issues directly following one of their "forced" updates . one advantage ,due to sheer volumes, they is often a fairly quick fix to the issue. often the problem is time researching to find that solution that you never needed to find a few days earlier.

Yeh, but my joke doesn't work then.....I know all about the delights of Microsoft as an ex MD and owner of 2 IT company's.....