Tapping on the Mode softkey allows you to specify custom avoidances for the route.

Route calculation is speedy, and the Navi system provides the first initial turns within a few seconds, while the rest of the route is calculated in the background.

Once the Mercedes navigation system has calculated the route, the system displays a split-screen with the left side showing the area map, and the right side showing a 2D arrow that shows the details of your next maneuver. I felt there was considerable room for improvement on the map screen. Many important pieces of information are not displayed on the default map screen, including:

• + and - Zoom buttons
• Time and distance to destination address
• Estimated arrival time
• Satellite signal reception bar
• Detailed street name of the next turn, and possibly the turn after that as well

Mercedes has a large 7-inch canvas to work with, and I feel that they could provide much more information on the display. What little information is currently displayed is mostly of little value. Given the large size of the screen, it's somewhat puzzling that the system doesn't display even the most basic set of navigational data needed for driving.

Press the Navi button while navigating to a destination and the Navi system asks if you want to cancel the route.

Pressing any of the softkeys on the map screen activates additional softkeys, as shown above:

• Info - displays more detailed information about the current route, including a maneuvering list
• St-over cancels the current route and allows you to start over and route to a new destination
• Detour is used if you encounter heavy traffic and wish to route around a stretch of road. Press the Detour soft key and the navigation system will allow you to select how many miles around the current problem area you want the GPS to route you. So, for example, if you choose 5 miles, the navigation system will take alternate roads towards your destination address for the next 5 miles. After 5 miles the system will place you back on the normal route.
• Memory is used to save addresses for future use (i.e. an Address Book)
• + and - keys control the zoom level of the map display

The detour function is simple but effective: simply press the Detour softkey from the map screen, then specify how far around your current position you want to detour.

Pressing the List softkey from the map screen displays the maneuvering list, or list of upcoming turns, shown below.

It takes three key presses to bring up the maneuvering list from the map view. This can be very annoying if you're quickly trying to see what the next turn will be -- I feel there should be a shortcut to access the maneuvering list straight from the map view via a single button.

Each maneuver is shown along side the distance between turns. This screen displays 6 maneuvers at a time. The soft keys for Page up and Page down are used to scroll through the maneuvering list.

I would have preferred to see a graphical representation of each turn as well as the text description. For example, an arrow showing the direction of the turn next to each maneuver would greatly increase the usefulness of the maneuvering list - especially when looking at the list while driving and trying to quickly see what the next turn(s) will be.

Details of any given maneuver can be viewed by highlighting the particular turn with the pushbutton arrow keys and then pressing on the Details soft key. Instead of simply displaying the text of the turn in a floating text box, I would have preferred to see the Mercedes navigation system display a true details page, showing a graphic of the turn, complete with turning arrow and street names.

Searching for a Point of Interest (POI)

While navigating to a destination, the POI database can be accessed by bringing up the map menu and pressing the POIs soft key.

By default, only icons for a few POI categories are displayed along the left side of the console:

• Mercedes service locations
• Gas stations
• Parking garages
• Restaurants
• Hospitals.

More categories can be viewed by pressing the "Other" soft key on the right side of the display.

After pressing "Other", the following POI categories are available to search:

• MB service center
• Gas station
• Rest stop
• Park & ride
• Hotel
• Restaurant
• Shopping center
• Groceries
• Bank
• ATM/Cash machine
• Hospital
• Police
• Administration
• Events
• Courthouse
• Library
• Branch office
• Exhibition hall
• University
• School
• Automobile club
• Car rental
• Airports
• Railroad station
• Bus station
• Commuter rail
• Ferry
• Marinas
• Freeway exits
• Tourist info
• Museum
• Monument
• Winery
• Tourist attraction
• Theater
• Amusement park
• Recreation area
• Golf course
• Ski resort

It's interesting to note that the POI categories aren't ordered alphabetically, but rather sorted into groups of importance. For example, the first page shows the most commonly used 6 POI categories (list in alphabetical order). Scroll down to the second page, and it's another 6 POIs listed in alphabetical order, but this time it's the second tier of categories -- those used less frequently. This classification system is annoying when you're searching for a POI category, as you have to page through all 8 pages of categories to check if a POI category is listed or not (since they're not all listed in one alphabetical list).

Another wrinkle to be aware of: the system only displays POI categories for POIs that exist within your current search radius. For example, if you're in a location that has no gas stations nearby, the Gas Station POI category doesn't appear.

After choosing POIs, the navigation system asks where we want to search for POIs: at our current position, in a different city, or "Global Destinations". Again I found the terminology confusing on the Mercedes navigation system. It turns out Global Destinations is simply a way of telling the GPS to search the entire POI database, and not restrict the results by location. It would make more sense to say "Search Entire POI Database" instead of the cryptic "Global Destinations" term currently used.

After telling the GPS where to search geographically, we are presented with a list of POI categories to choose from. The Mercedes navigation system includes some esoteric Points of Interest categories no doubt geared towards the more well-healed among us: Ski Resort? Border Crossing? Very handy when heading across the border into switzerland for a quaint weekend getaway from your mansion in Munich...

Configuring Options

Relatively few aspects of the COMAND Navi system can be customized. The View setting allows you to specify whether you prefer a 2D North up or 2D Heading up view.

For the Tony Soprano crowd, you can disable the GPS altogether.

Automatic map toggle enables or disables the automatic displaying of the map when navigating to a destination.

By default the Navi displays a split-screen view when approaching a turn. This view can be disabled, if you prefer just to see that standard 2D map view all the time.

Pros

• Well-integrated with the rest of the car
• Large, 7-inch color LCD display makes the map easy to read from either the driver or passenger seat
• Dashboard display shows navigation prompts right under the speedometer, reducing the need to look at the 7-inch console display
• GPS speed sensor connected to the airbag accelerometers, providing map tracking even when the GPS can't get satellite signal. This is especially handy when driving through long tunnels.
• NAVTEQ mapping data
• Mapping updates released every year
• Navigation system integrated with the car's stereo speakers and hands-free speakerphone. The system even lowers music playback volume to announce a maneuver, then raises the volume back.
• Good routing engine
• GPS gives good amount of advance warning of a pending turn. For example, when driving on a highway, the GPS will announce the next maneuver at 3 miles, 1.5 miles, 1000 feet, and 250 feet.

Cons

• User interface is complicated and difficult to use
• No 3D map view (2D only)
• Map screen missing key pieces of information (such as arrival time, distance to next turn, distance to destination, street name, etc.)
• Erratic displaying of street names on the map. Sometimes you really want to see the street name, and the GPS just doesn't display the name, no matter what zoom level you choose.
• Map updates require costly $200 DVD rom purchases
• No real-time traffic data
• No multi-stop routing
• LCD is not a touchscreen. All controls are operated via physical buttons.
• Cannot route to longitude/latitude coordinates
• Only 1.7 million POIs
• DVD-based storage can be slow when performing certain data-intensive tasks, such as searching the POI database
• Some street addresses cannot be entered (must use house number ranges instead of exact house number)
• GPS signal performance not as strong as SiRF's StarIII
• POI Search function cumbersome and confusing
• POI inaccuracies/omissions (the GPS didn't know where JFK airport was!)
• Software not as sophisticated as handheld GPS units
• No Bluetooth support
• No route optimization feature (ability to enter a group of addresses and have the GPS order the stops in the most efficient manner)
• No route exclusion feature (ability to avoid a particular road or highway)
• Text-to-speech voice sounds computer generated, stilted
• Cannot search for an address by zip code
• Relatively few configurable options
• No ability to enter custom POIs
• No ability to watch video on the 7-inch display (in the USA. Apparently the European version does allow this)

Conclusion

You feel like a million bucks sitting in the Maybach. Trouble is the car costs almost half a million bucks! This is quite literally the most luxurious car I've ever sat in. Every aspect of the Maybach has been designed for comfort with a money-is-no-object attitude.

Surprisingly, the Maybach's navigation system still pales in comparison to even the most basic $300 portable GPS in terms of ease of use, features, POI content, and Bluetooth integration. Using the COMAND based Navi was frustrating at times, and required frequent visits to the owner's manual. When looking at the map screen, almost no information is displayed at all (other than the map itself). Viewing upcoming turns or the estimated arrival time requires multiple key presses. I also found it odd how infrequently the voice prompts kicked in.

The Mercedes COMAND Navigation System does get a few things right: the system is well integrated with the rest of the car, and the routing engine performs acceptably well. The dashboard displays the next maneuver right under the speedometer as well as on the 7-inch console display. The GPS automatically lowers the audio of music playback when a navigation prompt is announced, and then raises the volume again, and the GPS speed sensor is connected to the airbag accelerometers, providing map tracking even when the GPS can't acquire a satellite signal.

I'm always surprised at how much diffuclty car manufacturers seem to have developing a capable GPS that's easy to use. Lexus seems to do the best job, but even they can't compete with after-market units from Magellan, Garmin, and TomTom. If you're considering buying a Maybach (and congratulations if you are!), you may want to save a few hundred dollars for a better navigation system, like my current Editor's Choice: Garmin's nuvi 680.