NTG 1 - W211 E Class, R230 SL, W219 CLS, R171 SLK, W220 S class, R230 SL, W216 CL - all pre model year 2009 NTG 2 - W169 A class, W245 B class, W203 C class, W209 CLK, W164 ML, X164 GL, W251 R - all pre model year 2009 NTG 2.5 - W169 A class, W245 B class, W203 C (Coupe only), W164 ML, X164 GL, W251 R, R230 SL, R171 SLK, W211 E class - all MY 2009 onwards. (note: NTG 2.5 comand can be retrofitted to W203 saloons/estates from MY2005 onwards). NTG 3 - W221 S class, W216 CL. - all pre MY 2009 NTG 3.5 - W221 S class, W216 CL - all MY 2009 onwards NTG 4 - W204 C class, W207 e coupe, W212 E class, GLK This document aims to explain all the different types of COMAND system fitted by Mercedes Benz to its passenger vehicles in Europe. The North American COMAND systems are different and are breifly
covered, however there is little information about North American COMAND here. Japanese COMAND system is completely different and not covered here at all. COMAND stands for Cockpit Management and Navigation Device. There have been many variants of the Mercedes COMAND technology, and often the same technology looks different in different vehicles as the front of the stereo changes. The systems so far, in approximate release order, are Comand 2.5, Comand 2.0, Comand 2.0 MOPF (all known as Comand 2), Comand NTG1, NTG2, NTG3, NTG4, NTG2.5 and NTG4.5. Comand NTG5 is beleive to be next in the next version of the S Class and CL, but there is no information on that yet. COMAND Online NTG4.5 The maps are stored on a hard disk, and althought the map update DVD is available cheaply, a PIN code is needed which can be bought from Mercedes Benz Dealers and specialists like Comand Online. The system supports (optonally) the Media Interface (fully integrated iPod kit), integrated dual-tuner DAB digital radio, Harmon Kardon (option 810) and B&O (opton 811) depending on which model seriels it is integrated in. It also supports Digital TV. It supports 7 digit post codes, and downloadable applications allowing you to use facebook and other similar web sites on the COMAND screen. COMAND APS NTG3.5 COMAND-APS (NTG2.5) Most importantly, the unit has build in Bluetooth telephone functionality that works really well and has voice recogntion. It also has an optional DVD changer built in. With the DVD changer, the unit has the Mercedes option code 512. Without the DVD changer it still has option code 527 which can be confusing when finding parts. It has a SD slot for MP3
files, has an internal Hard Disk to hold the map and again supports DAB radio and Media Interface options. It is much nicer than the older NTG1/NTG2 systems. The wiring for the NTG2 and NTG2.5 look very similar, however there are some major differences if trying to put a NTG2.5 unit in a NTG2 car. These include, the phone controller and linguatronic are built in, so microphone wiring needs to be routed to the COMAND and probably the old phone and linguatronic (if present) need to be removed from the MOST fibre loop. The antenna power on NTG2 cars is driven from the COMAND, on NTG2.5 cars its controlled by another control unit (Rear SAM). The FM antenna connectors are different, and the AUX wiring now connects to different poins on the multiway connector. COMAND NTG4 (NTG4-W204 and
NTG4-W212) Its main weaknesses are (a) 5 Digit post-code support not 7 digit. (b) The Bluetooth phone system will not transfer the address book from most phones, and so you need the optional Comfort Phone system and a phone
cradle or bluetooth adapter (c) PCMCIA and not USB or SDcard. It is not possible to do this in the W204 because the whole dashboard changes. It is somewhat like a cost reduced NTG3
system. COMAND-APS (NTG3) and a seperate controller: - I know very little about this system, apart from COMAND-APS (NTG2) This system put all the components into one double-din height unit, significantly simplifying the wiring. The NTG2 system, however, lost its ability to play DVD and MP3 disks, and of course as there is no seperate navigation drive playing a CD and navigating with a full map requires a CD changer. All NTG2 systems have an auxiliary input. COMAND-APS (NTG1) With the introduction of the MOST bus based system, the name was changed to COMAND-APS and the option code 527 is now used for COMAND. To add confusion, the COMAND 2.0 MOPF also had option code 527 and was known as COMAND-APS, then Mercedes started calling even the older COMAND2.0 COMAND-APS. It was introduced into the W220 S class and W215 CL class for Model Year 2004, the R230 SL for Model Year 2005 and the SLK from launch. The NTG1 was the first DVD based system, and thus the map disk carries a whole region (for instance Europe) on a single DVD. This makes life simpler, but the disks are about twice the cost of purchasing a single country DX disk for the COMAND 2 systems. The MOST system (and thus the NTG1 system consisted of 3 seperate devices, the AGW (Audio Gateway), the head unit (COMAND) and the navigation processor. The AGW contains the FM/AM tuner(s), the amplifer, the MOST bus master controller and the diagnostic gateway for diagnosis and configuration. The telephone system voice recognition, CD changer, Harmon Karden premium sound system and TV tuners also connect to the MOST bus to route audio in/out of the system. In the
case of the HK sound system, the HK amplifier contains the AGW and replaces the standard AGW. NTG1 was fitted up until Model Year 2009 in the W220 S, W215 CL, R230 SL, W211 E, W219 CLS, R171 SLK vehicles. The NTG1 head unit (COMAND) can play DVD and MP3 loaded CD/DVDs also. Most parts of the NTG1 system are made by Becker (for European vehicles). However, in the S/CL/SLK/SL it is made by Siemens (and North American systems are made by Siemens). The W211 E, W219 CLS, R171 SLK have auxilary audio inputs but the W220 S, W215 CL, R30 SL does not and thus the Mercedes iPod interface will not work in the S/CL/SL. The NTG1 uses proprietary map disks, which although the maps are made by Teleatas and Navteq have to be supplied via Mercedes benz. Mercedes use a coloured flash on their map disk packaging, NTG1 disks have a Green stripe. Currently the map disks only support 5 digit post codes in the UK. COMAND 2 COMAND2.5 In late 1999 the system was upgraded to 'D' type and then after a software upgrade it was able to read the better DX type disks. This happened at chassis number A078551 for the S class (W220) and chassis number A001434 for the CL. The systems all had a Casette drive, a CD drive purely for the Navigation disk, FM/AM tuner, in-built 4 channel amplifer (left/right for front & rear)and TV inputs (although it is not clear whether the C type COMAND ever worked with the TV tuner as it was only made to work sometime after the vehicles were inititally launched if you had ordered the TV pre-wiring. The Navigation section (with CD drive) was actually a
completely seperate of the COMAND connected to the rest of it by a cable. The units were made by Bosch. (who also own Blaupunkt), although the other units on the D2B bus were made by other manafacturers since D2B is a reasonably open standard. The Mercedes 'option' code for COMAND 2.5 (and 2.0) is 352 COMAND 2.0 The units (after an early life software upgrade in 2000) use DX type mapping CDs. The initial W210 units used discrete wiring to obtain ignition, lights, reversing (backup) and speed signal. They did not support connection to the car's CANbus network and can be identified easily because the telephone keypad does not have letters on it. When the facelift W210 was released with steering wheel controls then the units connected to the CANbus and required only a discrete speed signal connection and used CANbus network for the other signals mentioned above. The W208 units all used CANBus network, and in fact W210 units can be made to work in the W208 cars. W203 C class COMAND 2.0 picture: - R230 SL COMAND 2.0 Picture: - COMAND 2.0 MOPF |