My brand new 2006 Mercedes Benz E350 has a navigation system which is
absolutley useless. It can't find ~25-30% of my clients (who are
hospitals) in the OH & WV state, and they are all at address' that
have been around for decades, it's not like they were just built last
year. The MB customer service desk said that this is the latest
product from them. IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO?

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Clarification of Question by kish_the_man-ga on 24 Oct 2005 19:25 PDT

I have already been assured by my Mercedes dealer that the latest DVD
has been installed (with the year 2005 on its version number), there
is no logical reason why these decades old hospitals are not listed on
it other than its a poor product.

Dear kish_the_man,

You can supplement the coverage of your integrated navigator with a
third-party GPS navigation solution. The best ones use Navteq geodata,
which is roundly acknowledged as superior to that provided by
TeleAtlas. Coverage in rural zones will be spotty no matter whose
geodata you employ, but urban and suburban areas are thoroughly
covered by Navteq.

Navteq itself does not make navigators, so you'll have to buy your
device from a manufacturer that licenses geodata from Navteq. One such
manufacturer is Magellan. Their latest product is the Magellan
RoadMate 800 GPS, which retails for just under a thousand dollars.

Magellan: Magellan RoadMate
http://www.magellangps.com/en/products/roadmate.asp?bhcp=1

MobileWhack: Magellan RoadMate 800 GPS
http://www.mobilewhack.com/reviews/magellan_roadmate_800_gps.html

Regards,

leapinglizard

Yes in fact you can update it and you should.  Here is the appropriate
page with details:

http://www.mbusa.com/brand/container.jsp?/models/features/dvd_navigation/dvd.jsp&modelCode=E350W

"It's estimated that 15 to 20 percent of the data in your navigation
DVD changes every year, so it's important to keep the information
up-to-date. By subscribing to updated DVDs you'll always have the
confidence you need to find your way."

Here is the contact information for NavUpdate

To order a NavUpdate subscription, see your local Mercedes-Benz dealer
or call  1-866-MB-4-AMAP (624-2627)

Be advised that Mercedes-Benz sent out a software update (and database
update), revision 2005.3, to E-class owners in the U.S.  in October of
this year, apparently to fix a "screen freezing" problem. Check to
make sure your disk is 2005.3 and not 2005.1 or .2, as I think you'll
be entitled to a no-cost upgrade to the newer one.

This is a year later than referenced question and comments, but
interesting that I just bought an E500 station wagon and the Nav
system doesn't show anything except major highways and freeways for
small towns in Idaho ... no streets at all. A friend has a Lexus and
it shows every detail ... even hiking trails. My sister has a Garmin
handheld and she used it to find an off-beat small bookstore. Is
Mercedes really that far behind? I love the rest of the car, but makes
me wonder. Book says you can't use anything except Mercedes software.