Becker Map Pilot

[Hybrids]

First post in this section, Just took delivery if a 13 plate C220 Sport.
I was aware of the Becker pre-wire, but was not going to bother after reading mixed reviews.

The delivery driver had a dealer issued unit to use and demo'd it to me. It looks to be a reasonable piece of kit and as my TomTom is around 3 years old I am tempted to go the Becker route.

My question though, is more about where to buy from.
Searches suggest Ebay, but am I risking a world of hurt with potentially bogus or grey import units that won't function and can't be updated in the future.
I was not going to consider S/H as they are not really much less in price given the higher risk of being old or FUBARED. So where have other PHers sourced theirs and any issues ? (would rather buy from a VAT registered seller, than Billy Back Bedroom)

Hopefully this thread will stay in the Mercedes section and not be moved to the SatNav section where it will die a lonely unanswered post.

[johnS2000]

Not much help I know but our's came from the dealer when we bought the car and ,yes, I do wish we'd saved £150 or so by buying from else ware !
My wife prefer's the Becker to the TomTom although I have read report's that the Becker pick's some strange route's some time's .

[stumpage]

I got the Becker from eBay for about £200. Works perfect and integrates great with the display in the middle of the speedo and cars controls. Yes a TomTom may be cheaper but the Becker is a properly integrated unit.

[dhalv]

Hi,

Was persuaded to get mine from the dealer - extra £££, but whatya gonna do!

In terms of the system, I find it easy to use, postcode functionality and voice recognition (which is actually quite good).

I have also paid about £20 for camera locations and that seems to work really nicely too. Worth a go but I think if there was a head to head test on functionality and accuracy the Tom Tom may win out, however, the benefits of an integrated system, for me, push it over the top.

[Dog Star]

stumpage said:

I got the Becker from eBay for about £200. Works perfect and integrates great with the display in the middle of the speedo and cars controls. Yes a TomTom may be cheaper but the Becker is a properly integrated unit.

Same here - got mine from a seller in Germany for £225. Excellent satnav, and the re-routing and jam avoidance is IMO second to none. It also highlights roads with delays on the screen so you can actually see them on the map. It's very good. Voice activated (just press the button, call out your destination and it (usually) hears correctly) and integrated with dash display and wheel buttons. It's got all of Europe covered and as the above poster pointed out - an £20 update adds "hazards" and does funky things like display warnings of upcoming schools and other hazards. Also displays your current speed limit.

You'll not get a flashier integrated car satnav for any car (let alone a Merc) for less than a grand.

On the subject of Ebay - buy off a German seller with good feedback. Germans are astonishingly good and honest people to deal with IME.

[Ribbs27]

My brother bought one for his C350, he raves about it! I believe he bought it from Amazon.

[Hybrids]

Thanks for the responses.
I had little joy in finding a VAT registered seller on Ebay, an Amazon seller had no way (that I could see) of contacting to ask the question.

So I started taking another look at the Billy Back Bedroom sellers on Ebay, some of the auction ones were selling for more that other sellers Buy it Now prices (some with Best offer). I stuck a semi cheeky Best Offer in, expecting a counter offer, but the seller accepted.

Arrived yesterday, latest part number, ran it through the Becker site to check it was the latest maps and software. All good.

There is certainly a large disparity in price between the Ebay sellers, perhaps I should be blissfully ignorant.

[Dog Star]

If they've got good feedback that's usually a fair indicator.

Hope you like it.

[Chaffs]

Missus Chaffs went to Amazon - apart from a couple of settings where it's directed us to lanes with signs saying "unsuitable for vehicles", it's pretty good, especially how it integrates into the main driver display

[va1o]

Absolute bargain for what they are considering its effectively fully integrated Sat Nav. Most of the functionality of COMAND for a fraction of the cost.

[toby tucker]

nice piece of kit and have it on my C class - my only complaint is that it is a bit of a pain to adjust the volume on the sat nav and radio independently.