Traffic Message Channel (TMC) NB

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I was fiddling with the buttons on the SatNav fitted to my Merc the other day whilst stationary on the M25 and found a menu for something called TMC which I have since found out is Traffic Message Channel. According to the screen my TMC is'nt connected but if it was I'd get something called dynamic guidance which I guess is some kind of SatNav guidance combined with traffic avoidance
Anyone know whether TMC is operational in the UK and is it likely that I can get hooked up to it? As usual, my local Merc dealer is useless and knows f.all about it
Is TMC anything to do with Trafficmaster?

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[mirage]

TMC, is nothing to do with TrafficMaster & is broadcast 'over' the Classic FM frequency & that's about all I know.

See http://www.tmcforum.com/tmc/what_con.htm

It seems to be one of the best kept secrets around.



<hr width=100% size=1>Regards

Nick Thompson

 

[pissativlypossed]

It's a brilliant system, your satnav has to dvd based and you buy the disk from your dealer, BMW charge £200, The Satnav picks up the information from a radio station and the BMW system gives you notification of hold ups, the cause and duration . If a route is inputed and a major delay is signalled on that route you can automatically obtain a diversion. The info is provided in text form on the tv screen.

<hr width=100% size=1>"Open Another Bottle"

 

[nicho]

Yes, I've seen that on mine too and often wondered - think I'll follow it up with my dealer. Incidentally, I've finally found an excellent Merc dealership, Pentagon by the airport at Southampton (close to the boat). After my experience of four local ones in the Midlands, they are a refreshing change, and are recommended.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Goodge]

Pentagon Mercedes.

Yes, I took test drive from there last Saturday. Very good dealership, helpful but not pushy.

Lovely showroom too.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[jfm]

I have it on the beemer (2001 model) but never found it any use. Even if it is all set up, I dont trust the system to make the correct decision as to whether to divert or not, the computers simply don't have the fine judgement to make that call, it has to be done by your brain.

Prefer Trafficmaster - 1 button and the satnav screen flips to a colour zoomable map of the country with road speeds blinking at you in colour. Totally fab, has saved me hours and hours of traffic jamming. Very irritating that merc dont fit this, yet BM have done since 2000. I complained about this to merc dealer and it was one reaosn for not buying their e55 a short while ago. Merc went off to reaearch this and came back to me to say they could solder into the video out point on the trafficmaster pcb, so feeding the trafficmaster picture into the COMAND colour TV in the dash. Unfortunately they could not overcome the no-TV-in-motion feature, so they said I would have to stop the car and apply handbrake to see the traffic master screen. You can image what I told then I thought of that 'kin idea....

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[BrendanS]

The supplier of the service is ITIS, they have done deals to provide with the likes of BMW, Ford, volvo, Porsche etc, but I don't believe they have signed such a deal with Merc. Might be worth contacting them to clarify

<hr width=100% size=1>NesQuid agis, medice?

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Shame, I thought TMC might be worth having. Saw the integrated Trafficmaster on a BMW GB management car a couple of years back and I thought it very useful myself. I have a separate Trafficmaster screen in my Merc but its a pain to have a second non-integrated screen and having to regularly change pages manually and work out where you are on the screen
My Merc is in for the chop next year and I feel the same as you. Unless they sort out the Trafficmaster/SatNav interface, its back to the Beemer showroom for me. Just have to get used to that Banglicised design 'language' I suppose

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[jfm]

Your separate TM screen, is the monochrome of the colour? SWMBO's car (blimmin merc) has the separate TM screen and I foolishly only ordered the monchrome, because £600 cheaper. It's damn near illegible, you have to stare at it so long you risk crashing. Colour is much better for TM becuase the really bad spots flash red and the medium traffic jams flash yellow. Hence my preference for BM over Merc in this department, becuase they do colour integrated TM. Would be hard to live without TM now that I've been spoilt by it for 3 years

On beemers, if you can cope with Bangleness and don't want a full blown M5, the new 535 diesel is getting rave reviews.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[martinwoolwich]

OK I disagree with almost everyone here - sorry!

I have a BMW 745i CD based sat Nav with TMC. I think it's brilliant. for £250 I'd snap it up. My partner has a Merc and just upgraded and he also really rates it. It is not 100% accurate all the time but it is 95% of the time. On the Beemer you have to ask for a detour once it tells you that there are traffic problem ahead - it does not automatically change the route.

Even if you don't want to use it for navigation purposes it can at least show you what's going on (and a better interface than Trafficmaser IMHO (which I had on my last beemer).

Finally on the 7 series not only can I see that there are traffic problems ahead, I also get a description of the problem. Accident, Roadworks etc. and the length of the queue in km.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[pissativlypossed]

Well done Martin, mine is on this years 745, I had the previous system on an M3 which had the older system although car was new late 2002 it was'nt a patch on the newer system.

<hr width=100% size=1>"Open Another Bottle"

 

[TrueBlue]

I feel a Rant coming on:-

The whole scheme in the UK is a complete and utter mess. I am led to believe that in Europe the whole "thing" is free - public domain, so that if your SatNav ie enabled, you can get all the useful traffic diversion info automatically. Very sensible.

I drive one of those so called "brick" thingies which Forum members would not touch (thanks guys, means I can buy a supespec of wheels for a reasonable price, 'cos trendy peeps don't want them), It's got a SatNav system with dulcet tones and clear pictures of what to do next , turning down the radio / CD player which nornally has Levefbre-Veilly's Sortie(s) playing full tilt on the Dolby 5.1 enabled stereo.

BUT because Volvo UK is too **Kim** mean to sign a license agreement with "whoever". So I run full tilt into the snarl up on the M25. ** Bother **.

Out of rant mode what I am trying to say is that our EU cousins (whom we don't really want to join), may have seen the light that if you want to save time and more particularly want to save the Planet by reducing Global warmning, one way to reduce it is to persuade peeps sitting in traffic jams to divert their route before they hit the jam.

No jam = lots of cars not **kimming** out loads of CO2 in a stationary mode..

BUT we don't we rant, the Gov't don't understand, so do **kimmer** all, AND . AND.

SO chaps and ladies those who can't get TMI on you SatNavs pester your care manufaturer until we do.

Rant Off:

<hr width=100% size=1>

Stop what you're doing and wait my signal

 

[jfm]

Thanks Martin. You are no doubt right. My beemer stuff is 2001 so ancientish now, technologywise. New car not till next May, so I'll look forward to the improved stuff.

Does yours have Trafficmaster? I mean is this new automatically detouring TMC gizmo an addition to TM or a replacement for it?

My concern is the sometimes stupid routing of the satnav (again, mine is the 2001 stuff, made for BM by VDO, and CD based). From the office int City (EC4) to the M1, on fastest route, it sends me west along the A4 to the north circular, then around to the bottom of the M1 at Hendon. That's pants, obviously. So I dont trust it until I've seen the route it has chosen laid out on the screen

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[martinwoolwich]

I had Trafficamster on my last Beemer and TMC on the new 7 series replaces it completely.

I agree about the madness of the "fastest" route vs "shortest" route settings. Yesterday, I had to go from Fleet to Bosham. Fastest route 75miles. Shortest route 45miles. Trouble is that the shortest route isn't always sensible, taking you down dirt tracks and off major roads onto minor roads and then back onto the same major road again just to save 200meters. Its too precise. What's really needed is "most sensible route" but I'm not sure a system could be built with this sort of fuzzy logic.

I don't know about other systems but on the Beemer, once I ask for a route, it shows me the full track on the map. This allows me to see if I think the thing is mad or the suggested route is sensible. If mad I set for shortest route, and then when on my way, and travelled some distance, I then change it to fastest route. Seems the only way I can get around this problem sometimes

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I have the monochrome version and yes its not easy to see but better than nothing and saved me getting stuck many times. I do think you're right though, there's going to be loads of crashes in the future as people fiddle with their sat navs/trafficmasters/road angels etc whilst driving
I've had a number of Beemers before the Merc and I'm a big fan of the various 5 series models but I really dont like what BMW have done with the current 5 series. I still cant get used to the styling, the i-drive is a nonsense and the cars I've driven just dont handle as crisply as the old model whilst the ride is compromised by those run flat tyres. On the other hand, I've been dissapointed with the build quality of the Merc and especially pissed off with the dealers I've encountered so I'll probably go back to BMW next time and the 535d looks like it could be quite a nice drive (for a diesel)



<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[jfm]

Yup Martin, I recognise and agree everything you say about the BMW (=VDO) satnav!

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[jfm]

I have not driven or been driven in one so dont know, but everyone says the run flat tyres spoil the ride. Presumably you can order it wthout them? The M5 doesn't have them

The 535d is getting rave reviews, fo any car let alone diesel

<hr width=100% size=1>