2013 C180 coupe bluetooth problems
11-22-2013, 01:20 AM
#1
Junior Member
Thread Starter
2013 C180 coupe bluetooth problems
Hi everyone
I hate this damn car, I've had it since September and it has given me endless problems with the Bluetooth.
My previous car was a C200 station wagon with command, still the 803 version I believe with the beige background on the display. My phone, a Sony Xperia Z was paired once and worked like a dream, not one problem because I used mainly Bluetooth audio streaming to listen to music. Come September, I get this thing, its 804 Edition C with the grey background on the display and no command. Paired the same phone with it and it has not worked properly since day 1. Tried pairing from phone to car and from car to phone with no change, in fact it has become worse over the last week. It plays songs through streaming for about 30 seconds and disconnects, then it connects and just locks up. Even Bluetooth calls just disappear for about 20-30seconds and come back as if nothing happened. I listen to 1 song on my 3km journey to work and it is chopped up into ~30sec bites with me having to press the disc button until it starts playing again for the next 30seconds or so. It’s highly irritating and I'd like to put my fist through that screen at times. I spoke to my friend with a 2013 c180 sedan, also edition C and he is encountering the same problems with his Samsung galaxy S3. My wife’s iPhone 4s on the other hand, can be in the boot and it connects and plays without a problem, similarly, another friend of mine also with a 2013 c180 sedan has no problem with his crappy old Blackberry.
I'm really frustrated with this thing, I don't know if any of you have encountered this and found a solution other than going to the useless dealer. It’s a Merc for Pete’s sake! I can get into a 2013 Tata and the Bluetooth will work seamlessly! I just don't understand how they 'updated and improved' the system but actually made it unusable.
I hate this damn car, I've had it since September and it has given me endless problems with the Bluetooth.
My previous car was a C200 station wagon with command, still the 803 version I believe with the beige background on the display. My phone, a Sony Xperia Z was paired once and worked like a dream, not one problem because I used mainly Bluetooth audio streaming to listen to music. Come September, I get this thing, its 804 Edition C with the grey background on the display and no command. Paired the same phone with it and it has not worked properly since day 1. Tried pairing from phone to car and from car to phone with no change, in fact it has become worse over the last week. It plays songs through streaming for about 30 seconds and disconnects, then it connects and just locks up. Even Bluetooth calls just disappear for about 20-30seconds and come back as if nothing happened. I listen to 1 song on my 3km journey to work and it is chopped up into ~30sec bites with me having to press the disc button until it starts playing again for the next 30seconds or so. It’s highly irritating and I'd like to put my fist through that screen at times. I spoke to my friend with a 2013 c180 sedan, also edition C and he is encountering the same problems with his Samsung galaxy S3. My wife’s iPhone 4s on the other hand, can be in the boot and it connects and plays without a problem, similarly, another friend of mine also with a 2013 c180 sedan has no problem with his crappy old Blackberry.
I'm really frustrated with this thing, I don't know if any of you have encountered this and found a solution other than going to the useless dealer. It’s a Merc for Pete’s sake! I can get into a 2013 Tata and the Bluetooth will work seamlessly! I just don't understand how they 'updated and improved' the system but actually made it unusable.
11-22-2013, 07:52 AM
#2
Junior Member
Sorry that you're experiencing this problem. I went though them with my C300 a few years ago. 
Unfortunately, that's not a MB problem... That rests squarely on the shoulders of your phone manufacturer. It's up to them to correctly implement the necessary Bluetooth "stack" to support communication with your car.
This sucks... but currently your only options are to:
1). Buy a Bluetooth dongle that plugs into your phone's headphone jack; usually those contain the necessary stack but are limited in that more than likely won't be able to control the phone through the dash.
2). Raise holy hell with the phone manufacturer so that they'll do what's right. I went this route and it took them about 9 months to release an adequate update.
3). Try a newer phone that (for sure) lists compatibility with MB cars.
IHTH!
Unfortunately, that's not a MB problem... That rests squarely on the shoulders of your phone manufacturer. It's up to them to correctly implement the necessary Bluetooth "stack" to support communication with your car.
This sucks... but currently your only options are to:
1). Buy a Bluetooth dongle that plugs into your phone's headphone jack; usually those contain the necessary stack but are limited in that more than likely won't be able to control the phone through the dash.
2). Raise holy hell with the phone manufacturer so that they'll do what's right. I went this route and it took them about 9 months to release an adequate update.
3). Try a newer phone that (for sure) lists compatibility with MB cars.
IHTH!
11-22-2013, 10:44 AM
#3
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Hi Azarc
Thanks for the reply, unfortunately I disagree with you slightly. It may well be the phone, the same phone that worked seamlessly with my 2012 C200 station wagon with command. Perhaps it was the command that made it work so well but it was also 803 (cruise control lever at the top with the fat ugly indicator lever) and this is 804 (cruise control at the bottom with the thinner, cheaper feeling indicator lever with aluminum look ends) surely they improved the system when they upgraded the software and didn't surely make it worse or remove compatibility it previously had? Found an interim fix, once connected to the car, go into Bluetooth settings and select MB Bluetooth settings, disable the one that holds less importance for you ( in my case telephone functionality), streaming audio works perfectly now ( doesn't disconnect). I have Android 4.2.2.
Thanks for the reply, unfortunately I disagree with you slightly. It may well be the phone, the same phone that worked seamlessly with my 2012 C200 station wagon with command. Perhaps it was the command that made it work so well but it was also 803 (cruise control lever at the top with the fat ugly indicator lever) and this is 804 (cruise control at the bottom with the thinner, cheaper feeling indicator lever with aluminum look ends) surely they improved the system when they upgraded the software and didn't surely make it worse or remove compatibility it previously had? Found an interim fix, once connected to the car, go into Bluetooth settings and select MB Bluetooth settings, disable the one that holds less importance for you ( in my case telephone functionality), streaming audio works perfectly now ( doesn't disconnect). I have Android 4.2.2.
11-30-2013, 10:59 AM
#4
Newbie
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
300C
Sorry that you're experiencing this problem. I went though them with my C300 a few years ago.
Unfortunately, that's not a MB problem... That rests squarely on the shoulders of your phone manufacturer. It's up to them to correctly implement the necessary Bluetooth "stack" to support communication with your car.
This sucks... but currently your only options are to:
1). Buy a Bluetooth dongle that plugs into your phone's headphone jack; usually those contain the necessary stack but are limited in that more than likely won't be able to control the phone through the dash.
2). Raise holy hell with the phone manufacturer so that they'll do what's right. I went this route and it took them about 9 months to release an adequate update.
3). Try a newer phone that (for sure) lists compatibility with MB cars.
IHTH!
Unfortunately, that's not a MB problem... That rests squarely on the shoulders of your phone manufacturer. It's up to them to correctly implement the necessary Bluetooth "stack" to support communication with your car.
This sucks... but currently your only options are to:
1). Buy a Bluetooth dongle that plugs into your phone's headphone jack; usually those contain the necessary stack but are limited in that more than likely won't be able to control the phone through the dash.
2). Raise holy hell with the phone manufacturer so that they'll do what's right. I went this route and it took them about 9 months to release an adequate update.
3). Try a newer phone that (for sure) lists compatibility with MB cars.
IHTH!
It's not the phone it is MBZ. My wife has taken her C300 to two dealers and they gave up saying that is the best we can do. (Normal for this car). She drives a 2011 C300 still under warranty! Bluetooth is a constant crackle if and when you can get it connected. Works fine when connected with a cord. The static problem exists with any bt phone (androids-Apple) including the service reps! This is completely unacceptable on the part of MBZ.
11-30-2013, 12:45 PM
#5
Junior Member
@Sly1980 @Omnibmz, Again, I'm sorry, but you're both wrong. I'm a software developer so I do know a bit about what I'm talking about. 
Regardless of "what works" with one car vs. another, or even the same car, it's still the same thing...
... the car manufacturer decides which Bluetooth stacks to incorporate into the car, and they move forward. It's then up to phone manufacturer to provide support for that particular stack (or set of stacks) in the phone. In most cases the stack in question is AD2P and the mistake that most phone manufacturers make is that they don't "fully" implement the stack.
I personally had an early release C300 and a Windows Phone 7 that didn't work, then worked after a phone OS update, then didn't work after another update, then finally worked like a charm after a third update.
After that I got a Windows Phone 8 device that didn't work well with that same car... and then switched to an early release C250. Again, Nokia played with the updates and finally got that stack right. Also, note that the same thing happened on the BMW 3 series cars that were released in 2011/2012 and beyond. I know this because a very good friend of mine had an identical phone and was experiencing the same problems as me. Actually... his were a little bit worse.
When I got my Lumia 920, I had similar problems with the phone in the car again... and Nokia fixed that about a week later.
The problem is definite with the phone, people, not the car.
You can respond however you want, but it won't change the fact of where the "fault" lies. I suggest you contact you phone manufacturer and submit a (or several) bug reports so that they can try to figure out what's missing.
Cheers!
Regardless of "what works" with one car vs. another, or even the same car, it's still the same thing...
... the car manufacturer decides which Bluetooth stacks to incorporate into the car, and they move forward. It's then up to phone manufacturer to provide support for that particular stack (or set of stacks) in the phone. In most cases the stack in question is AD2P and the mistake that most phone manufacturers make is that they don't "fully" implement the stack.
I personally had an early release C300 and a Windows Phone 7 that didn't work, then worked after a phone OS update, then didn't work after another update, then finally worked like a charm after a third update.
After that I got a Windows Phone 8 device that didn't work well with that same car... and then switched to an early release C250. Again, Nokia played with the updates and finally got that stack right. Also, note that the same thing happened on the BMW 3 series cars that were released in 2011/2012 and beyond. I know this because a very good friend of mine had an identical phone and was experiencing the same problems as me. Actually... his were a little bit worse.
When I got my Lumia 920, I had similar problems with the phone in the car again... and Nokia fixed that about a week later.
The problem is definite with the phone, people, not the car.
You can respond however you want, but it won't change the fact of where the "fault" lies. I suggest you contact you phone manufacturer and submit a (or several) bug reports so that they can try to figure out what's missing.
Cheers!
11-30-2013, 05:21 PM
#6
Newbie
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
300C
@Sly1980 @Omnibmz, Again, I'm sorry, but you're both wrong. I'm a software developer so I do know a bit about what I'm talking about.
Regardless of "what works" with one car vs. another, or even the same car, it's still the same thing...
... the car manufacturer decides which Bluetooth stacks to incorporate into the car, and they move forward. It's then up to phone manufacturer to provide support for that particular stack (or set of stacks) in the phone. In most cases the stack in question is AD2P and the mistake that most phone manufacturers make is that they don't "fully" implement the stack.
I personally had an early release C300 and a Windows Phone 7 that didn't work, then worked after a phone OS update, then didn't work after another update, then finally worked like a charm after a third update.
After that I got a Windows Phone 8 device that didn't work well with that same car... and then switched to an early release C250. Again, Nokia played with the updates and finally got that stack right. Also, note that the same thing happened on the BMW 3 series cars that were released in 2011/2012 and beyond. I know this because a very good friend of mine had an identical phone and was experiencing the same problems as me. Actually... his were a little bit worse.
When I got my Lumia 920, I had similar problems with the phone in the car again... and Nokia fixed that about a week later.
The problem is definite with the phone, people, not the car.
You can respond however you want, but it won't change the fact of where the "fault" lies. I suggest you contact you phone manufacturer and submit a (or several) bug reports so that they can try to figure out what's missing.
Cheers!
Regardless of "what works" with one car vs. another, or even the same car, it's still the same thing...
... the car manufacturer decides which Bluetooth stacks to incorporate into the car, and they move forward. It's then up to phone manufacturer to provide support for that particular stack (or set of stacks) in the phone. In most cases the stack in question is AD2P and the mistake that most phone manufacturers make is that they don't "fully" implement the stack.
I personally had an early release C300 and a Windows Phone 7 that didn't work, then worked after a phone OS update, then didn't work after another update, then finally worked like a charm after a third update.
After that I got a Windows Phone 8 device that didn't work well with that same car... and then switched to an early release C250. Again, Nokia played with the updates and finally got that stack right. Also, note that the same thing happened on the BMW 3 series cars that were released in 2011/2012 and beyond. I know this because a very good friend of mine had an identical phone and was experiencing the same problems as me. Actually... his were a little bit worse.
When I got my Lumia 920, I had similar problems with the phone in the car again... and Nokia fixed that about a week later.
The problem is definite with the phone, people, not the car.
You can respond however you want, but it won't change the fact of where the "fault" lies. I suggest you contact you phone manufacturer and submit a (or several) bug reports so that they can try to figure out what's missing.
Cheers!
