Hey guys!
So, I just purchased a 2012 Mercedes C250 Sport, and it is pretty bare because of my budget. I heard somewhere that this had Bluetooth Audio as standard. Is that true? Also, how does it work? Is it any good? I did not get the Ipod Interface option, but I do have an Auxiliary port and USB port. Will I be able to use the USB port for my iPhone? Or can I buy the iPod connection after the fact? I got an incredible deal on a Certified C250, but it was pretty much just standard equipment. (I'm in college, so I have NO budget for a decent C class).
Heated seats and Nav, I can do without. But I ABSOLUTELY want to play my music over my speakers, and I want it to be better than just using the auxiliary. Any help?? Thanks!

 

Yes, it definitely has BT audio (my 2012 does, and it has virtually no equipment). I can't recall the exact steps, but I had to get the car and the iPhone to connect (the same way you would w/ any phone) and then I went under "aux" to get the BT audio streaming to work. I think it sounds somewhat better than using the aux port (but I haven't done a side-by-side comparison). My understanding from reading here is that the poor sound quality from the aux port isn't just b/c of the connection but b/c you're playing compressed music files (so I don't know if BT will be that much better)?

The USB port won't work for playing music (at least, it didn't for my iPod).

And don't forget that the qualities that make MB special aren't just about the electronic goodies, so sometimes a bare MB lets you appreciate those qualities even more. =)

 

"Is it any good?" - Bluetooth bandwidth is 1/8th that of an original AIWW digital bitstream, so if you want to listen to only 12.5% of your tunes, go ahead and try it. IMO sounds like the music has been put through a wood chipper.

Better to burn an audio CD with your favorite Apple Lossless tunes (or high quality MP3's) and take advantage of the headunit's decoding for best quality audio sound. Bluetooth is convenient for garbled phone calls but can hardly qualify as being able to reproduce artful music.

 

Mine works great thru BT and Iphone.. I actually use BT for Spotify and sound is awesome!

 

With all due respect, and as someone who could be considered an audiophile, this is all wrong.

One can barely discern a difference between BT and the iPod connection or CD. Perhaps the older C's don't support EDR, but compression is not evident on the 2012 with HK and the audio quality is superb.

We're also talking about the Audio 20 setup in his car, so a loss in fidelity if there were one is really not going to be noticeable.

 

Thanks everyone for your input! I am having my c class shipped in, so hopefully it'll be here next week! I can't wait!