flight13

Hey everyone...
Just picked up a 2014 C250 and noticed that I cannot read text messages while the car is in motion. I get a message that states something about safety and distracting me. Once the car is stopped, the message displays fine. Is there a setting to turn this off? My 2012 C250 didn't do this and it seems rather silly that I can read a safety message but not my text message. The service department had no clue and said bring it in.
Thanks

RENNtechHQ

I have a 2014 C250 and I have never seen that come up. I can read texts while driving.

Sportstick

Why would you even try?

http://www.stoptextsstopwrecks.org/#home

JPc300

MDMercedesGuy

Cripes.

We're talking about messages that come up in the COMAND display. They are no more distracting than reading the radio screen or navigation instructions - and the car can even verbally read them out loud to you.

I'm completely for not texting and driving in a standard manner... throw the book at someone who does. Having a text message come up in an a manufacturer provided and sanctioned manner (and hopefully replying via something like Siri if you must reply) is not something that should warrant a bunch of self righteous posts.

Sportstick

Poor writing which clearly does not communicate what you surmise, in combination with the prevalence of idiots out there who do read cell phone texts while driving makes the responses quite reasonable. Where do you see clarity in the original post that the issue is the car display and not the cell phone? Further, existence of aps which do to a cell phone exactly what he complains of also fogs the intent of his question. And, how do you know to what the second poster is referring, which was the quote picked up for reply?

Self-righteous? Not at all....very well-tempered with a brief question and some links/videos. Messages/announcements on the COMAND screen are not known as "texts". Herein is the importance of being able to communicate clearly in English, often found lacking.

If the OP and second poster intended to communicate about a car and not a phone, the dealer should be able to resolve the issue.

Drazil

It's probably region disabled similar to the dvd in motion. The same workarounds will probably also unlock the texting while driving feature.

MDMercedesGuy

I surmised based on what he was posting that we were talking about the car display - particularly since his 2012 did not lock him out. I've also had my 2012 scold me and lock me out when trying to enter a navigation request at a light when I had to take off - so I am familiar with the behavior he is talking about (albeit in another section of COMAND). It's once of the features present in newer versions of COMAND not on the older ones, hence my assumption.
Actually, they do show up under the "Text Messages" option of the phone page on the COMAND screen.

Sportstick

If these really are text messages which are then relayed from the phone to the screen, the attempt to read them while driving remains unacceptable. The issue with driving and texting is not the hand holding the phone. It's the loss of the brain focus. Simple navigation systems are bad enough for distraction. All of the research on cell phone in-car usage has shown that handheld versus handsfree makes little to no difference. It's the loss of attention and focus which causes the loss of driving skill. If MB has enabled a feature to read phone texts on the COMAND screen, shame on them. And, then this thread really is about texting while driving...the screen location is not the issue; it's the brain function. Using this feature is as irresponsible as using the car's capability to do 120mph on public roads. Built-in, but should never happen.

JaredP

My 2013 with media interface allows me to read them while in motion.

MDMercedesGuy

I'm just gonna leave this alone, because it's not going to go anywhere positive. I will say this:

People are going to do it if they are going to do it. The manufacturer adding in a feature to make it safer shouldn't relegate them to "shame on you" territory. There is risk in everything we do. Reading the message is no different than using any other feature in COMAND. Unless you drive around and never change the radio, climate control, or navigation settings in your car - there's really not much ground to the argument here.

Sportstick

Yes, we can leave it alone if you wish. But let's leave it with facts. The system you describe gives the appearance of safety, but the data since says otherwise. The industry thought hands free phones would help. Now we learn they don't. Using typical controls employs a different cortical area than reading sentences or conducting a conversation. So, we can drop the policy discussion, but neurology remains as is.

spyked

Whoa....wait a minute.

I have a 2013 with Premium and Multimedia package. I have an old iPhone 4. Are you saying that my car will display text messages in the Nav screen if I flip some setting switch???

I do NOT pay for MBRACE.

JaredP

This is ridiculous.

Scrolling through navigation options, setting waypoints, navigating through contact lists, searching through audio playlists, all these things are fine, but the moment Mercedes relays another arbitrary block of text to the screen and it's "shame on them".

You can't pick and choose your issues when it comes to distracted driving. Arbitrarily drawing the line with displaying text messages is a pretty misguided stance to have.

JaredP

If your phone is connected via bluetooth, go to the PHONE tab, and on the bottom, there should be a tab called Txt Msg or something similar. You can view the message, and if you push in your command dial, you can call the sender or any of the numbers present in their message.

spyked

SWEET!! I'ts been a year and a half, but I learned something new. Thanks!

Sportstick

More careful reading, please. I stated earlier that navigation systems are already a problem for drivers in motion. Don't know of data for more complex thinking needed to use audio systems beyond simple radios, but it's likely similar to navigation. I'm not picking and choosing issues. I've read data and let that speak for itself. My sense is that this forum has a lot of opinions but few who actually research.

spyked

Crap. I guess that function doesn't work with iPhone 4 (non S model). The text message option is greyed out.

MDMercedesGuy

On your iPhone, you also have to change a setting. I believe it is the "Show Notifications" setting within the bluetooth settings on the iPhone for MB Bluetooth.

Here is a screenshot from my 5s running iOS 7.1.1. My 4s on 7.1.1 was the same.


The bluetooth stack on the 4 and 4s are completely different, but I would think this functionality might be there - it's been a while since I've had my 4.

spyked

Thanks MD, it works!

It's sorta clunky, as the message doesn't just pop up. I get a sound notification then have to press the phone button to see the message. But anything is better than nothing I guess.

Thanks again.

MDMercedesGuy

Yep, I agree. It would be nice if it would float up from the bottom like the climate control does when you make a change.

Something makes me think that the COMAND in the W222 S Class handles this differently. If you haven't seen it in action, it makes our COMAND look like an Apple IIe.

w204_Generic

This brings us back to the other thread of "How did you hide your side markers?"

SCTinkering

I never knew that it did that because my Windows Phone just asks me if I want it to read the message and then takes dictation if I want to reply, well that was before I got drive mode which just responds back with a text that says. "I'm driving now and will get back to you later."

RickP330

Alright, so on my 2014 mm command, can I read and send texts on the command screen?
RP

JaredP

read only. I've only tested with iphone 5 and 6.