Erkman28

Just picked up a C300 sport for the wife, she has a permanent grin while driving. They released have done well with the look and driving of this vehicle.

I know there is an issue with iPhones, text messages coming through do not work at all, apparently there is a fix in the works?

The Verizon wireless connection via the wifi is quite slow, would like to use my iPhone as the data connection, for the life of me I cannot find how to set that up. They have made this "Command" system pretty and very over complicated. Anyone have a quick run down on how to do this?

barnsleyshaun

I am in UK so may be different but my iPhone (5) once connected via Bluetooth recieves text messages via the comand no problem, it beeps once and an envelope icon appears.

To use the phone as the data connection I open the hotspot option on the phone and that's it, although on Vodafone in the UK in my area the connection is so slow it's practically unusable, but it does connect.

Erkman28

Sorry, apparently it is a problem with iPhone 6's?

I'll try turning on the hotspot and see what happens

Erkman28

Turning on Bluetooth or sub tethering with the wifi on the phone off doesn't seem to do it.

There should be some place in the menu to force it to use the phones connection rather than the built in Verizon connection.

richardamp

You have to change a setting on your iPhone in order to receive texts. On your iPhone go to Settings > Bluetooth > and click the "i" icon next to your MB Bluetooth. Ensure "Show Notifications" is turned on. Once I did this I was able to see text messages from my iPhone on the Command screen.

PeteInGilroy

Are the text messages verbally read aloud? And can you verbally reply to a text?

Dodgers

BarnsleyShaun, just down the M1 a bit from you at J33, good to hear about a UK spec car, hadn't realised how different MB Sell the car in different countries. My car arrives this month and I also want to connect an iPhone 5, are you finding that it's controllable entirely over Bluetooth or have you plugged it into the USB? My car also has external telephone aerial, do you have this? If so how did you connect to it.

joshg1001

I also agree the new COMAND is overly complicated and this is coming from a guy who is well versed in electronics and also uses the previous COMAND on a daily basis.

While I haven't searched for the answer, I have yet turned on the hotspot because I don't know the passcode to connect my devices to it. One would think the car would tell you, much like the bluetooth passcode.

Erkman28

Josh, before I left the dealer they showed it to me and said "take a picture of this" which I did, it is buried deep in settings, but it is there. I am also well versed in electronics, and this thing is built to be pretty and nothing else, nothing is intuitive at all, let's hope they fix it.

To the other poster, I did turn on notifications in the bluetooth menu on the iPhone, didn't work, however I did that when it was already connected, going to try an experiment now.

Erkman28

Ok, yes this is correct, I can now recieve texts, can't respond, but can have them displayed and read to me. Can only hope Apple CarPlay gets implemented soon, there is no excuse that a car of this caliber has such an incredibly horrible interface for simple things.

DCDude1776@me.c

I can't help you w/ the internet issue, but re: the iPhone, I stumbled into a solution that worked for me.

Assuming you've got your phone linked via Bluetooth to the car, go into the phone's Bluetooth menu and click the information on the connection to the Benz. Make sure you've got the boxes checked to share the diff't types of data that are listed on the phone.

I haven't been able to get it to fetch old messages off my iPhone 6 plus on AT&T's network, I do get new message notifications when I'm in the car. Click the little envelope on the phone screen and it'll pull the message up. You can also click on the message and ask it to be read aloud.

mihaelb

Mercedes were scheduled to implement CarPlay in 2014, but have postponed it.

They did have a demo of it working in one of the auto shows in a C class, but that was more an Apple demo than a Mercedes demo (ie Apple reps showing things off). The implementation looked like a toy, not a Mercedes (big multi-colored icons), but I doubt that Apple (who are control freaks) will allow car manufacturers to tinker with the way it looks. So I don't know that you'll be too happy using it

There is also no word whether CarPlay will be available to the current system (via firmware update or what-have-you), or only on newer cars.

barnsleyshaun

Hi I just leave the phone in my pocket and control the phone by Bluetooth, you can voice dial your contacts, and it receives the text messages and reads them out to you. I have my iPod plugged into the USB port so I don't really use the phone to play music although I have done.

I don't have the external aerial but am considering the module with the SIM card in order to use the online options because trying to use my phones connection is useless, I'm on Vodafone, live in barnsley and work in Doncaster - it's a 19 mile trip and at no point along the journey can I get a 3G signal.

Dodgers

Problem with the Sim module is that the IPhone doesn't support SAP ( aka rSAP) protocol so it's unable to take over your iPhone number. The other option is a dual sim to put in it with your iPhone number on, the sales blurb says many operators provide them, you'll be hard pressed to find a UK one that does. Seems to be total confusion with the dealer on phone options with the W205 as they are on European models but not UK.

Roger Bill

Hi all

I've been wondering about the pros and cons of the various phone options. I'm in the UK and my W205 is due for delivery in May/June. My current phone is a Nokia Lumia 625 Windows Phone which doesn't support the Bluetooth SAP profile and my Virgin phone contract doesn't allow tethering. Therefore, to take advantage of traffic updates on the navigation system I guess I'll need to change to another phone contract or get the Mercedes telephone module or a mifi dongle and possibly a new phone. A lot of different possible permutations and I'd really appreciate any advice on the option which works best with the various phone and internet features of the W205.

Many thanks
Roger

mihaelb

Won't changing your cellular plan be the easiest option?

Otherwise, I think I would get a new phone. And since neither CarPlay nor Android Auto are available for the C class yet, I'd say get the phone you're happiest with.
Reading the forums from the past couple of months, it seems that the new iPhones are having more issues with the C's system, but that could/should be remedied with the next firmware update from Mercedes.

If you want to base your choice based on the car's interaction with the phone, he's a brief comparison between CarPlay and Android Auto:

Roger Bill

Many thanks. I'd certainly prefer to stick with the Windows Phone operating system and my second choice would be Android. Unfortunately changing my phone contract won't be particularly easy and if I have to do so I thought at the same time I may as well check all the available options to see which would give the best and most reliable functionality.

barnsleyshaun

I think the traffic updates and traffic monitoring on route work without tethering to a phone, although mine have disappeared recently, I need to visit the dealer.

Merlin1

Traffic updates and traffic monitoring ie dynamic route, do not rely on phone but uses Tom tom network on Comand in UK.

Dodgers

I believe that is correct for TomTom as the press releases say that Daimler has installed a M2M ( machine to machine ) SIM for access to the TomTom cloud with 3 years subscription, going to be expensive in 3 years time!

For any other data access the MB site says

"*COMAND online services are only available once a mobile phone is connected to the car via Bluetooth (please see www.mercedes-benz.com/connect for a list of compatible prices and functionality.) Before attempting to connect to COMAND online, we would advise that you contact your specific mobile phone service provider to confirm your mobile phone profile and data charges for tethered internet access"