Duspin07

They told me the same thing last week and nothing changed. In fact, they told me to wait an hour (at 8:15 AM) and try again. I did and it started (rush hour over) later on that AM. Soon as there was a dramatic drop in temperature in the Boston area (and the whole of the north east), there was a likely a dramatic increase in demand and voila! no remote start. So, they're either really stupid to do upgrades at rush hour -5:00 GMT or their equipment can't handle the load. I'll go with the latter.

jdag

I knew about the 5 gallon limit and find that crazy overkill. The car will only run for 10 minutes when started remotely. Only allowing remote start when the car is over 1/4-1/3 full seems overly cautious.

maxmini

I heard from my salesman that a lot of his customers were calling to complain about the remote start issue. I'm sure most of them had tanks over 5 gallons, with locked doors and windows (it's 25 degrees outside). The guy pointing out these technicalities is only turning attention away from a very non-benz like way of treating their customers that mbrace is involved in.

Why can't they just come clean and tell us what the issue is and what they are doing about it?????

Duspin07

Someone from MBUSA called me last night to tell me that indeed the Daimler NOC was adding servers (the alleged "upgrades") which is what caused the outages. (Normally service disruptions are announced in advance and performed during off hours, but that concept seems to be lost on these guys.) The original excuse for the outages, BTW, was mbrace tech support telling me that they (mbrace) limit data transmissions to and from the vehicle when customers don't make the welcome call to initialize service. How's THAT for customer experience. Anyway, back to the MBUSA fella. We had a short discussion and I wouldn't be surprised if MB will try to design an upgrade in the telematics system from 3G to 4GLTE that will enable remote start in prior MY vehicles, and upgrade the 3G in MY 2016. Interested to know what kind of charge that we'll incur, if any. Stay tuned, I guess.

Arthrodesis

My remote start is working better now......

maxmini

Remote start is down again. Back to another 10-15 minute wait for tech support on mbrace.
Very frustrating.

jdag

My wife may have found a "fix".

She recently noticed that the lock command does not actually work as quickly as the app indicates. So even though she locked the doors via the app, and received the notification that they were locked, they were not in reality.

Giving it about 5 additional minutes after sending the lock command seems to solved the starting problem. Now of course, this is not ideal, but better than the car not starting at all.

YashaR8

first 2 remote start attempts via mbrace today 2 for 2...may not last but so far so good

tivoboy

lock works faster than remote start. I find if the car has good connectivity (so not in a concrete parking garage or other, that remote lock works in about 30-60 seconds.. remote start will just take longer no matter what. Can be 2-3 minutes.

pek

This may be a silly question, but why does MB use (and why do customers pay a lot extra for) a smartphone app that also requires buying/monthly cell fees for remote start? My 2015 c300 didn't have it, but since I live in the mid-south USA I don't particularly miss it. Thing is, the technology to build it into the key fob has been out there for quite a while, my 2010 Buick LaCrosse had it (and was well worth it in northern Ohio winters!), a comparable class of car to the c300. "Free" mbrace doesn't hide the fact that the customer is paying a lot extra for something that should be built into the fob. And, no, I wouldn't buy the extra package anyway, there aren't any functions that aren't already available in a cheap smartphone. When I retire and move back north, lack of a remote start in the fob would be a deal-breaker, so yes, I would vote with my buying dollars, even though I love my c300. pek

jerome8283

The mbrace remote start has been inconsistent on my 2017 GLS as well. I called MB a few times. I was told a couple of things, wait 24 to 48 hrs more than once, delete the app and reinstall, I cannot be connected via my home WiFi etc. etc. After reading this post I tried unlocking and locking then tried to remote start and it worked. The GLS started each time when executing this sequence, while connected to my home wifi.

Also regarding other options, my 2010 E-Class had Midcity's keyfob remote start install by the MB dealer and it worked flawlessly. Now that MBrace remote start is available I wonder if MB would support it?

http://smartkeystarter.com/

chekmi21

Has anyone heard of any intentions of allowing 2015 models to be able to do the remote start through MBrace?

tommyr

We have two 2016s Mercedes, an S and a C. Mbrace was flaky the first few months, but has been completely reliable the last few months. Not sure what they did, but remote start and located both respond quickly (typically about 1 minute to complete). And no more failures! Hopefully they have figured the network and server issues out.

netboy

i got a error message that remote start failed cus not all windows are fully closed or sunroof is opened. that' kinda dumb.

MReaux

I also have a 2015 model and he's correct. The remote start function isn't available for anything earlier than 2016. Which is very disappointing in my opinion. Basically, from my app, I can lock and unlock my car. YAY. I can do other things, but the remote start is the thing I wish they had the most. ugh

MReaux

I haven't heard anything and it's making me crazy. I also have a 2015 model and would love to be able to remote start my car. I'm disappointed that it doesn't offer this for anything older than 2016 models.

S500Sport

That is exactly what I was told, and the M-Brace has been working fine ever since. You must use the I-Button as I was told by mbrace customer serv to secure the connection from the car to the system.

Alex Bel

During my vacation in FL tried to do Remote Start with MBrace. The car started, but when I went in engine did not shut down - just kept running. All system are down, No lock/unlock doors, No Command system, No switch gear - NO way to stop engine running (even with a key). MBrace application produces an error, cannot get to Start/Stop function. Customer service cannot help remotely, called technician. After ~30 minutes was able to get to my phone MBrace application (Start/Stop function) and shut down the engine. After that all systems were up and running. Very frustrated.

skhan007

Just got my 2016 C300 two days ago and installed the Mercedes Me app. at the dealership. I've used it 3 times and it works perfectly. I hope I don't experience the challenges I read about on this thread, but knock on wood, the remote start works great.

SoDakBenz

Is it just me or is this ridiculous that for a car that has been out for 2 years still not have a working remote start that can be installed. Having a 2015 w205 sedan and no option just amazes me. Mid city engineering has a working one for a 2015 w205 coupe. What's the difference in wiring that it only works on a coupe and not the sedan. Super frustrated.

Chef Ray

My remote start stopped working, in fact, in the app.....the option to remote start or lock/unlock is gone. I'm guessing there is a glitch in the system...I'll call MB tomorrow. Anyone in the USA noticed the same thing as of today?

netboy

what a relief !
i thought i'm the only one that remote start, lock/unlock is gone.
probably their server is down.

tate16t

Did you try deleting and reinstalling the app?

jdag

Same here...14 degrees last night and we were in a restaurant. I went to start the car (or at least try, it only works 1/2 the time anyhow) and the start and lock icons were gone. My wife looked at her phone and same thing. I also happened to notice that while my GLC has always been the correct color in the app, my C300 showed as black. As of last night the C300 showed as the correct color.

I did call MBrace from the (i) button in the car the other day and they admitted that there were issues.

Anyhow, the icons are back this morning. I am skeptical if they work though! I realize that every car, really pretty much every product, has its glitches. But this is really an embarrassment. I honestly would prefer if MB didn't offer remote start it works so inconsistently.

skhan007

Same thing happened to me. It was probably 18°F last night and I wanted to initiate that remote start when I was leaving an evening meeting. No dice. I had to go old-school and start the car and heat once I got in it! This morning, the app seems to appear normal again.