I don't have the package for the C450. I thought there was a free trial period with Mbrace?

 

If you are in the US, this is what should have come standard on your car:



mbrace® Connect (5-year complimentary service)**
$0

mbrace Mobile Application for iPhone or Android
Remote Start
Remote Door Lock/Unlock
Remote Horn and Lights
Remote Diagnostics
Roadside Assistance Connection
Send2Benz™
Valet Protect
Vehicle Finder
Message Center
Dealer Information
Curfew Minder
Speed Alert
Driving Journal
Travel Zones
Internet Browser
Flight Information
Gas Stations & Fuel Prices
Google™ Local Search
HRS Hotel Search
Morningstar® Finance
Movie Showtimes
My MBFS
News
Point-of-Internet Download
RSS Newsfeed
Traffic Cameras
Yelp
Weather

If you gave a credit card at the time of delivery, the following is included for the first three months:



mbrace® Secure (billed monthly, 6-month trial available)
$199 /year thereafter

This will require an additional change
!! A 3-month bonus is included with your credit-card-paid subscription after the trial period. A discount on the combined monthly rate is offered when the Concierge and Entertain Packages are purchased together. Please see your dealer.

Automatic Alarm Notification
Automatic Collision Notification
SOS/Emergency Call
Stolen Vehicle Location Assistance
Agent-assisted Remote Lock/Unlock
Agent-assisted Vehicle Information
Dealer Connect
Crisis Assist
Safe Ride

And for the first three months with a valid credit card, you should have received the following:



mbrace® Entertain (billed monthly, 3-month trial available)***
$18

This will require an additional change
!! A 6-month subscription bonus is included with your credit-card-paid subscription after the trial period. Please see your dealer.

TuneIn® world radio
iHeartRadio® (available starting Fall 2015)
Mercedes-Benz Radio
Online Maps™
WiFi Hotspot (3G)

To my knowledge, none of these require Multi-Media

I have already cancelled the Internet Service and Concierge Service in my car after the 3 month trial. They suck. 3G service is spotty at best and beyond slow. It's simply not worth the cost, IMHO.

 

thanks...I didn't know you had to give credit card info to get the wifi.

 

Yes you do. But your concierge delivery person should have set these all up at the time of delivery for you. If they didn't go back to your dealer and have them give you what they should have, but just know you'll have to give them a credit card (you'll be charged $.01). And after your three month trial, I'll be shocked to hear you continued the service post trial.

 

In that case I wouldn't even bother with the wifi. I heard it was almost like dial-up speeds

 

Dial up might be a tad faster.........

 

My salesperson did not ask me for the credit card during delivery so I assume nothing is activated. Given all the complains about the paid parts of mbrace, I doubt I want to have anything to do with them. But does it mean that I still need to contact MBUSA to activate the mbrace® Connect (5-year complimentary service) part?

 

Have you used the MBrace Connect service on your car? If you have and it works, you shouldn't have to do anything. If it doesn't do as it should, then yes, contact your dealer.

 

I thought Verizon 3G should be a lot faster than dial-up.

 

Evidently not in a C Class

 

I don't even where to start, do I download the apps onto my android phone first ?

 

I found out that even if one gave the credit card at pickup/signup (for .01$ charge/verify) one still has to hit the "i" button in the car once for the services and packages to actually activate and download to the car. Once I did that, it installed more services/apps and then a few hours later everything was working.

As for the in car WIFI, yes you're not missing anything. It's so damb slow it's ridiculous. Having worked in the industry many years (and most with Daimler-Benz) I know how long it can take to upgrade in car functionality especially for safety and security items. But still. At this point I don't understand why one can't simply pair the phone to the car and have it share the data with the car - so all the services in the car get enabled via whatever high speed date you have.

It's also a bummer that the mbrace entertain and other services are being crippled as we speak. I notice that online google maps is no longer available as of 12/31/2015 (probably due to the purchase of HERE by Daimler and others) and the mercedes benz stations are no longer available - as is one other I think.

Maybe with AD2P streaming they realize that the entertain mbrace packages should just be shot and rolled to the side of the road?

 

Yes, you need to download the app to your Android phone. Then do as Tivoboy suggested and use the i button in your car to make sure you are activated to services.

And MBUSA wants to charge $28/month for pretty pathetic and clearly diminishing services. That's insulting and pretty pathetic if you ask me.

 

Use the phone and data plan you currently have and save yourself a ton of money.

 

So I got my complementary 5 yrs mbrace Connect activated and was playing with the apps on my Android and all seems to work okay. Then I got an email from MBUSA and it mentioned traffic camera, remote diagnoses, Yelp, etc. What are they talking about ? Are these really available or is MBUSA smoking something ?

 

so, the free for 5 years CONNECT package, doesn't actually include those apps. Those additional apps are in the ENTERTAIN package, which costs extra per month. The ENTERTAIN package is also the package that includes the 3G WIFI in car hotspot. You can get I think a three month free trial to it when you activate the additional mbrace services, and then it would be 18$ a month thereafter I believe.. that and the SECURE package would be 28$ total. It's not a BAD deal, but I found many of those apps useless when/if one has a smartphone in the car.

 

My free 3 month trial service ends at the end of January. I found the service useless and have already notified MBUSA I will not pay for the service past the free trial.

I simply won't pay for poor service. MB needs to get the message that for a premium product, with a premium price tag, services should also be premium. Not inferior.

Not that I'm disappointed at all with the car. But the hotspot and corresponding services are not at the same level as the car.

 

+1 i think the MB services are lacking in many ways and at times very dated. And extremely overpriced and not worth the premium IMHO

 

Multiple Mbrace technicians confirmed that the Multimedia package is required to activate a wifi hotspot.

It is an old thread, but I hope my experience would be helpful for someone else.
I own 2018 C300 in US, and didn't get the Multimedia package because Apple CarPlay is more than enough for me.

I knew an in-vehicle wifi hotspot was very slow, but then I wanted to try it this time because Mercedes US is advertising 4G/LTE (Verizon) speed these days.
I activated the Entertain package(internet radios and wifi hotspot) trial and waited over 24 hours, but couldn't find any wifi-related menus while accessing to internet radios (iHeart Radio and TuneIn Radio).

I contacted Mbrace twice to double-check the issue, and two different technicians (not representatives) confirmed that my car has the Audio 20 that is not capable to offer a wifi hotspot. They added that it's not upgradable, and there is no way to have a wifi hotspot in the current car.

They also recommended to select the Multimedia package when I order a new car in the future, because with the package, it will have a proper receiver to activate a wifi hotspot. (I don't know what it is specifically..)