sosh

Found out but have not yet confirmed some info about the switch over to Mbrace. First off both services are quite similar. I have Teleaid in my Oct delivered 2010 ML550 and M Brace in my week old E.
The free trial with Teleaid is one year with MBrace its only 6 months.
M brace is supposedly owned by MB and Teleaid is an outsourced service.
I was also told that Mbrace will eventually complete its purchase of Teleaid contracts and all will be switched over to Mbrace.
The new Mbrace app for the Iphone is great and I have tried it. Works well. However when locking or unlocking they call the phone number of record to let the person know that the car was locked or unlocked. My wife was surprised to get a call. This app is currently available to only I Phone ATT users and some Verizon Blackberry users. They say they will expand it to other carriers and other phones.After an Mbrace unlock the next time you get into the car there is a message on the MFD that says car had been remotely unlocked.
At this point I really do not know which is better but on paper they are similar. I was also told that there will be no new or different hardware required nor any new programming required for the switch to Mbrace.

icelandicmax

so we get 6 mo free trial to mbrace. didn't know i had that until i accidently pressed on the button. how much is it for the annual renewal?

sosh

Did not your dealer review that with you at delivery?? Didn't you fill out a contract with the information they requested?? If not your dealer is not up to par. Go back and ask them to go thru it with you. I am not quite certain about the annual cost after the free period but with Teleaid it is as I recall $240 per year. Well worth it in my estimation.

Nevada Jack

I was not aware of mbrace until I started to do some research on the new E Sedan. Owners On Line has a complete info package on mbrace. The cost for the basis converage is $280 a year and mbrace+ is an additonal $20.

sosh

The trial is supposedly MBrace plus. Any idea of what plus gives you over the std package??
Also when I activated my teleaid on the new ML550 I was told that services that were previously considered additional premium services are now standard. So my take at this time is that Mbrace is 60 bucks a year more expensive than teleaid.

Nevada Jack

The best way to get the details is to sign into Owners on Line at the MBUSA site and click on mBrace. There are extensive detailed descriptions and short videos on pricing and the two packages.

bigevil

the only real difference is that Mercedes has partnered with Hughes Telematics(for the applications and tech features) as well as using their own customer service for the rest as opposed to outsourcing to ATX Group, Inc. who runs Teleaid. On paper the features are almost identical however with MBrace the iPhone/BlackBerry apps allow you to "find your car" if you lose it in a parking garage. Lastly, when Mercedes switched over to MBrace the google "search and send" feature no longer works for Teleaid customers so we lost that feature. Remote door unlock, concierge and the rest of everything else remains fully functional and the same for Teleaid and MBrace.

Last but not least, if you purchased your car on or before November 17th 2009 then you are not allowed to have mBrace until your full one year contract with Teleaid is over. doesn't matter if you're willing to pay for mBrace, or cancel your teleaid, its a exclusivity period Mercedes did with Teleaid to break the contract.

220S

Evan, the part that isn't clear (and MBUSA hasn't been specific when I ask) is if you bought the car, say in July 2009, and the one year Teleaid is over July 2010, will you be able to get MBrace in July or do you have to wait until after November 17, 2010? And if you can't get MBrace, can you extend your TeleAid for the interim period?

According to the person I spoke with, MBrace isn't available for those who bought their car before Nov 2009 and won't be available until the TeleAid contract with MB ends on the 17th. That makes it sound like we have no TeleAid and no Mbrace until Nov 17 2010. Or do we extend the TeleAid for a short time until MBrace is made available.

Nobody at MBUSA could answer that question.....(?)

Nevada Jack

Here is the chart from the MB website showing what is and what is not included in the Mbrace packages. It seems to me if you elect to use Mbrace then pay the extra $20 a year and get the + package.

sosh

[QUOTE=220S;3899430]Evan, the part that isn't clear (and MBUSA hasn't been specific when I ask) is if you bought the car, say in July 2009, and the one year Teleaid is over July 2010, will you be able to get MBrace in July or do you have to wait until after November 17, 2010? And if you can't get MBrace, can you extend your TeleAid for the interim period?
According to the person I spoke with, MBrace isn't available for those who bought their car before Nov 2009 and won't be available until the TeleAid contract with MB ends on the 17th. That makes it sound like we have no TeleAid and no Mbrace until Nov 17 2010. Or do we extend the TeleAid for a short time until MBrace is made available.

Nobody at MBUSA could answer that question

My take is that you can switch when your contract is up with Teleaid.

TELEAID USER

It is only a rumor that MBRACE will put TeleAid out of service. They are sending false letters to Teleaid customers telling them they "need to upgrade" when in fact they are only moving to a different provider. There is no upgrade. It's a scare tactic. Also, MBRACE is not owned by Mercedes Benz. It is also a contracted company which provides the service. Teleaid is still around and still the most experienced.

TELEAID USER

[quote=sosh;3899622]

You will be able to maintain service with Teleaid. You do not have to switch

TELEAID USER

Your message should be corrected; Mbrace plus is an extra $20 per month not per year. That makes it $520 per year, not $300.

220S

Thanks, good news. I have no issues with Teleaid and will stick with them. At least I have that choice

Do you have a link to this info? Thanks. MBUSA is pushing MBrace for obviou$ rea$on$. I guess they found a provider who gives them better terms than Teleaid.

Nevada Jack

Thanks for the correction. I can't believe MB thinks people will spend $520 a year for the Plus service. I certainly won't!

220S

+1

I already have live traffic thru Sirius/XM on my Nav ($48/year) and marine band for weather (and the radio.) And POI download while driving with TeleAid.

And I don't need somebody helping me find my way around (MBrace route assist.) We all survived fine without these sorts of things in the past, anyway. We're getting way too soft

No way will I pay $520 a year..

I'm sticking with TeleAid. They've been around for a long time. And are perfectly fine if I ever do need their services (as in very rarely.) And they're less $$, too.

petee1997

I would not pay a dime for either one. Roadside assistance ,bluetooth and navigation works just fine for me.

Nevada Jack

Could you explain how the live traffic works on Sirius and how you get that service on NAV?

MissMyBenz

A quick note on mbrace for those with older cars. After searching online and reading all the propaganda I switched my wife's 07 E350 to mbrace. The ML has the old analog so I'm stuck with my cell phone. Per their online info we would not be able to lock the car remotely but could use all the other features. I thought that was pretty cool and got her all excited about the Google search and send. After switching service they tell me that ours is an early 07 and not compatible with search and send. For an additional $20/ mo. we can use the downloadable poi. Oh, no that doesn't work on our car either. I understand the technology may be incompatible but that is a major omission on their website and in their knowledge of the product. We can use the unlock, the locator and the alarm notification. Envious of the new owners having all that technology available. Finally catching up. Post your pics in the thread and enjoy the ride. You're lucky folks.

220S

I can only tell you how it works with the 2009 W211 system. So, YMMV.

Call Sirius/XM and have them add live traffic to your subscription. It's around $4 additional per month (if I remember correctly.) Once they do that, then when you have the COMAND on Nav, and toggle over to 'traffic.' Or use VC and just say "traffic." After a couple of seconds you'll get a list of highways and freeways. Select which one and it will show you the current data with any alerts, accidents, etc.. The other thing it will do is show icons of little cars (they look like little hotel bed icons to me, LOL) on both sides of the freeway that you are on or are near. Yellow little cars if traffic is moderate and lots of red cars if it's heavy.

Yeah, it's only good on 2009 and later HDD COMAND systems. But somewhere on the website it does say that. I saw it a while back. Maybe they removed it (?)

The telematics provider for MBrace is Hughes. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...-70198352.html

I personally think Teleaid (which is the ATX Group) was/is just as good. They provide the service for BMW, Lexus, and Rolls-Royce. I'm guessing MB dropped them because they got better terms with Hughes.

And to be honest I didn't care for the Google way of search and send. It's only good if you can plan ahead. TeleAid has instant POI download: hit the i button and have the operator load the POI you want onto the system while you're driving. In other words, you can do it from your car. But again, it only will work on 2009 and later models. I realize MBrace has this, too, but it's only part of their extra features package which isn't cheap.

Nevada Jack

Thanks for the info. I will be taking delivery of my W212 early next week. I will try the embrace freebie for 6 months (includes 3 at Plus level) and see how it works. But $520 a year is unreal pricing from my perspective for the Plus.

sosh

Re the traffic data, On both my E and my ML when navigating to a destination it will also give you audio, telling you what the traffic issues are. These come on as needed and on several occassions I have had an audio stating that the trafffic jam is now clear and traffic is flowing at xx MPH. Kind of neat!!

Rowrbazzle

This has me confused. I have the free Sirius trial for 6 months, which includes traffic. I had looked at the Sirius website and it lists the areas for which traffic data are provided. But I get data for areas not on the list. For instance, a trip last month took me through Louisiana and I got updates for traffic congestion in Lake Charles (Sirius doesn't have traffic coverage there).

I read in the S-Class forum that MB Navigation gathers traffic information via FM radio and displays it in the Navigation. Does anyone know if the E's have this feature too or is that only in the S-Class COMAND? The manual only mentions the Sirius traffic. I'm hoping that it does, as I'd rather not pay for Sirius after my free trial expires.

Sorry, I know this isn't related to the main topic, but traffic was mentioned so I thought I'd ask.