Hey guys - so I have a question I have a 2011 e550 with bt and bt music streaming.

Now, here's my question.

Currently I have my iPhone 5s paired to the car, and everything works perfectly. But I don't really use the iPhone for music.

I also happen to own a Samsung galaxy tab 3 7.0 with a 4g data connection. Here's what I would like to do - if possible.

Can I pair my phone JUST as a phone - incoming / outgoing calls etc only. And pair the tablet as the bt audio device. So I can use waze / pandora / music player etc on the tablet and have it stream through the audio system? While keeping the phone connected for phone calls?

I know I can wire the tablet into the aux audio input but bt streaming avoids the tablets internal audio headphone amp, and would unclutter the wiring.

Thanks in advance,

George

 

+1. I haven't figured this out myself so I am interested in the solution, if there is one.

As far as I can tell you can pair multiple devices but only one can be connected at a time. You might be able to modify the BT profile on your phone so that it only connects at phone audio, not media audio. But will the car realize that and let another device connect - not sure MB thought of that.

 

Not possible to have two blue tooth devices simultaneously connected, it is one or the other.

You can connect one by wire for music, either AUX or whatever that cord in the glove box is called, and then the mobile phone for telephone calls via blue tooth.

 

Correct, that is outside the Bluetooth spec. A pair is one to one

 

Yes, you can only connect 1 BT device at a time.

How do you play music via BT? I always use the aux cable in center console to connect to my iPhone 5

 

if your phone is paired with BT then toggle the media button until you see BT Audio then play any music from your phone and you can skip / forward/stop with control on the steering wheel.

 

Some of the newer vehicles can accomplish what I desired to do. Maybe they just have multiple BT receivers built in?

For example my brother's 2015 suburban has a "hands free" bluetooth profile in the menu, and a bluetooth audio profile in it as well, separately selected. It also allows you to pair bluetooth headphones to the rear entertainment system.

It also recognizes simultaneous multiple ipods connected. I found this out when I plugged my phone into one of the usb jacks to charge. Since we both have iphones (and his was already plugged in) the screen popped up a there are multiple ipods connected menu, and then gave us the option of which we would like to use.

Take care,

George

 

My 2014 doesn't let me pair 2 devices simultaneously.

My wife's BMW allows both our phones connected with primary/secondary assignment.

 

Based on what I read in my manual you can pair 15 Bluetooth devices to my new E350.


You can use them one at a time, that is the spec.

 

I think I may have come up with a solution of sort.

Since we all have the aux jack in our glove boxes, AND the 12v accessory plug....

Something like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wireless-Car-Bluetooth-Car-Music-Receiver-Stereo-Audio-V3-0-A2DP-3-5mm-/271418418120?pt=US_USB_Bluetooth_Adapters_Dongles&hash=item3f31cc63c8
Plugged into the aux jack in the glove box, and powered using a 12v lighter socket to USB plug would effectively turn the aux in into an A2DP bluetooth audio connection.

So the car would essentially have two separate BT recievers. One that handles the phone (and any music on the phone) - the existing BT connection in the car, and a separate audio only one that handles music - which would be activated by putting the radio into AUX mode.

Food for thought.

George

 

That might work. I just used an old iPhone on the media interface connector that was supplied with the car and that is my music and my current phone is free to be paired via Bluetooth.

 

I guess you can call me crazy but I music nut.

I have a 30gb ipod in the glove box, a 32gb SD card in the PCMCIA card with an adapter - and two extra 32gb cards (my plan here is to sort music by mood / genre).

AND 6 Mp3 dvd's for another 25 gigs of music in the changer. Oh and active sirrius (used mostly for Howard stern in the AM). I could probably drive 100k miles and never listen to the same song twice.

I had the tablet setup in my Range Rover, for the purposes of both navigation - waze is an awesome app, - nothing like constant real time traffic info, the navi in that car was much more dated, but waze tells you so much more than where you have to go - shows you traffic conditions and calculates eta based on traffic, plus all sorts of things like road hazzards, speed traps etc in real time. Makes even MB's nav look seriously dated. I also as a side thing loaded a micro SD card with 32 gb of music in the tablet - you can even sync the tablet wirelessly as long as your car is in range of your wifi router in the driveway, and pretty much never used the CD changer again in the Range. Granted the Range was much more limited in it's media choices. 6 Mp3 cd's in the glove box, am/fm and sirrus. But I got used to the tablet and am trying to find a viable solution for using it in the MB.

Take care,

George

 

That glove box BT adapter would work. Not sure you would be able to use the ipod cable at the same time. And you wouldn't not be able to skip tracks using comand.

In regards to the rear entertainment system, that must have it's own BT radio.

 

Well in the command menu ipod and aux are separate sources. If I have 3.5mm device plugged into the the aux - and an ipod connected can I switch between them without having to disconnect the ipod. I'll try it this evening. If so I could switch between the add on BT adapter and the ipod. As far as the car is concerned it's just a 3.5mm cable.

Take care,

George

 

I think my 2011 comand 4.0 only shows media interface cable as the option which covers both the ipod and 3.5mm jack. I need to look at it again.

 

I have to look again, you MAY be right.... I know they both split of the same connector. Btw you know you can get a USB jack instead of the ipod / 3.5 mm that's there.

My 2012 w204 c300 has a 3.5 mm jack and a USB plug in the center console compartment, as well as bt audio stream, and they are individually listed in the source menu, but I think that car has command 4.5. (and the color screen in the instrument cluster).

I initially thought about putting a portable usb hard drive in that car, BUT I read somewhere about a 5,000 song limit on the USB / SD cards. Otherwise you could literally drive around with a 1tb hdd in the console and navigate through it at will. You MAY have to get one of those piggy back usb connectors that takes power off of two ports, and tie the other one to one of those 12v usb adapters to get the hard drive to work, but in theory it's possible. The usb in my w204 will not recognize my 30gb ipod video as an ipod.

Take care,

George

 

So it turns out we were both partially right. The media interface and aux are indeed separate menu items on the source list. HOWEVER with an iPod connected to the media interface the aux source is greyed out... So you were correct about the fact that they cannot be used simultaneously.

I took a pic of my source screen this afternoon.

Take care,

George

 

yup mine looks the same. Aux is grayed out when ipod is connected. When ipod is not connected and aux is connected, media interface is not greyed out.

I had seen the usb cable was available, but it didn't make sense for me to spend $$ on that when I already had an old iphone laying around. my music library is not as extensive as yours.

 

USB cable is like $20 on amazon. Same as the PCMCIA adapter to SD. I think I'm going to pick one up as a "nice to have around" piece before they become extinct.

Take care,

George

 

Well most of the information posted is not valid, nor true for the facelift 2014.

1) There is no 12V in the glovebox nor is a connector for USB/Ipod in there.

2) There is an AUX as well as in Ipod as well as a USB connector in the center armrest console and all 3 can be used simultaneously. By simultaneous I mean you can have any of them used for source for either the front or the rear audio if your car is equipped with the factory installed rear entertainment.

3) I have a 160 GB iPod classic plugged into the iPod interface that has all my music on it as well as some videos for the kids (yes, you can play videos from the iPod Classic and feed it to either the front or the rear screens). I can have the iPod play video to the rear while I can listen to music playing from a 64GB USB stick plugged into the USB port at the same time.

4) I never disconnect the iPod Classic and I had no issues connecting an Xbox to the AUX in and display its video and audio in the front or in the rear of the car.

My car is a 2014 with the factory installed rear entertainment.

I also use a Samsung Galaxy S4 and stream Pandora most of the time.

 

Yes the 2010 - 2011.5 cars have command ntg 4.0 - which is described here in detail.

The 2011.5 - 2013 cars have command ntg 4.5 which has what you described (if you have the iPod interface too) and has a color screen in the instrument cluster as well.

I believe the 2014 cars have command ntg 4.7 which has the mb online component etc as well.

Take care,

George