cc16177

Hello everyone,

Ever since I got my iPhone 7 Plus last year the audio started skipping like crazy if i'm "using" the phone while streaming. This could be me as a passenger, streaming music and browsing emails etc or this could be me as the driver, playing music and running navigation at the same time.

It skips like every 5 seconds, as if I have a terrible connection. As soon as I turn the screen off, it stops. I do not have this issue on my work phone which is an iPhone 6S. I assumed there was something wrong with my 7 Plus so I just used my 6S for the most part... but I recently upgraded to the X and it's still happening.

Pretty annoyed at this point, I don't always have my work phone on me so it really limits my music options. Any ideas?

Thanks

thefisch

If it is not happening with other BT devices like speakers, headphones, etc. then it would seem to be the car versus the latest version of BT or ios on the iphone. From researching my own BT issues, I found that BT is temperamental and as phones come out with new versions of hardware or software they don't always play nice with old implementations of BT. The good news for you is that the iphone 7 and up are very popular so if others have this issue it might get some attention. Apple is good about updating their phones when users report BT issues with the latest releases. You may want to check some Apple forums.

As far as MB doing something, perhaps there is a firmware update for your comand version. You would have to ask a service advisor to check. I am not aware that you can check that yourself.

I am having my own BT issue with my 2011 that is not the same as yours other than we are both using recent phones (android in my case) with a 7 year old car. My phone works just fine with every other device. Other phones I have on the same android version don't have the same issue. And my phone works fine on later model MB as I tested it on a 2015 and 2017.

triguy74

I'm having this exact same issue. It only seems to be when playing music from iTunes or Spotify. Other apps don't seem to have a problem. My guess is it's the phone rather than the car or the communication with the car. But curious to hear what some can say about it.

belarus27

my girl got an iphone 7 plus , and everything worked fine without any noticeable issues.

cetialpha5

Reboot the phone, delete the pairing on the car and do it again.

There is also a Comand update that may fix bluetooth issues. I got mine done earlier this year when they had a $100 off coupon on $200 service.

thefisch

Is there anyway to check your comand firmware version via engineering mode or elsewhere so that you can check on available updates without them having to hook up the car? I've toyed with the idea of doing this to deal with my BT issue on my phone, but I am not convinced it is the car's issue.

cetialpha5

Yes there is, but I forget how it's done, it's in some of the old threads. I think it just tells you the version number and then you have to figure out what the latest version is. After the update, mine was better, but bluetooth is still not as good as a wired connection. Mine still skips once in a while, but not as badly as before. Sometimes when it's bad, it's because there's too many apps on the phone open running in the background. Clearing it out and rebooting helps sometimes. Other times I'm in bumper to bumper traffic and I think it's probably interference from other nearby devices. On the open road, it's usually fine or ok to the point where you don't really notice it. I knew mine needed an update because the previous owner never took it to the dealer. A shame too because it had one free maintenance service left and it had expired years ago, first owner must have bought it. They seem to do that $100 off $200 once or twice a year.

ItalianJoe1

The car side updates rarely fix it, but if you're under warranty, mention it at your next visit and they should still update it for free for you.

It's an iPhone problem, I never see Bluetooth issues with non-Apple products, and Apple tends to say it's the car's software so there's nothing they do about it. MB feels the same way about the phones, so it may never get much better. If it's only happening when you have the phone in use, it's def in the phone software.

SolidGranite

My 2011 E550 is at MB right now (for B service) and I've asked them to look at why an iphone8 would skip during use. Has anyone else had success in finding a solution? My iphone7 is perfect but the wife's 8 is not.

cetialpha5

Did they update Comand? I have a 2011 also. I use android but it use to skip a lot before I had them update Comand and it seems to be a little better. But that's the nature of bluetooth, it's still transmitted over the air, only way to avoid it completely is a wired connection.

SolidGranite

I don't know yet as I'm waiting for a call back, but it's discouraging to hear others say COMMAND updates rarely if ever fix these types of issues.

cetialpha5

Sometimes that's because it's the phone not the car. Also MB calls their system Comand, missing one M. It actually stands for Cockpit Management and Data system.

cetialpha5

Oh and if you're not under warranty, try the $130 off $250 service coupon that MB has through the end of December. I used that to update Comand the last time I was there.

https://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/servi...olidaythankyou

cc16177

cetialpha5

I assume you tried the usual stuff. Restart phone. Update software on the phone, maybe a new revision might fix it. Delete pairing on the phone and car and pair it again. Have dealer update Comand by saying that you're having bluetooth issues.

cc16177

lightfytr

Had the same problem with my Iphone 8 Plus and searched online and found this fix...

There are two ways to connect the phone to the car. One (1) is to authorize the phone from the car, meaning that you find the phone via the command system and go through the setup proccess from there. The second (2) is to select “external autherization” in the command system meaning that the car becomes discoverable from the Bluetooth settings page on the phone and is selected from there to begin pairing.

Doing it the (1) way is what caused problems for me. I remebered that back when I was setting up my iPhone 6 this would not allow me to connect at all while with my iPhone X it connects but causes the above mentioned problems. The other method (2) worked right away and bluetooth audio is working without any issues so far.

Arrie

For the 2011 year model the Bluetooth streaming was not yet included. When I had my 2011 E350 I had to do exactly what you explain, i.e. EXTERNAL AUTHORIZATION to get the streaming work and this, of course, after enabling the streaming in the engineering menu. The problem was that I had to do this every time I started the car.

Solution was the software update that included the streaming, which I also had done to my current 2010 E550. Works flawlessly.

lightfytr

Well, it works but as soon as you turn off the car its back to skipping. I would do an update but I dont know if that will fix it...

Jeff Ostroff

I had this same issue last year with my Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Android phone. It skipped about every minute and seemed to be getting worse. I was going to bring it to the dealer to see if COMMAND needed software updates, but when my phone died, I boutgh a newer Samsung Galaxy S8 Edge from Costco black Friday sale and have not had the Bluetooth skip once since November when I bought the phone. Seems like the problem followed the phone.

cetialpha5

Due to the nature of the air waves, bluetooth can end up skipping depending on what's around you. I got my 2011 E350 updated last year. You have to tell them you're have a specific problem in order for them to update the firmware so I told them bluetooth was skipping, Sirius was also skipping and the keyless go was a little off. They updated it all and bluetooth seems a little better. If you're not in a big rush, wait to see if MB will offer some $100 off $200 or $250 promo again, they did that last year twice. I went in under one of those promos and got it updated and used the coupon.

Also you could try deleting the phone from the car and the pairing on the phone and redo do it and see if that helps.

Jeff Ostroff

How much do they normally charge for the update?

cetialpha5

I think it was about an hour. They did a couple other things while I was there so the total came to the $250 coupon I had and then it was $100 off so it was $150 for me out the door.

cc16177

Unfortunately I tried this and I'm still having the issue. It's extremely frustrating...

SolidGranite

Anyone find a solution yet? The wife's iphone 8 is exhibiting all of the behaviors mentioned in this thread. My iphone 7 is flawless so I'm afraid the minute I upgrade this car will be toast which is otherwise flawless at only 28,000 miles.