iPhone 8 Plus Bluetooth Connectivity Issues
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Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2022
Posts: 18
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2011 E350 4MATIC - W212
iPhone 8 Plus Bluetooth Connectivity Issues
Hi Forum Members,
I have a 2011 E350 and connect my iPhone 8 Plus to it using Bluetooth. My car came activated with Bluetooth Audio so didn’t have to go into the engineering mode to activate. Since time immemorial, I have been having issues playing music via Bluetooth. Phone calls are no problem. Was at a wits end what to do and contemplated (still contemplating) replacing the whole audio set-up with one of the 10.25” Android screens that I have seen people installing in their W212s. Anyways, I digress. So, after a lot of online/YouTube type research, I have stumbled upon the following band aid fix. Sharing here maybe it can help someone else:
1. Connect the phone thru External Authorization: There are two ways to connect the phone, either the car discovers your phone and connects or the phone discovers the car and connects. Use the latter. External Authorization is under the “Phone” Menu. There are a number of YouTube videos that show how to connect using External Authorization. Needless to say, delete the previous Bluetooth connection and restart the phone.
2. If your audio still skips, and mine still does from time to time, close the music app you are using and restart it. Doing so for me, usually fixes the issue until the next time. I have also tried to change from Bluetooth Audio to Radio before turning the car off but doing this does not seem to fix the issue.
Anyway, hope this helps someone. Would be interested in hearing if others have any other ideas.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.
I have a 2011 E350 and connect my iPhone 8 Plus to it using Bluetooth. My car came activated with Bluetooth Audio so didn’t have to go into the engineering mode to activate. Since time immemorial, I have been having issues playing music via Bluetooth. Phone calls are no problem. Was at a wits end what to do and contemplated (still contemplating) replacing the whole audio set-up with one of the 10.25” Android screens that I have seen people installing in their W212s. Anyways, I digress. So, after a lot of online/YouTube type research, I have stumbled upon the following band aid fix. Sharing here maybe it can help someone else:
1. Connect the phone thru External Authorization: There are two ways to connect the phone, either the car discovers your phone and connects or the phone discovers the car and connects. Use the latter. External Authorization is under the “Phone” Menu. There are a number of YouTube videos that show how to connect using External Authorization. Needless to say, delete the previous Bluetooth connection and restart the phone.
2. If your audio still skips, and mine still does from time to time, close the music app you are using and restart it. Doing so for me, usually fixes the issue until the next time. I have also tried to change from Bluetooth Audio to Radio before turning the car off but doing this does not seem to fix the issue.
Anyway, hope this helps someone. Would be interested in hearing if others have any other ideas.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.
