Bobby4919

I just took delivery of my E300 last week and I'm a little disappointed with the iPod integration. My 2014 E350 had a cable that plugged into my iPod and the search functions would let me find music by any of the categories that the iPod uses, ie. Album, Artist, Track, etc.

In the E300 I connect the iPod via a regular Apple iPod to USB cable. With this arrangement, COMAND shows the categories on the iPod but they're not searchable, either manually or via voice. To find a track that that started with a 'W' I'd have to scroll through almost 24K songs!!

It looks like the E300 COMAND system just recognizes the iPod as a 160GB hard drive... nothing more.

Has anyone come up with a better way of accessing large amounts of music?

I love the car, but am disappointed with some aspects of MBs technical implementations.

Lanzz

Bobby, I am having a better experience with the iPod integration. I am able to search by track name, artist, genre and album. For voice searches, I use the suggested prompt that comes up... "search for music by John Legend..." for example, and I get a list of his songs from my iPod. My vehicle sees it as an iPod and identifies it as such - if it helps, mine is plugged into port 1 in the center console, not the port next to the wireless charging mat. Also, it is an ancient iPod with a cracked screen, so there's nothing special about the iPod itself. I think there is hope - they did not go backward in terms of iPod integration...

Bobby4919

Not working for me no matter what USB port I plug it in. Playlists show up, track lists, etc. But NO search capability. If I use a voice command it just comes back to me with no results.

I'm using the last model of iPod that had a hard drive (don't know what gen that is), and I don't see any option on there to index the iPod or anything like that

This kind of makes the iPod useless unless I want the E300 to do a random play.

MichaelRDavis

I have an old iphone4s plugged into the USB port in the centre console, the one next to the one for Apple CarPlay. I can access and search for everything artists, playlists etc without a problem. I'm in Australia 2017 E200 AMG line.

Egonvdv

as far as I know (or at least here in Europe) you need the ipod connection option:
you get aspecial connection with 3 or 4 cables to connect your devices.

without this your ipod functions just like any other USB device that's been plugged in.

see here at the bottom of the page:
https://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/vehic...-entertainment

Bobby4919

I'm wondering if the COMAND system needs to build an index of the iPod. If so, how long does that process take? I've got about 28k songs on the iPod.

I'm thinking of deleting everything on it, then only loading a few albums and see if that resolves the issue.

Bobby4919

Cleared off my iPod and put about 10 albums on it... maybe 100 - 150 tracks. Search function popped up after about 10 seconds of the iPod being connected so there must be some kind of indexing going on that COMAND performs. Just not efficiently.

Moral of the story... don't put 28k songs on an iPod and expect search to work.

edofloat

Yes, it does index the iPod, takes a while too if you have a lot of tracks.

Bobby4919

i gave up on trying to get my 160gb iPod to work correctly with the E300. It wouldn't index all 25K+ songs on the iPod(at least in a reasonable time) and the iPod kept freezing up, needing rebooting.

I picked up a Lexar 512gb SSD drive at Costco yesterday for $124. Using an app from the Mac app store (Export for ITunes) I was able to export all 32,000 tracks from my iTunes library to the SSD. Connected it to the E300 and it started indexing, which took about 10 minutes. Everything works fine from that point. Search functions work, no moving parts, little heat buildup, etc.

So if you have a large iTunes library you want to carry with you I'd suggest dumping the iPod and going with a solid state solution.

joebe

Thanks for the tip about the app. I downloaded it. It works great for exporting playlists and the associated media. I just used a small thumb drive for a test. Not sure how to get the entire library and associated data on my storage media yet. I also inadvertantly noticed that I can use the system to play downloaded video, in this case some GoPro files. I was using a partitioned WD My Passport drive that held music and the Go Pro files. The car doesn't know how to handle partitions and I wasn't able to help it. It plays the first thing it sees. The car was not moving at the time.
Joe

cgrants

I am the owner of a 2014 E350 and no matter what I have tried, I cannot get COMAND to detect my 2007 iPOD, which opens seamlessly on other vehicles. I bought an MMI cable that connects to the iPod, and that cable is useless. Doesn't charge the iPod nor does COMAND recognize the device. Then I connected with the 30PIN USB connection cable, and the iPod charges but COMAND cannot identify/detect the device (not as an auxillary, storage device) etc. Very frustrating. May need to bring in to the Dealer to see what the issue is, unless the COMAND System somehow needs updating or a "smarter" cable to recognize iPod. Did your iPod connect by merely connecting to the USB cable? I have pretty much tried everything. Grant

Bobby4919

On my prior 2014 E350 my iPod connected using the big cable that came with the car. It had the old 30 pin(I think) iPod connector that Apple used to use on older iPods. Everything worked fine but the iPod needed rebooting every few days for some reason.

With the E300 i connected the iPod with a USB - 30 pin cable. Took forever for it to index all the songs into COMAND so I switched to using an SSD drive connected to the USB and everything works 'ok' now. Still takes about 5 or 6 minutes to index about 28K songs.

Best connectivity is using my iPhone and Apple Car Play via USB - Lightning cable. That works all the time, every time. Just can't fit 28k songs on my iPhone

cgrants

Bobby: Thanks for the reply. I bought the vehicle used, so no cable came with my car. However I have the required 30 PIN cables (a variety of both old and new ones) and it seems, based on your experience, that the iPod should still plug and play. Irrespective of the rebooting issue that you describe. I am going to bring the vehicle in to the Dealer tomorrow and see if they can do a diagnostic of some sort. Perhaps there is a problem with the Comand unit itself. Something is just not right. Grant

dieseldoc

My iPhone does not work with cable to USB on my c class. You have to use Bluetooth. I have a separate. iPod interface that does work with cable.

cgrants

Thanks. Unfortunately the iPod Gen 6 is not equipped with Bluetooth. I am not totally clear on the iPod interface that is referenced, unless this was installed aftermarket or represents some type of software upgrade to the COMAND systems on 2014 vehicles. I am going to have a long conversation with the local dealer tomorrow to sort this out.

Meatius

Just took delivery of W213 E220 amg line Prem+ Previously had the w212 E300 Hybrid and that worked fine with my 160gb iPod with the big black chunky Merc connection but this new one totally sucks a camel ***, tried both USB ports and they both make the iPod freeze up after about 5 songs on a playlist and you have to reset the pod, 5this is some poor **** from Merc. Not only that but the Messages function under Phone says not compatible with phone?? So how come my iPhone 6 works in a 2014 and my other 2015 W212 E220 but doesn't work in my latest W213? Don't want to use CarPlay as the sat Nav looks **** poor and I'd rather have access to the media in the USB than a free Spotify account

Meatius

sounds like the designated old big black chuncky interface from the old E Class, this has been replaced by two USB'S and an SD card in the arm rest glovebox in the latest W213 and the Night Edition W212 as there is no longer an SD or DVD/Cd drive in the dashboard

Sunrose305

I copied my entire itunes music collection onto an SD card and that is working great.

BeachBunny

Thank you for this tip & suggestion! I tried using a 1TB 2.5" hard drive drive with my 2015 E350 and it didn't work, so I've been using SD cards & USB thumb drives. Given the E300's poor Bluetooth audio quality, this at least gives me a work-around until/if Merc ever comes up with a fix.

Sunrose305

Unfortunately the problem with the 10-minutes required to index 32,000 songs is that the car will index EVERY TIME you start it -- not just once. Why? I have no idea. But this means you have no access to voice or typed-in music searches for the first ten minutes every time you get in the car. However you CAN scroll directly to a song, album, folder (I use folders like playlists), etc and play it right away. And of course you can also just listed to the radio for the first ten minutes.

I have about 5,000 tracks and that takes about 4 minutes to index - every time.

mmoghazy

Dear All i am new here, i have the E 300 2017, and i have been searching all over for a solution that allows me to play my music from my iPod touch, or from a USB flash drive, while still using my Iphone connected to apple CarPlay.
i am not the kind of person who puts all his music collection on to the iPhone, besides memory issues, even the highest capacity i phone won't hold all of my favorite music library.
once the Iphone is connected, i can't play any music except via the Iphone, when i reach for the media on the menu i am only allowed to chose between CarPlay with my iPhone or just radio.
any suggestions that can allow me to use my iPod or a USB flash drive for that matter, for music at the same time while using my iPhone for maps, calls and SMS via CarPlay?

Egonvdv

plse don't post the same thing twice on the forum.

I replied here
https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...usly-w213.html

Egonvdv

EDIT; it's working again

***

I can no longer search music via voice control. It worked before, but now it says that it's loading the data (free translation from french)
(iPod classic via USB)

I did reload the ipod from scratch, but that's been 3 days, so doubt the car is still indexing...

anyone else have this problem too?

CarFan1

Long Islander

You can transfer your songs and playlists if you download DoubleTwist on your computer at home. Then get an SD card that is large enough for all your songs. DoubleTwist will ask you which ones you want on the SD card. You can they place the SD card inside the console. You can find the playlists using the "search" feature of the car.