Sunrose305

I am confused about my car's Internet access. Best I can tell my car relies on a connection to my cell phone for certain functions. Obviously it does so to make calls via Bluetooth. But, best I can tell, it also uses Internet access from my phone for certain other functions like weather info, searches and traffic info. Is this correct and if so how does this differ from my paying for a dedicated connection specifically for my car?

ua549

Turn off your phone or put it in airplane mode to tell if the other functions still work.
That said, the results may differ from country to country.

Egonvdv

In my case (france) my car has an internal internet connection (LTE module) which Is used
to remotely lock car, see status of car, localise car, local google search, traffic info, weather reports, digital radio.

you'll need the Communication module (LTE) for this and I think it depends on the country
whether or not this is standard in the car or an option.

from what I learned here on the forum, the w213 can NOT use your phone's
internet at all (unlike the w212) - (I only get my car on the 25th july so can not confirm
this myself)

you can however buy a data plan which will be registered directly to your car:

go to your Mercedes me account (on a pc) then to "manage services(*)"
then "infotainment (*)" then "internet in car(*)" and you'll see a link to the voadaphone website.
Because you click this link WITHIN your personal Mercedes me page it
will then automatically register the internet to your car.
(4 weeks for free to try, no purchase needed)

(*) PS: my website's in French, so I've had to loosely translate...