As I understand it, there are three levels of US Mbrace subscriptions for my 2017 E300. They range from a subscription packaging that’s free for five years on the low end to a high end package that has both an annual and a monthly fee ($28/month) and includes things like concierge service. The main thing I care about is seeing traffic information on the navigation screen in my car. I’m trying to get a straight answer from Mercedes about which subscriptions include this feature . The technologist from my dealer said it’s included in the free subscription and there was no need to pay anything. I called Mercedes planning to cancel my current $28/month plan. The agent also said I would still get the on screen traffic after canceling the higher level plan. She transferred me to someone else to process the change. He then told me that all traffic information would go away if I did this. He insisted that he is an expert in Mbrace and that his information is correct. Mercedes online information also is confusing because it doesn’t distinguish between two kinds of traffic information in listing what’s included in each package. There’s the traffic information that shows up as colored lines on the navigation screen (which is what I want) and traffic information you can get by pushing the “i” button and speaking to a live person (which I don’t need). Is there anyone who can clarify this? Thanks in advance.

Totally understand your confusion. Short answer is the add-on will let you access traffic info by pressing the i button. Without the additional package, the traffic info will still show on your nav screen. Traffic info may vary depending on whether you also have Sirius Sat Radio. This link will provide you with further detail: http://mercedes-benz-dealer.custhelp...imetraffic.pdf Note that Location-based traffic (getting traffic info by pressing the i button) is part of the Travel & Assistance add-on to the base MBrace package. Hope this helps.

Thanks! Seems like Mercedes doesn’t do a very good job of explaining this in their literature or on the web...and their customer service people are giving inconsistent and wrong information. As I mentioned, when I called, I spoke to a guy who bragged about his expertise in this area. He said very clearly “if you don’t subscribe to the highest level of Mbrace, you will get no traffic information at all, none by pressing the i button and none on the car navigation screen. Makes me wonder if this misinformation results from poor training or from wanting to get my subscription fees.