minikozort

Hello all,

I just bought this great SUV but I am very disappointed in the Mercedes me app remote start.Here is why i am disappointed and if anybody out there can help me out with a solution i would appreciate it.

1- Remote start will take at least 2 - 3 minutes before it can be initiated if it even works... ( My 2008 Honda Accord started instantly with 2 push of a button)
2- You can only start the car twice with 10 minutes interval, you cannot combine those to 20 minutes straight which is what it really takes to melt windows and warm up the car properly in winter months... ( Again my Honda, you could combine it for 20 minutes continuously)
2a- You cannot start the car more than 2 times in a row unless you start it manually inside the car - unlock and lock from key trick does not work - Whaaaaa?
3- You must set the temperature of the climate control not only to heat or cool before you lock your car for the night, you have to make sure if it is winter you direct it to the windows....( Again my Honda, if the temperature were below or above certain degree it would either melt windows or cool down the car)
4- The remote start does not initiate rear window defrost...no way to melt the rear window. (Again Honda used to activate not only rear window but the side mirrors as well...)
5- You cannot heat up the seat when you remote start - it has to be manually pressed from inside - it doesn't stay on or keep on after you turn off your car and start again. ( Again one button - stayed on all the time as long as you didn't turn it off)
6- It will not start the car with less than 5 gallons... Who came up with this figure....? Your light comes on usually when there is 2-3 gallons of gas left in the tank and you can still drive like 60 miles.... So they think in 20 minutes, the car is going to run out of gas idling....?? Just WOW.


Other than that the car is great, but this one feature which is most common in the whole auto industry, this car sucks.. I mean come on Honda does it better than Mercedes ... It should not be according to everyone i talk to who say " Mercedes is the best luxury car in the world "
Maybe everything else is great but not so smart on the remote start feature.

Not only should this car in this technology and advancement era have all of the above mentioned features, it should like idk let you control the seat adjustment or let you know if everything is clear of snow or something....
I mean come on Mercedes, we get to start our car from our phone through an app how cool... but we can't adjust temperature or activate seat heater or defrost rear window... Well - I guess i just have to suck it up... Oh WAIT! I forgot to mention that we have to pay to be able to start our car with absolutely no additional features 5 years after you bought the car... That's just

Let's read about what you guys think.

K507

Move to a warmer climate and enjoy your car

62bassman

I think you should buy another Honda and use it in the winter. Keeps the Benz clean.

bobbyo1123

I agree with your disappointment. I leased a C Class for the first time after years of driving Lincolns. Mechanically, the Mercedes exceeds my expectations but the technology on the vehicle is years behind Lincoln. I wasn't expecting that at all! The Remote Start app functionality is terrible. The car should be able to "sense" the environment and adjust the climate control/defroster systems accordingly. Hondas do, Lincolns do, but Mercedes does not. The infotainment systems are too cumbersome. Anytime you have to click more than twice to perform a task, that's a problem. Many tech systems on the car are not intuitive. To add insult to injury, a Mercedes owner friend of mine told me today that the Mercedes Me update released yesterday caused him to no longer be able to use the Mercedes Me app for anything as Mercedes tells him that the update no longer supports his iPhone's operating system. I wonder how many seniors will now have to buy a new phone to be able to use Mercedes Me!

Chrisk03

The only thing I can recommend is to leave your HVAC in Auto mode and see if that helps your cause any better. Other than that, Yes, Mercedes Me is absolutely horrible. Major disappointment and fail for MB.

Jetfuture

Keep in mind that Mercedes has had problems with the Mercedes Me app the past 2-3 weeks. They sent an email to owners advising them that they are working on a fix. With that said, the app has worked perfectly the past 3 years. It has sometimes required a 2nd or 3rd start attempt.

bobbyo1123

The Mercedes Me Remote Start app has had issues for over a year. Look at the Apple Store rating for the app and you can see the long history of disappointments of owners. A credible source had told me that the problem with the app is that is was outsourced to a third party developer, not done in-house at Mercedes. They are trying to recover from that.

ajmtbm

i will say the app works fairly consistently for me, and having nothing to compare it to, it works OK.

Agreed not what you would expect from a premium manufacturer, and to pay $199 per year when the free period is over, that will be a tough sell.

VancityGLC

When I compare it with the app for my previous BMW 328d, it works much better and way more useful, I never had a problem with it.

CaptainJack

It does indeed suck! I was getting a 10% success rate with remote start attempts. And the fact you can't adjust the temp, ten minute run time and it shuts off
when you open the door....well, lets just say it sure isn't up to other car manufactures levels.

pjw1967

It's the lawyers!!!!! My '13 Dodge Durango R/T had the 2 push remote start on the key fob. The driver's seat would move all the way back on shut off. The MB lawyers decided they didn't want to be sued for mishaps related to remote start or the seat moving. Why? Because other lawyers are out there just looking for reasons to sue someone with deep pockets. Schmucks....

midcityeng

While it is lawyer related it is not related to concern about the key fob but rather security issues. They opted to keep all control over remote start using their own servers. So for example when you press start on the app it sends a request to their server, then from the server to the car, then the car sends a code challenge to the server and then the server sends a code response back to the car. If the code is valid the car starts, sends confirmation back to the server which sends it back to your app. Naturally if any data packets get dropped at any point in the process the whole fails. It was just poor design in terms of reliability.

All the other issues OP posted are bean counter issues. Someone did a calculation and figured out that being able to remote start your vehicle for longer than 20 minutes increases the possibly of CO poisoning if for some reason the car gets started while its in the garage.

pjw1967

Since you brought it up, does your remote start time out and shut the car off?

mtberman

Sad to hear people are having problems with this. I don't park my car outdoors and only use the remote start once in a while, and would never leave my car (or any car) running for more than ten minutes. Having said that, my experience has been good. I can log in and have it started in about one minute.

I had a couple of fails within a few months ago, but then got the aforementioned email and (also a letter) from MBUSA saying they'd had problems with Mercedes Me and apologizing for any inconvenience.

bobbyo1123

So since the Mercedes Me update that was pushed last week, I've not had a Remote Start failure. It is ironic however that MBUSA sent a letter to Mercedes owners acknowledging the problem but didn't forewarn owners that the update they pushed last week would not be backward compatible with older iPhones. I know of two people, who own perfectly good older iPhones, that were taken by surprise when they could no longer use the Mercedes Me application. MBUSA appears to have fixed one problem but has created another for some people.

ajmtbm

i will say that in even the coldest weather, 10 minutes is sufficient to get the car fairly warm so its pretty comfortable when you get in. 2 successive starts and its downright toasty

Takehold

Seems like it has been working better over the last week or two. Prior to that the app would not always open and if it did it would get stuck trying to connect to the car. Sometimes I would push the start button and it would fail over and over. Much better now. The only problem I have now is that every time I remote start the car, the music on my SD card starts over! I keep it on random and if I have let's say, 3500 tracks on it, when I remote start the car it starts over at the first track. And what's more, it will random in the same order! even if I am 100 songs into the list.. Has always been this way. Anyone else?

fabbrisd1

On the original MercedesMe app (NOT MercedesMe Connect which is the new app system for MY2019 forward).

The MercedesMe app was updated about 2 weeks ago - and the updated app seems to run smoother - to start "fresh" this is what I would recommend:

1. Erase/remove existing app

2. Download/Install MercedesMe App (updated app)

3. I recommend turning off WiFi (which will make app run smoother)

I like it to warm/cool my car before I leave the office - and when at a store I hit remote start to keep my car warm/cool when I am shopping.

Takehold

Of course, a day after my post about it working fine it would not work today at all. Tried for 20 minutes over and over and it would not connect or start the car - and of course it was 18F this am - I guess I will try the solution above. ^

hikenbike

Jumping into a freezing cold car in the morning gets the juices flowing and the day started right!! Smile and be happy. You own a Mercedes. If remote start is your biggest problem, you’re leading a good life.

mtberman

Great point! Also, not sure about yours but my GLC starts producing heat within about 2 minutes of starting. Does anyone know if the GLC has supplemental electric heat? Mine seems like it does.

minikozort

I am glad to hear i am not the only one that is disappointed. I don't think an update is going to fix it, they need to re-write the whole thing. But another problem is the seat heaters, even if you were able to start the car after your 20 tries, the seats are cold as ice... not that it doesn't get warm right away but just the convenience of it sucks. Maybe the 2019 models with the full dash screen will work better? and no putting you climate control to around 75 does not help the cause, when it is cold at 30F 10 mins only heats it up to 40 degrees inside the car, it is not sufficient, and you have to find your phone again and start again... oookay. Maybe it is better in 6 cylinders but our 2.0lt does not get warm idling 10 mins.

hikenbike

If you start a cold engine and idle it for ten minutes every day, you stand the chance of diluting the oil with unburned fuel that never gets a chance to burn off. That could cause premature engine wear—not to mention needlessly burning up some expensive gasoline.

Did you know that technically it is illegal to warm up your car in the morning in New Jersey? The “No Idling” law has been in effect for the state for years. The law states that it is illegal to leave a car running for more than three minutes if the temperature outside is above 25 degrees. If the temperature is below 25 degrees, then it is illegal to leave a car running for more than 15 minutes if the car has been off for three or more hours. The idling rules can be enforced on public or private property — that includes residents' own driveways. First-time violators face fines of $250, which double for a second offenses and double again for a third and subsequent violations.

minikozort

@hikenbike The first few sentence you say is not true anymore for the most newer model cars except diesel engines. Burning gas part i agree. Did you assume i live in New Jersey? Anyways, yes i am aware of the law but no one seems to give a **** about it because i have never ever ever seen anybody including myself getting a ticket for this and i dont think it will happen unless you live in a close next door house to house community or a closed garage with other cars in it where you are pumping your fumes into the garage and annoying neighbors complain about it. I am for one that does not start the car and not worry about the environment anyways. The complain is about how a luxury brand car has such a poor feature... you are missing the point trying to tell us how we should do things...

jolugo

I agree, the app could be improved, but there are so many variables that Mercedes cant control, for example the internet. I bet your Honda didn't have to send and receive encrypted data across the globe.

Parking in a garage would solve points 2, 2a, 3, 4 and 5.