Hi All,

Wanted to get some feedback from other "Australian GLC" owners.
Purchased a GLC300 about 3months back (Mercedes North Shore), so far i'm a very happy customer.

One of the firs things I picked up was the lack of functionality from the Voice Commands (Hey Mercedes) and was surprised to find that a number of features were disabled compared to other regions (NA/EMEA).
The obvious ones:
- Internet Access using in car SIM Card (Disabled)
- Host Spot and Wifi access which relies on Data Enabled SIM Card
- MBux requiring Internet to respond to commands such as "Hey Mercedes what is the Weather today?"
- Internet Browser Access
- Software Updates over the wire

The Mercedes ME app is connected and working, things like "Remote Car Start" etc all work, however there are a number of features that are disabled. Essentially the car has been limited due to restrictions in Australia
which boils down to legislation that restricts features and functionality of cars like Mercedes etc.

Actions Taken
- Dealership has confirmed these issues (After I purchased the car and raised the issue)
- Mercedes has also confirmed this after talking to their head office (They are looking to implement these features in 2021)

I want to ask the forum the following:
1) Has anyone had this confirmed by Mercedes or Dealership in Australia?
2) Were you warned or told of the lack of features / functionality before purchasing the car?
3) Does anyone know details of the legislation that is holding back access to these features and limiting the cars potential?
4) Anyone found a workaround (apart from hacking the OS)

I want to see if i can raise enough awareness and knock on some doors, it has to be affecting everyone owning a new Mercedes, BMW etc there must be thousands of drivers who could mount
a small campaign to fast track this. Ambitious but with the world going off a cliff I figured a few well written emails to local gov and some legal support we might be able to move the needle.

Thoughts?

 

I agree this is very disappointing, Legislation and road markings, internet coverage vastly different in US, UK and Europe.
Europe fits into Australia as does the US, so we are a Big country. Our State legislation and Federal systems Do not link - look historically at our rail line width in every State - same goes with our road rules, road line markings, colour of road paint and design and sizing of road signs, We are a small market of 26million dwellers and 12-15million drivers - not much compared to US or Europe for Mercedes to invest software or intellect resources.
Mercedes AU should have a briefing sheet for all models that list what works and that be given to all as well as listed online for all Dalers.
The problem with the GLC is I think is in part due to mid life update, based on old CPU and wiring.
Newer Mercedes family models are based on whole new designs, ours are patchworked.
I suggest you copy your post and publish on the two UK sites that have strong GLC following, they are RHD and mimic a lot of AU/NZ issues.
Tyre crabbing over 2017-2019 was a success I think they had a great deal of influence over - see what they have access to.
Our car can self steer, I could in theory drive 900km From Melb to Syd, staying in my lane and never use the steering wheel, but after 15sec it is disabled by Oz direction, traffic lights and detours would be an issue !! who knows what the real list is of Features locked out.
Good luck with your quest, I am happy to support more transparency and activation of features. Things like activating built in dash cam via software etc as well.

 

I'm in the Middle East and I don't get any of those inlcuding the Mercedes Me app. How do you manage to communicate with the car /remote start etc. through Mercedes ME if there's no data connectivity?

 

So the car does come with a SIM Card, in Australia they have gone with Vodafone, but the SIM is only enabled on a private VLAN which is for Mercedes "Data Traffic" only. This allows the car to talk to Mercedes ME (think of it like a home network) You devices can still see each other even if the internet is down.

What should happen is you pay for "Data Access" which i think is how it's done in NA/EMEA, but there is no option for this. But that's just the start of it, other features are disabled entirely due to restrictions imposed by the government. If these are not available then you will be having the same problem in your country.

Welcome to the Club ;-)

 

Thanks for the response and agree with everything you have laid out, it's a crying shame. I just don't understand the logic of it. My old GLA had internet access and i could tether my phone. But in a newer car it's removed entirely.

I have spoken to a law firm who is going to identify the actual "Legislation" to see if i can then start writing in to my local MP etc etc. The problem is with Covid19 causing mayhem trying to get this through any government body will be neigh impossible.

 

Talk , write, email, txt to the motoring agencies, likes of NRMA, RAQ, RACT, RACV.
Talk with auto writers from Cars Guide, etc who write for each State major Daily newspapers as well as Auto assoc who look after independent service shops.
I would also write to each State authority, like Main Roads, Vic Roads.
Between them all you will collect jig saw pices that will paint a picture and hopefully a name and phone number that will be prepared to ‘have a chat’.
A bit of work, but if you are in no rush then it is worth it.
Time spent on reconnaissance is never wasted.

 

Irdweasel - I would also suggest trying the Australian group - https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/thre...=201#r66733766

The group can be very helpful and are spread across Oz, sometimes Dealerships confide with owners, again small bit of ‘zeros and ones’ that can help you paint a picture and grow supporters.
Good luck.

 

Hey lrdweasel,

I got a 300 with the launch packs in Oct last year. Overall I'm very happy with the car and love driving it, but yes there are things I'd change and most of these are things I know the car can/does have, but isn't available here.

Things that I've noticed are currently "missing" are

• Dashboard cam using the integrated cameras and recording to USB
• Seat memory auto adjust (was on the car at launch but didn't function. Then feature disappeared via OTA update)
• Voice to phone sending messages via MBUX (a workaround is long press on the assistant button to use the phone's google assistant instead)
• Gesture control
• Full screen navigation display (on the driver console, not the entertainment one)
• Augmented reality navigation

Cheers