cobalt210

Some of the features seem neat. The iPhone/Droid application that allows you to lock and unlock the car is one of them - although it seems near impossible to lock your keys in this car. Roadside assistance, well that comes with the car either way. The LoJack-like feature, also nice, but I've never had a car stolen. So the question - "Which aspects of this service would make you purchase basic mBrace for nearly $300 annually?"

venchka

Piece of mind. Instant notification of an accident. Send2Benz navigation feature.
We have Keyless-Go. The lock-unlock feature is worthless. Our remotes work at 100'+ if needed. Finding the car is useless. We haven't lost a car ever in multiple decades of use.
We bought 3 years of service. My spousal unit likes piece of mind.

Wayne

MAmendola

In my opinion I would skip the service. Join Mercedes Benz car club and take advantage of road side asst. I agree that instant notification in the event of an accident is nice but not sure if I can justify the cost. maybe if I lived and drove in a remote area but other than that. Put the money towards joining the Car Club $45 annual fee plus you can take advantage of a number of benefits the club offers. Just my 2 cents worth

caf

I actually dropped mine early. The loud, squealing fax sound was very irritating, and I would hit the buttons accidentally as they're located right where I grab the rearview mirror to make adjustments. Even though there's a cover I even managed to hit the emergency call button once (first rearview adjustment I, unnoticed to me, opened the cover, second adjustment hit the emergency button). Then I couldn't cancel the call. Very, very irritating in traffic.

Bottom line? I hated MBrace. Would pay NOT to have it!

Waykool plantz

never pushed the button to activate.
Curious as to liability tho...if mBrace equipped vehicle in an accident & no action taken...is there any liability ?

Choy

IMHO. it is a waste of money plus the apps is buggy. It should be free within the warranty period just like in BMW!

katiesdad7

I found a way to get rid of the fax tones. Just hit the red hang up button when you are done and it disconnects B4 the tones.

cobalt210

Thanks for posting your perspectives. Looks like I'll like pass on mBrace.

300DTurbo

$650 for 3 years is expensive but what the heck. I would rather that 911 is instantaneously notified if my airbags deploy. Plus its a Lo-Jack system. The insurance company gave us $50 off every yr for that. Technology is there why not?

dgiturbo

I like the send 2 Benz feature from google maps. Just find a map destination, click send, put in my wife's email address and when she gets in the car, she pushes the "i" button and the navigation directs her there.

Also I travel a lot, and knowing the GLK would get her help when I am away if she needs it was worth the price.

TundraRoads

The EXTREMELY LOUD SQUEAL every time you use it makes it seem like 1970's technology. Amazing they actually rolled it out with that. Send2Benz is nice, but will only work with one address at a time. If you have multiple addresses you have to call their helpline to get the q unstuck. Most of their support people are not very knowledgeable and a few not even courteous.

You can probably guess that we're not paying for it.

GregW / Oregon

mBrace2 out for MY13, I understand. Not sure of the difference.

gulphstream

If there are any techician types reading these forums, I like to know how to deactivate/ disable/ unplug the location features of mbrace in my CL 63. I have heard the tracking notification tone several time while driving and found the battery very weak on start up after serveral days non driving. I purposefully have decline the many invitations to subscribe to mbrace when made by Mercedes and have gone so far as to make my concerns clear to a mbrace representative on the phone. Mbrace and Hughes Telemetrics are violating my privacy rights and I hate it. I will never buy another MB unless I can learn how to deactivate mbrace.

listerone

To me "automatic accident notification",alone,is worth the price of admission.It's a feature that can literally save lives.Stolen vehicle tracking and the ability to send navigation data to the vehicle via google maps is just gravy.I'm a huge supporter of the feature....wouldn't live without it.

From what I've seen mBrace 2 looks to be even better...*much* better.

Kial

We were told that mBrace2 was standard on the 2013 GLK in Canada but just got an email that mBrace2 or Tele-Aid will not be available in Canada for 'technical reasons'. Sound like baloney to me. I would some of the automatic reporting features and the send2benz abilities. Probably won't be able to retrofit either. Oh well, the 2013 GLK has lots of new features besides mBrace2 to make it worthwhile.

listerone

Having done some driving in Canada (MB,ON,QC,NB,NS) I fould that there are a lot of wide open spaces there...if ya catch my drift.Lack of cell phone towers might be a factor in some areas.Lack of nearby emergency responders in a particular region (Manitoba? Yikes,a whole lot of nothing *there*!) might also be a factor.And no...I'm not trying to belittle Canada,it's a great country.But it *is* big and many parts of it *are* very sparsely populated.And out of curiosity,do any other car makers who offer a similar feature (GM and BMW,just to name two) offer it in Canada? If not,then my hunch just might be correct....otherwise maybe you folks up north have a right to complain.

dougiebear

We have On Star for years and I think BMWs too.
MBrace on lots of Can info

Kial

We have the right to complain, lots of satellite and cell service across Canada. Most people don't go to Northern Manitoba so no need to penalize the 90% the population located within 100 miles of the US border. Probably mbrace wants too much money that is all.

listerone

It *is* strange that Onstar,for example,functions up there but mBrace isn't offered.It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall at Mercedes Canada Headquarters to get a detailed explanation of this problem.Next time I'm in Quebec I might try to retreive directions sent via google maps while I'm there as an experiment.

shortspark

An old thread but I'm wondering what recent drivers with m-brace have to say about the service. I bought my ML350 a couple months ago and based on this thread as well as others I decided not to activate as my driving habits do not justify this expense. Also, I am nearly deaf and can't really hear anyone over the navigation speaker well enough to have a conversation while driving. I do not mind punching in my addresses for navigation purposes. I also live in a gated community so no one will steal my car from my garage, I only drive about 8,000 miles per year (all local), I would not use conceriege services and I am the only driver of the vehicle. Overall, I don't see where I need it. Nonetheless, they keep sending me letters to activate my trial period. Has anyone received an offer of $299 lifetime which I read has been sent to some people who did not sign up? I might do that just to have the accident notification but that is about all. What do you all think about M-brace?

listerone

I still stand by my post #14.The reason automatic accident notification is so important to me is that my 20 years of experience in a large hospital's ER taught me,close up and personal,that seconds often mean lives.

shortspark

Yes, I said in my question, that accident notification would be the most important thing of all and with your experience, you would understand that better than almost anyone.

Tonester

The issue why mbrace is not in canada is nothing to do with telecommunications coverage but more than likely to do with signing a contract with a cell phone provider or communications network to carry the data etc for the enhanced mbrace features and smartphone stuff. We already have tele-aid on anything we want.

My thoughts only, i dont have any supporting information.

Kial

I would be OK with Teleaid, but it is not available for new cars like my 2013 GLK. So we can't get what we want or any telematics right now.

I ordered my GLK, asked for Mbrace or Teleaid and was told I could not have it nor could it be installed retroactively. Whatever the problem, Canada should get Mbrace, period.

Maybe 2014 or 2015 will be better.

frtdog

Check out this threat "I canceled my MBrace today. Feel bumpy". It has additional insight.