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2010 Facelift - Bluetooth sounds terrible with iPhone 4S

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Old Oct 20, 2011 | 09:41 PM
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2010 Facelift - Bluetooth sounds terrible with iPhone 4S

In my US 2010 S550, when I use bluetooth with my new iPhone, the voices on both ends sound gravelly and distorted - barely intelligible.

This happened a bit on my previous iPhone as well, when using the new iOS 5, but it is much worse with the new iPhone 4S.

Anyone experiencing this?

Any knowledge of a bluetooth firmware upgrade for COMAND?

Thanks.
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Old Dec 20, 2011 | 12:10 AM
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I'm experiencing the same thing with my E350(W212). Its killing me, making phone calls almost unbearable.
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Old Dec 20, 2011 | 03:51 AM
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223.168 & 213.012 & 906.633 & 214.005
Originally Posted by epasc
In my US 2010 S550, when I use bluetooth with my new iPhone, the voices on both ends sound gravelly and distorted - barely intelligible.

This happened a bit on my previous iPhone as well, when using the new iOS 5, but it is much worse with the new iPhone 4S.

Anyone experiencing this?

Any knowledge of a bluetooth firmware upgrade for COMAND?

Thanks.
Have you tried if it is the same with another phone?

In any case, if it was better before the phone SW update, shouldn't you ask for an update to the phone that fixes the changes they made, instead of expecting MB to adapt to the degraded performance of you phone with the new SW update?

I would assume the 2010 221 behave mostly like the 204 and the 212 with integrated BT HF support from the head unit and our cars provide good audio quality with the phones used in our family.
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Old Dec 20, 2011 | 09:21 AM
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05 CL65 AMG, 07 Ferrari F430, 03 Range Rover HSE
This is a mixed post, but those car's with a puck, we have updated software pucks that sound great with the 4s, latest Androids too.
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Old Dec 20, 2011 | 10:16 AM
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2015 White/brown Nappa S550, '13 S550 4 matic, 11 S550 sold, '10 S550 Sports BLACK 08 S550 P3 sport
I have used iPhone 3GS, 4 and now 4s with 2010 and now with my 2011 S 550.
The sound quality is superb, no distortion whatsoever. If u r having trouble it has nothing to do with the car, maybe try ur friends iPhone and see how that works on ur car.
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Old Dec 22, 2011 | 08:58 PM
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Originally Posted by RajwanyS550
I have used iPhone 3GS, 4 and now 4s with 2010 and now with my 2011 S 550.
The sound quality is superb, no distortion whatsoever. If u r having trouble it has nothing to do with the car, maybe try ur friends iPhone and see how that works on ur car.
Actually it is Mercedes' fault. I got rid of my ill-conceived media interface plus (an mb accessory) and Bluetooth works fine. Clearly the Bluetooth from that kludge box was interfering with my cars built in Bluetooth.
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Old Dec 23, 2011 | 03:00 AM
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Oh wow.
I have that thing too. (the interface plus)
I'll try it and report back (unfortunately won't be until after the holiday).
Thanks
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Old Jan 6, 2012 | 11:50 AM
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Its not always the BT in the car that is at fault. Its the BT software on the phone that plays magor part as well.
In the past when upgrading my Phone OS, BT quality greatly deterirated. i had to revert back to older version because it was unusable in the car. Skiped one version of OS and worked fine again.
Observed same result on Nexus One and Nexus S.
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Old Jun 16, 2012 | 10:56 AM
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Sorry it took so long, I forgot to post my findings. The issue was immediately solved by removing the media interface plus, what a shame. I've since gotten a 2012 C Sport Sedan which has a newer system that incorporates bluetooth audio with your paired phone and has no problems.
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Old Jan 31, 2013 | 01:33 PM
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ml 350 2011
Media InterfacePlus is the culprit

Originally Posted by bigevil
Sorry it took so long, I forgot to post my findings. The issue was immediately solved by removing the media interface plus, what a shame. I've since gotten a 2012 C Sport Sedan which has a newer system that incorporates bluetooth audio with your paired phone and has no problems.
I loved the Media Interface Plus and it worked fine for Audio streaming, however, it caused havoc with the phone bluetooth dropping incoming audio constantly. Had the car into Mercedes 3 times until I decided to remove the MI+ and problem solved. It caused distortion on BT connection on the phone as well. It was a nice Idea for the short coming on the Comand in the 2011 ML but was not integrated well. The direct connection in the glove box works well and is fully functional with the IPhone 5 Playlist etc as well.
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