Mercedes-Benz's current iPod integration kit is pretty weak sauce, especially since the new COMAND nav / multimedia system is so well done, but it looks like the automaker's newest iPhone cradle will take steps to address some of the more glaring issues and also add some interesting new features. The cradle appears to finally integrate iPod controls with the main nav screen and COMAND controller instead of relying solely on the instrument display and steering wheel controls, and it will charge your phone while allowing you to make calls and listen to music. On top of that, plugging the phone in will apparently increase reception by using the vehicle's antennas as well as the iPhone's, and from what we can tell, you'll be able to access the contacts list as well -- something MB's current Bluetooth system doesn't allow. If you've already got the iPod kit or Media Interface kit, the adapters needed will run you €39 ($60), and the cradle itself is available now in Germany for €249 ($385). Lots more pics at the read link.
[Thanks, Ashley]
posted Jun 19th 2008 7:03PM
That looks . . . inelegant. That clunky thing on top seems out of place. Does it have to plug into the headset jack? If so, won't the flush headset jack of the iPhone 3G break that functionality? Also, it looks like it's so snug a fit that any case wouldn't work. Maybe that's why the demo iPhone they used is so scuffed up.
My S550 has this but the connector refuses to work with my iphone.
Its in the gove compartment rather than the arm rest.
Glad I just had my S550 delivered yesterday with the MHI Bluetooth module. Looks like I'll be forking over another $450.
The S550 DOES get my contact list via bluetooth from the iPhone btw.
And yes, the COMMAND interface for the iPod absolutely sucks, after a day of using it I'm disgusted, and just posted on the MB forums yesterday wishing for a S/W upgrade to integrate the interface with COMMAND. Looks like that wish came through, albeit at a price...oh well, lol!
Your Benz has an iPod cable in the glovebox not an iPhone cable - at best it can charge your iPhone and play music from it.
That glovebox cable is not going to have any of the phone capabilities this set up has since it was never intended for it.
Exactly. They need to get Bluetooth right, as Audi has with their MMI Bluetooth interface. After pairing my iPhone with my A3, I can access the contacts list, call history and see signal strength from the Audi screen. Oh, and you can dial by voice and add voice tags to contacts as well.
Audi > all others.
So...assuming someone uses this with a 3G iPhone...the cradle costs more than the phone? Wow. Then again if one can afford a Mercedes, this really isn't a big deal, eh. Now if only my bank account would cooperate...
Exactly. The title isn't "Hyundai introduces new iPhone integration kit"
"if one can afford a mercedes."
comments like these piss me off.
i am one of those people and i wont pay $385 for a dock to make my phone compatible with my car.
Thing is, I'm not one who can afford a benz, and I would buy it on a corolla...
exactly... just cause I have 90K to blow, doesn't mean Im gonna blow it on a car ( let alone waste it on a benz ). It just an adapter, not a eighteen year old virgin : )
@austin
My apologies, I didn't mean that to be malicious at all. I just meant that the cost of the cradle is relatively insignificant when compared to the cost of the car; not that a buyer would automatically spend money for something they don't need or want. Didn't mean to offend.
With the right lease, you'd be surprised how many people can afford a Mercedes these days.
BMW has this already too...
http://accessories.bmwusa.com/ItemView.aspx?modelId=217&categoryId=112&productCategoryId=&menuId=2&subItemId=2&productId=948
I like BMW's implementation more. It looks much cleaner. Then again... I'm probably biased. :P
The only problem with BMW's is that the drop in piece will basically eliminate all space in your center console. Still, all I ever put in there is a pack of gum, some change in the cup holder that's in there, and my phone.
Looks great...but it is not clear to me if this can be used with existing MB cars or is the cradle and the improved interface only available for new models?
Just the new interface on the new cars.
I'm not really a fan of these in the armrest, in the glovebox "integration kits." Seriously, who's going to flip it open and plug everything in every single time they get in their car? Not many. Offer something up front and more accessible.
I do this every time I get in or out of my car.
Um, me?
ME TOO !
S550 with ipod integration in glove compartment.
FYI
Your statement that current MB Bluetooth kits don't allow access to contact lists is absolutely incorrect. I have two different Benzes and the iPhone contact list works flawlessly in either one.
False.
I have two MBs as well- C350, GL450. Neither import contacts.
cjh6793:
It's not false. Iphone contact lists work perfectly in my Mercedes Benz S550 and CL600. Perhaps you have the older version bluetooth adaptor. The adaptor that ends in "5878" works perfectly in those two vehicle models and provides full and complete access to the contact list in the iPhone.
Therefore, my previous post was correct. Engadget's report that "accessing contact lists is something MB's current Bluetooth system doesn't allow" is NOT correct.
Current MB Bluetooth kits (P/N B6-7-87-5878) do allow access to iPhone contact lists (in two different model cars with two different iPhones I might add).
You stand corrected. Check with your dealer.
Or just check with http://www.wireless4mb.com/
They make the modules.
yep- it totally works in ours as well. you need to get the bluetooth "cradle" for about $300
it can handle mine and my wife's iPhones. i can leave it in my pocket and the bluetooth is great!
i'm sure when we upgrade cars the new cradle will be worth the purchase. if you are trying to hook the iPhone into the iPod connector in the glove box... that won't work. it will only charge the phone. only iPod's work.
I have a brand new C300 with the new-style COMAND package and contacts do not import from any Bluetooth phone, including the iPhone.
I have a 2008 C300 with the standard Comand system and iPhone contacts lists are definitely NOT supported via Bluetooth.
the last thing i want is my phone inside a console
Anyone else see Darth Vader in the picture first?
You either have a good eye, or a horrible fascination with Star Wars.
I thought Krang from TMNT.
You've got a good imagination.
Thats very nice of MB to integrate the iPhone with their entertainment systems. Does anyone know if the excellent Zune players will be included in the near future?
no kidding. The Zune UI blows iPuds away.
Ya, I also want something that allows the Zune to hookup to MB COMAND.
Who doesn't see Darth Varder in this pic.
When it says that the MB can't integrate contacts into its onboard Bluetooth-connected system, does that mean the system doesn't support contacts *at all*? Or does it mean it just doesn't support them on the iPhone (yet)?
Is COMAND really that great? I've never used it. I have used BMW's iDrive for a bit, and it is a bit clunky but I get the problem it's trying to solve. COMAND has been criticized for being too button-intensive, but once you get over the interface, is it a pretty good system?
... looking forward to the day when the German automakers get their acts together and realize the Japanese-style touchscreen systems are where it's at... Or better yet, get Apple to design the touchscreen i/f.
I have a 2006 ML350 with COMMAND and it's rubbish. I actually wrote a letter to MB about how counterintuitive it is, its lack of features (no RDS in a 2006 vehicle?!) and the unnecessary button pushes to do basic features - not to mention the inconsistent interface from car model to model.
Did they make major improvements to it since then?
I do too.
I do too.
@ Flashpoint - I think what you have is an iPod dock very much different from this.
I think these things run about $350 in Canada, for what it is I think it is a good value. Don't forget that this is not just a dock it is also the software that the dock works with and Command system is actually very cool unlink iDrive which really bites.
It seems that you can get it for nearly every phone on the market.
Not long ago I bought a saab (cabrio) and the dealer asked me:
"what cell phone do you have?"
"A nokia N95 why?"
He checked a list and then said "yes, your phone can be integrated with the car's electronics if you' re interested."
"How much is that gonna cost me?" I asked.
And he read out a price + tax+ assembling+ something else.
"That's twice what I paid for the bleedin' phone!" said I;
But then somehow I bought it anyway.
I wonder how many people will give cash at this car just for this.
I'd want mine near the dash so I could mess with it and drive at the same time.
Contacts are imported via bluetooth if you have the new module. I have an 07 E350 and at the time the module only supported hands free for my phone. The new module fixes that.
www.wireless4mb.com
I can't believe they can't just bluetooth this to and from the car without the whole dock thing .. my crappy motorola and my excellent garmin nuvi sms, music, phonebook access and voice dial daily, and in any car, and without taking the phone out of my briefcase !
Raider
Bluetooth doesn't solve the "charging" problem and it also would be much too slow to stream music from a DAP to the car without some extravagantly expensive media extender.
plug - charge - play wires for mp3 players/mp3 player phones are the ONLY solution.
Since ipod's are so popular it makes sense to target ipod owners with such kits. I for example bought an iPhone and I'd want an iPhone integrator that allows me to charge-play and voice calls through my Benz's speakers.
My S550 came with a Mercedes Benz cellular phone but I never used that. In fact, its in the garage.
Yeah I'm hearing you, but, I still think there has to be a more 'elegant' solution, cradles and car kits just seem so _yesterday_
ooh boy, now we can have a navigation system/whatever 10 million other needless things were put on it just so maybe it would sell better(internet, mp3 player, video player with various codec compatibilities, ect), dvd player, random game console, bluetooth, mp3 player hookup for your iPod touch AND now a cradle for your iPhone. Oh my god, how ever did we manage to survive before? Thank you Steve Jobs for using your sub par products that only really appeal to those who need a brand name object that instills the thought that you are a cut above everyone else because you have it to make yet another useless add-on to a already overpriced line of cars that will only serve to give the user a inflated sense of self-esteem and possibly give the car salesman some sort of add on bonus for managing to sell one of these things to an actual human being who has a functioning brain.
and yes I know that the second sentence is not exactly grammatically correct. don't care.
At least they didn't ruin the Benz by sticking in some grotty WinMo phone. Next up....Porsche and Ferrari. If you're equipping the best vehicles, go with iPhone 3G.
The thing about the external antenna is bogus. The iPhone does not support external antennas. Not via a cable or wirelessly.
20 years from now, a 19 year old man goes to a used Benz dealer and discovered the iPhone integration kit in the arm rest of the Mercedes.
"What is this" the man asks.
"It's an iPhone dock" said the dealer.
"What's an iPhone" he asks.
"It's the latest phone your parents used back in the day" he said.
Something that no one else has picked up on is how will this, or indeed the BMW or Audi solutions, will work when using the iphone as a satnav device?
I believe TomTom have already developed software for the 3G iphone?
No if i could only drive the car from the iphone while crouched down in the back seat avoiding bullets. Or better yet save on valet parking and not having to walk to my car. Think James Bond.
It takes up the whole space in the armrest storage bin?
What a waste!
Shouldn't it be in a cradle on the dash up next to the nav system?
Unless MB has implemented a multi-touch UI that's at least as good as the iPhone UI, I'd rather use the phone.
And now the iPhone has GPS and will have a nav app ... why pay $2K+ for nav in the car?
ps. Bluetooth handsfree and the iPod connector work with the iPhone, play sounds and the audio quality of their phone system is great. I don't think this bulky kit is a step forward.
Hi friends
Whe can I buy this iphone kid for my
mercdes e320
Thank you,
Dennis
Sounds brilliant except it’s not true. I have an 07 Mercedes CLS with a Comand interface. My old 1st generation iPhone worked great via the iPod lead and Bluetooth module. The new 3G phone doesn’t charge via the iPod lead due to the loss of Firewire capability and the phone book won’t load names (only numbers) via the Bluetooth module. I therefore tried the new iPhone cradle. After much messing around the parts chap at the garage gave up as the phone works fine but there was no access whatsoever to music via the cradle. I think therefore there is either a)a complete lack of training at MB dealerships, b)some rather exaggerated selling of the capability of the new cradle or c) some serious software upgrades needed. Basically the iPhone 3G has been mis-sold as being even better than the old iPhone when in fact for some like me it’s a giant step backwards. I’m told BMW drivers are similarly affected although I’ve no first hand experience of this. Buyer beware!!