W205 Telephone Aerial Connection

[David Rodgers]

I've a New C Class due this month, one of the options it has is 'Aerial for Telephone', however the dealer is telling me that the new C Class is not wired for telephony. I understand that the phone connects via bluetooth and you can get a cable to plug into the USB in the central console for charging and control. However has anyone experience of how you would connect to the telephone aerial, I understand that with previous models it was possible to get a phone cradle that charged and connected to the aerial.

 

[Diesel Benz]

There is the Comfort Telephony option (386) that adds a similar connector for phone cradles as the UHI option (same 386 code) did on previous models.

This supports either phone specific cradles that use the roof antenna (most often via an RF coupler) or a BT SAP adapter that actually has a galvanic antenna feed.

For some odd reason I did not find this option from the UK price list while it is included e.g. in the German price list.

 

[David Rodgers]

I did find those options in the accessory brochure but as you say not in the UK price list, likewise I found the telephony options in the Dutch price list. Going to be an interesting discussion with the dealer tomorrow as I have ordered the telephone aerial option as part of one of the packages but they are saying that there is no method of connecting to it on the UK spec. I did find a MB part code for cradle and cable for an Iphone 5 on a German website that claims to connect to an aerial on an new C Class, but that contradicts what the dealer is currently saying as they claim telephone aerial isnt on their options even though the MB UK Configurator lists it as an individual item.

 

[Diesel Benz]

Is that telephone aerial something different from 386 (sorry, was too lazy to find it from the UK configurator)?

 

[David Rodgers]

Yes its not possible to specify 386, the dealer has been in touch today to say the W205 has no separate telephone aerial and he confirmed with MB who say everything is integrated through the wing mirrors, which I can accept. However the option exists on my order so I think I'll have to wait until the car is delivered to see how the aerial connects.

 

[richard]

I wonder if it is used for the Tom Tom live traffic facility (which is GSM based)

The option code for aerial always got added automatically when ordering any of the phone options.

R

 

[David Rodgers]

Richard, The W205 doesnt have telephone options other than Telephone aerial which is only added if you select the 360 camera or the blind spot assist, ie something that upgrades the wing mirrors, therefore many cars with TomTom traffic wont have the additional aerial so its unlikely to be for that. With the 360 camera not being out yet I suspect my dealer has little experience with the telephone aerial option so I'll have to see whats delivered.

 

[richard]

Ive looked this up a bit. The phone aerial is in the wing mirror. It is needed if the car has option 386 comfort phone or the Emergency Call System - which makes a great deal of sense. Those options are in the documentation but not necessarily available yet (or maybe never).

It really is not clear to me wht it gets added when you order 360 camera or blind spot, the description in the parts catalogue and in the technical documentation doesn't seem to have those dependancies - i.e the antenna can be in any mirror not just one with those options. It could just be an error! I've seen that before with the configurator.

R

 

[Roger Bill]

Hi Richard
I've been wondering about the pros and cons of the various phone options. I'm in the UK and my W205 C Class is due for delivery in May/June and I've ordered most of the options including the 360 camera, blind spot assist and the upgraded command system which is part of the premium plus pack. My current phone is a Nokia Lumia 625 Windows Phone which doesn't support the Bluetooth SAP profile and my Virgin phone contract doesn't allow tethering. Therefore, to take advantage of traffic updates on the navigation system I guess I'll need to change to another phone contract or get the Mercedes telephone module or a mifi dongle and possibly a new phone. A lot of different possible permutations and I'd really appreciate any advice on the option which works best with the various phone and internet features of the W205.

Many thanks
Roger

 

[David Rodgers]

Richard, Great explanation, I think basically I've an option I can't use as the 386 telephony isnt a UK option although its available in Europe, I can see me digging behind the dashboard looking for the aerial cable to connect to a cradle only to find its a non standard connector. Doesnt the Mercedes phone module rely on the UHI connector for the cradle system to be installed? I can see the internet/tom tom traffic being a problem as there appears to be all sorts of posts about tethering not working reliably, I guess Mercedes would have to make iphone integration work if they ever implement carplay.

 

[jurassicpark]

The live traffic information uses the car's built-in SIM, not your tethered phone SIM. It's free for the first 3 years in the UK.

There is a known problem on W205/S205 at the moment where traffic information is not being received and so dynamic route guidance around traffic doesn't work. I took my S205 into the dealer yesterday and they've had an advisory from Mercedes about this. They tried the workaround and have bricked my entertainment system. As it was a Saturday, Merc in Germany are shut so they can't get a reactivation code so I'm in their courtesy car until its fixed. I'll be asking for an extension on my TomTom subscription.

 

[jurassicpark]

I should say this problem with traffic is not on all new W205/S205 and may be intermittent; if you are not using the navigation every day or are not using normally congested roads, you wouldn't notice.