Bluetooth in W212

[mbenz76]

Waiting for my E350 to arrive and wondering about the bluetooth for my phone.

I have a Nokia N97 (at the moment but probably upgrading to a Nokia N900 in a couple of months).

Any way, I have ordered Comand with my car and also the phone prep, so all options are open for me I guess.

I had intended to buy the Bluetooth SAP v3 module as the dealer sais this is the best option for "full control" of my phone.

Can anyone advise what I get with Comand (how basic is the bluetooth) and how much better the SAP module is?

My understanding is that the standard bluetooth gives nothing more than the ability to answer calls and make calls, but does it show who is calling and allow me access to my phone book?

From how the SAP module was explained to me it will essentially take over all control of my phone while it is in the car - allowing full access to phone book, showing full phone details on Comand and allowing text messages to be sent/received.

Is this right?

Don't want to spend £300+ on the SAP module if standard Comand bluetooth will do the job for me.

Thanks.

 

[richard]

The inbuilt bluetooth is not very good at getting the address book from the Nokia N and E series phones. It works on some and not on others (depending on what the particular build of software in the phone is and whether certain features were included, so same phone sold by different networks behaves differently).

The SAP is the Mercedes premium cradle (no good if you are on the '3' network though) and is phone in itself which uses a feature of many new phones called 'SAP' or 'rSAP' to take over the phone's SIM and use it itself. This means it uses the car's external antenna, and battery life in phone is extended. Current verison of the SAP is called 'V3" and includes a USB charging port, selectable ring tones and support for Blackberry and other phones (aswell as the Nokias which were the first phones to support SAP)
You need to be careful of the text message support, because text messages that arrive whilst in the car will not (always) be accessible on the phone afterwards (as it is 2 separate phones) depending on where the Nokia is expecting to find text messages (I've never worked out exactly how that is meant to work) and MMS gives the whole thing a nightmare.

My two pieces of advice are thus
a) Wait until the car arrives, try the bluetooth, if no phonebook download, you could try a ViseeO MB-2 which is (i) does address book much better (ii) is much cheaper than SAP (iii) does not use the car's antenna - unless you live in a weak signal area (and you notice no signal when in the car) then go straight for the SAP.
b) Dont buy a SAP from MB dealer you'll just pay over the odds
(look at my signature for a good place to get one!)

Richard

 

[mbenz76]

Thanks for the reply.

With regards to phonebook access on both methods, does it access phonebook from SIM or actual phone, because all my numbers are stored on phone and not SIM due to limitations of SIM storage.

 

[Diesel Benz]

I thought it was the V1 BT SAP adapter that had problems with some E or N series Nokia phones? Even there it could be the sync server with higher security but the older server can be selected from the phone settings.

On a W212 you can download the address book even with a basic Audio 20 radio, new Nokia phones support the PBaP bluetooth profile for address book downloading which is very efficient with current MB head units.

I thought it was only the old V1 adapter that sometimes was limited to SIM address book.

I would be surprised if there were problems with direct connection to the head unit in BT HF mode (but I have not used either N97 or N900) but the most important issue to consider in my opinion is the difference between BT HF and BT SAP (this has been discussed a lot, no need to repeat that).

I thought N900 did not support BT SAP because of the new platform (someone said it would be coming but it could then be for new models on that platform, not necessarily for the N900?). In any case if you can have BT HF from your head unit and BT SAP from your comfort telephony interface, that would be an ideal solution in my opinion.

 

[johny5_uk]

Bluetooth in mine is great, I dont have the module (at least I dont think I do!? I dont have the cradle).
I use an iphone, connects to the bluetooth automatically and you can also sync the entire addressbook into the command unit. Shows who is calling, last dialled/received numbers, AFAIK there are only a small number (if more than 1) of benefits that you get with the cradle, showing texts received on the display was one of them.

 

[Diesel Benz]

AFAIK there are only a small number (if more than 1) of benefits that you get with the cradle, showing texts received on the display was one of them.

I'm not sure what you mean with "cradle" but I was referring to the BT SAP adapter that would be connected to the comfort telephony connector. In addition to the one benefit you mentioned, I would consider it often essential that the external car antenna is used with BT SAP, making calls clear at weak signal areas and also if the car happened to have IR reflective glasses. One more is that the phone battery is marginally discharged during calls because the cell phone transmitter at the BT adapter is used instead of the phone. This is important for one who talks a lot in the car. I can see others benefits too, the list certainly is longer than one item. But there are aspects where the BT HF option is better.

 

[Aoraki]

BT works fine in mine, using Sony Ericcson W995. As for battery life, don't most phones have 6 or more hours talk time? I just charge mine every other night, works for me......

 

[npuk]

Bluetooth in mine is great, I dont have the module (at least I dont think I do!? I dont have the cradle).

The latest comand units like the NTG2.5 have fully functional bluetooth built into the headunit so dont require the cradle so I dont see why it is different on the new e-class? Alfie should be able to confirm.

Edit: Just saw Aoraki has a W212. Do you have Comand and are you using a bluetooth cradle in the car?

 

[Diesel Benz]

The latest comand units like the NTG2.5 have fully functional bluetooth built into the headunit so dont require the cradle so I dont see why it is different on the new e-class? Alfie should be able to confirm.

Edit: Just saw Aoraki has a W212. Do you have Comand and are you using a bluetooth cradle in the car?

Both the W212 and the W204 have in built BT HF from the head unit. But both also can be equipped with comfort telephony. This is what the OP mentioned being included in his car. The cradle can be used even if it was not always a must, I don't think anyone claimed the adapter was a must.

 

[Diesel Benz]

BT works fine in mine, using Sony Ericcson W995. As for battery life, don't most phones have 6 or more hours talk time? I just charge mine every other night, works for me......

Who said BT could not work fine. But also in your car it would not work nearly as well as in the case where the galvanic connection to the external antenna was used. No need to argue about this, the antenna performance difference is easily more than 10 dB depending where you hold the phone and even more if the car had IR reflective windows (if your car does not have them, it does not mean no car has those).

The first topic I got from google for your phone says:
Against
>Camera disappointing
>Battery life could be better
>Weak video stand

Sony Ericsson W995 review from TechRadar UK's expert reviews of Mobile phones

From the manufacturer's web site the battery performance is referred as 4 hours for UMTS (3G) and 9 for GSM. It has a 930 mA battery, meaning the talk time figures are "up to figures". You can spend a lot more power if you talk with the phone in your pocket and drive at a low signal strength area.

Your phone performs OK, it may be fine for you to charge it every other night. But this is not good at all for all.

 

[ShinyF1]

I recently had a W204 C class as a courtesy car without Comand, the onboard bluetooth [I assume standard setup] found my phone [BB Bold 9000] and downloaded the contacts without any problem.

 

[C240Sport97]

I had a W212 for a 24 hr test drive.

Bluetooth (no COMAND) worked very well and easily with my Nokia 5800. Contacts downloaded in a flash, and dialled and received calls also displayed.

Very easy to use.

 

[fuzzer]

I recently had a W204 C class as a courtesy car without Comand, the onboard bluetooth [I assume standard setup] found my phone [BB Bold 9000] and downloaded the contacts without any problem.

yep , my bold works perfectly with the w204 bluetooth.

Almost as well as the bmw setup which actually syncs on connection rather than downloading the phonebook and any changes that are made mean you have to download the lot again. My new BMW bluetooth setup also downloads and syncs the addresses from my blackberry for navigation purposes too , but at least the MB system works with HFP rather than RSAP now

 

[Aoraki]

Edit: Just saw Aoraki has a W212. Do you have Comand and are you using a bluetooth cradle in the car?

Audio 20 not Comand and no craddle.

Who said BT could not work fine. But also in your car it would not work nearly as well as in the case where the galvanic connection to the external antenna was used. No need to argue about this, the antenna performance difference is easily more than 10 dB depending where you hold the phone and even more if the car had IR reflective windows (if your car does not have them, it does not mean no car has those).

Don't know what the above means really, my phone works great, usually all bars lit up on screen. Doesn't matter if phone is in pocket, glove box, centre console or even in the boot!

The first topic I got from google for your phone says:
Against
>Camera disappointing 8mp! have printed at A3 from this phone, nearly as good as prints from my Canon 350D
>Battery life could be better All battries could have better life
>Weak video stand Wow! Don't use it to watch films on, have a 50" HD telly for that.

Sony Ericsson W995 review from TechRadar UK's expert reviews of Mobile phones

From the manufacturer's web site the battery performance is referred as 4 hours for UMTS (3G) and 9 for GSM. It has a 930 mA battery, meaning the talk time figures are "up to figures". You can spend a lot more power if you talk with the phone in your pocket and drive at a low signal strength area.

Your phone performs OK, it may be fine for you to charge it every other night. But this is not good at all for all. Not difficult though is it to connect a cable to the phone every 2nd night at bedtime, fully charged in the morning

 

[mbenz76]

Sounds like the standard bluetooth might be more than suitable for my needs then. Will have a good play with it when the car arrives.

I have a Nokia bluetooth kit in my current car, so no access to external aerial, and quality of calls is fine most of the time. Will have to see how it is on the 212 and decide whether to splash out on the SAP module or not.

Charging (or at least very limited power drain) would be good for when I do long trips and use my phone, but I can't charge on my current bluetooth kit and my phone copes very well.

 

[Aoraki]

I would think you'll be fine with just the standard BT. There's a 12v socket in the glove box, you could leave your phone in there on charge.

 

[Diesel Benz]

Sounds like the standard bluetooth might be more than suitable for my needs then. Will have a good play with it when the car arrives.

I have a Nokia bluetooth kit in my current car, so no access to external aerial, and quality of calls is fine most of the time. Will have to see how it is on the 212 and decide whether to splash out on the SAP module or not.

Charging (or at least very limited power drain) would be good for when I do long trips and use my phone, but I can't charge on my current bluetooth kit and my phone copes very well.

If you have been fine with your after market BT HF kit, you would be equally happy with the MB standard BT HF feature, except that audio quality is better making you enjoy the MB setup even more.

 

[Diesel Benz]

I would think you'll be fine with just the standard BT. There's a 12v socket in the glove box, you could leave your phone in there on charge.

Does this mean there is no power socket in the place the cigarette lighter exists on smoker cars? I have not even noticed this, I hardly ever use the power plug on any car. I had a look at the manual (cannot check from the car now) and it was not clear about this, more like there would not be any power socket at the centre console (front) storage space. It is just difficult to use the glove box socket if the driver is alone in the car.

 

[Mactech]

I have both the standard BT and a 'comfort phone' cradle in my new CLS.
Just got a new a new Sony W890i and as yet no cradle to put in the armrest of the car. My 'old' W810i has a cradle.
The standard BT works fine for phone calls in high signal areas and the contacts download quickly into the COMAND system.
However having used the 'comfort phone' cradle previously, I really miss:
1. Being able to bring texts up on the car screen (and COMAND will read them out!)
2. The reception is not as good as using the car antena in weak signal areas.
3. I have to remember to charge the phone! Never had to do that before as the car did it!
I'm still not sure if I will buy a phone specific cradle or just cope.
I think it depends what you are used to and what you require

 

[mbenz76]

Thanks for all the help. I will "suck it and see" with the standard BT before I decide if I need to spend £300+ on the SAM module then.