Iphone and Mercedes Benz

Hi,

if you have Comand APS in your car and use the iPhone with the iPhone Cradle there are multiple ways of exchanging data between the Comand APS and the iPhone, or even your bluetooth enabled Mac.

It does not matter if you have a first generation iPhone (2G) or a current 3G or even 3Gs Model.
For the classic iphone you just need another cradle. There is one cradle for the classic iphone (2g) and one for the 3G and 3Gs which are compatible.
The cradle is available with and without Media Interface cable. So if you have Media Interface in your car make sure you use the iPhone Cradle with Media Interface cable.

I will describe the 'best' integration currently possible here:

Prerequisits 🙂 :
- Comand APS with current Firmware
- Media Interface
- Comfort Phone Car Kit
- iPhone Cradle for iPhone 3G / 3Gs
- Additional Media interface cable for Mercedes Models which do not have the Media Interface in the middle console
- Linguatronic

How to integrate the iPhone:

1. Connect the iPhone cradle to the comfort telephony car kit connector (middle console / not sure how it is called in english)
2. Pair the iPhone with the iPhone Cradle (this is important! Do not pair the iPhone with the 'MB Bluetooth' device. It is necessary to pair with the iPhone Cradle.
2.1 To do so press the little pairing button on the cradle for at least 6 seconds until the blue cradle led begins going on and off quickly.
2.2 Go to the Phones bluetooth menu and pair with the iphone cradle.
2.3. When asked for the code enter MBUSA as code (62872)
2.4. Pairing should be successfull
3. Put the iPhone in the cradle and wait for Comand APS to recognize and activate it.

At this point you are already able to receive and make calls.

If you want to import your contacts just open the Phone Menu in the lower Comand APS menu and select 'import contacts / again not sure how it is called in the english version).
You can then select to import all the contacts from 'comfort phone' which is your iphone as it is paired with the cradle connected to the comfort connector.

If you want to use Linguatronic there is one drawback. The iphone provides all the contacts phone numbers categorized as private or work or cell and so on. What the Comand APS Linguatronic needs to work is numbers categorized as pivate, voice or private, cell, or work, voice or work, cell and so on.
To get this to work you can pair your bluetooth enabled Mac and pair it with MB Bluetooth. Then transfer over a vCard file with all your contacts categorized in the right way 😉

To to this do the following:

1. in Comand APS go to Settings / Bluetooth / Bluetooth Devices (or similar) ...
2. on the top most item select Options / External Authorisation (or similar)
3. Comand APS is now ready to be paired with your mac
4. On the mac open the Bluetooth pairing Assistant and select the 'MB Bluetooth' Device now.
5. Comand APS will ask for a code to authorize the mac
6. enter a 4 digit number as the code
7. Authorization will fail on the Mac but you are able to select 'code options' or similar in the Bluetooth Assitant on the mac.
8. Select code options and select the option 'use this code' (or similar) and enter the same 4 digit code that you entered in Comand APS before
9. Retry pairing from the mac.
10. Comand APS will then display 'performing authorization' (or similar)
11. The mac will already show that pairing was successful! To make it work you now need to quickly klick the bluetooth icon in the menu bar and select 'MB Bluetooth' > Use this as audio device (or similar)
12. I successfull Comand APS will display a success message. If not please try again (i also needed 2 tries because i was too slow during the pairing process) 🙂

If pairing was successfull you can export vCards from Address Book. To do so go into the Address Book settings (on the Mac) and select Version 2.1 as the vCard Format. You should also disable the export of contact photos as they only mess up your vCard and the Comand APS can not recognize the photos anyways...
To Export contacts simply select one or more contacts and drag them on the desktop or a folder in finder.
After the export you will be able to edit the vCard file using your favourite text editor to find

TEL;CELL:
and replace it with
TEL;PRIVATE;CELL:

or

TEL;WORK:
and replace it with
TEL;WORK;VOICE:

as an examle. As already said for Linguatronix to work it is necessary to categorize all the numbers in private/work and fixed(voice)/cell/auto ... You can do this by editing the vCard File.

Finally to get the vCard over to your Comand APS Address Book select Phone (or similar) from the bottom phone menu in Comand APS and select 'receive vcards from bluetooth' (or similar). Comand APS will switch of the iPhone cradle and goes into the receive vcard mode.
Now just select 'send file' or similar from the Bluetooth Menu in the Menu Bar (on Mac).
Select MB Bluetooth and your vcard file and voila... The contacts are in the address book of the Comand APS.

Finally connect the Media Interface to enjoy all your music, playlists and podcasts synced to your iPhone using iTunes.

The directions above may be inaccurate in regards to menu names as i did this on a german Comand APS and a german Snow Leopard. I hope it does help ... Let me know if you get stuck 🙂

Regards,
lynx

I can say that somi's method works to import contacts from your macbook. I don't have any iPhone cradle and was still able to import my contacts from my macbook over bluetooth. As Somi points out in more detail, I simply synced my iPhone with the apple address book, pulled my contacts from the address book onto my desktop, edited them with textedit so they would work with voice command, paired my macbook with my car, set my car's address book to receive business cards and hit send file from my macbook. It took a couple of tries to get my macbook paired with my car, but it eventually worked. The only difference between Somi's instructions and my experience was I never received the "use this code" option from bluetooth assistance on my macbook. I basically just entered the same for digit code into the car, and macbook, again on the second try and it worked. I have a 2010 C class and am working with the latest edition of snow leopard (10.6.2). Hope this helps.

I have a 2008 C350W and I have tried numerous times but I cannot get the contacts to sync. When I try to find the MB from my iphone I cannot see it, but when I select external authorization MB can find the phone and connect, but it will not sync my contacts. I am totally frustrated with this as I cannot use the addresses from the phone...Please help me with this issue.

Somi, thank you so much for your very helpful post! I was able to export my addresses to my 2010 C300 Sport with no problem. As mentioned here previously, it is a little tricky to get the Bluetooth going between the Comand system and my Mac. One irritating factor is that the Option item next to UPDATE is grayed out when you enter the path via Settings>Bluetooth, I ended up going through the Phone menu first, then down to the Bluetooth menu, etc..., then when I arrived at the screen that listed UPDATE and my iPhone, the Options item next to UPDATE was available for me to click on, which then allowed me to authorize my external device (the MacBook). Then everything worked like a charm.

One big question I have is, do I need to do something with my addresses to make the Navigation work properly? (i.e. like you advised with changing TEL;CELL: to TEL;PRIVATE;CELL:) When I pull up an entry which has a street address, Navigation is grayed out.

Here is an example of an address from my vCard.vcf file:

ADR;HOME:;;XXXX Maple Street;Anytown;CO;XXXXX;

Should I add PRIVATE or WORK between ADR and HOME?

I would appreciate any help.

As an update, I just spoke with one of the Product Specialists for MB USA in New Jersey (Neil). He indicated that currently the Navigation system cannot consume the address from the imported vCard. Bummer... I suggested that MB consider removing the grayed out Navigation option, as its presence seems to imply that there is a way to utilize the imported address to Navigate (i.e. leveraging a different header format for the address data in the exported vCard file). Hopefully in future releases they'll figure out a way to translate between the vCard address format and the address format required by the Navi system.

I previously connected my iPhone 3GS to my 2008 C300 (no Nav, iPod Integration) with no problems. I then updated to iPhone OS 3.1.3, which did not indicate any changes to Bluetooth. iPhone no longer sees my Mercedes, and my Mercedes no longer sees my iPhone. Has anyone else encountered this problem, and do anyone have a resolution to this problem? I have noticed that others have had this problem with other vehicles after the upgrade.

My GLK has the Universal Media Interface which offers an "External Authorization" option under the "Phones" menu, but my MacBook will only recognize it as a Handsfree device and refuses to send files. Also, while the MacBook says its paired, the car fails authorization.

Has anyone with the UMI figured out how to load vCards? I don't have the PMCIA slot, just the iPod interface and USB (for streatming etc.).

Thx

I have the same problem as Opus33. I tried the above procedures and could not get my mb pro to connect. I was wondering if the D-Link DBT-120 Bluetooth USB adapter might work to connect to my mercedes system? I was thinking it might have a different bluetooth setup that my mb pro bluetooth does not have. If so this might allow a connection between my mb pro and mercedes system. Has anyone tried this? Any help would be appreciated.

i have a 2008 E350 and am having a different problem. When I sync my Iphone 3GS thru the Mercedes Bluetooth module, I end up with duplicate contacts in the Comand system and I cannot get all of my contacts loaded as the memory fills up. I get about halfway thru my contacts.

Has anyone had this problem. Any suggestions/solutions?

I have spoken with MB support and they have no answers.

I have an Iphone 3GS and a MB E350. I have the bluetooth puck installed. I can pair the phone and it transfers contacts. Unfortunately, it duplicates every contace and fills up the Comand memory before all of my contacts are loaded. I spoke with MB support and they couldn't help. Any suggestions?

Hi

I just read you post from a year or so back re the iphone and Merc cars. I have a 2007 E Class estate without a phone cradle. What is the best way, in your opinion, to get the iPhone to work as a phone and a music player via the COMAND system?

Any help much appreciated

best wishes

NormJ

I have a 2009 C300 Mercedes-Benz and am having the same issues as everyone else. I am running operating system 4.1 on my iPhone and have successfully synched the iPhone to the Bluetooth in the car but can't get my contacts to transfer from the iPhone to the Bluetooth in the car. I've been told that there has been an application recently released an available in the App Store that will solve this problem and allow you to transfer your contacts from the iPhone to the car. Is anyone familiar with this new App and what its name is?

I wonder if you have any advice on the Iphone 4 and connection to Mercedes Command system such that the addresses in the Iphone will be used to put address into the Navigation system? For eg, if my phone has a number for my Job site with address included, can I get the nav system to recognize that address as a destination??

I took delivery of a 2011 C350 today. I was able to get the contacts into the COMAND system using a combination of the following:

1. AirContacts (easiest way to retrieve the iPhone address book and store as VCF) $1.99 - NOT NECESSARY IF YOU HAVE YOUR CONTACTS IN ADDRESS BOOK)
2. vCardBlaster for Mac (used on trial, $9 registered)
3. Mac Address Book

Step 1 - Contacts
Skip this step if you have all your contacts ALREADY in Address Book - Export/Backup your Address Book so you have a copy. Delete all your contacts in Address Book and drag all the VCFs from AirContacts to AB. Now you have your Address Book and iPhone with a matching set of contacts.

Step 2 - Bluetooth ****
Even though your MacBook will throw all sorts of strange headset errors (just don't hit disconnect on the MacBook during the pairing process!), it will eventually pair. Make sure you don't tell your MacBook to use the MB Bluetooth as a headset, and don't hit disconnect either. Your MacBook will complain over and over about headset issues... just ignore this.

Step 3 - vCardBlaster
You'll notice that even though it's throwing errors, it will stay connected to the car... the MacBook will continue to complain about the headset... just ignore it.

Once connected go to the Address Book and set the COMAND to Receive vCards. If you don't have an Address Book option when your MacBook is connected, you will need to repair it... something went wrong in the pairing (I had the happen)

Now load vCardBlaster and send your vCards in sets of 25/50. I had to hit the "Send Next Batch" acknowledgement in vCardBlaster a few times to get the full 200 contacts I needed.

A MUCH easier way is to just get a PCMCIA 6 in 1 reader and use that with the PCMCIA slot in the Mercedes. You just dump the VCFs on some sort of FAT16/FAT32 media and drop the PCMCIA adapter in the car. Then you use the External Data part of COMAND to import them.

Also, should you ever want to delete your whole address book, you will be required to do a factory reset on the entire entertainment system to remove them. Also your presets will be removed, so write them down beforehand.

To reset, System, Reset.

Good luck! Talk about a Kabuki dance!