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Do I need Mbrace?

43K views 27 replies 14 participants last post by  rambrose814 
#1 ·
I got a letter from MB today informing me that my new-car subscription to Mbrace is about to expire. Do any of you actually use it? Do I really want to pay $280 per year for it? I have used it exactly once -- a couple of months ago when Sirius stopped working while I was on the road, which really was OK by me because there's nothing on Sirius I'd ever listen to but NPR, and Sirius NPR seems not to offer Morning Edition or All Things Considered, and I can find NPR FM stations pretty much anywhere, so I don't really much care to have Sirius. Anyway, I called the Mbrace concierge and the nice lady had me pull over and open the driver door for awhile and close it again and sonofagun Sirius came back online. But aside from that, I've never even considered pushing the Mbrace button.

I did just now check out the Mbrace website to see if I'm missing something and I was a bit surprised to learn I have Facebook and some other stuff in my car? Seriously? I've never seen in my car (2014 E250) some of the stuff shown on this page, especially down near the bottom.

https://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/mbrace

Yelp? Facebook? In my car? Really? I did try to surf the web once as an experiment and I quickly gave up due to the slow as molasses speed. Am I missing something here? Do I already have those internet-based apps but just don't know it? And should I care?

Bottom line...does anybody think subscribing to Mbrace is worth it? Maybe to find my car in a parking lot? Is that the most wonderful thing it can do?

And while I'm asking, does anybody think Sirius is worth the cost? My old 128-gig iPod is loaded with hours and hours of my favorite music and podcasts and audiobooks -- I may not live long enough to listen to the stuff I've already loaded on the iPod. (And while I know I've mentioned this here before, I can't help doing it again -- the way Mercedes incorporates my iPod into the E250's entertainment system is just brilliant, exactly what I want, one of my favorite things about owning the car.)

So...Mbrace? Sirius? Opinions? Thanks.
 
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#2 ·
I have MBrace, and most of the features (like unlocking the car) won't work on my newest car (2009), so it really doesn't do much for me.

XM, on the other hand, is wonderful. I use the app on my cellphone to customize my 80s on 8 listening experience to match more my taste, and they play some phenomenal hits. I also enjoy some of the other channels featuring different collections of music to broaden my scope of what I listen to.

I've grown tired of local car dealer commercials, viagra commercials, etc., of local radio stations, so cutting that out improves my listening experience if I'm not streaming something from an iPod or listening to a CD.

However, you've already mentioned you don't listen much to the music choices SiriusXM has to offer, so unless you change your mind or someone in your family wishes to listen to what they have it's not worth it.
 
#7 ·
The MBrace feature I routinely use is sending a destination to the car from Google Maps while planning travel on my PC.

Of course there are MBrace features I am happy to have but hope that I will never use, for example "If an air bag or seat-belt Emergency Tensioning Device is activated, your Mercedes-Benz can automatically place a call to the mbrace Emergency Response Center, including reporting your location, even if you can't."
 
#8 ·
Lately I've been thinking about Mbrace. How could I use it? I can't come up with anything. I really want to sign up. It's a feature I've never had. I just can't think of any way to use it. One day I pushed the button and talked with the guy. He couldn't come up with anything they have that I could use. He said he could make a hotel reservation or buy flowers for my wife. He could unlock my doors or call the police if I'm in trouble. All things I have access to without him. If my key were locked in the car, I would then sign up.

Sirius Radio needs some programing help. I cancelled it and then received an offer for 5.00 a month. I guess for 5.00 it's worth it. When I first got it I liked it. After a while I realized they play the same things over and over. Then with the same songs over and over they added a DJ on a bunch of channels. Like the 60s channel. Cousin Brucy (sp?) talking like it's still 1960 on WABC. No more Pops channel and the Sinatra channel plays all kinds of crap. Well, for 5.00, what can I expect?
 
#25 ·
The features available, depend a lot on the model and the year. My 18-S has features that my 15 did not. The concierge feature seems to be the flagship. It's a wonderful service, but not for me. Mercedes apps is another. You can see which ones your vehicle has, but they don't work without the cars cellular service (that provides hot-spot and internet)
 
#9 ·
I chose not to get Mbrace. Just didn't feel it had too much to offer me.

As for Sirius radio, I also let that lapse after the trial because I only listened to 40s, 50s, 60s and Seriously Sinatra, and it didn't seem worthwhile to me. They've been offering me 6 months for $30.00 for a few months and I haven't jumped on it, but recently, they offered me 6 months for $25.00. Humm!

Here's more on Mbrace:
http://www.benzworld.org/forums/general-mercedes-benz/2167161-mbrace-value-benefits.html
 
#10 ·
I got the 6 month trial with my 2014 E250 and I think I tried all the features and after a few weeks, really had no use for it at all. The only feature that was useful at all was the Google Maps "Send to Car" feature mentioned above, and you can do the same thing by just placing the vcard on an SD Card and putting it in the car.

When I called to cancel as I was approaching the six months, they gave a pretty good pitch but I kept repeating "no value to me" and they finally got the message - I think it is valueless, especially when you have to get the additional MBrace Plus for the really good features.

What the MB really needs is WIFI in the car that'll let you connect to your home WIFI (or the hotel, Starbucks, etc.), enabling you to sync SD Card music with a home NAS, load addresses from a desktop into your COMAND system, or use COMAND to browse the web (from the hotel parking lot, etc). This IS coming, and MB could get out in front for a minor loss of Mbrace subs, but a major boost in customer loyalty and geewizness.
 
#11 ·
Today I spotted a charge for MBrace Plus on my credit card, so I called and got that stopped (along with a refund). I have decided to keep basic MBrace for a year. If I don't use it during that time, I'll cancel next year. The Mbrace lady was nice, but she kept pushing me to sign up for a year-and-a-half plan with a 14% discount. No thanks. Let's see whether I get my $280 worth first. Plus tax, of course.

The nice Mbrace lady suggested I check with my insurance company to see if I can get a discount for having the Mbrace safety features. I'll check next week.
 
#26 ·
Today I spotted a charge for MBrace Plus on my credit card, so I called and got that stopped (along with a refund). I have decided to keep basic MBrace for a year. If I don't use it during that time, I'll cancel next year. The Mbrace lady was nice, but she kept pushing me to sign up for a year-and-a-half plan with a 14% discount. No thanks. Let's see whether I get my $280 worth first. Plus tax, of course.

The nice Mbrace lady suggested I check with my insurance company to see if I can get a discount for having the Mbrace safety features. I'll check next week.
That should include MB and MB+ (which has the good stuff).

Like the others I like the send to navigation and remote unlock, but it's not worth $200+ a year
 
#12 ·
I had MBrace in my W211 only because they offered me lifetime for $280 when they switched from Teleaid. I don't plan to have it activated in my 2013 when it ends. I am keeping the Sirius radio active and pay extra for the traffic info (which works very well).With my IPhone, I don't need anything else.
 
#13 ·
And another thing ...

With all this mbrace discussion I've only just now discovered "Send2Benz." I've installed it on my home desktop PC, but I can't seem to get things right. It's supposed to insert a Send2Benz toolbar in both Internet Explorer and Firefox (my default browser), but the toolbar appears only in IE on my computer, and even there it appears not to do anything. I'm running Windows 8.1.

Regarding Firefox, I've read in the Send2Benz docs that the app is compatible with Firefox 3.0, 3.1, and maybe a few other 3.somethings. But I'm running Firefox 36.0.4, and Send2Benz will not install. Even when I try to import the Send2Benz add-on manually, Firefox tries for awhile before it gives up and tells me the add-on file seems to be corrupted. Is Send2Benz really so far out of date that it no longer works with the latest versions of Firefox?

But the Send2Benz toolbar did install in IE 11. As I understand it, I'm supposed to be able to highlight any address that appears in IE, right click, and hit "Send2Benz" to put the address in my car's navigation system. But nothing seems to happen when I do that. There is no response whatsoever.

Still, I have the mbrace Send2Benz standalone desktop application, and it seems to work. At least it's telling me it has sent addresses to my car and that when I'm ready to drive I should press the "i" button to download the addresses. I haven't tried that yet -- still experimenting at my desk. I'll check it out later today, but I'm pretty confident it'll work. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, anyway.

So...is Send2Benz working in Firefox for anybody around here? And if so, was there any trick to installing it? Thanks.
 
#14 ·
So...is Send2Benz working in Firefox for anybody around here? And if so, was there any trick to installing it? Thanks.
I think I did test Send2Benz in Firefox a long time ago, but the S2B toolbar is no longer visible in my Firefox (Win 7). My other FF add-ons sometimes become incompatible as Firefox is updated, but the vendors usually issue speedy updates. However most web references to Send2Benz date from 2011-2012 and not much since. My gut feel is that the Mercedes software developers have moved on to other projects. My Internet Explorer S2B toolbar is still installed but as you have hinted it seems to do nothing.

As an alternative I use the Send to Car feature of Google Maps - usually from the Chrome browser but it is available from Firefox and IE too. One catch with this is that you have to be "signed in" to Google Maps, otherwise the Send to Car link does not appear.

A related feature that seems to have become obsolete is Route2Benz. Is anyone still using this?
 
#18 ·
I have attached a screenshot highlighting what I think are the pertinent points. This example is using Firefox.

I am logged in to Google Maps (see the +Andy)

It is the new Google Maps (Clicking the Help icon lower right offers me the chance to return to Classic - thus showing I am in the new Maps )

I entered an address and then clicked on the little red "flag" so that Google offers me options such as Directions and "Send to Car". Does that help?
 

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#19 · (Edited)
That's very interesting. Apparently we don't see the same thing when we go to the new Google Maps. I've attached a screen capture of what I see. Note that as with your capture my name (+Bill) appears to indicate that I am signed in, and it's obvious I'm in the "New" Google Maps, not classic view. But I see no "send to car." I'm also using Firefox. I wonder what's different about the way we're bringing up Google Maps?

Wait...never mind...I've got it. https://support.google.com/maps/answer/3500417?hl=en&authuser=0&p=newmaps_sendtocar_ui&rd=1 You have to set up Google Maps for your car before you'll see the "Send to Car" option. I'm seeing it now. No need to go to the Google Maps classic view as instructed by the mbrace lady. Thanks for your help!
 

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#21 ·
MBrace

I too declined subscribing. The one feature I thought had benefit is the ability to find your car if it is stolen.
Turns out that the system doesn't alert you when the car is moving without the key. The only way it works is that when you come back to your parking space and your car is gone, then you call MBrace and they will search for you. This seems too little too late. If your car is stolen from an airport parking spot when you are on a multi-day trip, by the time you find your car stolen, it will be long gone.

Instead, I had LoJack with early warning installed. It sends a text message, and phones you if your car moves without the key.
In my opinion, the $800 was worth the piece of mind not to worry about my car while I'm traveling.
 
#22 ·
I called to turn off mbrace 2 months after I sold my Mercedes, when mbrace automatically charged my credit card. They only would refund about 90 percent of my $294 charge, which I thought was awful crappy of them (and I told them so). I never used mbrace during my entire three years with the car. It just seems like it's a cash cow for Mercedes Benz and nothing more. You're a fool if you buy it. Incidentally, a lot of MB features are unnecessary, and I found the dashboard features largely incomprehensible. What good is a GPS that can't be queried while the car is underway anyway? Even the radio controls made no sense. I'd really rather just have a straightforward car than one loaded with all these extravagant, costly, and obscure bells and whistles -- like mbrace.
 
#23 ·
I got a letter from MB today informing me that my new-car subscription to Mbrace is about to expire. Do any of you actually use it? Do I really want to pay $280 per year for it?
So...Mbrace? Sirius? Opinions? Thanks.

I'm a week into my free trial, and I can honestly say that it's pretty much worthless. The only thing I'd use would be the remote start on chilly mornings, but that's not available on my car. Other than that... what good is it? My iPhone already locates my car if I forget my parking space. I don't really need remote lock/unlock. The Mbrace apps don't seem to work in the car (it's endlessly "connecting").

so, yeah, $280? forget it.
 
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