Bluetooth reception too good/not turning off with car?

[santos.]

Hey guys, tried searching, sorry if this has been covered.

My father's E350 has the bluetooth module installed, and everything works great, except that it's reception is almost too good, and it doesn't turn off with the car. If he is anywhere within a 20' radius of his car, even with it off and locked, his Blackberry 8330 will not disconnect, and when he receives calls they go to the car, despite the Nav being off. For now he is selecting Menu->activate handset every time he gets a call, but since the garage is right next to our kitchen, it's starting to wear on him as it happens often. When his Acura turned off (and what makes sense to me), the bluetooth receiver did as well, and this wasn't an issue.

If either the reception wasn't so damn good or it turned off with the car everything would be fine. Anyone else experience this? Options?

[Diesel Benz]

Originally Posted by santos.

Hey guys, tried searching, sorry if this has been covered.

My father's E350 has the bluetooth module installed, and everything works great, except that it's reception is almost too good, and it doesn't turn off with the car. If he is anywhere within a 20' radius of his car, even with it off and locked, his Blackberry 8330 will not disconnect, and when he receives calls they go to the car, despite the Nav being off. For now he is selecting Menu->activate handset every time he gets a call, but since the garage is right next to our kitchen, it's starting to wear on him as it happens often. When his Acura turned off (and what makes sense to me), the bluetooth receiver did as well, and this wasn't an issue.

If either the reception wasn't so damn good or it turned off with the car everything would be fine. Anyone else experience this? Options?

I've asked this before without any response: "does the Run-on time" setting work with the US BT device? Most MB kits turn off after switch off by the time (in minutes) set with this timer. Just put a phone book entry with the name Run-on time and number in minutes you want it to get switched off.

In any case, once the phone is disconnected from the car and the car is locked and in sleep (typically takes some 6 minutes after doors are locked), the phone would not reconnect even if you come close to the car.

Usually there are short cuts to get the phone disconnecting from the car, either on the phone or the car (like the dial/end call key at the car).

It is quite odd that the phone stays connected at least quite a long time even after doors are locked if you do not go far enough first to loose connection. Even here at least most cars do not stay on forever (too long anyway but not like over night).

[ToonArmy]

Yes, I have this problem with the BT system (2003 SL500, retro-fitted european UHI, BT cradle).

Exiting the car and switching off, the phone will not disconnect for some time/distance (I don't know if it is either or both). As noted, it is only the initial disconnect - once disconnected, there is no reconnect.

This is annoying, and differs from better-designed BT systems, which disconnect (and transfer in-progress calls to the handset) when switched off.

Using the handset "BT -> disconnect" is the workaround, but I have found that sometimes leaves the connection in a funny state such that a subsequent connect leaves the handset and head unit confused about who "owns" the call, until the handset is power-cycled.

Amusing (related) side note - a friend with a similar house layout (kitchen/family room next to garage) complains that when he is sitting in the family room talking on the phone and another family member drives into the garage, his calls get hijacked onto the car speakerphone :-)

[whoover]

On the W220, holding the TEL button for three seconds unpairs the phone. I imagine it works the same on other non-current models. I admit the W221 COMAND menu to do this is less convenient.

Normally I just wait the few minutes for the CAN to sleep if I stay near the car. If I expect to use the phones and not walk the 30 feet away from the car, I'll use the TEL button.

[ToonArmy]

Originally Posted by whoover

On the W220, holding the TEL button for three seconds unpairs the phone.

Do you mean unpair or disconnect? Unpairing would be a major pain, since it would imply you have to (remember to) re-do the pairing sequence when you return to the car...

Having to do this all manually is a pain, and negates one of the big advantages of BT. Even when I am intending to be 30+ feet from the car, I have several times had incoming calls arrive during the time between switching off, grabbing my stuff from the trunk, locking up, and walking away.

I really can't see any way that having the phone connected to the audio system which is switched off is a "feature". It really pains me to see M-B frittering away their (deserved) reputation for automotive engineering excellence with such poor electronics and UI design.

[whoover]

Originally Posted by ToonArmy

Do you mean unpair or disconnect? Unpairing would be a major pain, since it would imply you have to (remember to) re-do the pairing sequence when you return to the car...

Having to do this all manually is a pain, and negates one of the big advantages of BT. Even when I am intending to be 30+ feet from the car, I have several times had incoming calls arrive during the time between switching off, grabbing my stuff from the trunk, locking up, and walking away.

I really can't see any way that having the phone connected to the audio system which is switched off is a "feature". It really pains me to see M-B frittering away their (deserved) reputation for automotive engineering excellence with such poor electronics and UI design.

Disconnect.

[Diesel Benz]

Originally Posted by ToonArmy

Yes, I have this problem with the BT system (2003 SL500, retro-fitted european UHI, BT cradle).

Exiting the car and switching off, the phone will not disconnect for some time/distance (I don't know if it is either or both). As noted, it is only the initial disconnect - once disconnected, there is no reconnect.

This is annoying, and differs from better-designed BT systems, which disconnect (and transfer in-progress calls to the handset) when switched off.

Using the handset "BT -> disconnect" is the workaround, but I have found that sometimes leaves the connection in a funny state such that a subsequent connect leaves the handset and head unit confused about who "owns" the call, until the handset is power-cycled.

Amusing (related) side note - a friend with a similar house layout (kitchen/family room next to garage) complains that when he is sitting in the family room talking on the phone and another family member drives into the garage, his calls get hijacked onto the car speakerphone :-)

It isn't as simple as this. Most properly connected after market kits do not disconnect once car is switched off. The intention is to allow the HF call being continued at the car even if the car was switched off (that may be unintentional too).

With the BT SAP adapter it isn't possible to continue the call with the handset when leaving the car because it would mean transferring an active call from one phone (physical device) to another.

But I don't see why the phone system could not be switched off once the car is switched off and after doors are locked.

[ToonArmy]

Originally Posted by Diesel Benz

It isn't as simple as this. Most properly connected after market kits do not disconnect once car is switched off. The intention is to allow the HF call being continued at the car even if the car was switched off (that may be unintentional too).

With the BT SAP adapter it isn't possible to continue the call with the handset when leaving the car because it would mean transferring an active call from one phone (physical device) to another.

But I don't see why the phone system could not be switched off once the car is switched off and after doors are locked.

There's a few stages to "switching off". With the M-B system, as with others, if I (for example) drive into the garage with a call in progress, I can switch off he engine, leaving the key in the ignition to continue the HF call via the car audio. That's reasonable.

But removing the key switches the audio system off completely. At this point, there is no possible rationale for keeping the connection to the HF. BT HF allows switching active calls call from the HF back to the handset - other cars do this (in both directions) automatically, so it is certainly possible, and should have been this wa, at least with the US BT (which uses the HF protocol - I can't speak to SAP since I'm not as familiar with that protocol). I guess keyless go might also be tricky, since there isn't an obvious "remove key" step.



1) trabsferring on "lock" is too late, since there would be "dead air" between the audio switching off and