15 Mercedes Benz MBUX Tips and Tricks

MBUX (Mercedes-Benz User Experience) is the Mercedes-Benz infotainment system, and most of its best features sit one or two menus deep. The 15 tips below cover driver profiles for up to 7 people, connecting two phones at once, muting with the volume button, reordering the home screen, switching off "Hey Mercedes", making the parking sensors louder (up to +5), and letting the cruise control copy the detected speed limit. Some of these you may already know, others are hidden.

How to know that you have an MBUX system in your Mercedes?

Just say Hey Mercedes. If the car answers you, you have MBUX.

TL;DR

• Profiles: tap the person icon next to the home icon; up to 7 people each get their own settings.
• Two phones: connect "Phone 1" and "Phone 2" over Bluetooth and take calls from either.
• Press the volume slider in to mute, including the sat nav voice mid-sentence.
• Turn off the "Hey Mercedes" wake phrase in Settings > System > Linguatronic; the voice button on the steering wheel still works.
• Parking sensor volume goes up to +5 in Settings > Assistance > Camera & Parking; turn on "Warn early all round".
• Press RES up twice to set cruise control or the limiter to the speed limit the car has detected.
• If you want the full menu walkthrough instead of quick tips, read the complete MBUX guide.

Where is each MBUX setting?

Menu names vary by model year and software version. If a menu is missing in your car, check the operator's manual for your exact model on the Mercedes-Benz USA owner's manuals page.

1. Profiles in Mercedes MBUX
2. How to setup Dual Phones in your Mercedes?
3. Volume and Mute Button
4. Radio Text Information
5. MBUX Reorganise the home screen
6. Changing the MBUX theme
7. Instrument Cluster Dials
8. Mercedes me
9. Share Internet in the Car
10. Switch off Hey Mercedes
11. Parking Sensor Volume
12. P Button NAVI
13. Commuter Route
14. Traffic Lights on Augmented Reality
15. Speed Limits to Cruise Control / Limiter
    

1. What are profiles in Mercedes MBUX?

Profiles work like user logins on a Windows computer or a Mac, except there is no password. Each profile keeps its own settings.

A profile saves things like the icon layout, theme, displays, ambient light and radio stations. If another person drives the car, they create their own profile with their own settings. You can do this for up to seven people.

1.1 How to create a profile in Mercedes MBUX?

Go to the home screen: on MBUX there is a little picture of a house in the top right-hand corner of the left screen. Next to it is a picture of a person (and your name, if you have already set up one profile). Tap that and you can create profiles and set them up the way you like.

2. How to set up Dual Phones in your Mercedes?

MBUX can connect two phones to the car at the same time. Connect them via Bluetooth on the phone screen: on the main home screen tap the phone, and at the top you will see "Phone 1" and next to it "Phone 2". Connect both and you can take incoming calls on either.

Once both are connected, you answer and hang up with the steering wheel buttons, whichever phone rings. To call out, select Phone 1 or Phone 2 and then the phone book.

This is handy if you drive with a personal phone and a work phone: you never have to switch between them to take a call. For CarPlay rather than Bluetooth, see the Mercedes Apple CarPlay setup guide.

3. Volume and Mute Button

The volume control sits in the middle of the center console. You can swipe it up and down to change the volume, as most people know.

But did you know it's also a button as well?

Press it in and the audio mutes, so you don't have to keep swiping down. If the sat nav is talking and you don't want to hear it for the rest of the journey, press the mute button while it is speaking and the voice goes quiet.

4. Radio Text Information

When you are on a radio station, MBUX can also show the name of the song that is playing, as long as the station transmits it.

Go to Settings on the bottom right, then General, and find "Radio Text Information". Tap OK and the song name appears just beneath the radio station name.

5. MBUX Reorganise the home screen

Say you always go to Media to play music from your phone over Bluetooth.

On the home screen, put your finger on an icon, hold, and drag it to a new spot. You can put the icons in any order, for example Phone, then Media, then Radio to the left of that.

The layout is saved to your profile.

6. How do I change the MBUX theme?

On the left screen go to "Settings", then "System" on the far right-hand side, then "Styles & Display".

You will have one, two or three options here depending on the car. Cars with three themes offer:

1. Classic
2. Sport
3. Progressive

Classic: a turquoise blue theme.

Sport: dark green with yellow and red.

Progressive: fully digital, with blue and a little orange.

7. Instrument Cluster Dials

You can also change what the instrument cluster (the screen behind the steering wheel) shows. On cars with the big screen you can change the left-hand side, the center and the right-hand side, using the touch control on the steering wheel.

Swipe left and right to move between the three parts of the display. Move the cursor to the left side, then swipe up and down to see the different things that dial can show.

For example, put your music on the left, swipe right and set the speed nice and big in the middle, then swipe right again and put the sat nav on the right.

Together with the themes, this lets you choose exactly what you see behind the wheel. Cars with a head-up display can show some of this on the windscreen too: see the Mercedes head-up display guide.

8. Mercedes me

Most new Mercedes-Benz cars from the past few years have Mercedes me, but it only works properly once the car is linked to your Mercedes me ID (your Mercedes me account).

This is what makes Live Traffic and map updates work, and it adds extra functions through the app. It is not free on every car, so check the specification of yours. In the US the services are listed on the Mercedes me connect page at mbusa.com.

9. Share Internet in the Car

With Mercedes me the car can also share its internet connection with a device, such as a phone or a tablet.

This is mainly useful on road trips, so passengers can get online while you drive.

10. How do I switch off Hey Mercedes?

This one is useful if you have small children in the car who discover that saying "Hey Mercedes!" wakes up the voice assistant.

Car Voice: How may I help you?

If that keeps happening while you drive, go to "Settings" on the far right-hand side, then "System", then "Linguatronic". Here you can switch off activation by the phrase. After that, saying "Hi Mercedes!" or "Hey Mercedes!" does nothing.

The feature is not completely switched off. If you are driving with the sat nav on and still want the assistant, nudge up the button with the voice symbol on the left side of the steering wheel and you get the same functions as before.

11. How do I change the parking sensor volume?

You can adjust the parking sensor volume and pitch, and also when it starts beeping.

Go to "Settings" on the far right-hand side, then the "Assistance" menu (usually the second one along at the very top).

Open "Camera & Parking" and scroll down a little to change the volume of the sensors.

Car: Beeping

You can turn the volume up to +5 if you need it louder.

Car: Beeping

You can also change the pitch.

Car: Lower Beeping

I'd also strongly recommend a setting called "Warn early all round".

It does exactly what it says. It is off by default, and without it the sensors only start beeping at the last second when you get close to an object.

With it enabled, the warning starts a few meters further back, which gives you more notice.

12. P Button NAVI

This one is for the sat nav. When you are navigating in a city you don't know, there is a "P" (car park) button on the left-hand side.

Press it and it shows all the car parks nearby, with arrows on the left pointing in the direction of each one.

Select one and it shows you where it is on the map. If you are on reserve fuel, there is also a fuel pump button that shows all the nearby fuel stations.

13. Commuter Route

"Commuter Route" starts the sat nav silently in the background, showing the traffic and the best route to work.

It happens automatically once the feature is on, but you need your home and work addresses saved in the sat nav and you need to be logged into your own profile.

To turn it on, go to "Navigation", then Settings, then "Advanced". Find "Route", scroll to the bottom and select "Activate Commuter Route".

Make sure home and work are saved as favorites. Every day when you drive to work, the sat nav starts by itself and shows your arrival time and the best route. On this model it does not switch on the voice, so the route runs in the background without the sat nav talking.

14. Traffic Lights on Augmented Reality

This tip needs the "Augmented Reality" navigation option. Augmented Reality shows a live camera feed of the road ahead on the screen, and when you reach a turn on your route it draws a blue arrow on the live picture showing exactly where to go.

15. Speed Limits to Cruise Control / Limiter

The last tip is a hidden feature on the Cruise Control and Speed Limiter buttons of new Mercedes-Benz cars.

It applies to cars with the Cruise Control and Speed Limiter controls on the right-hand side of the steering wheel. There are three buttons, from left to right:

The left one selects cruise control or the limiter. The middle one, marked SET, switches the chosen function on. The right one is resume or cancel, depending on whether you nudge it up or down.

Look closely at the far right-hand button: it says "RES" for Resume, then a forward slash and a small traffic sign symbol. When Traffic Sign Assist is on and the sat nav shows a speed limit on the screens, drive past the speed limit sign and press the button up twice. The cruise control or limiter is set to the speed limit the car has detected.

So the car copies the detected speed limit straight into the cruise control or limiter for you.