I share your concern and am disappointed that Mercedes is not responsive to this lack of planning.

I am in your same situation and was told by the dealer service writer that the Mercedes phone was not worth installing. The folks at the Mercedes USA talked with me for a half hour but they are not solving the problem and told me the 2001 phone is not backwards compatible.

Mercedes does a lot of incompatility planning in the electronics area. This is not the first Mercedes cell phone fiasco.

How with cell phone technology changing every 6 months do you have a system that doesn't work in a car less than a year old????? And no upgrade solution????

The aftermarket appears to ignore this problem but I would wager every 2000 S-Class owner that needs a handsfree car phone with a reasonable rate plan is pissed by this technology and planning failure.

Mercedes, Motorola, Aftermarket, fellow owners does anyone have a good answer???????

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by newmbs430:
Happily picked up my wife's S430 this afternoon. Unfortunately, the phone was not installed. I was informed the current MB (Motorola) labeled Startac is not compatible with ATT's (higher) frequency necessary for its popular (& low cost) "Digital One Rate" plan. It was suggested I change my ATT plan to something else (& more expensive) which basically forced the Mrs. to roam at 900 MHz. I was also told by the local service manager MBNA will soon (2-3 months) release a "tri-frequency" phone to resolve this problem.

Anyone expert at this? Please refer me to any previous posts/threads on this topic. Thanks in advance.

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