angeloxnet

I noticed that if you open the door while the car is in (D) drive, it immediately goes into (P) Park, is this normal?

May seem logical to most but I was at a shop and was just moving the car a tiny bit and guiding myself.

What if a door was ajar when going slightly faster,and you open slightly to close it will it slam it into Park? doesn't seem that would be good for the tranny

MALWR

That is normal. It was explained to me that if the car was fully stopped and the driver's door is opened the transmission will automatically switch to parked.

HelenR

Normal for this car. Pretty needed with trans on stalk.

pamiboy

The effect would be same as pressing the park button on the gear selector while the car is in motion. Anything above crawling speeds the park button won't work (I found that out accidentally). I assume the case would be same with opening doors. Whether it would damage the transmission at real slow speeds is open to discussion. I assume the MB engineers would have already taken it into consideration while designing the transmission given the fact that newer MBs have a not so common gear selector and possibility of user error may be more.

hyperion667

I once watched the shop foreman at a dealership open the door of a customer car as he was backing into a bay........the car jerked to a stop and it wasn't pretty.......
sometimes if I'm in a hurry I open my door before I jab it in park, so it actually saves me a step, but I have not made it a habit.......I just make sure I open the door and then select the gear if I need to move a little

megaoctane

This is normal behavior for all Mercedes models with gear shifter by the steering.
This is a safety feature.
I believe you have to have the door open and then put it in drive, and it will work.

Carsy

Crazy feature in my opinion. Nanny engineering.

In some cases it is useful to have the door open when reversing trailers etc.

vic viper

So?, you can still reverse with the door open if you put it in R after opening the door.

floridadriver

I imagine this feature has saved my car from a few dings from the valet. With the push-button park on the stalk, it is a good feature and fail safe.

Latinnftl

It's the same in BMW in reverse. Can be annoying. I wish the car went automatically into Park when you press the start stop to turn off the car.

Carsy

Thanks Vic.

I did have a friend who was crushed to death by a car door whilst attempting to pick up a newspaper when seated in the car. Her foot slipped to the throttle & the car lurched forward into a fence post.

This feature would have saved her.

benzw205

Hello, so if if the car changes to P when opening the door, how can we park it in Neutral ? for example when parking in front of other cars that would need to push your car few meters to leave the car parks ?

Thank you.

hyperion667

laura52

I know this thread is old but for whatever reason, I needed to vent today. Over 5 years ago, this happened to me. I was backing very slowly out of my garage turning slightly once the garage opening was cleared in order to straighten the car to drive forward which I always do (rather than back all the way down the driveway). I had owned this vehicle for less than a couple of months. As was my habit with the ML350's predecessor, Toyota 4Runner, I cracked the door after completely clearing the garage to double-check behind me, just in case there was something low to the ground not visible from my mirror, (like a child's big toy). I wasn't used to using a backup camera and didn't quite "trust" it just yet. Sorely wish I had. The car came to an immediate jolting, jarring halt, exactly as others have described, and threw itself into park. My thought was that I had hit something (like a wall!) even though I had checked. Nothing else made sense. Figured there was a blind spot and I missed seeing whatever I had "hit".

Here is where the **** hits the fan. I was only outside of the car for a couple of seconds. In that time the car began to roll backward. Now I'm fairly athletic, but, unfortunately, as I tried to jump back into the car I slid while holding onto the door inside handle and grabbing at the steering wheel. The car continued to roll backward. At the back of our driveway, the yard begins to slightly decline as there is a gradual hill to the back corner of the lot. It all happened so quickly. As the car is picking up speed I fall to the ground and the left front tire runs over my left ankle. The car ends up at the bottom corner of our lot, still running, where any more movement is stopped by a combination of arborvitaes, a raised bed and a fence.

The part I've never understood is WHY the car came OUT of park. Since I was never able to fully return to the driver's seat or reach the shifter, I did not put the car into ANY other gear. This is still a mystery. I wondered if the "safety stop" is timed with the assumption the driver closes their door promptly after the jolt. Or perhaps just getting out of the car triggers something.

At any rate, I lived to tell the story, although it was a pretty horrible experience.
Thanks for listening.

hyperion667

Hell of a story! Good thing the plants were there to stop the car as you described. All healed up now?

superswiss

Wow, that is indeed something. I can only guess that the parking pawl wasn't properly engaged due to the shock. Maybe it got yanked out and temporarily jammed, so the transmission wasn't actually locked and the car started to roll. Otherwise this safety mechanism is exactly meant to prevent situations like this. You are lucky you didn't end up like Anton Yelchin whose Jeep rolled down his driveway after he got out w/o putting it in P, and that transmission didn't automatically go in P. He ended up getting crushed against a brick post and didn't live to tell the story. It's definitely an important safety feature. I think some cars factor in the seat belt and only automatically go into P if the seat belt is released as well. Which is the more likely scenario that the driver intends to get out of the car. With the new 9-speed transmission it now also goes into P as soon as the engine is turned off. That was long overdue. I pretty much never press the P button on the stalk. Just turn off the engine. It now also automatically engages the parking brake when opening the door or turning off the engine in addition to putting the transmission in P to keep the car from rolling under any circumstance. Perhaps this was in response to experiences like yours. Maybe they did discover that the parking pawl is not secure enough in these situations and there is still a chance that the car ends up rolling. There were definitely a lot of lessons learned since the switch to the electronic gear selectors.

laura52

Yes, thanks for asking. Clean break. Quite luckily, I apparently have very dense bones despite being small-boned with rather "delicate" wrists and ankles. Docs had expected surgery including metal bits and pieces to put the ankle back together. Surprised them.

GringoBling

on my C400 the parking pawl had to be replaced, and that is exactly the mechanism that locks the transmission. Perhaps yours failed. If it did, your car would have done exactly what it did: slipped out of park.

hyperion667

I'm pretty sure I'd be sitting with an attorney the very next day if not that same day.

laura52

I did seek leagal help. MB reps came to my home. In the end if was determined that if I'd died I'd probably have a case. But, of course, I'd be dead.

OSyed

To be honest, this a very stupid feature that can destroy your transmission. If they were really concerned about the safety, why not engage the parking brake instead?

netboy

i guess you havnt seen those youtube videos where people open their car door and their can running into a wall, tree, or a person.

Paul9900

After having our C300 for about 3 months, I stopped the car and pressed the Park button. My wife, who regularly drives the car, asked "what is that button for"
So, there's that!!