blizzard12

Does anyone have any information on idiot-proof features (if there are any)?

For example, I find it easy for someone who's distracted to press the park button instead of the winshield wiper. What happens if you do that at highway speed?

Another one is switching to neutral while driving. The manual states that you may damage the transmission by doing that. Again, I find it easy for someone coming from a car that has the winshield wiper lever on the right side of the steering wheel to shift into neutral by mistake while trying to activate the wipers.

I'm sure there are lots more that people have on their minds/have experienced.

ManiacGT

This car has a steep learning curve, especially the gadgets, my other half refuses to drive it any more as it's so user unfriendly compared to our toyota and BMW.

Mikey53

"For example, I find it easy for someone who's distracted to press the park button instead of the windshield wiper. What happens if you do that at highway speed?"


Nothing happens


I didn't like the electronic gear shift at first but after about 2 weeks it seemed very natural and very user friendly overall.

blizzard12

I agree. You just have to get used to having to do everything with your left hand once the car gets moving. And that can take an "oops" or two at the beginning. Like myself, coming from a car that had the winshield wiper in the place where the Benz has the gear selector I almost shifted into neutral 2 or 3 times. Had to think twice before wiping the winshield.

Sam Manuel

I have pressed the park thing while trying to do the wipers and the car stops rather violently, not a good feeling.

I realized it it only stops if you are going less than 10 mph or something ,it's still annoying and definitely something unpleasant other times it just displays a message.

Mike5215

A friend of mine got a little ****-faced one night and pulled his ML into someone else's driveway, who called the police. They found him in the car, with the engine idling and the car still in drive. When an officer told him to put the car in Park he promptly activated the windshield wipers.

My wife rarely drives the Benz, but when she does she invariably screws something up. Last time she hadn't been gone sixty seconds when she called totally pissed because "the engine is going super fast but the car isn't moving!". She'd put the car in Neutral trying to use the wipers then sat there in the road gunning the gas to get the car moving. Luckily for her no apparent harm done and the car is a lease.

So it may be relatively idiot proof, but not drunk proof or wife proof.

(I don't in any way condone drunk driving. In my friend's case, he and his wife had just buried their three year old son who was recently killed as the result of a hospital error. His entire trip took place in his own neighborhood, driving from his friend's house to his own. Shouldn't have happened but we cut him some slack.

He went on to take the million dollar settlement they received from the hospital and they used it to form a foundation to prevent pediatric medical errors and partnered with the same hospital group to create a dedicated pediatric hospital.)

NYbenzzz

when slowly moving the car in my driveway, i've learned that while the car is in motion and you open the door 2 things happen:

1) parking brake is applied automatically by the car.
2) you cannot move the car even after putting it in gear UNTIL you manually release the parking brake.

this happenned to me the first day i brought the car from the dealer. i really thought they gave me a lemon, LOL.

gfmohn

I've had my C300 4MATIC for two years, but I still occasionally hit the the cruise control stalk instead of the wipers stalk (or vice versa). My previous Merc had them in the opposite positions. (The Feds made them change, so they would be standard with everyone else. That's actually not a bad idea. It took me most of my eight years of ownership of my previous 2007 C280 4MATIC before I got used to doing it Mercedes way.)

guhvies

^^ this happens to me very frequently even tho I try and stretch my finger to hit the right stalk. This coming from a C204 which had them the other way round.