steelgraybenz

Hi All!

New member here, and this is my first Merc - C200 with AMG Kit, 2016.

Absolutely love this ride so sweet.

Today I had a scare, called a mechanic I know he said likely no issue but to be careful. So this is exactly what happened - I am paranoid a bit and would like your expert input as well please:

So I really dislike the Parking gear button and wish I didn't have to use it. So today I pulled out of a parking spot and was approaching a roundabout at maybe 5 Km per hour I think max. I wanted to wipe the windscreen with the wipers and pressed the P button by mistake while at that (low) speed. My foot was not on the gas at that exact moment when I pressed the Park button so nothing happened and I gave a little gas to go into the round about but the engine just revved a little - I guess maybe to 2k, and then I realized what happened and as a car was approaching me from behind fast, I took foot of the gas and put into Drive. There was a small jerk as it engaged into D (at this the revs might have been around 1K or less cant be 100% sure now), but it freaked me out. After that drove just fine. To note it was in Eco mode at the time.

Question is - have I risked damage to the transmission in this scenario?

Second question is - Why does Merc even have this feature where it locks into park if P is pressed at lower speeds, or even if a door is opened slightly at low speeds. Doesnt that damage the transmission? Cant understand why this have this feature, it should just say cannot engage in Park, car in motion??

Thanks guys! I really hope no damage was done and will be super careful now. Also is there any way to engage Park when parking after coming to a full stop without pressing that P button? I would prefer not to even touch that lever!

Nate

sr5959

steelgraybenz

sr5959

No. Sounds like it just went into Neutral when you pressed it, should be fine.

richysh

If you didn't hear the parking gear clicking when you were rolling, you're fine, Just like sr5959 said, chances are, it was in neutral probably.

steelgraybenz

steelgraybenz

Just to update, spoke to a Benz mechanic. He said it happens frequently once with many people, but there are safeguards in the tranny to prevent real damage. If it's one off or only few times not a big deal as per him but better to be careful anyhow.

He also said that about the gear going into D while some revs were there and the jerk, again just to be careful in future and no damage done in all likelihood as an error message would come up.

Lesson learned.

On another note:

1. Benz says that the transmission fluid is only changed at 90,000 KM or 5 years?! Seems too long to me. How often do you guys change it on newer models?

2. Is it safe to change Modes (Like Comfort, Sport etc, if car is in motion), or should it be when car is fully stopped? Mechanic said its ok to change while driving, while at stop is ideal.

Cheers,
Nate

gfmohn

I do it every time I drive. Each time I start off, I shift into "i" for "Individual" mode. All the guys who absolutely hate the fact that the C300 always starts in "C" for "Comfort" always shift into their preferred mode while moving. You can tell that you're not moving any metal yourself. You're just changing the computer's ideas of when it should move metal.

Mikey53

Paranoid, relax and enjoy the car.