I never gave it much thought until my gf pointed it out, but she was a little alarmed that the horn doesn't work when the car is off. In our other cars, she felt safe staying in the car when we were getting food in sketchy parts of SF at night.

I was just wondering what MB's rationale for that would be and if there was a way to 'enable' it.

If there isn't a way the I guess the only way is to leave the keys with her so she can hit the panic, but I usually like locking the doors and taking the keys with me.

Do our keys not have a panic button?
That could work for her.

But y would u leave your gf in a car with no keys in a sketchy part of town? Id at least leave the key so she can drive away if need be.

Most japanese cars can do that but most european cars cant

+63....if the area is that bad , i would find another place to eat

and why doesn't your gf go inside with you ? i would never depend on a horn to save my gf if something happened

I was going to say that, but sometimes you can justify anything for really good food!

Yes, the keys do have a panic button, but that's not the point. I typically take the keys so if she opens the door, the alarm goes off. I never park far away...less than a block. But I suppose I'll give her the option now. It was just never an issue before and she had spare keys, or her own set, but the Benz only has 2 keys so if anything happens, I won't have a 3rd spare.

You obviously don't know Oakland and SF very well. One of the best parts of SF (Union Square and the like) is literally just a couple of blocks from the worst part of SF (the Tenderloin). This is true for a lot of cities in NorCal. There are some fantastic restaurants, theaters, and retail stores all on these sort of borders. Often the walk on the way in is sketchier than the venue itself. In that case, I'd rather her not walk with me as I can defend myself much easier.

It's just better to have the horn than not. I have no clue why MB made the car like that? Maybe they were afraid someone might joyride.....eeerrrr...joyhorn(?) it without the key?

Buy her an air horn?

Well, here's another scenario. You're sitting in the car waiting for someone, ignition is off. Someone goes to park in front of you and is getting too close. You can't honk the horn without turning on the car so they're just going to hit you.

go to the setting. its there trust me. go to like car setting by using ur steering wheel. its there i did mines the other day.

What year is your car? I still don't see an option in the dash menu or the Comand menu.