ryanojohn

Is there a way to get out of the car without the parking brake automatically turning on? As in parking the car in neutral or in Park but with the parking brake off?

lgarcia

You would not want to ever leave it in neutral and without the parking brake.....the car would roll on its own

superswiss

No, it's a safety feature. The actor Anton Yelchin famously died because he got out of his running car to grab the mail or something and the car rolled down his driveway and pinned him. The electronic gear selectors have caused people to forget to put their cars in P before getting out, so now the transmissions automatically go in P and the parking brake engages for additional safety. If you don't want it to stay on, you have to manually release it after it engages. That's what we were asked to do at the AMG Driving Academy for example to avoid the brake pads from imprinting on the hot rotors. Interestingly, I attended another AMG Driving event this time in Germany at the Nürburgring and they didn't bother with any of this. Not even keeping the engines running to keep the fluids circulating after the laps.

ryanojohn

that’s exactly the concern, I haven’t tracked this car before, but I’ve always been under the impression that using wheel chocks rather than parking brakes at the end of a session is the way to prevent damage… AND leave it running for a few minutes too… interesting to hear that the AMG driving academy doesn’t always do that.

Acta_Non_Verba

Yes, I do it sometimes after I wash my car and when it is put away in my garage (garage floor is pretty level). I do it BC if I don't drive the car until the next day the rear pads will have "cold welded" themselves to the rotors.

After you stop (stay level, but the trans does have a parking pawl in park).
Shut the car off like you normally would do (in park)
take your foot off the brake
hit the start button twice (NO BRAKE PEDAL)
use the parking release handle on the lower leftside dash; release the parking brake (you can hear it unwind)
hit the start button one more time to shut off accessories position.

user33

All this _and_, since the vehicle is in Park, the transmission parking pawl should keep your car from rolling (after washing and at the track). I wouldn't do this in a parking lot, however, because you could suffer transmission damage if someone bumpers you vehicle ... though the parking pawl stuff in the newer 9 Gtronic (and maybe 7 Gtronic) transmissions looks to be rather beefy.

thebishman

Acta, I seem to remember a slightly easier method to avoid having the Parking brake engage on the GTR, and I thought it simply entailed turning off the car with the driver’s door already opened and then manually releasing the brake. I don’t have the OM in front of me so can’t double check, so perhaps I’m mistaken though.

Bish

user33

I'm pretty sure you always have to turn on the ignition in order to deactivate the park brake (i.e., the "between the steering wheel and door" switch won't work unless the ignition is on). Every time I've tried it without, a console message has appeared to that effect.

thebishman

I found the following from the GTS OM:

Applying automatically
The electric parking brake is automatically
applied when the transmission is in position P
and:
the engine is switched off or
R
the driver is not wearing a seat belt and the
R
driver's door is opened
To prevent the electric parking brake from being
automatically applied, pull handle :.
The electric parking brake is also engaged auto-
matically if:
DISTRONIC PLUS brings the vehicle to a
R
standstill or
the HOLD function is keeping the vehicle sta-
R
tionary


so OP, try this:

1: stop the car and place in Park; pull on the Parking brake handle as you turn the car off. The parking brake shouldn’t engage.

Caveat: when you open the driver’s door, the parking brake may engage even after the above has occurred, in which case:

2: stop car; place in Park; open Driver’s door; pull on Parking brake handle and when you hear the brake disengage, shut the car off whilst still pulling on the handle.

One or the other will work.


BTW: there is another way to disengage the parking brake using the Service menu in the DIC when you want to change the brake pads, etc. and the car isn’t running.

boosted20v

I'll have to remember this, I drive the car around the block for a while after a wash now for this very reason. It was worse on my c63. I picked it up from the dealer once and they came down and said the car wouldn't move. I asked them if they washed it, which I always ask them not to do, I thought it broke something when it finally broke loose!