MCF

Decided to try something today. Had car in drive at a stop and turned off key. To my pleasant surprise car went to N and then P. Anyone know if there is any problem with putting car in park this way or is this actually the recommended way?

sosh

Actually the 06 ML500 I had acted that way and I used it all the time. My current ML550 2010 does not go into park until you open the drivers door. My 2010 E350 4M I have not tried that yet.

MCF

I really like it. Just want to make sure it is not hurting the car. Couldn't find anything in the manual.

pmb600

I don't know that you are necessarily hurting the car, but I would not make a habit of parking it that way. You should only let the car do it automatically as a backup, not as the primary way of parking the car. Not to mention this might create a bad habit that if you are ever driving a non-MB and forget, the car might roll off if you don't put it in park and then get out.

mg-E550

agree with pmb600. bad habit to develop....although I admit I inadvertantly do what you describe myself sometimes.

YYZ-E55

Careful - this was a change for 2011 models. 2010s do not behave the same way (ie: car will not automatically go into park).

ttoE550

My 2010 E550 does, and the manual states this.

petee1997

My 2010 and 2011 both go in to park automatically when engine turned off.

YYZ-E55

I was referring to the change relating to opening the door. 2010s, you can shift from park with the door open. 2011s you cannot.

hyperion667

I open my door when in R and it goes in park; yes....
but then while the door is still open I can still engage into R gear
to back up (in my driveway, still not entirely used to the R cam)
although display shifts to 'red'......

reckrab

I haven't seen anyone back up with the door open since my buddy ripped his door off in a snowbank doing it years ago. I still laugh like a mental patient whenever I think about it.

BenzE350

Absolutely no problem doing this. I have been doing it for the last 3 years with by BMW 535xi. Saves a step.

DoubleA

I tried this after I saw this post and MY 2010 did it with no issue. Not a good habit to form, but not a bad feature to have incase you forget or gotta run out extremely fast lol...

My lights also go out and dont drain the battery which MY 2008 did on me a couple of times. I had to call teleaid to give me a boost. So this new thing is good for me.

pmb600

Yes, as of model year 2009, headlamps will cut out when the ignition is turned off to save the battery. I think you can still activate the parking lights without the key.