I have this feature on my car but can't imagine actually using it in a real life situation.....and I'm not sure I even want to try to see if it works unless I go to the dealer and try it in their lot with their cars on either side of me

Does anyone actually use this self parking feature.....other than perhaps to demo it?

 

Yeah, I used it to back into parking spots before although I can do a faster job with a single sweep myself. I have yet to encounter the need to parallel park since I bought the car but I won't hesitate to give the system shot at it.

I bought the system mainly for the 360 camera and the parking sensors not for the self parking feature.

 

I have to figure out how this thing works.. need to find time to read the manual !

 

Good luck finding a-n-y-t-h-I-n-g about "Active Parking Assistance" in the printed manual! It is totally missing! They do, however, tell you how to use the "Active Parking Assistance" to drive the car out of the parking spot - but only if you used it to park the car. You have to go into the vehicle and use the "Command" knob and push button to spell out what you are looking for - letter by letter - in the onboard manual. I talked to Mercedes Benz Canada and my dealer about this. The dealer said that he'd send me a disc with the manual. He did. But it is the same disc that came with the car. It is not usable on a computer as the files are not in PDF or similar format. It will only work in the car. Pretty stupid on Mercedes part to NOT cover even the basic functionality of the vehicle in the printed manual! My dealer tells me that Mercedes will have the current owners manuals available online in January! I'm not holding my breath! I'm guessing that Mercedes had not finalized the functionality of the Active Parking Assistance at the time the booklet went to press, so they just left out that chapter! The least they could have done is had a few pages of photocopied addendums stuck in the back of the book! There are a number of YouTube videos produced by MB Belleview Washington (USA) explaining some of the features that are left out of the book! They have a good one showing the use of the Active Parking Assistance!

 

I have a 13 so it isn't as involved as the new model, but I've never used what passes for parking assistance. Is there any way to adjust the sensitivity of the sensors? I often park near pillars, and they go crazy way before I'd like them too - I like to park close. The rear camera is something that makes my life easy though, as the car has a somewhat high trunk, and I park in tight spots. Not all cars can be like a fintail with thin pillars, and wraparound glass, which makes it simple to park.

 

There are actually several different features that we're talking about here.

1) PARKTRONIC

This system involves ultrasonic sensors that can detect objects in close proximity of the car and give audiovisual warnings about said objects by beeping and an LED bar on top of the dash and behind the rear reading lights in the rear of the vehicle. This system can be turned off with the button on the dash. The system is described in great detail starting on page 208 of the 2014 User's manual.

2) Active Parking Assist
This system is the one that will park the car in and out of a parking space by itself if you let it do so. As of 2014 the system not only gives you directions as to where and how much to turn the steering wheel it will actually turn the steering wheel and apply brake as needed. The 2014 system will park parallel or perpendicular on either side of the vehicle as long as there is adequate space. The adequate space is a bit more than what I could squeeze into on my own and the parking job is a bit more involved than when I do it myself but it does a great job centering the car between two vehicles if you let it do its thing. Page 212 has plenty of documentation about this part of the system and there are 5 pages worth of reading on it.

3) Rear View Camera

If your car came with P01 or is a wagon you will have basic rear view camera installed. This system shows the rear view behind the car either by calling it up by holding the SYS button for 2 seconds, putting the car in reverse (can be turned off) or by pushing one of the shortcut buttons that are assigned to this task. It will give you guide lines to show where your car is heading. Page 217 in the manual.

4) 360 degree Camera
If you purchased the Enhanced and more expensive version of the Parking Assist Package you will also get front and side cameras with your car not just the rear camera. This system can be enabled the same way as the rear view camera but it has a split view or a wide angle view to either front or rear depending on your gear selection. Page 220 in the user manual is your friend.

I don't see how any of this is complicated or hard to read or use...

 

Parktronic as in the parking sensors? YES all the freaking time.

Parking guidance as in the instructions to parallel park? Sometimes, works very well actually and it's fast to pick up a space and load.

 

With my 2014 I finally had the opportunity to parallel ark downtown so I decided to use the Active Parking Assist feature.

It did take some time to engage, and I could have parked it quicker myself, but it did engage as the manual states, it did a great job of parking exactly 4inches from the curb, centered between the two existing vehicles and the parking lines.

Very pleased as I bought the feature mostly for the sensors and 360 camera portions.