tony24690

Hi I'm a new member.
I have a 2010 E 350 saloon.
I noticed today that there is a capital P in a square box showing up on the dashboard.
I don't seem to be able to find anything in the hand book.
Any ideas.
Tony

KEY08

Yes. It scans for parking for you on each side of the vehicle. When you are going slow and passing parked cars it recognizes a space you will fit in.An arrow pops up and points to the side of the vehicle the space has been found on.
See page 170 in your manual re: parking guidance

belarus27

it has to do something with self parking right
i wish i had that option , not that i cant parallel park , but its just a nice option.

Arrie

If you put your blinker on and stop the car will give you instructions for the parking. It tells you to put the car on reverse and how much and when to turn the wheel. Then it tells to put the car on D if necessary and again how to turn the wheel.


I have used it a couple of times and it works really well.

belarus27

ive used it in my friends 550 that has that option , but it was like 4 years ago and i dont remember exact procedure.
it is not a fully automatic right , you actually need to help it a lil bit ( Put it in D or R when it asks) , or smth like that

KEY08

There is "parking assist" where you need to follow the instructions on the display specifically. Gas, brake and turn to the left right, etc. as directed. Then there is "active parking assist". This one operates the wheel for you.

belarus27

aight perfect , thank you. detailed and understandable.

KEY08

I guess the OP could care less.

belarus27

lol i know huh , looked like i care more...

maybe he just didnt get a chance to check it out yet

cetialpha5

I've had mine for about 8 months now and still haven't tried using it yet. I can parallel park fine and I think I'm just faster at it than waiting for those directions to pop up. I find having the passenger mirror dip down when you're in reverse to be more handy.

KEY08

Completely agree with you. Mercedes has had this dipping mirror for 20 years and it has saved me countless wheel rash. My 2010 had the passive parking assist and I tried it once in a parking lot. Waste of time. My 2014 has the active park assist and I cannot see tying up traffic to learn how to use it. With the surround view camera added to the dipping mirror I'll stick with the method I was taught at 15.

Egonvdv

it works really well when you have enough space,
but with tight spots you're still on your own.

raja777m

with a 360 cam and dipped down mirrors are the best.
I had the car for less than a week and I want to try the feature just for the feel of it, basically I had the feature, I have to use it and see what it is in practical, lol.


Basically parallel parking is what saved me on my drive-road test to get my license in the first attempt. Provided, I drove A car, including practice, less than 300 miles in total before the test.

raja777m

I'm so paranoid about scratches and dings by others, I started parking far away from everyone. But, yes, in those moments, when you really need to occupy that spot, it'll be helpful..!

thefisch

My colleague recently got a 2017 E300 with the active parking assist and I was with him for delivery. The dealer demo of the feature on their lot was phenomenal but real life use has been not as impressive. Two examples - there were three empty perpendicular spots and his car tried to parallel park and another time there were two empty perpendicular spots and his car parked almost dead center. It seems to work best with there is one empty spot and the cars on either side are aligned properly. Just like any automated system - it can't think like a human can. And it can't watch out for pedestrians or help with impatient people waiting behind you.

tresean1

I cannot seem to figure out how to use this darn Park Assist either. Driving me nuts, I see empty spaces and I see the P symbol show up--but no instructions pop up.

On the BMW, it's so much easier and intuitive.

I have read the manual also, to no avail...anyone have any advice on what to do?

Mr.Fly

For the non-active Parking Assist…

If you slow down to a particular speed (20mph or so), the system will automatically start scanning your right hand side (for US cars) to look for appropriately long parallel parking spots (no driver intervention necessary). I suspect it uses the proximity sensors on the right side to do this, but the end result is that the system will tell you of such a spot by lighting up a triangle on the right side of the "P" symbol. Once you see the triangle, stop and shift to reverse, the self-explanatory instructions will appear on your instrument cluster screen. You'll need to operate the vehicle by yourself (no self-parking car here), except now you're guided by the instructions.

You can use the system to detect spots on the right hand side by turning on your left turn signal when cruising below 20mph.

All of this is explained in the owner's manual page 206 onwards (at least on my 2013 version). One can download the manual free from Mercedes-Benz's website.

I personally find the system a bit finicky and you'll need to follow the instructions to a tee to avoid it erring out. Like others, I find the dipping right side mirror to be a better fit for my skill level.

KEY08

You are stopping completely and just past the parking spot and putting on your turn signal, correct? You should receive instructions at that moment. This is directed at post #16. Sorry

tresean1

yes, and yes