gullwingman54

Every time after I wash my GLE 450, I pull it into the garage so I can take my time drying it and not have to worry about water spots. Sometimes I don't drive it for a few days after that. When I finally do, I have to gun the engine to move forward, as the brake pads have rusted to the brake discs. I can't seem to figure out how to get out of the car with the engine shut off without having the automatic parking brake engage. Does anybody have any ideas ?

Frenetic

I noticed the parking brake comes on automatically if I set it to park and turn off the ignition. At that point, if you don’t want it engaged, just pull the parking brake handle out and it should manually disengage.

GregW / Oregon

Try this: After washing the car turn on the ignition without starting with the car door open and pull up on the brake switch. That will release the brakes, and I don't think it will engage them again when turning off and closing the door. However, you can also drive it 15 feet or so after washing with the brakes lightly applied that should get the water off the rotors.

gullwingman54

GregW and Frenetic, thanks for the suggestions. I tried both of your suggestions, but I wasn't allowed to disengage the automatic parking brake if the engine was not running. Each time I tried, a notice appeared on the screen telling me that the engine must be running to release the parking brake. I did find out how to bypass the auto parking brake, though... While I turned off the engine, I held the parking brake switch in the released/pulled out position. This stopped the automatic parking brake from being applied when the engine was turned off. Your suggestions gave me the idea, so thanks to both of you...GregW, the brake pads-as-a-squeegee method worked, too.