bkushner

I'm on my 3rd GLE 450 with Active Parking Assist and it doesn't work 98% of the time. I can ride through a parking lot with multiple open spots over and over and once in a while it will work. Is there something I'm missing here? Is it always this bad or is it me? As I said I has a 20, 21 and 23 so it can't be the specific vehicle.

wildta

Have you tried driving slower? You also have to drive past the spot, further than what is practical so it's a bit annoying in that sense, especially in a busy or crowded parking lot. Parallel parking works a little better in this regard but not ideal as you still have to drive a little further past the spot than what you would do to manually parallel park.

It's too bad the system doesn't use cameras as well as the radar to detect parking spots sooner. Maybe the addition of LIDAR in Drive Pilot will make it work better.
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stktyz33

It’s actually one of the better systems I’ve seen, super happy about it. I see about 80% success rate. Just drive closer to the side you want to park on and keep in mind that you need to go past the spot, as advised in previous post. Not too far but it needs to be behind you.

It is annoying on a busy parking lot as it takes time to do its thing. At the same time, for people who aren’t comfortable with parking, it may still be better than trying 10 times by themselves and getting a panic atack.

ScottC2

I have an EQE SUV. Took delivery only about two months ago, so am still learning how to use it.
I REALLY like the Parking Assist feature when I can get it to work, which seems to be only about 40% of the time.
When it deigns to park, it parks with absolute precision!

The two aspects that frustrate me are:
1) When parking in the garage at my condo, it has no trouble finding my spot when I pass it slowly. However, when I have to select "front in" or "back in" it will let me select "back in" only on some occasions. Not sure why. I can't live with "back in" as it leaves inadequate room for the back hatch to open.
2) And on those occasions where it finds the spot and deigns to accept parking "front in", I somehow manage to fumble starting the execution of the parking and am forced to start the process all over again or just park manually (which is usually what I end up doing).
It's so frustrating to know it can easily perform perfect parking -- but I that I have so much difficulty getting it do so.

stktyz33

Maybe it depends on how much space it sees for the maneuver, "front in" requires extra movements. Not sure how much space you have for the hatch to open but you can control how far the hatch goes and lock it at certain height.

What are you doing when it happens? It seems pretty automated and programmed to recalculate path when obstacles are detected or driver intervenes. I found that all you need to do is to pick a spot and click that parking button again, it changes gears, accelerates, brakes and steers automatically.

ScottC2

Front In
What's most puzzling to me about "front in" is that it's the same parking spot with the same amount of available space in front and on sides every time. The only thing that varies (and this could be the reason) is that sometimes I'm driving up closer to the area where my spot is than on other occasions. After many more tries, I may come to the conclusion that I am approaching from too close or too far away.

Execution
"That parking button" is part of the problem. It's not a physically separate button and it's easy for me to miss and accidentally hit other functions around it. It's also located in a very inconvenient position - sort of behind my right elbow at the BACK of the center console. And Parktronic does not seem to give me more than a couple of seconds to find that button and push it properly. Any longer than that and it aborts.
I also think that sometimes when I manage to hit the button properly, Parktronic may abort because my hands are still touching the wheel. I have to pay closer attention to this.

stktyz33

Got it. It's a bit different on the GLE. The algorithm is - it automatically searches for parking spaces (when enabled), shows you the arrow(s) on the main screen, then you click rather large physical button on the center console (cameras/park), pick parking spot and direction, click that camera/park button again, release the brake and let it roll. It doesn't appear to have any timeouts and you can take your time doing it.

bkushner

I"ve tried many speeds yes.

TonyF61

I have, in the past, tried this is a somewhat empty lot with little to no success. Then I read somewhere, that there needs to be a car parked on either side of the spot which one wants to park in. Does anyone recall if this was the case (empty spot next to the desired one) with their failed attempts?

Lucky 777

I've played with it and even when it does work, it's very slow. I can use the mirrors with the cameras and park just as well in much less time.

stktyz33

It may depend on a year / model, what I learned rather quickly is that there are variations in how these systems work. I only have tested it on 2024 GLE and it doesn't require any cars on the lot to work. You can drive around an empty lot at then choose the place you want on the screen from multiple choices available, it will park between lines just fine. It only parks parallel or perpendicular and completely ignores "angled drive-in (45 degrees)" spots, which makes sense.

nismodrifter

I found this video helpful when learning how to use it:

I have found park assist do a great job at parallel parking, while being a bit slow with standard parking lot style parking.

On the topic of parking, if I pull into a parking spot, and there is a curb at the front, it seems the vehicle can auto brake and slow it self to a crawl and then stop on its own? Has anyone encountered this. unsure if its documented in the manual.

stktyz33

The video above is for 2020. Not all V167 are the same. 2023+ use 360 cameras to detect spaces by markings, previous years do not, as per owner's manual. They also "search" automatically if enabled, so you don't have to press "Camera/Park" button to activate the search, only when a space is found.

As for the curb detection, when going forward or backwards, it detects the curb with cameras, add red marks just for curb and stops at them.

nismodrifter

I see.

Curb detection - thanks for clarifying that.

wildta

I have a 2023 EQS450+ loaner at the moment and you'd think that they would have improved the braking during parking assistance but they haven't.

stktyz33

What do you mean by that?

wildta

Rather than feathering the brakes to a soft stop, the parking assist seems to apply the brakes in an abrupt manner. Not all the time but sometimes.

bkushner

I drive around my lot for 10 minutes...slow close to spots...nothing. Will have to try another lot. Could be something with my lot.

bkushner

I tried this and same result. Nothing.

Petersla

I've been trying mine out. I find it works quite well, but a bit confusing after watching videos of prior systems.

For example, after selecting a parking space the screen states "choose direction". But there is nothing to choose. (for nose in or back in) I'm sure I'm missing something. It's probably in the manual. It's just not right in front of me.... I have seen videos where there is a choice presented on the screen. I am trying to find the selection for that. But I have just hit reverse and it parked nose-in. I'd like to know what makes it back in to a spot.

I also parallel parked last night, no problem.

I do like that you do NOT have to park between cars as long as there are markings. I like to park away from people

bkushner

Mine is working. It has to be the parking lot I’ve been testing it in. Lines not white enough.

ScottC2

I occasionally experience this too. My preliminary theory as to why this happens is that I have a lot of "clutter" against the wall in front of my parking spot at home and that I think the car can sometimes get confused by this. I could test my theory by removing the clutter...and I may very well do this... someday

wildta

The abrupt braking happens to me in both parallel and stall parking spaces (all public). It's not all the time but when I'm looking at the cameras as it parks, it does scare me in thinking the system might hit the adjacent vehicle so I always have my foot on the brake. For me, it's just gimmicky since I can park faster and with just as good accuracy or better than the assistance but I can see the benefits for those who are less adept with parking.

mikapen

I consider myself very adept at parking. It's easy for me to get 6 to 8 in from the curb on the first try.
​​But if I only have inches to spare, the Mercedes solution is more inch-perfect than I am.

I don't use it very often, but if I have circled the block a few times and that one space is still there because it's just too tight for everybody else, I'll let the car do it.

stktyz33

I posted three quick videos to illustrate the following parking modes:

1) between cars
2) front-in by changing the direction, no cars, marked parking lot
3) back-in, no cars, marked parking lot

Videos: https://imgur.com/a/bVukCiA