Electric Handbrake!

[seatofyourpants]

hey fellow pistonheads... my first post on here so please be gentle.

I'm looking in to getting a second hand 4 year old merc... bit of a bargain so looking to move on it fast.

However bit concerned about the electric handbrake on the benz... foot actuated one.

If anyone has any experience of using one of these parking brakes it would be much appreciate. Really looking for some reassurance before i take the plunge.

[colonel c]

Welcome.

I would refer you to last nights Top Gear for an in-depth discussion on the pros and con of the electric handbrake.

[tigger1]

Common to have foot operated parking brake on US cars (well, common on the couple I've driven!). Never seen them over here though.

[ajh38]

Haven't Mercedes been doing this for years? It wouldn't concern me one bit.

[SuperchargedVR6]

colonel c said:

Welcome.

I would refer you to last nights Top Gear for an in-depth discussion on the pros and con of the electric handbrake.

Yep, you can't make women wet with an electric handbrake.

[mini1380cc]

When is a handbrake not a handbrake..... when its a footbrake.


Isn't electronic handbrakes just a button. If the merc is a mechanical lever then its likely to be a mechanical setup.

[ging84]

they have been doing it for years
have no idea if the newest models are electric or not, but would not assume they are or all are, they certainly didn't used to be

[RicksAlfas]

The main thing with the traditional Merc system is to make sure you get an auto otherwise hill starts can be tricky.

[rockandrollmark]

RicksAlfas said:

The main thing with the traditional Merc system is to make sure you get an auto otherwise hill starts can be tricky.

Why would that be? You put on with the foot, release with the hand. Granted you can't use the foot to gently release the foot brake but it I wouldn't have thought it made it tricky.

Funny, I was just thinking the other day about the foot-brake on my merc and how one would go about adjusting it or replacing the cable. Mine's mechanical btw. Not sure about newer mercs. Electric handbrakes are though, in the main, a pita and completely stupid. Just another thing to go (expensively) wrong.

[SuperchargedVR6]

mini1380cc said:

When is a handbrake not a handbrake..... when its a footbrake.


Isn't electronic handbrakes just a button. If the merc is a mechanical lever then its likely to be a mechanical setup.

For the sake of semantics, let's call it a parking brake

[RicksAlfas]

rockandrollmark said:

Why would that be? You put on with the foot, release with the hand. Granted you can't use the foot to gently release the foot brake but it I wouldn't have thought it made it tricky.

Funny, I was just thinking the other day about the foot-brake on my merc and how one would go about adjusting it or replacing the cable. Mine's mechanical btw. Not sure about newer mercs. Electric handbrakes are though, in the main, a pita and completely stupid. Just another thing to go (expensively) wrong.

Apologies. I think I'm muddled. I thought you needed to release them with your foot too?
Mind you, it's still a bit of a bind isn't it, as you would need to be in neutral to put it on.

Agreed about the electronic handbrake though. Unnecessary complication.

[AJB]

rockandrollmark said:

RicksAlfas said:

The main thing with the traditional Merc system is to make sure you get an auto otherwise hill starts can be tricky.

Why would that be? You put on with the foot, release with the hand. Granted you can't use the foot to gently release the foot brake but it I wouldn't have thought it made it tricky.

Hill starts are OK, but any sort of crawling traffic up a hill isn't. Normal practice is come to halt whilst crawling, foot down on clutch, handbrake on, then moments later bring clutch up whilst releasing handbrake to start off again.

With foot operated brake, you have to come to a halt with foot on cluch and other foot on footbrake. Can't then apply "hand" brake ready to start off again as foot is busy with clutch. So have to shift to neutral, take foot off clutch to put "hand" brake on, then back to clutch, then back into gear, then pull off. Only to repeat 20 feet up the road when the traffic stops again.

In autos they're fine.

[schmalex]

I very rarely used the parking brake on my old (auto) CLK.

I remember once being stuck in a traffic jam, so decided to put the car in N and apply the parking brake. All was good until the queue of cars started moving and I completely forgot where the hand release handle was situated, so ended up sitting in lane 2 of a DC for about a minute, desperately looking for the bloody handle!!!!

OP - as has been said previously, they are fine on Autos, but are a bit of a PITA when fitted to manuals

[shoehorn]

If it has a foot lever then its not electronic,
Its a cable and the same as any other manual h/b with the lever and ratchet on the pedal and a smaller cable from the dash lever to release it.
Oh,and it adjusts under the bolt on panel under the rear seat squab.
The only fault they seem to suffer from is that where the adjuster is situated is also a cantilever mechanism which seizes,this makes the handbrake light stay on,lifting the handbrake lever up past the point where it naturally stops making the light extinguish will confirm this.

[seatofyourpants]

Thanks so much for your help on this guys.

I decided not to go for the benz, some of your replies appealed to my traditionalist nature!

Thank you