Mercedes W202 Auto third pedal

[RosscoPCole]

I've been given the use of an older W202 Mercedes C Class until my car is back on the road. It is an automatic, but has a third pedal on the left. What is it? Please excuse my ignorance having never driven auto Mercedes before. Thanks in advance.

[Jazzy Jag]

Parking Brake

[Jazzy Jag]

Should have a release handle on the RH side of the dash (IIRC)

[toohuge]

Are you sure it's not a foot rest.......?

[toohuge]

Jazzy Jag said:

Should have a release handle on the RH side of the dash (IIRC)

That's what I thought, but in a RHD drive (the op's profile suggests UK), the parking brake will be on the right, not left.

[Krikkit]

Jazzy Jag said:

Parking Brake

This, 100%.

[RosscoPCole]

Jazzy Jag said:

Should have a release handle on the RH side of the dash (IIRC)

There is a release handle. So how do I operate it properly? I've not driven it yet.

[spookly]

RosscoPCole said:

There is a release handle. So how do I operate it properly? I've not driven it yet.

Pull it.

[toohuge]

RosscoPCole said:

There is a release handle. So how do I operate it properly? I've not driven it yet.

Press down to engage the parking brake and pull the handle to release.

[jkh112]

toohuge said:

That's what I thought, but in a RHD drive (the op's profile suggests UK), the parking brake will be on the right, not left.

My RHD Mercedes has the parking brake pedal on the left of the footwell.

[RosscoPCole]

jkh112 said:

toohuge said:

That's what I thought, but in a RHD drive (the op's profile suggests UK), the parking brake will be on the right, not left.

My RHD Mercedes has the parking brake pedal on the left of the footwell.

Pedal on the left, handle on the right. So, push the pedal to engage, pull the handle to release?

[toohuge]

jkh112 said:

toohuge said:

That's what I thought, but in a RHD drive (the op's profile suggests UK), the parking brake will be on the right, not left.

My RHD Mercedes has the parking brake pedal on the left of the footwell.

[jkh112]

RosscoPCole said:

Pedal on the left, handle on the right. So, push the pedal to engage, pull the handle to release?

Yes.

[RosscoPCole]

Thank you all. I knew the wisdom of PH would come up trumps very quickly.

[Riley Blue]

Can anyone tell me why Mercedes used this 'left foot on, right hand off' parking brake system?

[mk1coopers]

You should only need the parking brake when doing just that, parking, the cars have the 'HOLD' system where you increase the brake pedal pressure slightly when on a hill and it keeps the main brakes on after you release the pedal (when HOLD comes up on the dash) the car then releases the brakes once it detects enough torque going to the wheels to allow it not to roll back, so it's not a case of having to juggle a foot brake and a hand release when you are driving, the design probably just reflects this

[jkh112]

mk1coopers said:

You should only need the parking brake when doing just that, parking, the cars have the 'HOLD' system where you increase the brake pedal pressure slightly when on a hill and it keeps the main brakes on after you release the pedal (when HOLD comes up on the dash) the car then releases the brakes once it detects enough torque going to the wheels to allow it not to roll back.so it's not a case of having to juggle a foot brake and a hand release when you are driving

That is only true of newer Mercedes. Older cars do not have the hold function yet used the foot operated parking brake.

[PositronicRay]

Riley Blue said:

Can anyone tell me why Mercedes used this 'left foot on, right hand off' parking brake system?

The brakes are so weedy you need all your strength to get them to hold!

[donkmeister]

Riley Blue said:

Can anyone tell me why Mercedes used this 'left foot on, right hand off' parking brake system?

Well, it's good enough for Rolls Royce... I think the question is, why does everyone else use a hand-operated parking brake?

It's quite common on US and Japanese cars, from what I've seen.

I would say the advantages are: 1) easier to apply more force (useful if using to stop the car in an emergency... or if your clientel are traditionally more advanced in years) 2) it makes for a cleaner centre console 3) It emphasises the point that it's a parking brake, used for parking only (not to be used at traffic lights etc... we haven't had an "I get blinded by brake lights at traffic lights" thread for ages )

It's probably a pain in a manual car though...

[donkmeister]

jkh112 said:

mk1coopers said:

You should only need the parking brake when doing just that, parking, the cars have the 'HOLD' system where you increase the brake pedal pressure slightly when on a hill and it keeps the main brakes on after you release the pedal (when HOLD comes up on the dash) the car then releases the brakes once it detects enough torque going to the wheels to allow it not to roll back.so it's not a case of having to juggle a foot brake and a hand release when you are driving

That is only true of newer Mercedes. Older cars do not have the hold function yet used the foot operated parking brake.

Depends on your definition of "newer"... Mercedes brought this system out in 2001 on the SL, the E-Class and CLS got it a year later.

Agreed that the C-Class only got it much more recently though... It was originally a feature of the SBC system, and unfortunately C-Class owners don't get to experience a braking system that eventually requires a £2k pump to replace the perfectly good one to get it through an MOT, just because Bosch didn't do sufficient testing.

Edited by donkmeister on Thursday 7th June 15:42