2015 MERCEDES-BENZ ML350

I was in drive mode and was looking to park the car on the open spot on the street. Had engaged the reverse gear and was attempting to get in the parallel parking spot. While i was doing that, suddenly the wheel locked up and car stopped with a jerk/jolt. Then came warning that the parking brake was not working (Remember I had not engaged the parking brake as I was in drive mode). The locked up wheel would not move and I had great difficulty in making the car safe in the cross traffic. The issue here is parking brake cannot engage by itself. That has nothing to do with the age of the car, it is like the wheel cannot come off just because the car is old. This could have easily happened while the car was in motion at a higher speed, in that case with 1 wheel locked, a car would spin out of control in a moving traffic causing major damage to other vehicles and myself. Mercedes's rep claimed it was a maintenance item. Parking brake engaging by itself is a maintenance item?? We should put a notice to all customers and your life is in danger because the parking brake can engage by itself locking the wheel anywhere anytime. I am very apprehensive of this design which allows for auto lock of a wheel. It must be investigated and all the parking brake systems should be replaced as it can happen to anyone. Thank you

"PRE SAFE FUNCTIONS LIMITED" MESSAGE APPEARED ON DASHBOARD IN NOV '16. OVER COUPLE MONTHS, AUDITORY BEEP WARNING OF BEING TOO CLOSE TO SOMETHING HAPPENED WITH NO HAZARD NEARBY APPROX 6 TIMES. ON 4/2/17, WHILE DRIVING 35 MPH ON SUNNY DAY, AUDITORY WARNING STARTED (WITH NO HAZARD NEARBY) THEN STOPPED WHEN WE STOPPED AT TRAFFIC LIGHT. BEEPING STARTED AGAIN (WITH NO HAZARD NEARBY) WHEN WE STARTED DRIVING, THEN CAR SELF-BRAKED WHILE DRIVING AT LEAST 20 MPH AND CARS AROUND US STARTED HONKING. STARTED DRIVING AGAIN AND CAR SELF-BRAKED AGAIN. WE PULLED INTO A PARKING LOT AND TURNED OFF THE CAR FOR A FEW MINUTES, CALLED CAR DEALER. SENSORS IN FRONT DID NOT APPEAR DIRTY OR BLOCKED BY ANYTHING. WE WERE ABLE TO DRIVE HOME 10 MIN WITHOUT INCIDENT. NEXT DAY, CAR DEALER REPORTED IT WAS A COMPUTER ISSUE THAT THEY FIXED BY UPDATING SOFTWARE. PAPERWORK READS "PERFORMED REPAIR AS PER BULLETIN." ON 4/4/17, "PRE SAFE FUNCTIONS LIMITED" WARNING APPEARED AGAIN.

WHEN AT A SLIGHT INCLINE OR DECLINE, THE VEHICLE WILL GO FROM THE "DRIVE" GEAR AUTOMATICALLY INTO "PARK." WHEN THE "DRIVE" GEAR IS RE-ENGAGED, THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT CRUNCHING OF THE GEARS AS IT GOES FROM "PARK" BACK INTO "DRIVE" MODE, CAUSING UNDUE STRESS AND FATIGUE ON THE BRAKING MECHANISM, INCREASING THE LIKELIHOOD OF BRAKE MALFUNCTION AND/OR FAILURE.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 MERCEDES-BENZ ML350. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS IN REVERSE AND THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED, THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED INDEPENDENTLY. THE VEHICLE CRASHED INTO A WALL AND THE REAR WINDOW BROKE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED UP TO 19 MPH IN REVERSE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE THEN SWITCHED GEARS INTO DRIVE INDEPENDENTLY, LUNGED FORWARD, AND CRASHED INTO THE GARAGE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THERE WAS EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO THE FRONT AND REAR OF THE VEHICLE. THERE WERE NO INJURIES AND A POLICE REPORT WAS NOT FILED. THE CONTACT WAS NOT OFFERED AN EXPLANATION FOR THE INDEPENDENT ACCELERATION. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 19,300. UPDATED 01/31/17*LJ THE CONSUMER STATED THERE WAS DAMAGED TO THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE VEHICLE AS WELL. UPDATED 03/06/17.*JB