CLS Gear Selector Problem

[mcpherlj]

Help ! My gear selector keeps jumping from Drive or Reverse into P when I apply the foot brake. Seems to happen when I am manoevering the car, eg when reversing or coming up to rest at a junction. I cannot reverse the car out of my drive because the gears keep shifting into P as I apply the brake. Basically I am stranded unless anyone has a suggestion. I have just returned from a 100 mile+ drive and all was well until I got home and needed to go out to refuel. Update : by driving carefully and applying the brakes very gently I managed to get down to the garage to refuel, but the problem persists.
P.S Its a 4-year old CLS63 AMG

 

[SamW]

Sounds like the safety system is kicking in - like when the drivers door is open and it hops into park.

No suggestions I'm afraid but good luck with it.

 

[Peter DLM]

Call Mobilo, they'll diagnose it, it should stil be covered if serviced by MB.

 

[Adamccc]

Go around and open close all 4 doors making sure they're firmly shut - if that fails then the sensor inside must be failing

 

[mcpherlj]

The gear selector malfunction I previously reported was due to a faulty ignition switch (EZS).
My local Mercedes specialist has replaced it and all is now working normally. Mercedes Xentry Tips reports that electronic ignition switch is not recognised, automatic transmission shifts to "Automatic P" before vehicle comes to a stop at speeds below 6 km/h, which is exactly what was happening with my CLS. My Mercedes specialist currently has several EZS to replace so this is not an uncommon problem, model series 166, 204(GLK only), 212, 218, and 246 with automatic transmission are all affected pre-05/2012 production date. For AMG model series 218 vehicles with VIN numbers as of ...*A090383 should not be affected - my car was unluckily right in the middle of those affected.
Mercedes are clearly well aware of the problem. Under certain circumstances there could be safety implications, so why weren't these vehicles subject to a recall ? My own vehicle is just 8 months out of warrantee with only 16,000 miles on the clock, so I will be contacting MB to claim back the £360 cost of the replacement part.
For information, model series with VIN numbers prior to the following are likely to be affected :
166...*A206996, 204...*G103135, 212...*A776831, 246...*J153923 and 246...*N051707.

 

[mcpherlj]

Error - affected models should read post-05/2012 production date.