E Class - Brake HOLD function

[RDS]

I have recently discovered the Brake HOLD feature on my car, which I find incredibly useful but disappointing that it leaves the Brake Lights on.

Does anyone know the logic behind why the Lights stay on?

 

[Blobcat]

The brakes are on so the lights show...

 

[RDS]

Thanks but surely it is like a temporary handbrake and there is no need for the lights to be on when the car is at a complete standstill and (for example) sat at Traffic Lights, blinding anyone behind.

 

[Blobcat]

Thanks but surely it is like a temporary handbrake and there is no need for the lights to be on when the car is at a complete standstill and (for example) sat at Traffic Lights, blinding anyone behind.

You have the "foot" handbrake for that
Pretty much no one in North America uses their handbrake for anything and sit at the lights with their foot on the brake. Yes it can be annoying in drizzle with high intensity LED's in your face but it's not a fault. It's also good to have the brake lights showing if you're at the back of a queue otherwise the car barrelling up behind might not realise you're braking/stopped.

 

[RDS]

That's a fair point about being at the back of the queue.
The car is so clever in lots of other ways, maybe it could have been programmed to switch the Brake Lights off if it is stopped and detects that another car has stopped behind!

 

[davidsl500]

Just something else to go wrong!

 

[EmilysDad]

I use HOLD on my car because it's there .... I'd not miss it though if it wasn't fitted. If I want to take my foot off the brake pedal I use PARK .... it's the press of a button/stalk away.

 

[davidsl500]

If you have got HOLD then don't you have an electronic "handbrake" to prod?

 

[EmilysDad]

If you have got HOLD then don't you have an electronic "handbrake" to prod?

I have both

 

[RDS]

I use it because it is easier to set off again - just a press of the Accelerator, which you have to do to move anyway.
Each to their own of course.
Thanks for all the replies.

 

[John Laidlaw]

I like the brake hold function in queues and stop start - disappointingly my i8 doesn’t have it (some weight saving excuse), my XC90 has...
Strangely the Audi brake hold does not show tail lights....

 

[Blobcat]

I like the brake hold function in queues and stop start - disappointingly my i8 doesn’t have it (some weight saving excuse), my XC90 has...
Strangely the Audi brake hold does not show tail lights....

Audi's don't have any working lights (other than head lights) in my experience...

 

[John Laidlaw]

Audi's don't have any working lights (other than head lights) in my experience...

How true.....

 

[dry run]

Apparently the interior lights are very good on Audi's - its so you can read the manual when your stuck on the hard shoulder waiting for the AA

 

[pgh13]

I have mixed feelings about SBC. It’s very handy sometimes, but you can’t lift off and coast, so I think it makes for a slightly jerker ride. Also, if used extensively, how does it affect the life of the SBC unit?

 

[Nigel Hewitt]

I only discovered it after I'd had the car nearly a year. I rather like it although I never noticed the brake lights were on.

 

[EmilysDad]

I have mixed feelings about SBC. ....

You don't need SBC to have HOLD

 

[Blobcat]

You don't need SBC to have HOLD

It’s positively better without SBC...

 

[EmilysDad]

It’s positively better without SBC...

I've only driven my mate's E Class with SBC ....

 

[Blobcat]

I've only driven my mate's E Class with SBC ....

Driven my friends R230 with SBC, my W211 was the facelift so had OBC. Still had brake hold as did the W213