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I learned something today in a traffic jam for 1.5 hours around Antwerp and being unable and also being unwilling to use one of the stopped periods and turn the engine off/on in case it didn't re-start in the middle lane. To be precise don't whatever you do flick the brake switch whilst in Drive in a traffic jam before going to "Park" it really upsets the control module, the result is a message in the message centre, " unable to put parking brake on" ,an orange warning light and a red flashing light. None of this will reset until the engine is switched off then back on, not a good scheme in the stop start motorway jam or even on the hard shoulder if there was one. I thought the M25 was bad but Antwerp's ring road beats it hands down. I had to wait until I got out of the jam and found a services to stop, all the while with these irritating alarms flashing right in front of me.

Interesting. I have had the odd incidence of the 'cannot set parking brake' message. Does anyone know the correct procedure for setting the parking brake? Foot on or off the brake pedal when setting ? I have suspected for some time the message was triggered by 'pilot error'.

Yes I think it's pilot error, being a bit too hasty applying the brake before the end of the runway

Yes folks, definitely pilot error, I knew I'd done it as soon as the message and alarms came up. So frustrating not being able to reset with the engine running. Is there,in reality, a "procedure to reset" without cycling the engine and thus the module

As per my X350, does not the brake release as you apply throttle to pull away. A slight jerk if you drive away with the park brake still on, but mmne clears to "off" in a jiffy.

I know, not the same car but the electronic "architecture" cannot be that different.

Mike K

Hello Mike, yes both my cars release the the parking brake once your foot is on the brake pedal and Drive is selected. There should be no "hanging on" of the parking brake,this contributes to excessive wear on the pads. This procedure however does not reset all the alarms i.e. Foot on brake pedal, Park selected, Park switch to On, Foot off brake pedal,Foot on brake pedal, Drive selected, Park switch to Off. Most irritating when you know you got the alarms up by mistake in the first case