Blue "P" on Mercedes Dash – What's This and How to Turn Off?

Mercedes-Benz is known to bravely introduce new wonderful features in its cars. The super-modern Parktronic feature is one of them. And sometimes, it may cause a lot of questions on how exactly you can use the system and what kinds of indicators it shows in your vehicle. It's not that hard to learn how to use it.

Blue P light highlights

• Common reasons:Parktronic system is active
• How to fix:no need to fix
• Possible consequences:no consequences
• Priority level:Low
• Can you drive?Yes
• DIY repair:No repair needed
• Repair price range:$0

So, why does it show me the blue "P"?

The white letter P in a blue square - just like the Parking road sign - is the indication that the Mercedes-Benz park assist was activated. It means that right now the assist activates all its sensors and is searching for a spot where your car may be parked safely and without any damage.

While the feature may seem excessive for someone, in most traffic-polluted cities, this is a helpful thing. Even if you don't use the park assist itself, you can understand which parking spot is OK for your Mercedes and which is too small.

In order to see the blue "P" pictogram on the dash of your vehicle, you need to activate the Parktronic system or Park Assist in the Mercedes car.

In most vehicles, you will need to do the following:

• put your vehicle in D and keep driving slowly along the parking lot or any road that you want to park your car on;
• press the "P" button that is usually located in the bottom central console where you usually have a shifter in other cars, or also under the infotainment screen;
• you will hear a pleasant tone (or may not hear depending on the model) and the blue "P" pictogram will go on the dashboard;
• also, your central screen will be showing a pictogram of a car with working front sensors;
• once your car finds the spot where it can park, it gives another pleasant tone and now you need to press your brake and stop your car;
• then you again press the P button on the bottom central console and, in most cars, you will choose Reverse or Forward parking with the help of your infotainment screen;
• once you choose it, put the car in D if you chose forward or in R if you chose reverse;
• then take the foot off the brake and watch your Mercedes parking itself without your help;
• once the maneuver is finished, the car will stop and go to P - you will just need to turn off the engine.

Please, keep your right foot on the brake pedal without pressing it any time you are using Park Assist or Parktronic in a Mercedes-Bezn vehicle. I will explain later why it's extremely important.

So, now you know why you see that blue "P" on the dash of your Mercedes vehicles and you also know how to use all the benefits of the Parktronic system that is featured in your car. Just try it on a supermarket parking lot or just on a street and you will see how good it is.

I didn't activate Park Assist but still see the blue "P" - why?

There are three possible reasons why the blue "P" is always on your screen although you didn't activate the system. Here they are:

• You unintentionally pressed the P button. This button is located pretty weirdly and you can press it just when turning on some other function. Also, it can be pressed when you put something on the lower central console in your Mercedes. Just press it again to turn the function off.
• The P button is malfunctioning. If you see the blue "P" on the dash of your Mercedes car at all times, there is a chance that the button is broken. It may have been damaged by water, for example, and now the system is always activated. Some help from the Mercedes dealership is needed, in this case.
• ECU problem. While this is not really common, your Mercedes may have developed an ECU glitch that unintentionally activates the active park assist. It means that you will see the blue "P" randomly on the screen of your car. Again, the dealership will help you locate the problem and get rid of the issue.

Can you deactivate Parktronic in your Mercedes?

To temporarily deactivate Parktronic, you will just need to press the P button. This button, as was said above, may be located in the block of controls under the infotainment screen or where you usually have the shifter in other cars. The P button also usually has a light indicator of its activation.

If the system is activated, you will see a small light in the upper part of the P button. When the system is deactivated, the light will be off.

Also, you potentially can deactivate the system by disconnecting some sensors or control modules, but it's not recommended. You may also lose other important functions such as adaptive cruise control and collision prevention system or emergency braking system. Some of these features may be extremely helpful.

I believe you can turn off the Parktronic feature by programming your car. But when I asked in Mercedes dealership if they can do this, they were pretty puzzled. It seemed that no one had ever asked them to do so. Maybe, if you insist, they will do this.

Should you use the Park Assist system?

Now, you know all the cool things that Parktronic gives you in a Mercedes vehicle. You can park your car automatically, don't care about possible risks, etc. But is that actually true? No, of course, there are numerous disadvantages to this system and that's one of the reasons I asked you to always keep your right foot on the brake pedal.

I don't recommend using this feature too often because the risk of getting into an accident is huge. Also, you are losing the experience of parking your car, and then, when your Park Assist suddenly goes off or malfunctions, you just can't park the Mercedes without damaging someone's car.

I still recommend using this assist when searching for a proper spot for parking. This will help you understand which size of parking spot is OK for your car. It's especially useful when you buy a good big GLE after driving a small compact sedan all your life.

Why can't you rely on the Mercedes Parktronic system?

Unfortunately, you can't completely rely on any system in your vehicle that is dependent on sensors and radars. Once one of the radars is blocked, the system will just turn off or may even glitch and do some stupid things.

I've seen an older Mercedes-Benz vehicle that got into an accident because of a malfunctioning park assist. It was pretty badly damaged. Of course, in modern vehicles, the company introduced a lot of different safety features that would turn off automatic parking if something goes wrong. But I would be careful when using this function, anyway.

Blocked radars are not uncommon. They may be blocked due to problems with snow, some random litter that's stuck on your bumper, or some mud. Also, if your car was in an accident and the Parktronic system wasn't repaired after that, it may glitch because one or several sensors may have been damaged.

That's why I would prefer parking my Mercedes by myself and only use the active Park Assist as a way to find the parking place. Also, I would use the park assist sometimes when the available parking spot is too tiny for me to drive into it safely. At all other times, I would park my car myself.

Also, you may need to check if the parking assist is working properly once you see some problems with the Parktronic. If something happens with the system, you better go to the dealership and have the function checked properly.

Final thoughts

I believe Mercedes-Benz gives us a lot of up-to-date and cool features that make driving more interesting and much safer. But some of these functions are not as practical and useful as they seem to be at first.

You need to know that all features that rely on radar sensors are not completely reliable and need to be controlled by a human at all times when they are functioning. So if you are using the Parktronic in your Mercedes-Benz, always keep your foot on the brake pedal to hit it in case something bad happens with the assist.