The electromechanical parking brake has little in common with a conventional handbrake. It is resistant to wear, its braking effect is permanently constant and it cannot lock. It is activated by pulling the small electric lever on the center console, which replaces the conventional handbrake lever. It is released automatically when the car departs, and does not have to be released manually even when performing a hill start. The integral starting assist function determines the selected gear, accelerator position, engine speed, torque, direction of travel and the vehicle's angle of inclination. This prevents the car from rolling back when the parking brake is released automatically.

The brake can only be released manually if the foot brake is depressed at the same time. In the event of an emergency braking maneuver via the parking brake, the vehicle can be braked considerably more effectively than with a conventional handbrake because braking takes place via the normal service brake with the aid of the vehicle's electronic stabilization program (ESP) functions. All the benefits of the anti-lock brake system (ABS) and electronic brake-force distribution (EBD) are exploited.