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Steering wheel lock while in park

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Hey everyone. I wonder, if I'm missing something here or that's the way the car is designed(ease SW fix though).
In my previous vehicles, when I shut the car down, the steering wheel locks or at least there is no steering assist, so before I go out, I can use the wheel as a support going out. Now with my M3, I place the car in park, grab the wheel to pull myself out, but it still turns easily. Is it just me thinking that when the car is in park, the steering wheel should be locked or there is an objective reason, not to be this way?
 
I'll double check, but I'm pretty sure the wheel locks when the car is "off", i.e. before I press the brake pedal, but that does not help my use case - using the wheel as a support while going out of the car. :) BTW, I know this is the least problem one could have with his car, but still, why not if it can be done - just a simple menu option.
 
There is no steering wheel lock. The reason why the steering wheel turns easily when you get out is because the car is still “on” and the power steering is still active until you lift your butt out of the seat. After you get out, the power steering turns off and the wheel gets very difficult to turn, but does not lock (no physical lock mechanism in the steering column).
 
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Reactions: Allb18c and Runt8
I've notice sometimes in Park, the steering wheel moves freely, and other times, it's really hard to move (locked). I couldn't work out why it would do it sometimes and not other times. The only reason I noticed was because I was trying to play Pole Position with the steering wheel and sometimes it would hardly move.
 
I've notice sometimes in Park, the steering wheel moves freely, and other times, it's really hard to move (locked). I couldn't work out why it would do it sometimes and not other times. The only reason I noticed was because I was trying to play Pole Position with the steering wheel and sometimes it would hardly move.

It all depends on whether the car is on or off. On means power steering is active and off means it is not. The rack is so fast (short ratio, only 2 turns lock-to-lock) that it's very hard to turn the wheel when power steering is off.
 
Hey everyone. I wonder, if I'm missing something here or that's the way the car is designed(ease SW fix though).
In my previous vehicles, when I shut the car down, the steering wheel locks or at least there is no steering assist, so before I go out, I can use the wheel as a support going out. Now with my M3, I place the car in park, grab the wheel to pull myself out, but it still turns easily. Is it just me thinking that when the car is in park, the steering wheel should be locked or there is an objective reason, not to be this way?
I thought the steering wheel lock was for theft prevention. It would be a fairly useless feature in a Tesla
 
Is there an objective reason to lock the wheel in park besides that's the way it's been done for umpteen years?
As I get older I definitely value immobile objects that can provide support when getting up/down/in/out. But having said that, I’ve had my M3 for a year and didn’t realize until this thread that it didn’t lock place. The support I need from a steering column is during fast cornering 😀