in my 96 mercedes E 320 my ignition key is stuck in the ignition. It will still start the car but then the shifter will not come out of park. has anyone seen or heard of this It happened all at once.Have tried resetting security system ect.

 

Any slop in the feel of the ignition switch?
Sounds like the mechanical part of the ignition switch is broken.
While you can still turn the key, I'd remove the ignition switch assembly and investigate the issue.

 

No there is no slop in the ignition. I went back and double checked after your suggestion it looks good. I did some more investigating and found some others with the same and or similar models that have had the same problem. There has been a lot of good information as to what could cause this but not one person has posted what the actual fix was.But thank you for your insight.

 

Then I'm going to say it's the shift lock out on the transmission shift lever.
When you try to take the key out of the ignition is your foot on the brake? If it is, try releasing the foot brake and see if you can turn off the key.

 

I was thinking it's as though you were in gear and trying to remove the ignition switch.
As you know the park lever must be fully engaged in park so you can release the ignition, maybe look in that arena?

In my upper post I was thinking you had the brake release as well but I think it's just the park stuff.

 

would the electronic selector module have any thing to do with the park reading whether it is engaged or not. That definantly makes sense as to the key not being able to come out if it thinks it's not in park. Thanks again for your thoughts.

 

I'm pretty sure yours has a cable pull that goes from the shifter lock lever to the steering lock/ignition switch.
I was thinking something like the cable stretching, disconnecting at the shifter assembly, disconnecting from the ignition lock type of thing.