W140 1997 S500 make a sound like the key is turned to start when shifting into park

[bolomiester]

My wife Informed me twice before that when she shifted into park the car made a sound like it would if you accidentally turned the key to the start position with the engine running. I couldn't reproduce it so I figured she wasn't paying attention and had turned the key to start when she intended to turn it to off.

Today she came home and it happened again so I was able to witness it. I does exactly what she says. Her foot was on the brake, her left hand on the steering wheel and when she moved the shift lever to park with her right hand it sounded exactly like she was turning the key to start.

I had her turn the engine off then shift to park. I tried to reproduce the problem again, but could not do so even after 10 tries.

Has anyone ever heard of this or know what is going on? Very scary!