2003 MERCEDES-BENZ CL500 display

145 Controls in detail
Automatic transmission
Gear ranges
With the selector lever in positionD, you
can limit the transmission’s gear range by
pressing the lever to the left (D-), and re-
verse the gear range limit by pressing the
lever to the right (D+).
The selected gear range will appear in the
tachometer display. If you press on the ac-
celerator when the engine has reached its
rpm limit, the transmission will upshift be-
yond any gear range limit selected.
Gear
range
Effect
é
The transmission shifts
through fourth gear only.
è
The transmission shifts
through third gear only.
With this selection you can
use the braking effect of the
engine.
Gear
range
Effect
ç
The transmission shifts
through second gear only.
Allows the use of engine’s
braking power when driving

on steep downgrades


in mountainous regions


under extreme operating
conditions
æ
The transmission operates
only in first gear.
For maximum use of engine’s
braking effect on very steep
or lengthy downgrades.

147 Controls in detail
Automatic transmission
Program mode selector switch
1Program mode selector switch
S Sport For standard driving
C Comfort For comfort driving

Press the program mode selector
switch repeatedly until the letter of the
desired shift program appears in the ta-
chometer display (
page 22).
Select Cfor comfort driving:


The vehicle starts out in second
gear (both forward and reverse) for
gentler starts. This does not apply if
full throttle is applied or gear
range1 is selected.


Traction and driving stability are im-
proved on icy roads.


Upshifts occur earlier even when
you give more gas. The engine then
operates at lower rpms and the
wheels are less likely to spin.


The power transmission ratio for se-
lector lever positionR changes de-
pending on the program mode
selected (C or S).
Warning!
G
When leaving the vehicle, always remove the
key from the starter switch, take the
KEYLESS-GO* card with you and lock the ve-
hicle. Do not leave children unattended in
the vehicle, or with access to an unlocked
vehicle. Children could move the selector le-
ver from positionP, which could result in an
accident and / or serious personal injury.
!Never change the program mode when
the selector lever is out of positionP.
This could result in a change of driving
characteristics for which you may not
be prepared.

149 Controls in detail
Automatic transmission
Steering wheel gearshift control
(Speedshift) and manual shift program CL 55 AMG
The CL 55 AMG can be driven in both the
automatic and manual shift program
modes. In the manual shift program mode
you can change the gears manually on the
steering wheel or by using the selector le-
ver.
1Right button: upshift
2Left button: downshiftTo do so, you must first select the manual
shift program M on the program mode se-
lector switch.
3Program mode selector switch
S Sport For standard driving
C Comfort For comfort driving
M Manual For manual gear shiftingActivating steering wheel gearshift
control

Press the program mode selector
switch repeatedly until the
M for manual
shift program appears in the tachome-
ter display.
Automatic gear shifting is activated.
!Never change the program mode when
the selector lever is out of positionP. It
could result in a change of driving char-
acteristics for which you may not be
prepared.

150 Controls in detailAutomatic transmissionUpshifting
Press the button located on the right
side of the steering wheel.
or

Briefly press the selector lever to the
right in the D+direction.
The transmission shifts to the next
higher gear.
Warm up the engine smoothly. Do not
place full load on the engine until the oper-
ating temperature has been reached. Shift
into reverse gear only when the vehicle is
stopped.Downshifting

Press the button located on the left
side of the steering wheel.
or

Briefly press the selector lever to the
right in the D-direction.
The transmission shifts to the next low-
er gear.
Warm up the engine smoothly. Do not
place full load on the engine until the oper-
ating temperature has been reached. Shift
into reverse gear only when the vehicle is
stopped.Deactivating steering wheel gearshift
control

Press the program mode selector
switch repeatedly until the
S or
C for au-
tomatic shift program appears in the
tachometer display.
Automatic gear shifting is activated.
!Avoid spinning of a drive wheel for an
extended period when driving off on
slippery surface. This may cause seri-
ous damage to the drivetrain which is
not covered by the Mercedes-Benz
Limited Warranty.
Warning!
G
On slippery road surfaces, never downshift
in order to obtain braking action. This could
result in drive wheel slip and reduced vehi-
cle control. Your vehicle’s ABS will not pre-
vent this type of loss of control.
iAt each engine start, the transmission
will go into the last automatic shift pro-
gram mode selected (S or C). Program
modeM is not stored and will not be re-
called when engine is restarted.

159 Controls in detail
Automatic climate control
Automatic climate control panel
The automatic climate control is operation-
al whenever the engine is running. You can
operate the climate control system in ei-
ther the automatic or manual mode. The
system cools or heats the interior depend-
ing on the selected interior temperature
and the current outside temperature.
Nearly all dust particles, pollutants and
odors are filtered out before outside air en-
ters the passenger compartment through
the air distribution system.
The air conditioning will not engage (no
cooling) if the AC
OFF
mode is selected
(
page 166).
Item
1
Windshield defroster
2
Rear window defroster
3
Display
4
Residual engine heat utilization
5
Automatic climate control on / off
6
Air distribution, right
7
AC cooling on / off
8
Temperature control, right
9
Air volume (automatic, manual)
10
Temperature control, left
11
Air recirculation
12
Air distribution, left
13
Activated charcoal filter
Warning!
G
Follow the recommended settings for heat-
ing and cooling given on the following pag-
es. Otherwise the windows could fog up,
impairing visibility and endangering you and
others.

160 Controls in detailAutomatic climate control
Setting the temperature
Use temperature controls (
page 159)
10for the left side or8 for the right side to
separately adjust the air temperature on
each side of the passenger compartment.
You should raise or lower the temperature
setting in small increments, preferably
starting at 72°F (22°C).
Increasing / decreasing

Press button 10 or 8 repeatedly up or
down until the display shows the de-
sired temperature.
The automatic climate control system
will accordingly adjust the interior air
temperature.Adjusting the temperature for center
air vents
When outside temperatures are low, you
can manually raise the air temperature for
the center and side air vents. The
thumbwheel4 is located between the cen-
ter air vents (
page 157).
Automatic temperature control

Turn thumbwheel 4 to A.
The indicator lamp above the thumb-
wheel lights up. The temperature is au-
tomatically adjusted to the set value.
Turning on warm air

Turn thumbwheel4 in the direction of
the white marking.
Warm air will enter from the center air
vent.
iThe current climate control settings
(ON / OFF, temperature, air volume, ac-
tivated charcoal filter, etc.) are stored
for each electronic key before it is re-
moved from the starter switch or when
the vehicle is locked using the
KEYLESS-GO* card (
page 105).
If the vehicle interior is hot, ventilate
the interior before driving off.
Keep the air intake grille in front of the
windshield free of snow, leaves, sticks
and any other debris.
Do not obstruct air volume by placing
objects on the air volume-through ex-
haust slots below the rear window.
iWhen operating the climate control
system in automatic mode, you will
only rarely need to adjust the tempera-
ture, air volume and air distribution.

162 Controls in detailAutomatic climate controlWindshield fogged on the outside
Switch the windshield wipers on.

Press on both
U
buttons until they
click in.
The
h
, V
, j
and
k
sym-
bols are no longer visible.

Press button
,
to switch off the air
recirculation (
page 159).
The indicator lamp on the button goes
out.

Set blower to the maximum speed.
Adjusting air volume
Use air volume control9 (
page 159) for
both automatic and manual air volume ad-
justment.
Adjusting automatically

PressA on air volume switch9
(page 159).
The display shows “AUTO”. The air vol-
ume is adjusted automatically.Adjusting manually
Reducing air volume

Press switch 9 down until the desired
air volume is reached.
The display shows the current level.
Increasing air volume

Press switch9 up until the desired air
volume is reached.
The display shows the current level.
Maximum cooling MAXCOOL
If the left and right air distribution controls
as well as the air volume control are set
to
U
and there is a high need for cool-
ing, the display “AUTO MAXCOOL” ap-
pears.
This provides the fastest possible cooling
of the vehicle interior (when windows and
sliding / pop-up roof are closed).
Defrosting
Activating
Press button
P
(page 159).
The indicator lamp on the button lights
up.
Switch off air recirculation, if selected.

Press button
,
(page 159).
The indicator lamp on the button goes
out.

Close center air vents.

Adjust side air vents upwards.
Deactivating

Press button
P
(page 159).
The indicator lamp on the button goes
out. Defrosting is turned off.
iThese settings should only be selected
for a short time.

166 Controls in detailAutomatic climate controlDeactivating the climate control sys-tem
Deactivating
It is possible to completely deactivate the
automatic climate control system. 
Press button
M
(page 159).
The display shows “0”
Reactivating
There are several ways to reactivate the
automatic climate control system:

Press one of the following buttons, M
, P
, U
, a temperature con-
trol switch (
page 159) or air volume
switch 9 on the climate control panel.
Air conditioning
The air conditioning is operational while
the engine is running and cools the interior
air to the temperature set by the operator.
Deactivating
It is possible to deactivate the air condi-
tioning (cooling) function of the automatic
climate control system. The air in the vehi-
cle will then no longer be cooled or dehu-
midified.
Press buttonAC
OFF
(page 159).
The indicator lamp on the
buttonAC
OFF
lights up.Activating
Moist air can fog up the windows. You can
dehumidify the air with the air condition-
ing.

PressAC
OFF
again (
page 159).
The indicator lamp on the
buttonAC
OFF
goes out.
The air conditioning uses the refrigerant
R134a. This refrigerant is free of CFCs
which are harmful to the ozone layer.
iCondensation may drip out from under-
neath the vehicle. This is normal and
not an indication of a malfunction.
!If theAC
OFF
button on the automatic
climate control panel starts to blink,
this indicates that the air conditioning
is losing refrigerant. The compressor
has turned itself off. The air condition-
ing cannot be turned on again.
Have the air conditioning checked at
the nearest authorized Mercedes-Benz
Center.