2003 MERCEDES-BENZ CL55AMG steering wheel adjustment

21 At a glance
Cockpit
Item
Page
1
Combination switch

Turn signals
46


Windshield wipers
47


High beam
111
2
Cruise control lever

Cruise control
176


Distronic*
179
3
Instrument cluster
22,
111
4
Multifunction steering
wheel
24,
118
5
Gear range indicator, clock
22
Item
Page
6
Lever for voice control sys-
tem* (see separate operat-
ing instructions)
7
Parking assist* (Parktronic)
right front area warning in-
dicator
195
8
Overhead control panel
27
9
Glove box lock
199
10
Glove box lid release
199
11
Glove box
199
12
Center console
25,
26
13
Starter switch
31
14
Horn
Item
Page
15
Steering wheel adjustment
stalk
37
Heated steering wheel*
208
16
Parking brake pedal
44
17
Hood lock release
237
18
Parking brake release
44
19
Door control panel
28
20
Exterior lamp switch
46,
108
21
Headlamp washer button
154
22
Parking assist* (Parktronic)
left front area warning indi-
cator
195

34 Getting startedAdjusting
AdjustingSeatsWarning!
G
All seat, head restraint, steering wheel, and
rear view mirror adjustments, as well as fas-
tening of seat belts, must be done before
the vehicle is put into motion.Warning!
G
Do not adjust the driver’s seat while driving.
Adjusting the seat while driving could cause
the driver to lose control of the vehicle.
Never ride in a moving vehicle with the seat
back reclined. Sitting in an extremely re-
clined position can be dangerous. You could
slide under the seat belt in a collision. If you
slide under it, the belt would apply force at
the abdomen or neck. That could cause se-
rious or fatal injuries. The seat back and seat
belts provide the best restraint when the
wearer is in an upright position and belts are
properly positioned on the body.
Your seat must be adjusted so that you can
correctly fasten your seat belt.
Never place hands under the seat or near
any moving parts while a seat is being ad-
justed.Warning!
G
When leaving the vehicle, always remove the
key from the starter switch, take the KEY-
LESS-GO* card with you, and lock your vehi-
cle.
The power seats can also be operated with
the driver’s or passenger door open. Do not
leave children unattended in the vehicle, or
with access to an unlocked vehicle. Unsu-
pervised use of vehicle equipment may
cause an accident and/or serious personal
injury.
Warning!
G
Children 12 years old and under must never
ride in the front seat, except in a
Mercedes-Benz authorized BabySmart
TM
compatible child seat, which operates with
the BabySmart
TM system installed in the ve-
hicle to deactivate the front passenger air-
bag when it is properly installed. Otherwise
they will be struck by the airbag when it in-
flates in a crash. If this happens, serious or
fatal injury will result.
According to accident statistics, children
are safer when properly restrained in the
rear seating positions than in the front seat-
ing positions. Infants and small children
must ride in back seats and be seated in an
appropriate infant or child restraint system,
which is properly secured with the vehicle's
seat belt and top tether strap, or secured via
lower anchors and top tether strap, fully in
accordance with the child seat manufactur-
er’s instructions.

36 Getting startedAdjustingHead restraint height
Press the switch up or down in the di-
rection of arrow1.
Seat height

Press the switch up or down in the di-
rection of arrow2.
Seat cushion tilt

Press the switch up or down in the di-
rection of arrow3 until your upper legs
are lightly supported.Seat cushion depth

Press the switch forward or backward
in the direction of arrow4 until your
legs are supported comfortably.
Seat fore and aft adjustment

Press the switch forward or backward
in the direction of arrow5.
Adjust to a comfortable seating posi-
tion that still allows you to reach the
accelerator / brake pedal safely. The
position should be as far to the rear as
possible, corresponding to the driver’s
ability to properly operate the controls.Seat backrest tilt

Press the switch forward or backward
in the direction of arrow6 until your
arms are slightly angled when holding
the steering wheel.
Head restraint tilt

Manually adjust the angle of the head
restraint. Push or pull on the lower
edge of the head restraint cushion.
Warning!
G
For your protection, drive only with properly
positioned head restraints.
Adjust head restraint to support the back of
the head approximately at ear level.
Do not drive the vehicle without the seat
head restraints. Head restraints are intend-
ed to help reduce injuries during an acci-
dent.
iWhen moving the seat, be sure that
there are no items in the footwell or be-
hind the seats. Otherwise you could
damage the seats.

37 Getting started
Adjusting
More information can be found in the
“Controls in detail” section (
page 97).
Steering wheel Steering wheel adjustment
The stalk for steering wheel adjustment is
located on the steering column (lower left).
1Steering column, lengthen or shorten
2Steering column, height

Turn the key in the starter switch to
position1or2.
or

Press the KEYLESS GO* start/stop
button once or twice.
or

Open the driver’s or passenger door.
iThe front passenger seat head restraint
automatically lowers after a few sec-
onds when the front passenger seat is
not occupied.This improves the driver's
outward view as well as the forward
view from the rear passenger compart-
ment.
When the front passenger seat is occu-
pied again, the front passenger head
restraint returns to the last set position
within a few seconds.
If the front passenger seat was moved
fore or aft while not being occupied,
the front passenger seat head restraint
returns to a position that corresponds
best with the seat's axial position when
the seat is occupied again.
Warning!
G
Do not adjust the steering wheel while driv-
ing. Adjusting the steering wheel while driv-
ing could cause the driver to lose control of
the vehicle.
When leaving the vehicle, always remove the
key from the starter switch, and take the
KEYLESS-GO
* card with you.
The steering wheel adjustment feature can
also be operated with the driver’s door
open. Do not leave children unattended in
the vehicle, or with access to an unlocked
vehicle. Unsupervised use of vehicle equip-
ment may cause an accident and/or serious
personal injury.

56 Safety and SecurityOccupant safety

Adjust the driver’s seat as far as possi-
ble rearward, still permitting proper op-
eration of vehicle controls. The distance
from the center of the driver’s breast-
bone to the center of the airbag cover on
the steering wheel must be at least
10 inches (25 cm) or more. You should
be able to accomplish this by a combina-
tion of adjustments to the seat and
steering wheel. If you have any prob-
lems, please see your authorized
Mercedes-Benz Center.


Do not lean with your head or chest
close to the steering wheel or dash-
board.


Keep hands on the outside of steering
wheel rim. Placing hands and arms in-
side the rim can increase the risk and
potential severity of hand/arm injury
when driver front airbag inflates.


Adjust the front passenger seat as far as
possible rearward from the dashboard
when the seat is occupied.


Occupants, especially children, should
never lean their heads in the area of the
door where the side airbag inflates. This
could result in serious injuries or death
should the airbag be triggered. Always
sit upright, properly use the seat belts
and appropriate size infant or child re-
straint system.


Children 12 years old and under must
never ride in the front seat, except in a
Mercedes-Benz authorized
BabySmart
TM compatible child seat,
which operates with the BabySmart
TM
system installed in the vehicle to deacti-
vate the passenger front airbag when it
is properly installed. Otherwise they will
be struck by the airbag when it inflates
in a crash. If this happens, serious or fa-
tal injury will result.
Failure to follow these instructions can re-
sult in severe injuries to you or other occu-
pants.
If you sell your vehicle you are responsible
to make the buyer aware of these points. Be
sure to give the buyer this Operator’s Manu-
al.
Warning!
G
Accident research shows that the safest
place for children in an automobile is in the
rear seat. Should you choose to place a child
12 years old or under in the front passenger
seat of your vehicle, you must properly use
a BabySmart
TM child restraint which will
turn off the passenger front airbag.
BabySmart
TM will not, however, turn off any
side impact airbag.
It should be noted that with respect to both
front and rear side impact airbags there is a
possibility for a side airbag related injury if
occupants, especially children, are not prop-
erly seated or restrained when next to a side
airbag which needs to deploy rapidly in a
side impact in order to do its job.
To help avoid the possibility of injury, please
follow these guidelines:
(1) Occupants, especially children, should
never place their bodies or lean their
heads in the area of the door where the
side airbag inflates. This could result in

96 Controls in detailSeats
SeatsInformation on seat adjustment can be
found in the “Getting started” section
(page 34).
Lumbar support
You can adjust the contour of the seat’s
lumbar support to best support your back.
The thumbwheels for the driver’s and front
passenger’s seat are on the inner side of
the seat.
1Thumbwheel

Make sure the ignition is switched on.
All the lamps in the instrument cluster
should light up.

Set the lumbar support between 0
and 5.
Easy-entry / exit feature
With the easy-entry / exit feature activat-
ed, the steering wheel tilts upwards and
the driver’s seat moves to the rear.
This allows easier entry into and exit from
the vehicle when the driver’s door is
opened. However, the engine must be
turned off.
When the SmartKey is inserted in the start-
er switch or you have pressed the
KEYLESS-GO* start / stop button once and
the driver’s door is closed, the steering
wheel and the driver’s seat return to their
last set positions.You can activate the following functions:


Steering column:
Only the steering column is adjusted.


Steering column and seat:
Both the steering column and the seat
are adjusted.
The easy-entry / exit feature can be
switched on or off in the in the settings
menu of the control system (
page 140).
Warning!
G
You must make sure that no one can be-
come trapped or injured by the moving
steering wheel and driver’s seat when the
easy-entry / exit feature is activated, the
driver’s door is being opened, and the en-
gine is turned off or the SmartKey removed
from the starter switch. Do not leave chil-
dren unattended in the vehicle, or with ac-
cess to an unlocked vehicle. Unsupervised
use of vehicle equipment may cause an ac-
cident and/or serious personal injury.

101 Controls in detailSeats
Warning!
G
The seat belts provide protection only with
the backrest locked in place and, therefore,
must be locked in place with the vehicle in
motion. Do not drive the vehicle when the
backrest is not locked in place. If the warn-
ing message
SEAT BACKREST, RIGHT -
LOCK
or
SEAT BACKREST, LEFT - LOCK
is
displayed in the multifunction display, then
the respective backrest is not engaged in its
lock. Carefully slow down, and drive with
caution to an area which is in a safe distance
from the roadway. Always provide sufficient
room behind the backrest and fold the back-
rest all the way back until it locks in place.
Keep the area around head restraints clear
of articles (e.g. clothing) to not obstruct the
folding operation of the head restraints.
The warning message is no longer displayed
as soon as the backrest is locked in place. If
both backrests are locked in place and the
warning message is still displayed, have the
system checked at your authorized Mer-
cedes-Benz Center immediately.
When leaving the vehicle, always remove the
electronic key from the starter switch, take
the KEYLESS-GO* card with you, and lock
your vehicle.
The power seats can also be operated with
the driver’s or passenger door open. Do not
leave children unattended in the vehicle or
with access to an unlocked vehicle. Unsu-
pervised use of vehicle equipment may
cause an accident and/or serious personal
injury.
Never place hands under seat or near any
moving parts during a seat adjustment pro-
cedure.
!The automatic seat slide is provided
with a safety feature.
The automatic process is interrupted, if
the backrest of the sliding seat is
pushed against an occupant or object.
The seat will slide forward and stop.
Investigate and correct the cause of in-
terruption.
Now use memory button (
page 105)
or seat adjustment switch (page 35)
to bring seat into desired position.
When folding the backrest forward
from a reclined position, and then fold-
ing it back, the backrest stops in a
more upright position for the safety of
any rear-seat passenger. Adjust the
backrest until your arms are slightly an-
gled when holding the steering
wheel (
page 35).

141 Controls in detail
Control system
After entering the vehicle, the steering
wheel and seat will move into the position
stored in memory when

the driver’s door is closed


you put the key in the starter switch


press the appropriate stored position
button on the memory switch
(page 105).

Move the selection marker with
the
æ
or
ç
button to
the
CONVENIENCE
submenu.

Press button
j
or
k
repeatedly
until you see this message in the dis-
play:
EASY-ENTRY FEATURE ACTIVATE
.
The selection marker is on the current
setting.

Press
æ
or
ç
to change the
easy-entry / exit setting.
The following settings are available for the
easy-entry / exit feature:
Warning!
G
You must make sure that no one can be-
come trapped or injured by the moving
steering wheel and the driver’s seat when
the easy-entry / exit feature is in operation
and the driver’s door is being opened or the
key is removed from the starter switch. Do
not leave children unattended in the vehicle,
or with access to an unlocked vehicle. Unsu-
pervised use of vehicle equipment may
cause an accident and / or serious personal
injury.
Do not leave children unattended in the ve-
hicle, or with access to an unlocked vehicle.
Children could open the driver’s door and
unintentionally activate the easy-entry / exit
feature, which could result in an accident
and / or serious personal injury.
iTo cancel seat / steering wheel move-
ment, do one of the following:

Press seat adjustment switch
(page 35)


Move the steering column stalk
(page 37)


Press the memory switch
(page 105)
OFF
The
easy-entry / exit
feature is deactivat-
ed.
STEER. COL.
Only the steering
column is moved.
ST. COL + SEAT
Both the steering
column and the
seat are moved.