2003 MERCEDES-BENZ CL55AMG warning light

ContentsSafety and Security........................... 53
Occupant safety................................... 54
Airbags ........................................... 55
Seat belts ....................................... 60
Children in the vehicle .................... 63
Blocking of rear window operation . 69
Panic alarm .......................................... 70
Activating ....................................... 70
Deactivating ................................... 70
Driving safety systems ......................... 71
ABS ................................................ 71
BAS ................................................ 73
ESP ................................................. 73
Anti-theft systems................................ 76
Immobilizer..................................... 76
Anti-theft alarm system .................. 77
Tow-away alarm ............................. 78
Controls in detail............................... 79
Locking and unlocking ......................... 80
SmartKey ....................................... 80
KEYLESS-GO card* ........................ 83
Opening the doors
from the inside ............................... 87
Opening the trunk lid
from the inside ............................... 88
Opening the trunk lid
from the outside............................. 89
Trunk lid emergency release .......... 89
Closing the trunk lid ....................... 90
Separately locking the trunk .......... 90
Separately unlocking the trunk ...... 91
Trunk lid
opening / closing system* .............. 91
Power closing assist
for doors and trunk lid.................... 94
Automatic central locking .............. 94
Locking and unlocking
from the inside ............................... 95Seats .................................................... 96
Lumbar support .............................. 96
Easy-entry / exit feature .................. 96
Head restraints ............................... 97
Multicontour seat*.......................... 99
Folding forward
front seat backrests ..................... 100
Seat ventilation* .......................... 102
Seat heating................................. 103
Memory function ............................... 105
Storing positions into memory ..... 106
Recalling positions
from memory ............................... 106
Storing exterior rear
view mirror parking position ........ 107
Lighting ............................................. 108
Exterior lamp switch .................... 108
Combination switch ..................... 111
Hazard warning flasher ................ 111
Interior lighting ............................ 112
Courtesy lighting .......................... 113

10 IntroductionOperator’s Manual
Operator’s ManualThis Operator’s Manual contains a great
deal of useful information. We urge you to
read it carefully and familiarize yourself
with the vehicle before driving.
For your own safety and longer service life
of the vehicle, we urge you to follow the in-
structions and warnings contained in this
manual. Ignoring them could result in dam-
age to the vehicle or personal injury to you
or others. Vehicle damage caused by fail-
ure to follow instructions is not covered by
the Mercedes-Benz Limited Warranty.
Your vehicle may have some or all of the
equipment described in this manual.
Therefore, you may find explanations for
optional equipment not installed in your
vehicle. If you have any questions about
the operation of any equipment, your au-
thorized Mercedes-Benz Center will be
glad to demonstrate the proper proce-
dures.We continuously strive to improve our
product, and ask for your understanding
that we reserve the right to make changes
in design and equipment. Therefore, infor-
mation, illustrations and descriptions in
this Operator’s Manual might differ from
your vehicle.
Optional equipment is also described in
this manual, including operating instruc-
tions wherever necessary. Since they are
special-order items, the descriptions and
illustrations herein may vary slightly from
the actual equipment of your vehicle.
If there are any equipment details that are
not shown or described in this Operator’s
Manual, your authorized Mercedes-Benz
C e n t e r w i l l b e g l a d t o i n f o r m y o u o f c o r r e c t
care and operating procedures.
The Operator’s Manual and Service Book-
let are important documents and should be
kept with the vehicle.
Service and Warranty Information
The Service and Warranty Information
Booklet contains detailed information
about the warranties covering your
Mercedes-Benz, including:

New Car Limited Warranty


Emission System Warranty


Emission Performance Warranty


California, Maine, Massachusetts, and
Vermont Emission Control System
Warranty
(California, Maine, Massachusetts, and
Vermont only)


State Warranty Enforcement Laws
(Lemon Laws)

15 Introduction
Symbols
Symbols
The following symbols are found in this
Operator’s Manual:
* Optional equipment is identified
with an asterisk. Since standard
equipment varies between models,
the descriptions and illustrations in
this manual may differ slightly from
the actual equipment of your vehi-
cle.

This symbol points to instructions for
you to follow.

A number of these symbols appearing
in succession indicates a multiple-step
procedure.
 Page This symbol tells you where to
look for further information on a
topic.
This continuation symbol marks
an interrupted procedure which
will be continued on the next
page.
-> In the glossary of technical
terms, this symbol is used to
cross-reference term defini-
tions.
DISPLAY
Words appearing in the multi-
function display are printed in
the type shown here.
Warning!
G
Warning notices draw your attention to haz-
ards that may endanger your health or life,
or the health or life of others.!Highlights hazards that may result in
damage to your vehicle.iHelpful hints or further information you
may find useful.

25 At a glance
Center console
Center console
Upper part
Item
Page
1
Rear window sunshade
156
2
Parking assist* (Parktronic
system) deactivation
switch
193
3
Active Body Control (ABC)
190
4
Level control switch
191
5
Central locking switch
95
Anti-theft alarm system in-
dicator lamp
77
6
Hazard warning flasher
on/off switch
111
7
Central unlocking switch
95
Item
Page
8
Electronic Stability Pro-
gram (ESP) control switch
75
9
Rear seat head restraints,
switch for folding down
97
10
Tow-away alarm switch
78
11
COMAND (see separate
operating instructions)
12
Automatic climate control
157
13
Ashtray
206
Lighter
207

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.

38 Getting startedAdjustingSteering column, lengthen or shorten
Move stalk forward or backward in the
direction of arrow 1 until a comfortable
steering wheel position is reached with
your arms slightly bent at the elbow.
Steering column, height

Move the stalk up or down in the direc-
tion of arrow 2. Make sure that your
legs can move freely and that all the
displays (including malfunction and in-
dicator lamps) on the instrument clus-
ter are clearly visible.
Please refer to “Controls in detail” for in-
formation on the heated steering wheel*
(
page 208).
Mirrors
Adjust the inside and exterior rear view
mirrors before driving so that you have a
good view of the road and traffic condi-
tions.Inside rear view mirror

Manually adjust the inside rear view
mirror.
Exterior rear view mirror
Warning!
G
In the case of an accident liquid electrolyte
may escape the mirror housing if the mirror
glass breaks.
Electrolyte has an irritating effect. Do not al-
low the liquid to come into contact with
eyes, skin, clothing, or respiratory system.
In case it does, immediately flush affected
area with water, and seek medical help if
necessary.
Warning!
G
Exercise care when using the passenger
side exterior rear view mirror. The mirror
surface is convex (outwardly curved surface
for a wider field of view). Objects in mirror
are closer than they appear. Check your in-
side rear view mirror or glance over your
shoulder before changing lanes.

46 Getting startedDrivingSwitching on headlampsExterior lamp switch1Off
2Low beam headlamps on
Turn the switch to
B
.More information can be found in the
“Controls in detail” section (
page 108).
Turn signals and high beam
The combination switch is on the left of the
steering column.Combination switch1Turn signals, right
2Turn signals, left
Press the combination switch up1 or
down2.High beam

Push the combination switch forward.
The high beam headlights are switched
on.
The high beam symbol
A
in the
tachometer lights up.
More information can be found in the
“Controls in detail” section (
page 111).
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.
iTo signal minor directional changes,
e.g. passing or changing lanes, move
combination switch to point of resis-
tance only and release. The turn signal
blinks three times.

51 Getting started
Parking and locking
Turning off engine 
Place the gear selector lever in
positionP.
Turning off engine with the SmartKey

Turn the key in the starter switch
(page 31) to position0 and remove
it.
The immobilizer is activated.

Press the seat belt release button
(page 41).

After exiting the vehicle press the lock
button
‹
on the SmartKey
(
page 30).
The locking knobs on the doors move
down. The turn signal indicators light
up briefly.More information can be found in the
“Controls in detail” section (
page 80).
Turning off engine with KEYLESS-GO*

Place the gear selector lever inP.

Press the KEYLESS-GO start/stop but-
ton until the engine shuts off.
With the driver's door closed, the start-
er switch is now in position1. With the
driver’s door opened, the starter switch
is set to position0, same as key re-
moved from starter switch. The immo-
bilizer is activated (
page 31).
iAlways set the parking brake in addi-
tion to shifting to position P.
On steep slopes, turn the front wheels
towards the curb.iThe SmartKey can only be removed
from the starter switch with the gear
selector lever in positionP.
!With the SmartKey removed and the
driver’s door open, a warning sounds if
the vehicle’s exterior lamps are not
switched off.Warning!
G
To prevent possible personal injury, always
keep hands and fingers away from the door
openings when closing the doors. Be espe-
cially careful when small children are
around.
Before closing doors, make sure that there
is no possibility of someone getting caught
in a door during closing.
Warning!
G
When leaving the vehicle, always remove the
key from the starter switch and lock your ve-
hicle. 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.