2003 MERCEDES-BENZ CL600 seat adjustment

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.

97 Controls in detail
Seats
Head restraints
Information on head restraint adjustment
can be found in the “Getting started” sec-
tion (
page 36).Front seat head restraints
Removing front head restraints

Press switch1 upwards and hold until
the head restraint is fully extended.

Pull out head restraint.
Installing front head restraints:

Press switch1 upwards and hold for
about five seconds.

Push the head restraint down until it
engages.

Adjust head restraint to desired posi-
tion (
page 35).Rear seat head restraints
Folding rear head restraints back

Make sure the ignition is switched on.
All the lamps in the instrument cluster
should light up.
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.iTilt the seat backrest to the rear for
easier removal and installation of the
head restraints.
Warning!
G
For safety reasons, always drive with the
rear head restraints in the upright position
when the rear seats are occupied.
Keep the area around head restraints clear
of articles (e.g. clothing) to not obstruct the
folding operation of the head restraints.iYou can adjust the angle manually by
pulling or pushing the head restraints
by hand.


99 Controls in detail
Seats
Multicontour seat*
The multicontour seat has a movable seat
cushion and inflatable air cushions built
into the seat backrest to provide additional
lumbar and side support.
The seat cushion movement, seat backrest
cushion height and curvature can be con-
tinuously varied with regulators on the
right side of the seat after turning the
SmartKey in the starter switch to
position2 or pressing the KEYLESS-GO*
start / stop button twice.1Shoulder region support
2Side bolster adjustment
3Massage function (PULSE)
4Lumbar region support
Adjusting the multicontour seat in the or-
der listed above is recommended.

Make sure the ignition is switched on.
All lamps in the instrument cluster light
up.
Shoulder region support

Press
æ
or
ç
on switch1.
The air cushion inflates or deflates.Lumbar region support

Press
k
or
j
on rocker
switch4.
This selects the air cushion you wish to
adjust.

Press
æ
or
ç
on rocker
switch4.
The air cushion inflates or deflates.
Side bolsters adjustment

Adjust the side bolsters so that they
provide good lateral support using
switch 2.iWhen the engine is turned off, the last
cushion setting is retained in memory,
and the cushion is automatically ad-
justed to this setting when the engine
is restarted.

100 Controls in detailSeatsMassage function (PULSE)
You can reduce muscle tension during long
trips by periodically using the massage
function. 
Press button3.
The indicator lamp on button3 lights
up. The air cushions in the lumbar re-
gion inflate and deflate rhythmically.
Folding forward front seat backrests
Folding seat backrests forward
Lift release lever and fold backrest for-
ward.
The seat will automatically slide for-
ward and the head restraint will move
down.Folding seat backrests to the rear

Lift release lever and fold backrest
back.
The seat and head restraint return to
their previous positions.
To interrupt the procedure, activate the
seat adjustment switch (
page 35).
iThe massage function switches off au-
tomatically after approximately eight
minutes. The indicator lamp goes out.
iThe head restraint is automatically low-
ered.
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.Warning!
G
Always ensure that no one can become
trapped or injured when the seat is moving.
In case potential danger exists, the proce-
dure can be interrupted by moving the seat
adjustment switch (
page 35) in the door
control panel.

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.

353 Index
A
ABC 190, 347
Messages in display 271
Setting vehicle level 191
ABS 23, 71, 347
ABS control 72
Malfunction indicator lamp 265
Messages in display 272
Warning lamp 265
Accelerator position, automatic
transmission 148
Accident
In case of 48
Activating
Air conditioner (cooling) 166
Air recirculation mode 163
Anti-theft alarm system 77
Central locking (control system) 139
Charcoal filter 164
Distance warning function* 188
Distronic* 184
Easy-entry/exit feature 140
ESP 75
Exterior headlamps 46
Exterior lamps 109Exterior rear view mirror parking
position 152
Front and rear fog lamp 109
Hazard warning flasher 111
Headlamps 46
High beams 111
Ignition 31
Ignition with KEYLESS-GO* start/stop
button 33
Immobilizer 51, 76
Rear window defroster 165
Residual heat 167
Seat heater 103, 104
Seat ventilation* 102
Tow-away alarm 78
Windshield wipers 47
Activating steering wheel gearshift
control 149
Downshifting 150
Upshifting 150
Adding
Coolant 243
Engine oil 241
Additional turn signals 302Adjustable air vents, rear passenger
compartment 168
Adjusting 34
Air distribution 161
Air volume 162
Backrest tilt 36
Exterior rear view mirror 38
Folding forward front seat
backrests 100
Head restraint height 36
Head restraint tilt 36
Inside rear view mirror 38
Instrument cluster illumination 114
Lumbar support 96
Mirrors 38
Multicontour seat* 99
Seat cushion depth 36, 99
Seat cushion tilt 36
Seat fore and aft adjustment 36
Seat height 36
Seat in the lumbar region 99
Seat in the shoulder region 99
Seats 34
Steering column height 38
Steering column length 38
Steering wheel 37