2003 MERCEDES-BENZ CL600 wheel

146 Controls in detailAutomatic transmissionGear selector lever position
Effect
P
Park position
Selector position when the vehicle
is parked. Only place selector lever
in positionP when vehicle is
stopped. The park position is not in-
tended to serve as a brake when
the vehicle is parked. Rather, the
driver should always set the park-
ing brake in addition to placing the
selector lever in positionP to se-
cure the vehicle.
The key can only be removed from
the starter switch with the selector
lever in positionP. With the key re-
moved the selector lever is locked
in positionP.
Effect
R
Reverse gear
Place selector lever in positionR only
when vehicle is stopped.
N
Neutral
No power is transmitted from the en-
gine to the drive axle. When the
brakes are released, the vehicle can
be moved freely (pushed or towed).
To avoid damage to the transmission,
never engageN while driving.
If the ESP is deactivated or malfunc-
tioning:
Only move selector lever toN if the
vehicle is in danger of skidding (e.g.
on icy roads).
D
Drive
The transmission shifts automatical-
ly. All five forward gears are avail-
able.
!Coasting the vehicle, or driving for any
other reason with selector lever inN
can result in transmission damage that
is not covered by the Mercedes-Benz
Limited Warranty.Warning!
G
Getting out of your vehicle with the selector
lever not fully engaged in positionP is dan-
gerous. Also, positionP alone is not intend-
ed to or capable of preventing your vehicle
from moving, possibly hitting people or ob-
jects.
Always set the parking brake in addition to
shifting to positionP (
page 44).
When parked on an incline, turn the front
wheels towards the road curb.

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.

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.

161 Controls in detail
Automatic climate control
Turning on cooler air
Turn thumbwheel4 in the direction of
the blue marking.
Cooler air will enter from the center air
vent.
Adjusting air distribution
Use the air distribution controls12 and6
(page 159) to separately adjust the air
distribution on each side of the passenger
compartment. The following symbols are
found on the controls:Adjusting manually

Press button
U
.
The button emerges and the
h
,
V
, j
and
k
symbols become
visible.

Turn the marking on the regulator to
the desired symbol.
The air will be directed to the vents cor-
responding to this symbol.
Adjusting automatically

Press button
U
until it clicks in.
The
h
, V
, j
and
k
sym-
bols are no longer visible. The air distri-
bution is adjusted automatically.Windows fogged on the inside

Press button AC
OFF
t o s w i t c h o n t h e a i r
conditioning (
page 159).
The indicator lamp in the button goes
out.

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

Adjust left and right air vents1 and6
upwards (
page 157).

Set blower to the maximum speed.

Increase temperature setting.

Open the side air vents9 and direct
them onto the side windows
(page 157).
Symbol
Function
h
Directs air through the cen-
ter air vents
j
Directs air to the windows
V
Directs air into the entire
vehicle interior
k
Directs air to the footwells

168 Controls in detailAutomatic climate controlSwitching ventilation on
Push upper portion of switch.
Switching ventilation off

Push lower portion of switch.Rear passenger compartment adjust-
able air vents
1Left center air vent
2Right center air vent
3Thumbwheel for center air vents with
adjustable booster blower
To open center air vents and to adjust the
booster blower:
Turn thumbwheel3.
iThe compartment can get very warm
due to its confined space. When storing
heat sensitive objects in the compart-
ment, close the air vent while heating
the passenger compartment.!Do not obstruct the air vent in the stor-
age compartment.
iThe booster blower allows air volume
speed to the rear passenger compart-
ment to be increased at four different
levels.
The temperature at the air vents for
rear passenger compartment1 and2
is the same as at the dashboard center
air vents.

176 Controls in detailDriving systems
Driving systemsThe driving systems of your vehicle are de-
scribed on the following pages:

Cruise control and Distronic*, with
which the vehicle can maintain a preset
speed


ABC with vehicle level control systems,
with which you can change vehicle sus-
pension characteristics.


Parktronic system*, which serves as a
parking assistant.
The BAS, ABS and ESP driving systems are
described in the “Safety and Security” sec-
tion (page 71).
Cruise control
Cruise control automatically maintains the
speed you set for your vehicle.
Use of cruise control is recommended for
driving at a constant speed for extended
periods of time. You can set any speed
over 20 mph (30 km/h).
The cruise control function is operated by
means of the cruise control lever.
The cruise control lever is the uppermost
lever found on the left-hand side of the
steering column (
page 20).
Warning!
G
Cruise control is a convenience system de-
signed to assist the driver during vehicle op-
eration. The driver is and must remain at all
times responsible for the vehicle speed and
for safe brake operation.
Only use cruise control if the road, traffic
and weather conditions make it advisable to
travel at a steady speed.

The use of cruise control can be danger-
ous on winding roads or in heavy traffic
because conditions do not allow safe
driving at a steady speed.


The use of cruise control can be danger-
ous on slippery roads. Rapid changes in
tire traction can result in wheel spin and
loss of control.


Deactivate cruise control when driving
in fog.
The “Resume” function should only be oper-
ated if the driver is fully aware of the previ-
ously set speed and wishes to resume this
particular preset speed.