2003 MERCEDES-BENZ E500 key

116 Controls in detailLightingInterior lighting
The controls are located in the overhead
control panel.
1Switch for reading lamp, left
2Switch for rear compartment lighting
3Switch for automatic function
4Switch for interior lighting in front
5Switch for reading lamp, right
6Ambient lighting
7Interior lighting8Reading lamps
Activating automatic control

Press button3.
Interior lamps are switched on in dark-
ness, when

unlocking the vehicle


opening a door


removing the SmartKey from the
starter switch
The interior lamps are switched off follow-
ing an adjustable time delay (
page 141).Deactivating automatic control

Press button3.
The interior lighting remains switched
off, even when

centrally unlocking the vehicle


opening a door


removing the SmartKey from the
starter switch
Manual control
Switching rear interior lights on and off

Press button2.
The lights in the rear passenger com-
partment go on.

Press button2 again.
The lights in the rear passenger com-
partment go out.
iIf the door remains open, the interior
lamps switch off automatically after ap-
proximately five minutes when the key
is removed or in starter switch
position0.
An interior lamp switched on manually
does not go out automatically.

117 Controls in detail
Lighting
Switching left front reading lamp on and
off
Press button1.
The left reading lamp goes on.

Press button1 again.
The left reading lamp goes out.
Switching right front reading lamp on
and off

Press button5.
The right reading lamp goes on.

Press button5 again.
The right reading lamp goes out.
Door entry lamps
The appropriate door entry lamp switches
on if a door is opened in darkness and if
the interior lighting is switched to the auto-
matic function.
The entry lamp goes out automatically
when the door is closed.
Trunk lamp
The trunk lamp switches on if the trunk lid
is opened.
If you leave the trunk open for an extended
period of time, the trunk lamp will switch
off automatically after approximately ten
minutes.
iIf you turn the key in the starter switch
to position0 or remove the key, the
door entry lamps will remain lit for ap-
proximately five minutes.

121 Controls in detail
Control system
Control system
The control system is activated as soon as
the key in the starter switch is turned to
position1. The control system enables you
to

call up information about your vehicle


change vehicle settings.
For example, you can use the control sys-
tem to find out when your vehicle is next
due for service, to set the language for
messages in the instrument cluster dis-
play, and much more.
The control system relays information to
the multifunction display.
Multifunction display
1Segment ring
2Standard display
3Trip odometer
iThe displays for the audio systems (ra-
dio, CD player, cassette player) will ap-
pear in English, regardless of the
language selected.
Warning!
G
A driver’s attention to the road must always
be his /her primary focus when driving.
For your safety and the safety of others, se-
lecting features through the multifunction
steering wheel should only be done by the
driver when traffic and road conditions per-
mit it to be done safely.
Bear in mind that at a speed of just 30 mph
(approximately 50 km/h), your vehicle is
covering a distance of 44 feet (approximate-
ly 13.5 m) every second.

128 Controls in detailControl systemOperate the cassette player
Turn on the radio and select the ca-
sette player, see separate operating in-
structions.
Vehicles with COMAND*: Refer to sep-
arate operating instructions.

Press buttonè orÿ repeatedly
until the settings for the cassette cur-
rently being played are shown in the
display.
1Current side

Press buttonj to fast forward to
the next track.

Press buttonk to rewind the cas-
sette to the beginning of the current
track.
NAVI*
Refer to separate COMAND* operating in-
structions.
Distronic* menu
Use the Distronic menu to display the cur-
rent settings for your Distronic system.
What information is shown in the display
depends on whether the Distronic system
is active or inactive.
Please refer to the "Driving systems" sec-
tion of this manual (
page 197) for in-
structions on how to activate Distronic.

Press buttonè orÿ repeatedly
until you see one of the following two
pictures in the display.
iTo select a CD from the magazine,
press a number on the audio system or
the COMAND* system key pad located
in the center dashboard.
iTo select the reverse side of the tape,
press button below track number on
the audio system display, or enter re-
quest on the COMAND* system locat-
ed in the center dashboard.

130 Controls in detailControl system
Press buttonè orÿ repeatedly
until you see the malfunction message
memory in the display.
No malfunction messages
If no malfunctions have occured, the mes-
sage in the display is:
No MalfunctionMalfunctions have occurred
If malfunctions have occurred, you will see
the number of malfunctions in the display:

Press buttonk orj.
The stored messages will now be dis-
played in order. See the "Practical
hints" section for malfunction and
warning messages (
page 295).
Should any malfunctions occur while driv-
ing, the number of malfunctions will reap-
pear in the display when the key in the
starter switch is turned to position0 or re-
moved from the starter switch.
Settings menu
In the
Settings
menu there are two func-
tions:


The function
To reset: Press reset
button for 3 seconds
, with which you
can reset all the settings to the original
factory settings.


A collection of submenus with which
you can make individual settings for
your vehicle.

Press buttonè orÿ repeatedly
until the
Settings
menu is seen in the
display.
iThe message memory will be cleared
when you turn the key in the starter
switch to position1 or2. You will then
only see high priority malfunctions.
These are highlighted by red back-
ground (
page 295).

133 Controls in detail
Control system
CONVENIENCE
DYNAMIC SEAT*
Activate easy-entry/exit feature
Set level for dynamic seat, driv-
er
Set key dependency
Set level for dynamic seat, pas-
senger
Set parking position for exterior
rear view mirror

140 Controls in detailControl system
The selection marker is on the current
setting.

Pressæ orç to select the de-
sired setting.

Turn the exterior lamp switch to posi-
tion U.
The locator lighting will be switched on
or off.
Ambient light level
Using this function, you can adjust the
brightness of the ambient lighting.

Move the selection marker with the
æ orç button to the
Lighting
submenu.

Press button j ork, repeatedly
until you see the message
Ambient
light Level
in the display
.
The selection marker is on the current
setting.

Press æ orç to select the
brightness of the lighting.
1 represents
the darkest setting and
5 represents
the brightest setting.
The ambient light is switched off below
setting
1 or above setting
5. The selec-
tion marker points to
off
.Setting night security illumination (Exte-
rior lamps delayed switch-off)
Use the
Headlamps delayed shut-off

function to set whether and for how long
you would like the exterior lamps to illumi-
nate during darkness after all doors are
closed. When the delayed switch-off fea-
ture is activated, the following lamps will
remain lit after you remove the key from
the starter switch:


Parking lamps


Tail lamps


License plate lamps


Front fog lamps
The exterior lamp switch must be set to po-
sition U (
page 112).
iYou can reactivate this function within
ten minutes by opening a door.
If you do not open a door after remov-
ing the key, the lamps will automatical-
ly switch off after 60 seconds.

141 Controls in detail
Control system

Move the selection marker with
theæ orç button to the
Light-
ing
submenu.

Press buttonj ork repeatedly
until you see this message in the dis-
play:
Headlamps delayed shut-off
.
The selection marker is on the current
setting.

Pressæ orç to select the de-
sired lamp-on period.
You can select:

0 s
, the delayed switch-off feature
is deactivated.


15 s
, 30 s
, 45 s
or
60 s
, the delayed
switch-off feature is activated.

Turn the exterior lamp switch to posi-
tion U.You can temporarily deactivate the de-
layed switch-off feature:

Before leaving the vehicle, turn the key
in the starter switch to position0.

Then turn it to position2 and back
to0.
The delayed switch-off feature is deac-
tivated. It will reactivate as soon as you
reinsert the key in the starter switch.
For vehicles with KEYLESS-GO*:

Press the KEYLESS-GO start/stop but-
ton on the gear selector lever
(page 33).Interior lighting delayed switch-off
Use this function to set whether and for
how long you would like the interior light-
ing to remain lit during darkness after the
key is removed from the starter switch.

Move the selection marker with
theæ orç button to the
Light-
ing
submenu.

Press buttonj ork repeatedly
until you see this message in the dis-
play:
Interior lamp delayed
shut-off
.
The selection marker is on the current
setting.