2004 MERCEDES-BENZ CL500 engine

127 Controls in detail
Instrument cluster
Coolant temperature gauge
During severe operating conditions,
e.g. stop-and-go traffic, the coolant tem-
perature may rise close to 248° F (120°C),
i.e. close to the red zone of the coolant
temperature gauge.
The engine should not be operated with
the coolant temperature above 248° F
(120°C), i.e. in the red zone of the coolant
temperature gauge. Doing so may cause
serious engine damage which is not cov-
ered by the Mercedes-Benz Limited War-
ranty.
Trip odometer
Make sure you are viewing the trip
odometer display.

If it is not displayed, press the è or
ÿ button on the multifunction
steering wheel repeatedly until the trip
odometer appears (
page 129).

Press and hold reset button on the in-
strument cluster (
page 22) until the
trip odometer is reset.
Warning!
G


Driving when your engine is badly over-
heated can cause some fluids which
may have leaked into the engine com-
partment to catch fire. You could be se-
riously burned.


Steam from an overheated engine can
cause serious burns and can occur just
by opening the hood. Stay away from
the engine if you see or hear steam com-
ing from it.
Turn off the engine, get out of the vehicle
and do not stand near the vehicle until the
engine has cooled down.
iExcessive coolant temperature triggers
a warning in the multifunction display
(page 306).

128 Controls in detailInstrument clusterTachometer
The red marking on the tachometer de-
notes excessive engine speed.
To help protect the engine, the fuel supply
is interrupted if the engine is operated
within the red marking.
CL 55 AMG
The tachometer of the CL 55 AMG does
not have a red marking denoting excessive
engine speed.
To help protect the engine, the fuel supply
is interrupted if the engine is operated at
an excessive engine speed.
Outside temperature indicator
The outside temperature is displayed in
the instrument cluster (
page 22). For in-
formation on how to select the unit of the
displayed temperature, i.e. degrees
Celsius (°C) or degrees Fahrenheit (°F),
see “Selecting temperature display mode”
(
page 148).The temperature sensor is located in the
front bumper area. Due to its location, the
sensor can be affected by road or engine
heat during idling or slow driving. There-
fore, the accuracy of the displayed temper-
ature can only be verified by comparison to
a thermometer placed next to the sensor,
not by comparison to external displays
(e.g. bank signs, etc.).
When moving the vehicle into colder ambi-
ent temperatures (e.g. when leaving your
garage), you will notice a delay before the
lower temperature is displayed.
A delay also occurs when ambient temper-
atures rise. This prevents inaccurate tem-
perature indications caused by heat
radiated from the engine during idling or
slow driving.
!Avoid driving at excessive engine
speeds, as it may result in serious en-
gine damage that is not covered by the
Mercedes-Benz Limited Warranty.
Warning!
G
The outside temperature indicator is not de-
signed to serve as an ice-warning device and
is therefore unsuitable for that purpose.
Indicated temperatures just above the freez-
ing point do not guarantee that the road sur-
face is free of ice. The road may still be icy,
especially in wooded areas or on bridges.

133 Controls in detail
Control system
Menus, submenus and functions
Menu1
Standard dis-
play
Menu2
AUDIO
Menu3
Telephone*
Menu4
NAVI
Menu5
Distronic*
Menu6
Trip computer
Menu7
Malfunction
memory
Menu8
Settings
Commands / submenusCall up FSS
Select radio
station
Load phone
book
Activate
route guid-
ance
Call up set-
tings
Fuel consumption
statistics after
start
Call up malfunc-
tion messages
Reset to factory
settings
Check tire
pressure*
Select satel-
lite radio* sta-
tion (USA only)
Search for
name in
phone book
Fuel consumption
statistics since
the last reset
Instrument clus-
ter submenu
Check engine
oil level
Operate CD
player
Select
number last
dialed
Call up range
Lighting sub-
menu
Digital speed-
ometer
Operate
cassette play-
er
Vehicle sub-
menuConvenience
submenu

134 Controls in detailControl system
Standard display menu
You can select the functions in the stan-
dard display menu with buttonj
ork.
The following functions are available:
Display digital speedometer
Press the j or k button repeat-
edly until you see the digital speedom-
eter appear in the display.
The current vehicle speed is shown in
the multifunction display.
AUDIO menu
The functions in the
AUDIO
menu operate
the audio equipment which you currently
have turned on.
If no audio equipment is currently turned
on, the message
AUDIO OFF
is shown in the
display.
The following functions are available:
iThe headings used in the menus table
are designed to facilitate navigation
within the system and are not neces-
sarily identical to those shown in the
control system displays. The first func-
tion displayed in each menu will auto-
matically show you which part of the
system you are in.
Function
Page
Call up FSS
283
Check tire pressure*
275
Check engine oil level
262
Call up digital speedometer
134
Function
Page
Select radio station
135
Select satellite radio* station
(USA only)
135
Operate CD player
136
Operate cassette player
136

139 Controls in detail
Control system
TEL menu*
You can use the functions in the
TEL
menu
to operate your telephone, provided it is
connected to a hands-free system and
switched on.

Switch on the telephone and COMAND.

Press buttonè orÿ on the
steering wheel repeatedly until you see
the
TEL
menu in the display.Which messages will appear in the display
field depends on whether your telephone is
switched on or off:


If the telephone is off, the message in
the multifunction display is:
TEL OFF
.


If the telephone is on:
The telephone will then search for a
network. During this time the display
reads
NO SERVICE
.
As soon as the telephone has found a
network,
READY
is indicated in the dis-
play.
The standby message indicates that your
telephone is ready for use and you can op-
erate it using the control system.
Warning!
G
A driver’s attention to the road and traffic
conditions must always be his / her primary
focus when driving. For your safety and the
safety of others, we recommend that you
pull over to a safe location and stop before
making or taking a telephone call. If you
choose to use the telephone while driving,
please use the hands-free device and only
use the telephone when weather, road and
traffic conditions permit.
Some jurisdictions prohibit the driver from
using a cellular telephone while driving a ve-
hicle.
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 14 m) every second.
Never operate radio transmitters equipped
with a built-in or attached antenna (i.e. with-
out being connected to an external antenna)
from inside the vehicle while the engine is
running. Doing so could lead to a malfunc-
tion of the vehicle’s electronic system, pos-
sibly resulting in an accident and / or
personal injury.

143 Controls in detail
Control system
Trip computer menu
Use the trip computer menu to call up sta-
tistical data on your vehicle. The following
information is available:
Fuel consumption statistics after start
Press buttonè orÿ repeatedly
until you see the first function of the
Trip computer menu.

Press buttonj ork repeatedly
until you see this message in the dis-
play:
AFTER START
.1Distance driven since start
2Time elapsed since start
3Average fuel consumption since start
4Average speed since startFuel consumption since last reset

Press buttonè orÿ repeatedly
until you see the first function of the
Trip computer menu.

Press buttonj ork repeatedly
until you see this message in the dis-
play:
AFTER RESET
.
1Distance driven since last reset
2Time elapsed since last reset
3Average fuel consumption since last re-
set
4Average speed since last reset
Function
Page
Fuel consumption statistics after
start
143
Fuel consumption statistics
since last reset
143
Resetting fuel consumption sta-
tistics
144
Call up range (distance to empty)
144
iThe
AFTER START
display will flash until
a distance of approximately 1 mile
(1.6 km) has been covered or two min-
utes have elapsed since the engine was
restarted. During this period, you can
incorporate the values for the previous
journey by pressing the reset button on
the instrument cluster (
page 22).
If the reset button is not pressed, the
AFTER START
values are set to
0.

154 Controls in detailControl systemConvenience submenu
Access the
CONVENIENCE
submenu via the
SETTINGS
menu. Use the
CONVENIENCE
sub-
menu to change the settings for a number
of convenience features. The following
functions are available:Setting key-dependency
Use this function to set whether the mem-
ory settings for the seats, the steering
wheel, the mirrors, and the automatic cli-
mate control should be stored separately
for each SmartKey (
page 116).

Move the selection marker with
theæ orç button to
the
CONVENIENCE
submenu.

Press buttonj ork repeatedly
until you see this message in the dis-
play:
SETTINGS KEY-DEPENDENT
.
The selection marker is on the current
setting.

Pressæ orç to set key-depen-
dency to
ON or
OFF
. Activating easy-entry / exit feature
Use this function to activate and deacti-
vate the easy-entry / exit feature. When
the feature is activated, the steering wheel
and driver’s seat will move back to facili-
tate exiting when you:


remove the SmartKey from the starter
switch


open the driver’s door.
However, the engine must be turned off.
Function
Page
Setting key-dependency
154
Activating easy-entry / exit fea-
ture
154
Setting parking position for exte-
rior rear view mirrors
156
Setting fold-in function for exteri-
or rear view mirrors
156
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
SmartKey is removed from the starter
switch.

157 Controls in detail
Automatic transmission
Automatic transmission
For more information on driving with an au-
tomatic transmission, see the “Getting
started” section (
page 45).
Your vehicle’s transmission adapts its gear
shifting process to your individual driving
style by continually adjusting the shift
points up or down. These shift point adjust-
ments are performed based on current op-
erating and driving conditions.
If the operating conditions change, the
automatic transmission reacts by adjust-
ing its gear shift program.The automatic transmission selects indi-
vidual gears automatically, depending on:


the gear selector lever positionD with
gear ranges (
page 159)


the selected shift program (C/S)
(page 163)
or
(C/S/M) (CL 55 AMG only)
(page 164)


the position of the accelerator pedal


the vehicle speed
The current gear selector lever position
and shift program (
C/S) or (
C/S/M) appear
in the tachometer display (
page 22).When the gear selector lever is in
positionD, you can influence transmission
shifting by:


limiting the gear range


changing gears manually
iDuring the brief warm-up, transmission
upshifting is delayed. This allows the
catalytic converter to heat up more
quickly to operating temperature.
Warning!
G
It is dangerous to shift the gear selector le-
ver out of P or N if the engine speed is high-
er than idle speed. If your foot is not firmly
on the brake pedal, the vehicle could accel-
erate quickly forward or reverse. You could
lose control of the vehicle and hit someone
or something. Only shift into gear when the
engine is idling normally and when your right
foot is firmly on the brake pedal.