2004 MERCEDES-BENZ CLK55AMG CABRIOLET dashboard

60 Safety and SecurityOccupant safety

Adjust the driver seat as far as possible
rearward, still permitting proper opera-
tion 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 ten
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 or the side where the head-thorax
and rear side-impact airbags inflate.
This could result in serious injuries or
death should the airbag be triggered. Al-
ways sit upright, properly use the seat
belts and appropriate size infant or child
restraint system.


Children 12 years old and under must
never ride in the front seat, except in a
Mercedes-Benz authorized
BabySmart
TM1 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.
Make sure to give the buyer this Operator’s
Manual.
1BabySmart
TM is a trademark of Siemens
Automotive Corp.
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 passenger front
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 (front head-thorax airbag
and rear side impact airbags).
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
front head-thorax airbag or a rear side im-
pact airbag which need 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 lean their heads in the area of the


119 Controls in detail
Lighting
Lighting
For notes on how to switch on the head-
lamps and use the turn signals, see
“Switching on headlamps” (
page 47).
Exterior lamp switch
The exterior lamp switch is located on the
dashboard to the left of the steering wheel.MOff
UAutomatic headlamp mode
CParking lamps (also side marker
lamps, tail lamps, license plate
lamps, instrument panel lamps)
Canada only:
When engine is running, the low
beam is also switched on.
BLow beam plus parking lamps or
high beam headlamps (combination
switch pushed forward).
ˆStanding lamps, right (turn left one
stop)
‚Standing lamps, left (turn left two
stops)
iIf you drive in countries where vehicles
drive on the other side of the road than
the country where the vehicle is regis-
tered, you must have the headlamps
modified for symmetrical low beams.
Relevant information can be obtained
at your authorized Mercedes-Benz
Center

136 Controls in detailControl system
Operate the CD player*
Turn on the radio and select the CD
player (
page 199). Vehicles with
COMAND*: Refer to separate operat-
ing instructions.

Press buttonè orÿ repeatedly
until the settings for the CD currently
being played are shown in the display.
1Current CD (for CD changer*)
2Current track

Press buttonk orj repeatedly
until the desired track is selected.Operate the Cassette player*

Turn on the radio and select the cas-
sette player (
page 196). Vehicles
with COMAND*: Refer to separate op-
erating 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.
iFeature description is based on prelim-
inary information available at time of
printing.
For more information on satellite radio
operation, see “Satellite radio (SAT)*
(USA only)” (
page 192).
Vehicles with COMAND*: Refer to sep-
arate operating instructions.
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.

137 Controls in detail
Control system
NAV menu
The
Nav
menu contains the functions need-
ed to operate your navigation system.

Press buttonè orÿ repeatedly
until you see the message
Nav
in the
display.


If the navigation system is switched off,
the message
Nav off
is shown in the
display.


If the navigation system is on, the mes-
sage
Nav active
is shown in the dis-
play.
Please refer to the COMAND* manual for
instructions on how to activate the route
guidance system*.
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 229) for in-
structions on how to activate Distronic.

Press buttonè orÿ repeatedly
until you see one of the following two
pictures in the display.Distronic deactivated
When Distronic is deactivated you will see
the standard display in the display.
1Vehicle ahead, if detected
2Actual distance to vehicle ahead
3Preset distance threshold to vehicle
ahead
4Your vehicle
5Symbol for activated distance warning
function
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.

167 Controls in detail
Good visibility
Good visibility
Windshield wipers
More information on the windshield wipers
can be found in the “Getting started” sec-
tion (
page 48).
A rain sensor automatically controls the
windshield wipers depending on how wet
the windshield is.

Switch ignition on.

Set the wiper switch to position I
(page 49).
After the initial wipe, pauses between
wipes are automatically controlled by the
rain sensor.
Headlamp cleaning system*
The switch is located on the left side of the
dashboard.
1Headlamp washer switch
Switch on ignition.

Press switch1.
The headlamps are cleaned with a
high-pressure water jet.
For information on filling up the washer
reservoir, see “Windshield washer system
and headlamp cleaning system*”
(
page 416).
iIntermittent wiping is interrupted when
the vehicle is at a standstill and a door
is opened.
!Do not leave windshield wipers in inter-
mittent setting when the vehicle is tak-
en to an automatic car wash or during
windshield cleaning. Wipers will oper-
ate in the presence of water sprayed on
the windshield, and wipers may be
damaged as a result.
The switch should not be left in inter-
mittent setting as the wipers will wipe
the windshield once every time the en-
gine is started. Dust that accumulates
on the windshield might scratch the
glass and/or damage the wiper blades
when wiping occurs on a dry wind-
shield.

175 Controls in detail
Automatic climate control
Setting the temperature
Use temperature controls (
page 173)1
and2 for the left side or7 and8 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 incre-
ments, preferably starting at 72°F (22°C).Increasing

Push temperature control2
and/or7.
The automatic climate control system
will correspondingly adjust the interior
air temperature.
Decreasing

Push temperature control1
and/or8.
The automatic climate control system
will correspondingly adjust the interior
air temperature.Adding outside air

Turn thumbwheel8 in dashboard
(page 172) to increase flow of out-
side air through air vents for center, left
and right sides, as well as dashboard
top center and rear passenger com-
partment.
iWhen operating the climate control
system in automatic mode, you will
only rarely need to adjust the tempera-
ture, air volume and air distribution.

176 Controls in detailAutomatic climate controlAdjusting air distribution
Use the air distribution controls7 and9
(page 172) to separately adjust the air
distribution on each side of the passenger
compartment. The following symbols are
found on the controls:Adjusting manually

Press left or right U button.
The U pops out, the a, Z,
X and Y symbols are visible.
Air distribution can be adjusted manu-
ally.
Adjusting automatically

Press left or right U button again.
The a, Z, X and Y sym-
bols are no longer visible.
The air distribution is adjusted auto-
matically.Windshield fogged on the outside

Switch the windshield wipers on, see
“Windshield wipers” (
page 48).

Switch to manual mode.

Close the air vent at dashboard top
center.

Turn the air distribution control
toa orY.
Symbol
Function
a
Directs air through the center,
side and rear passenger com-
partment air vents
Z
Directs air to the windows
X
Directs air into the entire vehi-
cle interior
Y
Directs air to the footwells

182 Controls in detailAutomatic climate controlDeactivating
Press button° (
page 173).
The indicator lamp on button°
goes off.
The residual heat is automatically turned
off:


when the ignition is switched on


after about 30 minutes


if the battery voltage dropsRear passenger compartment adjust-
able air vents
1Thumbwheel for center air vents with
adjustable booster blower
2Left center air vent
3Right center air vent
To open center air vents and to adjust the
booster blower:
Turn thumbwheel1.
iHow long the system will provide heat-
ing depends on the coolant tempera-
ture and the temperature set by the
operator. The blower will run at speed
setting1 regardless of the air
distribution control setting.
iThe booster blower allows airflow
speed to the rear passenger compart-
ment to be increased at four different
levels.
The temperature at the air vents for
rear passenger compartment2
and3 is the same as at the dashboard
center air vents.