2004 MERCEDES-BENZ E-Class ESP

Welcome to COMAND!
Please make yourself familiar with your
COMAND control unit and read the instruc-
tions in this manual before operating the
COMAND system. This will help you derive
a greater benefit from the system. Please
also follow the instructions and warnings
contained in this manual. Ignoring them
could result in damage to the vehicle or
personal injury to you or others.
The asterisk* identifies optional equip-
ment. Depending on model, version and
configuration, your COMAND system
equipment may differ. Therefore, you may
find explanations for optional equipment
not installed in your vehicle. If you have
any questions about the operation of any
equipment, your authorized Mercedes-
Benz Center will be glad to demonstrate
the proper procedures. We continuously strive to improve our
product and ask for your understanding
that we reserve the right to make changes
in design and equipment. Therefore, infor-
mation, illustrations and descriptions in
this manual might differ from the equip-
ment installed in your vehicle. As such, the
information, illustrations and descriptions
contained in this manual may not be rea-
sonably relied upon in making any claims
with respect to the actual performance of
the product.
These operating instructions form an inte-
gral part of the vehicle and should there-
fore always be kept inside the vehicle and
passed on to the new owner if the vehicle
is sold.
We extend our best wishes for many miles
of safe, pleasurable driving.
Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC
A DaimlerChrysler Company

9 Introduction
Operating safety

Operating safety
Warning
G
Any alterations made to electronic compo-
nents and the software can cause malfunc-
tions.
The radio, amplifier, satellite radio*,
CD changer*, navigation module*, tele-
phone* and voice control system* are inter-
connected. Therefore, when one of the
components is not operational or has not
been removed/ replaced properly, the func-
tion of other components may be impaired.
This condition might seriously impair the
operating safety of your vehicle.
We recommend that you have any service
work on electronic components carried out
by an authorized Mercedes-Benz Center.
Warning
G
In order to avoid distraction which could
lead to an accident, the driver should enter
system settings with the vehicle at a stand-
still and operate the system only when road,
weather and traffic conditions permit.
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.
COMAND supplies you with information to
help you select your route more easily and
guide you conveniently and safely to your
destination. For safety reasons, we encour-
age the driver to stop the vehicle in a safe
place before answering or placing a call, or
consulting the COMAND screen to read nav-
igational maps, instructions, or downloaded
information.
Warning
G
While the navigation system provides direc-
tional assistance, the driver must remain
focused on safe driving behavior, including
attention to traffic and street signs, and
should utilize the system's audio cues while
driving.
The navigation system does not supply any
information on stop signs, yield signs, traffic
regulations or traffic safety rules. This al-
ways remains your personal responsibility
when you drive. DVD maps do not cover all
areas nor all routes within an area.

28 At a glanceQuick reference COMANDSwitching ON 
Turn the key in the steering lock to po-
sition 1 or 2,
or

Press .
COMAND switches on the last active
system and displays the corresponding
menu.
Switching OFF

Turn the key in the steering lock to po-
sition 0 and remove it,
or

Press .Different volume settings are possible for
navigation*, telephone*, or Voice con-
trol*.
A common volume setting is provided for
Radio, Single CD, CD changer*, AUX and
Satellite radio* operating modes.
When setting the volume, the system auto-
matically stores the setting for the current-
ly active operating mode. The volume of
navigation announcements can be
changed only during an actual announce-
ment.
iThe system can be operated as follows:
from COMAND itself, or

from the multifunction steering
wheel
This operating manual describes oper-
ation from COMAND and from the mul-
tifunction steering wheel.
Unless otherwise specified, the de-
scriptions and the displays illustrated
relate to the COMAND control unit.
Switching ON/OFF
iWithout the key in position 1 or 2 of the
steering lock, the system automatically
switches OFF again after approx. 30
minutes of inactivity.
iIf a telephone call is in progress (hands-
free) you cannot switch the COMAND
OFF, is disabled.Volume

38 AudioRadio operation
Use , ,  or  to choose a
preset and press.
or

Press one of the number keys

- .
The system tunes to the station stored
under this number.
Tuning via scan search
Scan search is characterized as follows:

Scan search plays each receivable sta-
tion for approx. 8 seconds.

Scan search can be ended manually.

The scan search automatically stops at
the station listened to before the scan
search was started.
Starting scan search

Switch to the desired waveband
(page 35).

Press the Scan soft key.
Scanning begins.
Ending Scan search manually

Press the Scan soft key again.Manual tuning

Switch to the desired waveband
(page 35).

Press or  to scroll up or
down. Press and hold the button for at
least 2 seconds.
Manual tuning is activated.

Keep the button pressed or release it
and keep tapping it in quick succes-
sion.
The frequency will change by the tuning
increments for the respective wave-
band each time the button is pressed
or for as long as the button is pressed
and held.
Manual tuning is deactivated if the but-
ton is not pressed for approx. 3 sec-
onds.
iScan search performs two runs.
During the first run, stations with ex-
tremely good reception are played.
During the second run, stations with
weaker reception are played.

39 Audio
Radio operation
Tuning via direct frequency input
Entry example:
98.5 MHz in FM waveband
Switch to the FM waveband
(page 35).

Press.The frequency input display appears.
The frequency range of the FM wave-
band is shown.

Press the number buttons in
succession:, , and .
Each number entered appears in the
display.
The system tunes to the frequency en-
tered (in this example: 98.5 Mhz).
The FM menu appears with a brief de-
lay.Tuning via station search
Seven channels are available on the
Weather Band.
Tuning using COMAND control unit

Switch to the WB waveband by press-
ing the WB soft key in the Radio main
menu (
page 35).
iManual tuning is also possible in all
wavebands by pressing or .
The frequency will change by the tuning
increments for the respective wave-
band each time one of the buttons is
pressed.
Frequency increments for manual
tuning:
FM 0.2 MHz

AM 10 kHz
iEntries outside the frequency range are
not possible.
Within the AM waveband, the input is
restricted to frequencies within the re-
spective frequency increment, which
is10 kHz.
The system will select the nearest valid
frequency if a frequency outside the
frequency increment is entered.Tuning to a station on Weather Band


40 AudioRadio operation
The system will tune to the strongest
receivable station.

Press or.
Search begins in ascending or
descending frequency.
The search stops at the next receivable
station.

Press one of the number keys

- !.
The system tunes to the station stored
under this number.

Press WB soft key again.
The system again tunes to the stron-
gest receivable station. The tuned-in
station may be a different one. Tuning using the multifunction steering
wheel

Switch the multifunction display in the
instrument cluster to audio display
(page 23).

Pressj ork.
The search stops at the next receivable
station.
Ten presets each are available for the
FM and AM waveband.
The following options are available:

Storing manually using number keys

Storing manually using the Presets
menu

Storing using Autostore Storing manually using the number
keys
- 

Tune to the station to be stored
(page 36).

Press a number key between
and
 and hold it for more than 2 sec-
onds.
The station is now stored in the respec-
tive memory location.
Storing manually using the Presets
menu

Tune to the station to be stored
(page 36).

Press the Presets soft key.
The Presets menu appears.
Storing stations

41 Audio
Radio operation

Use, ,  or  to select a
preset.

Press for more than 2 seconds.
The station will be stored in the respec-
tive memory location.
Storing using Autostore
The Autostore function places stations into
the Autostore memory sorted by reception
quality.
The system stores the station with the
strongest signal in preset 1.

Switch to the desired waveband
(page 35).

Press the Autost. soft key.
The Autostore preset list appears.

Use to select the
Reprogram Autostore list entry.

Press.
The Autostore search starts. After a de-
lay the new preset assignment ap-
pears. The system tunes to the station
stored on preset 1.
A station can also be tuned-in from the
Autostore preset list (
page 37).
iThe Autostore feature stores presets in
a separate memory, not in the regular
presets seen under the Presets soft-
key. As such, the Autostore memory is
only temporary.

43 Audio
Single CD operation

Open the Single CD main menu
(page 44).
or

Load an audio CD into the COMAND
CD drive.Switching to Single CD modeLoading a CDWarning
G
In order to avoid distraction which could
lead to an accident, the driver should insert
CDs with the vehicle at a standstill and oper-
ate the audio system only when road, weath-
er and traffic conditions permit.
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.
!Only use CDs, which bear the label
shown and that conform to the com-
pact disc digital audio standard
(IEC 60908). You can therefore only
use CDs with a maximum thickness
of 1.3 mm.
Use of CDs which do not meet this
standard may cause damage to the
CD drive. Do not play single-CDs
(80 mm) with an adapter.
!Your CD drive has been designed to
play CDs which correspond to the EN
60908 standard. Therefore only CDs
not exceeding a thickness of 1.3 mm
can be used.
If you insert thicker data carriers, e.g.
ones that have data on both sides (one
side with DVD data, the other side with
audio data), they cannot be ejected
and will damage the drive.iThe COMAND CD drive may not be able
to play audio CDs with copy protection.