2004 MERCEDES-BENZ ML500 Dash board

59 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
AirbagsWarning!
G
Airbags are designed to reduce the potential
of injury and fatality in certain frontal (front
airbags) impacts, or side (side impact and
head protection window curtain airbags) im-
pacts which may cause significant injuries.
However, no system available today can to-
tally eliminate injuries and fatalities.
The activation of the SRS temporarily releas-
es a small amount of dust from the airbags.
This dust, however, is neither injurious to
your health, nor does it indicate a fire in the
vehicle. The dust might cause some tempo-
rary breathing difficulty for people with asth-
ma or other breathing trouble. To avoid this,
you may wish to get out of the vehicle as
soon as it is safe to do so. If you have any
breathing difficulty but cannot get out of the
vehicle after the airbag inflates, then get
fresh air by opening a window or door.
Warning!
G
To reduce the risk of injury when the front
airbags inflate, it is very important for the
driver and passenger to always be in a prop-
erly seated position and to wear your seat
belt.
For maximum protection in the event of a
collision always be in normal seated position
with your back against the backrest. Fasten
your seat belt and ensure that it is properly
positioned on your body (
page 42).
Since the airbag inflates with considerable
speed and force, a proper seating and hands
on steering wheel position will help to keep
you at a safe distance from the airbag. Oc-
cupants who are unbelted, out of position or
too close to the airbag can be seriously in-
jured by an airbag as it inflates with great
force in the blink of an eye:


Sit properly belted in an upright position
with your back against the seat back-
rest.


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 Light Truck Center.


Airbags and emergency tensioning de-
vices (ETDs) are designed to function on
a one-time only basis. An airbag or ETD
that was activated must be replaced.


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.


60 Safety and SecurityOccupant safety

Adjust the passenger seat as far as pos-
sible rearward from the dashboard when
the seat is occupied.


Occupants, especially children, should
never lean their heads in the area of the
door where the side impact airbag in-
flates. This could result in serious inju-
ries or death should the airbag be
triggered. Always 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.
1BabySmart
TMis a trademark of Siemens
Automotive Corp.
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. Be
sure to give the buyer this Operator’s
Manual.
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 front passenger
seat of your vehicle, you must properly use
a BabySmart
TM child restraint which will
turn off the passenger front airbag
(
page 70). BabySmart
TM will not, howev-
er, turn off any side impact airbag.
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 side
airbag which needs to deploy rapidly in a
side impact in order to do its job.


131 Controls in detail
Good visibility
Headlamp cleaning system*
The button is located on the right side of
the dashboard.Headlamp washer button
Switch on ignition.

Briefly press the upper part of button.
The headlamps will be cleaned with a
high-pressure water jet.Information on filling up the washer reser-
voir can be found in the “Operation” sec-
tion (
page 224).
Rear window wiper
The rear window wiper will also automati-
cally engage if the windshield wiper is en-
gaged and the gear selector lever is placed
in reverse.Rear window wiper with rain sensor*
Rear window wiper intervals are controlled
automatically according to the amount of
water on the windshield and the speed of
the vehicle, if:


rear window wiper is switched on


front windshield wipers are switched to
intermittent wiping
The interval for the rear window wiper re-
mains constant when the windshield wiper
interval is ten seconds or more.

143 Controls in detail
Automatic climate control
Center air vents
Opening 
Turn thumbwheel for center air vent1
(page 135) upward to positionh.
Closing

Turn thumbwheel for center air vent1
downward to positionM.
Use the left thumbwheel to adjust the cen-
ter air vents on the left and in the center.
Use the right thumbwheel to adjust the
right center air vent.Rear passenger compartment air vents
1Left center air vent, adjustable
2 Right center air vent, adjustable
iThe temperature at the air vents for the
rear passenger compartment is the
same as at the dashboard center air
vents.

155 Controls in detail
Driving systems
Warning indicators
The warning indicators show the distance
between the sensor and the obstacle. The
warning indicators for the front area are lo-
cated above the center air vents in the
dashboard. The warning indicator for the
rear area is located in the rear passenger
compartment lamp.
1Segments, left side of vehicle
2Segments, right side of vehicle
Each warning indicator has six yellow and
two red segments.The gear selector lever position deter-
mines which warning indicator is activat-
ed.
As soon as the sensors detect an obstacle,
one or more segments light up, depending
on the distance. An intermittent acoustic
warning will also sound as the seventh seg-
ment comes on and a constant acoustic
warning lasting a maximum of
three seconds will sound for the eighth
segment.
Selector lever
position
Warning indicator
D, R, N, P
Front area activated
R
Rear area activated
!If all red segments light up in the warn-
ing indicators, a dirty sensor or a ultra-
sonic signal could be the reason.

Clean the sensors (
page 237).
After cleaning the sensors, switch
the ignition on.