ContentsTechnical data.................................. 413
Parts service ...................................... 414
Warranty coverage ............................. 415 Loss of Service and Warranty
Information Booklet...................... 415
Identification labels............................ 416
Layout of poly-V-belt drive ................. 417 C 230 Kompressor ....................... 417
C 320 ........................................... 417
Engine ................................................ 418
Rims and Tires ................................... 419 Same size tires ............................. 420
Mixed size tires ............................ 421
Spare wheel ................................. 422
Electrical system................................ 423
Main Dimensions ............................... 424
Weights .............................................. 425 Fuels, coolants, lubricants, etc. ......... 426
Capacities .................................... 426
Engine oils.................................... 428
Engine oil additives ...................... 428
Air conditioning refrigerant .......... 428
Brake fluid .................................... 428
Premium unleaded gasoline ......... 429
Fuel requirements ........................ 429
Gasoline additives ........................ 430
Flexible Fuel Vehicles ................... 431
Coolants....................................... 432
Windshield washer system and
headlamp cleaning system ........... 435
Technical terms ............................... 437Index................................................. 443
35
Getting started
Adjusting
Adjusting
Seats
The seats can be adjusted either manually
or electrically, depending on the vehicle’s
equipment.Warning!
G
All seat, head restraint, steering wheel, and
rear view mirror adjustments, as well as fas-
tening of seat belts, must be done before
the vehicle is put into motion.Warning!
G
Do not adjust the driver’s seat while driving.
Adjusting the seat while driving could cause
the driver to lose control of the vehicle.
Never ride in a moving vehicle with the seat
back in an excessively reclined position as
this can be dangerous. You could slide
under the seat belt in a collision. If you slide
under it, the belt would apply force at the
abdomen or neck.
That could cause serious or fatal injuries.
The seat back and seat belts provide the
best restraint when the wearer is in a nearly
upright position and belts are properly posi-
tioned on the body. Your seat must be
adjusted so that you can correctly fasten
your seat belt (
page 44).
Never place hands under the seat or near
any moving parts while a seat is being ad-
justed.
Warning!
G
When leaving the vehicle, always remove the
SmartKey from the starter switch, take it
with you, and lock the vehicle.
Even with the SmartKey removed from the
starter switch, the power seats* can be op-
erated when the respective door is open.
Therefore, do not leave children unattended
in the vehicle, or with access to an unlocked
vehicle. Unsupervised use of vehicle equip-
ment may cause an accident and/or serious
personal injury.
Warning!
G
According to accident statistics, children
are safer when properly restrained in the
rear seating positions than in the front seat-
ing position. Thus, we strongly recommend
that children be placed in the rear seats
whenever possible. Regardless of seating
position, children 12 years old and under
must be seated and properly secured in an
appropriate infant, or toddler restraint, or
booster seat recommended for the size and
weight of the child. For additional
information, see “Children in the vehicle”
(page 70).
A child’s risk of serious or fatal injuries is
significantly increased if the child restraints
are not properly secured in the vehicle
and/or the child is not properly secured in
the child restraint.
44 Getting startedDrivingFastening the seat beltWarning!
G
Do not lay any objects in the driver’s foot-
well. Be careful that floor mats or carpets in
the driver’s footwell have sufficient clear-
ance for the pedals.
During sudden driving or braking maneuvers
the objects could get caught between the
pedals. You could then no longer brake or
accelerate.Warning!
G
Always fasten your seat belt before driving
off. Always make sure your passengers are
properly restrained, even those sitting in the
rear and pregnant women.
Failure to wear and properly fasten and po-
sition your seat belt greatly increases your
risk of injuries and their likely severity in an
accident. You and your passengers should
always wear seat belts.
If you are ever in an accident, your injuries
can be considerably more severe without
your seat belt properly buckled. Without
your seat belt buckled, you are much more
likely to hit the interior of the vehicle or be
ejected from it. You can be seriously injured
or killed.
In the same crash, the possibility of injury or
death is lessened if you are wearing your
seat belt. The air bags can only provide the
protection they were designed to afford if
the occupants are using their seat belts
(page 66).
Warning!
G
According to accident statistics, children
are safer when properly restrained in the
rear seating positions than in the front seat-
ing position. Thus, we strongly recommend
that children be placed in the rear seats.
Regardless of seating position, children
12 years old and under must be seated and
properly secured in an appropriate infant or
toddler restraint, or booster seat recom-
mended for the size and weight of the child.
For additional information, see “Children in
the vehicle” (
page 70).
A child’s risk of serious or fatal injuries is
significantly increased if the child restraints
are not properly secured in the vehicle
and/or the child is not properly secured in
the child restraint.
62 Safety and SecurityOccupant safetyWarning!
G
To reduce the risk of injury when the front
air bags inflate, it is very important for the
driver and front passenger to always be in a
properly seated position and to wear their
respective seat belts.
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 make sure that it is prop-
erly positioned on your body.
Since the air bag 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 air bag.
Occupants who are unbelted, out of position
or too close to the air bag can be seriously
injured by an air bag as it inflates with great
force in the blink of an eye:
Sit properly belted in a nearly upright
position with your back against the seat
backrest.
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 air bag cover
on the steering wheel must be at least
10 in (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 your head or chest close to
the steering wheel or dashboard.
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 air bag inflates.
Adjust the front passenger seat as far as
possible rearward from the dashboard
when the seat is occupied.
Occupants, especially children, should
never place their bodies or lean their
heads in the area of the door or the rear
side trim panel where the side impact air
bag inflates. This could result in serious
injuries or death should the air bag be
triggered. Always sit nearly upright,
properly use the seat belts and use an
appropriately sized infant or toddler re-
straint or booster seat recommended
for the size and weight of the child.
Failure to follow these instructions can re-
sult in severe injuries to you or other
occupants.
If you sell your vehicle, it is important that
you make the buyer aware of this safety in-
formation. Be sure to give the buyer this
Operator's Manual.
63
Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Warning!
G
Accident research shows that the safest
place for children in an automobile is in the
rear seat.
It should be noted that with respect to both
front and rear side impact air bags there is a
possibility for a side impact air bag related
injury if occupants, especially children, are
not properly seated or restrained when next
to a side impact air bag which needs to de-
ploy 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 place their bodies or lean their
heads in the area of the door where the
side impact air bag inflates. This could
result in serious injuries or death should
the side impact air bag be deployed.
(2) Always sit nearly upright, properly use the seat belts and for children 12 years
old and under, use an appropriately
sized infant or toddler restraint or boost-
er seat recommended for the size and
weight of the child.
(3) Always wear seat belts properly.
If you believe that, even with the use of
these guidelines, it would be safer for your
rear seat occupants to have the rear mount-
ed side impact air bags deactivated, then
deactivation can be accomplished upon
your written request to do so at your autho-
rized Mercedes-Benz Center at an additional
cost.
Please contact your local authorized
Mercedes-Benz Center or call our Customer
Assistance Center at 1-800-FOR-MERCedes
(1-800-367-6372) for details.
iAir bags are designed to deploy only in
certain frontal impacts (front air bags)
and in side impacts (side impact and
head protection window curtain air
bags) which exceed preset thresholds.
Only during these events will they
provide their supplemental protection.
The driver and passengers should
always wear their seat belts. Otherwise
it is not possible for air bags to provide
their supplemental protection.
In case of other types of impacts and
impacts below air bag deployment
thresholds, air bags will not deploy. The
driver and passenger will then be
protected to the extent possible by a
properly fastened seat belt. A properly
fastened seat belt is also needed to
provide the best possible protection in
a rollover.
We caution you not to rely on the pres-
ence of the air bags in order to avoid
wearing your seat belt.
65
Safety and Security
Occupant safety
When you sell your vehicle we strongly
urge you to give notice to the subsequent
owner that it is equipped with an SRS by
alerting them to the applicable section in
the Operator’s Manual.
Front air bags
1 Driver’s air bag
2 Passenger front air bag
Driver and front passenger air bags are
deployed:
in the event of certain frontal impacts
if impact exceeds a preset deployment
threshold
independently of the side impact air
bags
In addition, improper repair work on the
SRS creates a risk of rendering the SRS
inoperative or causing unintended air
bag deployment. Work on the SRS must
therefore only be performed by qualified
technicians. Contact an authorized
Mercedes-Benz Center.
For your protection and the protection
of others, when scrapping the air bag
unit or emergency tensioning device,
our safety instructions must be fol-
lowed. These instructions are available
from your authorized Mercedes-Benz
Center.
Given the considerable deployment
speed, required inflation volume, and
the textile structure of the air bags,
there is the possibility of abrasions or
other more significant injuries resulting
from air bag deployment.
iThe front air bags in this vehicle have
been designed to inflate in two stages.
This allows the air bag to have different
rates of inflation that are based on the
rate of relevant vehicle deceleration as
assessed by the air bag control unit.
On the front passenger side, the front
air bag deployment is additionally influ-
enced by the passenger’s weight cate-
gory as identified by the Occupant
Classification System (OCS)
(page 73).
The lighter the front passenger side
occupant, the higher the vehicle decel-
eration rate required for the second
stage inflation of the air bag.
66 Safety and SecurityOccupant safetyThe air bags will not deploy in impacts
which do not exceed the system’s deploy-
ment thresholds. You will then be protect-
ed by the fastened seat belts.
The passenger front air bag will only be
deployed if:
the system, based on OCS weight sen-
sor readings, senses that the front pas-
senger seat is occupied
the 56 indicator lamp in the
center console is not lit (
page 76)
the impact exceeds a preset deploy-
ment threshold Side impact air bags, window curtain
air bags
1 Window curtain air bag
2 Side impact air bags
The side impact air bags and window cur-
tain air bags are deployed:
on the impacted side of the vehicle
in impacts exceeding a preset deploy-
ment threshold
independently of the front air bags
The side impact air bags and window cur-
tain air bags are not deployed in impacts
which do not exceed the system’s deploy-
ment threshold. The front passenger side impact air bag
will only deploy if the system senses that
the front passenger seat is occupied.
Seat belts
When the engine is started, the seat belt
telltale
< illuminates to remind you and
your passengers to fasten your seat belts.
If the driver’s seat belt is not fastened
before the engine is started, the seat belt
telltale < illuminates and a warning
chime sounds for approximately six
seconds when the engine is started.
The use of seat belts and infant and child
restraint systems is required by law in all
50 states, the District of Columbia, the
U.S. territories and all Canadian provinces.
Even where this is not the case, all vehicle
occupants should have their seat belts fas-
tened whenever the vehicle is in motion.
For more information, see “Fastening the
seat belt” (
page 44).
71
Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Warning!
G
Never release the seat belt buckle while the
vehicle is in motion, since the special seat
belt retractor will be deactivated.!A statement by the child restraint
manufacturer of compliance with this
standard can be found on the instruc-
tion label on the restraint and in the in-
struction manual provided with the
restraint.
When using any infant or child restraint
system, or booster seat, be sure to
carefully read and follow all manufac-
turer’s instructions for installation and
use.
Please read and observe warning labels
affixed to the inside of the vehicle and
to infant or child restraints.
Warning!
G
According to accident statistics, children
are safer when properly restrained in the
rear seating positions than in the front seat-
ing position. Thus, we strongly recommend
that children be placed in the rear seats
whenever possible. Regardless of seating
position, children 12 years old and under
must be seated and properly secured in an
appropriate infant or child restraint recom-
mended for the size and weight of the child.
The infant or child restraint must be properly
secured with the vehicle's seat belt, the seat
belt and top tether strap, or lower anchors
and top tether strap, fully in accordance
with the child seat manufacturer's instruc-
tions.
Children can be killed or seriously injured by
an inflating air bag. Note the following im-
portant information when circumstances re-
quire you to place a child in the front
passenger seat:
Your vehicle is equipped with air bag
technology designed to turn off the front
passenger front air bag in your vehicle
when the OCS senses the weight of a
typical 12-month-old child or less along
with the weight of a standard appropri-
ate child restraint on the front passen-
ger seat.
A child in a rear-facing child restraint on
the front passenger seat will be
seriously injured or even killed if the
front passenger front air bag inflates in
a collision which could occur under
some circumstances, even with the air
bag technology installed in your vehicle.
The only means to completely eliminate
this risk is to never place a child in a
rear-facing child restraint in the front
seat. We therefore strongly recommend
that you always place a child in a
rear-facing child restraint in the back
seat.