2005 MERCEDES-BENZ E55AMG transmission

184 Controls in detailAutomatic transmissionDownshifting
Briefly press the gear selector lever to
the left in theD-direction
(page 176).
or

Press button1 on the left side of the
steering wheel (
page 181).
The transmission shifts to the next
lower gear.Upshifting

Briefly press the gear selector lever to
the right in theD+direction
(page 176).
or

Press button2 on the right side of the
steering wheel (
page 181).
The transmission shifts to the next
higher gear.
If, instead of the manual program mode
symbol
M, thep symbol appears in
the multifunction display (
page 174),
shift to the next higher gear. The fuel
supply will otherwise be interrupted to
prevent the engine from overrevving.
Warning!
G
On slippery road surfaces, never downshift
in order to obtain braking action. This could
result in drive wheel slip and reduced
vehicle control. Your vehicle’s ABS will not
prevent this type of loss of control.iWhen you brake or stop, the transmis-
sion shifts down to a gear from which
you can easily accelerate or take off.
!In the manual program modeM, the
transmission will not upshift, even if
the engine has reached its overrevving
range. Shift up to the next gear before
the engine has reached its overrevving
range. Make absolutely certain that the
engine speed does not reach the red
marking on the tachometer
(page 24). Otherwise the engine
could be damaged which is not covered
by the Mercedes-Benz Limited
Warranty.

185 Controls in detail
Automatic transmission
Kickdown
Using the kickdown when driving in the
manual program modeM is not possible.
Deactivating manual shift program
Press the program mode selector
switch (
page 179) repeatedly
until
Cor
S appears in the multifunction
display.
or

Restart the engine.
The transmission will go to the
automatic program mode (C orS).
The manual program modeM is not
stored.Emergency operation
(Limp Home Mode)
If vehicle acceleration worsens or the
transmission no longer shifts, the trans-
mission is most likely operating in limp
home (emergency operation) mode. In this
mode only second gear and reverse gear
can be activated.
Stop the vehicle.

Move gear selector lever toP.

Turn off the engine.

Wait at least ten seconds before
restarting.

Restart the engine.

Move gear selector lever to positionD
(for second gear) orR.

Have the transmission checked at an
authorized Mercedes-Benz Center as
soon as possible.

232 Controls in detailDriving systems1Set current or higher speed
2Set current or lower speed
3Cancel cruise control
4Resume at previously set speed
Setting current speed
Accelerate or decelerate to the desired
speed.

Briefly lift1 or depress2 the cruise
control lever.
The current speed is set.

Remove your foot from the accelerator
pedal.
Cruise control is activated.The selected speed appears in the multi-
function display for approximately five sec-
onds, and the corresponding speedometer
segments from the selected speed to the
vehicle maximum speed are illuminated.
iOn uphill or downhill grades, cruise
control may not be able to maintain the
set speed. Once the grade eases, the
set speed will be resumed.
E 320 CDI, E 320, E 500, E 55 AMG:
On downhill grades, the cruise control
will hold the set speed with active brak-
ing action.
In addition, on longer downhill grades
the automatic transmission will auto-
matically downshift.
E 320 4MATIC, E 500 4MATIC:
If the engine’s braking power does not
brake the vehicle sufficiently on down-
hill grades, the automatic transmission
will automatically downshift.

234 Controls in detailDriving systemsSetting a higher speed
Lift cruise control lever to position1
and hold it up until the desired speed is
reached.

Release cruise control lever.
The new speed is set.
Setting a lower speed

Depress cruise control lever to
position2 and hold it down until the
desired speed is reached.

Release cruise control lever.
The new speed is set.Fine adjustment in 1 mph
(Canada: 1 km / h) increments
Faster

Briefly tip cruise control lever in direc-
tion of arrow1.
Slower

Briefly tip cruise control lever in direc-
tion of arrow2.Setting to last stored speed
(“Resume” function)

Briefly pull cruise control lever to
position4.
The cruise control resume the last set
speed.

Remove your foot from the accelerator
pedal.
The selected speed appears in the multi-
function display for approximately five sec-
onds, and the corresponding speedometer
segments from the selected speed to the
vehicle maximum speed are illuminated.
iDepressing the accelerator pedal does
not deactivate cruise control. After
brief acceleration (e.g. for passing),
cruise control will resume the last
speed set.
iE 320 CDI, E 320, E 500, E 55 AMG:
When you use the cruise control lever
to decelerate, the brake system will au-
tomatically brake the vehicle if the en-
gine’s braking power does not brake
the vehicle sufficiently.
E 320 4MATIC, E 500 4MATIC:
When you use the cruise control lever
to decelerate, the transmission will au-
tomatically downshift if the engine’s
braking power does not brake the vehi-
cle sufficiently.
Warning!
G
The speed stored in memory should only be
set again if prevailing road conditions per-
mit. Possible acceleration or deceleration
differences arising from returning to the pre-
set speed could cause an accident and/or
serious injury to you and others.

241 Controls in detail
Driving systems
Setting a lower speed
Briefly tip the cruise control lever in the
direction of arrow2 (
page 239) to
decrease vehicle speed in increments
of 5 mph (Canada: 10 km / h).
The new speed is set.
The stored speed is displayed in the
multifunction display for approximately
five seconds (
page 239), and one or
two segments around the stored speed
come on, on the speedometer
(
page 237).Fine adjustment in 1 mph
(Canada: 1 km/h) increments
Faster

Briefly tip the cruise control lever in the
direction of arrow4 (
page 239).Setting stored speed
(“Resume” function)

Briefly tip the cruise control lever in the
direction of arrow4 (
page 239).
Distronic is activated and set to the last
stored speed.

Remove your foot from the accelerator
pedal.
iWhen you use the cruise control lever
to decelerate, the transmission will au-
tomatically downshift if the rate of de-
celeration is too low.
Warning!
G
The speed stored in memory should only be
set again if prevailing road conditions per-
mit. Possible acceleration or deceleration
differences arising from returning to preset
speed could cause an accident and/or seri-
ous injury to you and others.

242 Controls in detailDriving systemsDeactivating Distronic
There are several ways to deactivate the
Distronic system:
Briefly tip the cruise control lever in the
direction of arrow3 (
page 239).
or

Step on the brake pedal.
Distronic will be deactivated. The last
speed set will be stored in memory.Distronic deactivates automatically when:


you set the parking brake


you drive slower than 25 mph
(40 km / h)


the ESP is active (
page 87) or you de-
activate the ESP


you move the transmission selector le-
ver into positionN
A si gnal wi ll s ound. T he
Distronic off

message appears in the multifunction
display for approximately five seconds.Setting the following distance in
Distronic
You can set the specified following dis-
tance for Distronic by varying the time set-
ting between 1.0 and 2.0 seconds. Using
this time setting and the current speed of
your vehicle, Distronic calculates and sets
the required following distance to the vehi-
cle ahead. The set distance will be shown
in the multifunction display field.
The thumbwheel for making the time set-
ting is located on the lower section of the
center console.
iThe following message will appear in
the multifunction display for approxi-
mately five seconds:
Distronic off
.
The last stored speed is deleted when
you turn off the engine.
Warning!
G
Distronic switches off and releases the
brakes when the vehicle decelerates below
the minimum speed of approximately
25 mph (40 km / h) by operation of the sys-
tem. At that time the driver must apply the
brakes in order to reduce vehicle speed fur-
ther or bring it to a stop.
Warning!
G
It is up to the driver to exercise discretion to
select the appropriate setting given road
conditions, traffic, driver’s preferred driving
style and applicable laws and driving recom-
mendations for safe following distance.

283 Controls in detail
Useful features
Step 9:
Press “training” button on the garage
door opener motor head unit.
The “training light” is activated.
You have 30 seconds to initiate the follow-
ing step.
Step 10:

Firmly press, hold for two seconds and
release the programmed integrated
signal transmitter button (1, 2
or3).
Step 11:

Press, hold for two seconds and re-
lease same button a second time to
complete the training process.
Some garage door openers (or other rolling
code equipped devices) may require you to
perform this procedure a third time to
complete the training.Step 12:

Confirm the garage door operation by
pressing the programmed integrated
signal transmitter button (1, 2
or3).
Step 13:

To program the remaining two buttons,
repeat the steps above starting with
step 3.
Gate operator/Canadian programming
Canadian radio-frequency laws require
transmitter signals to “time-out” (or quit)
after several seconds of transmission
which may not be long enough for the inte-
grated signal transmitter to pick up the sig-
nal during programming. Similar to this
Canadian law, some U.S. gate operators
are designed to “time-out” in the same
manner. If you live in Canada or if you are having dif-
ficulties programming a gate operator (re-
gardless of where you live) by using the
programming procedures, replace step 4
with the following:
Step 4:

Continue to press and hold the inte-
grated signal transmitter button (1,
2 or3) while you press and re-press
(“cycle”) your hand-held remote con-
trol transmitter6 every two seconds
until the frequency signal has been
learned. Upon successful training, the
indicator lamp4 will flash slowly and
then rapidly after several seconds.

Proceed with programming step 5 and
step 6 to complete.

295 Operation
Driving instructions
Standing water
Passenger compartmentDriving abroad
Abroad, there is an extensive
Mercedes-Benz service network at your
disposal. If you plan to drive into areas
which are not listed in the index of your
Mercedes-Benz Center directory, you
should request pertinent information from
your authorized Mercedes-Benz Center.Control and operation of radio trans-
mitter
COMAND, radio and telephone*
!Do not drive through flooded areas or
water of unknown depth. Before driving
through water, determine its depth.
Never accelerate before driving into
water. The bow wave could force water
into the engine and auxiliary equip-
ment, thus damaging them.
If you must drive through standing wa-
ter, drive slowly to prevent water from
entering the passenger compartment
or the engine compartment. Water in
these areas could cause damage to
electrical components or wiring of the
engine or transmission, or could result
in water being ingested by the engine
through the air intake causing severe
internal engine damage. Any such dam-
age is not covered by the
Mercedes-Benz Limited Warranty.
Warning!
G
Always fasten items being carried as secure-
ly as possible.
In an accident, during hard braking or sud-
den maneuvers, loose items will be thrown
around inside the vehicle, and cause injury
to vehicle occupants unless the items are
securely fastened in the vehicle.
The trunk is the preferred place to carry ob-
jects.
Warning!
G
Please do not forget that your primary re-
sponsibility is to drive the vehicle safely.
Only operate the COMAND (Cockpit Man-
agement and Data System), radio or tele-
phone
1 if 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.
1Observe all legal requirements