2005 MERCEDES-BENZ S CLASS child restraint

37 Getting started
Adjusting
Adjusting
SeatsWarning!
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 un-
der the seat belt in a collision. If you slide
under it, the belt would apply force at the ab-
domen or neck. That could cause serious or
fatal injuries. The seat backrest and seat
belts provide the best restraint when the
wearer is in a nearly upright position and
belts are properly positioned on the body.
Your seat must be adjusted so that you can
correctly fasten your seat belt (
page 43).
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 or SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO*
from the starter switch, take it with you, and
lock the vehicle.
Even with the SmartKey or SmartKey with
KEYLESS-GO* removed from the starter
switch or the SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO*
removed from the vehicle, the power seats
can be operated when the respective door is
open. Therefore, do not leave children unat-
tended in the vehicle, or with access to an
unlocked vehicle. Unsupervised use of vehi-
cle equipment may cause an accident
and/or serious personal injury.
Warning!
G
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 ve-
hicle to deactivate the passenger front
air bag when it is properly installed. Other-
wise they will be struck by the air bag when
it inflates in a crash. If this happens, serious
or fatal injury will result.
According to accident statistics, children
are safer when properly restrained in the
rear seating positions than in the front seat-
ing positions. Infants and small children
must ride in back seats and be seated in an
appropriate infant or child restraint system,
which is properly secured with the vehicle's
seat belt and top tether strap, or secured via
lower anchors and top tether strap, fully in
accordance with the child seat manufactur-
er’s instructions.
1BabySmart
TM is a trademark of Siemens Automo-
tive Corp.


38 Getting startedAdjustingSeat adjustment
The seat adjustment switches are located
on the front doors.
1Head restraint height
2Seat height
3Seat cushion tilt
4Seat cushion depth
5Seat fore and aft adjustment
6Seat backrest tilt

Switch on ignition (
page 34).
or

Open the respective door.
Seat fore and aft adjustment

Press the switch forward or backward
in the direction of arrow5.
Adjust seat to a comfortable seating
position that still allows you to reach
the accelerator/brake pedal safely.
The position should be as far to the rear
as possible, consistent with ability to
properly operate controls.Seat cushion tilt

Press the switch up or down in the di-
rection of arrow3until your upper
legs are lightly supported.
Seat cushion depth

Press the switch forward or backward
in the direction of arrow4 until your
legs are supported comfortably.
Seat backrest tilt

Press the switch forward or backward
in the direction of arrow6 until your
arms are slightly angled when holding
the steering wheel.
Seat height

Press the switch up or down in the di-
rection of arrow2.
A child’s risk of serious or fatal injuries is
significantly increased if the child restraints
are not properly secured in the vehicle and
the child is not properly secured in the child
restraint.
iWhen moving the seat, make sure
there are no items in the footwell or be-
hind the seats. Otherwise you could
damage the seats.
The memory function (
page 128) lets
you store the setting for the seat posi-
tion together with the settings for the
steering wheel and the exterior rear
view mirrors.


44 Getting startedDriving
1 Release button
2Buckle
3 Latch plate
Pull the seat belt smoothly from the
seat belt outlet.
According to accident statistics, children
are safer when properly restrained in the
rear seating positions than in the front seat-
ing positions. Infants and small children
must ride in back seats and be seated in an
appropriate infant or child restraint system,
which is properly secured with the vehicle's
seat belt and top tether strap, or secured via
lower anchors and top tether strap, fully in
accordance with the child seat manufactur-
er’s instructions.
A child’s risk of serious or fatal injuries is
significantly increased if the child restraints
are not properly secured in the vehicle and
the child is not properly secured in the child
restraint.
Warning!
G
Never let more people ride in the vehicle
than there are seat belts available. Be sure
everyone riding in the vehicle is correctly re-
strained with a separate seat belt. Never use
a seat belt for more than one person at a
time.Warning!
G
Never ride in a moving vehicle with the seat
backrest 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 ab-
domen or neck. That could cause serious or
even fatal injuries. The seat backrest and
seat belt provide the best restraint when the
wearer is in a nearly upright position and the
belt is properly positioned on the body.
Warning!
G
Read and observe the additional warning no-
tices printed in the “Safety and Security”
section (
page 64).


45 Getting started
Driving

Place the shoulder portion of the belt
across the top of your shoulder and the
lap portion across your hips.

Push latch plate3 into buckle2 until
it clicks.

If necessary, tighten the lap portion to
a snug fit by pulling shoulder portion
up.
Proper use of seat belts


Do not twist the belt when fastening.


Adjust seat belt so that the shoulder
portion is located as close as possible
to the middle of the shoulder (it should
not touch the neck). Never pass the
shoulder portion of the belt under your
arm.


Position the lap belt as low as possible
on your hips (over hip joint) and not
across the abdomen.


Place the seat backrest in a nearly up-
right position.


Never use a seat belt for more than one
person at a time.


Do not fasten a seat belt around a per-
son and another object at the same
time. When using a seat belt to secure
infant or toddler restraints or children
in booster seats, always follow the
child seat manufacturer's instructions.


Check your seat belt during travel to
make sure that it is properly posi-
tioned.


Make sure the seat belt is always fitted
snugly. Take special care of this when
wearing loose clothing.
Warning!
G
Do not pass belts over sharp edges. They
could tear.
Do not allow the belt to get caught in the
door or in the seat adjustment mechanism.
This could damage the belt.
Never attempt to make modifications to
seat belts. This could impair the effective-
ness of the belts.
Do not bleach or dye seat belts as this may
severely weaken them. In a crash, they may
not be able to provide adequate protection.
Damaged seat belts or belts that were highly
stressed in an accident must be replaced.
Contact an authorized Mercedes-Benz Cen-
ter.

60 Safety and SecurityOccupant safetyIn this section you will learn the most im-
portant facts about the restraint systems
of the vehicle.
The restraint systems are:

Seat belts


Emergency tensioning device


Air bags


Child seats


Child seat recognition


Lower anchors and tethers for children
(LATCH)


Preventive occupant safety (PRE-SAFE)
As independent systems, their protective
effects work in conjunction with each oth-
er.The 1 indicator lamp in the instrument
cluster comes on


for about four seconds when you turn
the SmartKey in the starter switch to
position1 or press the KEYLESS-GO*
start/stop button (
page 35) once. It
then goes out briefly, comes on again
and remains lit until you start the en-
gine.


for about four seconds when you start
the engine by turning the SmartKey or
pressing the KEYLESS-GO* start/stop
button.The restraint systems are fully operational
if the 1 indicator lamp is not lit when
the engine is running.
A malfunction in the system has been de-
tected if the1 indicator lamp:


fails to extinguish after approximately
four seconds.


does not come on at all.


comes on after the engine was started
or while driving.
For safety reasons, we strongly recom-
mend that you visit an authorized
Mercedes-Benz Center immediately to
have the system checked.
For more information, see “Practical hints”
(e page 337).
iFor information on infants and children
traveling with you in the vehicle and re-
straint systems for infants and chil-
dren, see “Children in the vehicle”
(page 71).
iThe 1 indicator lamp remains lit if
the SmartKey is turned to position 2
and left there or the KEYLESS-GO*
start/stop button is pressed twice. The
indicator lamp will go out when you
start the engine.

62 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 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 an 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 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 lean their heads in the area of the
door where the side 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 appropriate size in-
fant 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 air bag when it
is properly installed. Otherwise they will
be struck by the air bag 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, it is important that
you make the buyer aware of this safety in-
formation. Be sure to give the buyer this Op-
erator's Manual.
1BabySmart
TM is a trademark of Siemens Automo-
tive 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 front passenger
seat of your vehicle, you must properly use
a BabySmart
TM child restraint which will
turn off the passenger front air bag.
BabySmart
TM will not, however, turn off any
side impact air bag.
It should be noted that with respect to both
front and rear side impact air bags there is a
possibility for a side air bag related injury if
occupants, especially children, are not prop-
erly seated or restrained when next to a side
air bag which needs 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 place their bodies or lean their
heads in the area of the door where the
side air bag inflates. This could result in


63 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
serious injuries or death should the side
air bag be activated.
(2) Always sit nearly upright, properly use
the seat belts and use an appropriately
sized infant or child restraint system for
all children 12 years old or under.
(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 air bags deactivated, then deactiva-
tion can be accomplished upon your written
request to do so at your authorized
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 activate only
in certain frontal (front air bags) im-
pacts, side impacts (side impact and
head protection window curtain
air bags) which exceed preset thresh-
olds, and in certain rollovers (head pro-
tection window curtain air bags). Only
during these events will they provide
their supplemental protection.
The driver and passengers should al-
ways 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 be activat-
ed. The driver and passengers will then
be protected to the extent possible by
a properly fastened seat belt. A proper-
ly 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.
Your vehicle was originally equipped
with air bags that are designed to acti-
vate in certain impacts exceeding a
preset threshold to reduce the poten-
tial and severity of injury. It is important
for your safety and that of your passen-
gers that you replace deployed air bags
and repair any malfunctioning air bags
to make sure the vehicle will continue
to provide supplemental crash protec-
tion for occupants.

66 Safety and SecurityOccupant safetyThe side impact air bags are deployed:

in impacts exceeding a preset deploy-
ment threshold


on the impacted side of the vehicle


independently of the front air bags
The side impact air bags are not deployed
in impacts which do not exceed the sys-
tem’s deployment threshold.
The front passenger side impact air bag
will only deploy if the system senses that
the front passenger seat is occupied.
Window curtain air bags
1Window curtain air bagThe side window curtain air bags are de-
ployed:


in impacts exceeding a preset deploy-
ment threshold


on the impacted side of the vehicle


independently of the front air bags


in certain vehicle rollovers
The side window curtain air bags are not
deployed in impacts which do not exceed
the system’s deployment threshold.
The window curtain air bags fill up the area
between the A and C pillars (see arrows).
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 be-
fore the engine is started, the seat belt
telltale< illuminates and a warning
chime sounds for approximately six sec-
onds 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 belts” (
page 43).