2005 MERCEDES-BENZ S500 seat adjustment

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


70 Safety and SecurityOccupant safetyAutomatic comfort-fit feature seat belt
An automatic comfort-fit feature for front
seats and for the rear outer seats (only for
vehicles with electrically adjustable rear
bench seat* or with individual seats* in the
rear) reduces the retracting force of the
seat belts when they are in normal use.
Preventive occupant safety (PRE-SAFE)
Your vehicle automatically takes preven-
tive measures to better protect the occu-
pants in the following hazardous
situations:

You execute an emergency braking ma-
neuver and the Brake Assist System
(page 81) is activated.


The PRE-SAFE system detects a critical
driving dynamics situation.In such cases, the following systems are
automatically activated:


A front seat belt with the seat belt
buckled is pre-tensioned electrically.


If the occupied front passenger seat or
rear seats are in an unfavorable posi-
tion, they are adjusted to a better posi-
tion. Rear seat adjustment occurs only
in vehicles with individual seats* in the
rear.


The tilt/sliding sunroof closes if the ve-
hicle is in a severe skid or is spinning.
!Do not place objects heavier than
20 lbs (9 kg) on the front passenger
seat. This could cause the front or side
impact air bag on the front passenger
side to deploy in a crash which exceeds
the system's deployment threshold.
Warning
G
The PRE-SAFE system is intended to reduce
the effects of an accident on properly seat
belted vehicle occupants. Despite having
the PRE-SAFE systems in your car, the pos-
sibility of injuries occurring as a result of an
accident cannot be totally eliminated.
Therefore you should always drive carefully
and adjust your driving to the prevailing
road, weather, and traffic conditions.

78 Safety and SecurityOccupant safetyOverride switch for rear passenger compartment
You can disable select functions in the rear
passenger compartment for added safety
(for instance when you have children riding
in the rear passenger compartment).
You can disable the following functions in
the rear passenger compartment:

rear door window operation
(page 207)


adjustment of front passenger seat
from the rear* (
page 118)


cigarette lighter in rear (
page 252)The override switch is located on the driv-
er’s door.
1Override switch
Activating override switch

Slide override switch 1 to the right.
A dot becomes visible. The functions in
the rear are disabled.
Deactivating override switch

Slide override switch 1 to the left.
The functions in the rear are enabled
again.
Warning!
G
Activate the override switch when children
are riding in the back seats of the vehicle.
The children may otherwise injure them-
selves, e.g. by becoming trapped in the win-
dow opening.
When leaving the vehicle, always remove the
SmartKey or SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO*
from the starter switch, take it with you, and
lock your vehicle. Do not leave children un-
attended 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.iOperation of the rear door windows
with the switches located in the driver’s
door is still possible.

114 Controls in detailSeatsFor more information on seat adjustment,
see “Adjusting” (
page 37).
Easy-entry/exit feature
This feature allows for easier entry into and
exit from the vehicle.
The easy-entry/exit feature can be activat-
ed or deactivated in the
CONVENIENCE
sub-
menu of the control system (
page 170).When exiting the vehicle, with the easy-en-
try/exit feature activated and depending
on your selection, the steering wheel tilts
upwards and/or the driver’s seat moves a
few inches to the rear when you:


remove the SmartKey from the starter
switch,
or


open the driver’s door with the
SmartKey in starter switch position 0
or 1 or the KEYLESS-GO* start/stop
button (
page 35) in position 1.
Warning!
G
You must make sure no one can become
trapped or injured by the moving steering
wheel and driver’s seat when the easy-en-
try/exit feature is activated.
To cancel seat/steering wheel movement,
do one of the following:

Press seat adjustment switch
(page 38).


Move steering column stalk
(page 40).


Press one of the memory position but-
tons (
page 129).
Do not leave children unattended in the ve-
hicle, or with access to an unlocked vehicle.
Children could open the driver’s door and
unintentionally activate the easy-entry/exit
feature, which could result in an accident
and/or serious personal injury.

117 Controls in detailSeats
Rear seats
Power seat bench*
The switches for adjusting the seat bench
are located at the respective rear doors.
1Seat bench fore and aft adjustment
2Head restraint heightSeat bench fore and aft adjustment

Press switch forward or backward in di-
rection of arrow1.
Head restraint height

Press switch up or down in direction of
arrow2.Individual power seats*
The switches for adjusting the seats are lo-
cated at the respective rear doors.
1Seat fore and aft adjustment
2Seat height
3Head restraint heightWarning!
G
For your protection, drive only with properly
positioned head restraints.
Adjust head restraint so that the center of
the head restraint supports the back of the
head at eye level. This will reduce the poten-
tial for injury to the head and neck in the
event of an accident or similar situation.
Do not drive the vehicle without the seat
head restraints. Head restraints are intend-
ed to help reduce injuries during an acci-
dent.

118 Controls in detailSeatsSeat fore and aft adjustment
Press switch forward or backward in di-
rection of arrow1.
Seat height

Press switch up or down in the direc-
tion of arrow2.
Head restraint height

Press switch up or down in direction of
arrow3.
Power seat, setting front passenger
seat position from rear*
This function lets you adjust the position of
the front passenger seat from the rear.
Warning!
G
For your protection, drive only with properly
positioned head restraints.
Adjust head restraint so that the center of
the head restraint supports the back of the
head at eye level. This will reduce the poten-
tial for injury to the head and neck in the
event of an accident or similar situation.
Do not drive the vehicle without the seat
head restraints. Head restraints are intend-
ed to help reduce injuries during an acci-
dent.
Warning!
G
When adjusting the front passenger seat,
make sure the seat, if occupied, is as far
from the passenger front air bag as possi-
ble.
Otherwise, the passenger could be seriously
or even fatally injured in the event of an ac-
cident or braking maneuver.
Make sure no one is caught or injured while
the seat is being adjusted.
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.

119 Controls in detailSeats
The switch is located on the right rear pas-
senger door.
1Front passenger seat adjustment
2Right rear passenger seat adjustment
3Seat height
4Head restraint height
5Backrest tilt
6Seat fore and aft adjustment

Switch on ignition (
page 34).
or

Open the right rear passenger door.

Press button1 to adjust the front
passenger seat.

To adjust right rear passenger seat,
press button2 (
page 119).Passenger seat fore and aft adjustment

Press the switch forward or backward
in direction of arrow6.
Passenger seat backrest tilt

Press the switch forward or backward
in direction of arrow5.
Passenger seat height

Press the switch up or down in the
direction of arrow3.
Passenger seat head restraint height

Press the switch up or down in
direction of arrow4.
iAdjusting the passenger seat position
from the rear is not possible if you de-
activate the operation of the rear door
windows (
page 78).
!Do not move the front passenger seat
completely forward if objects are
stored in the parcel net in the front pas-
senger-side footwell. Items in the net
may be damaged.
iAdjust the head restraint in such a way
that it is as close to the head as possi-
ble.


123 Controls in detailSeats
The switches for the driver’s and front pas-
senger seat are located on the inner side of
the seat.
1Shoulder region support
2Side bolster adjustment
3Massage function (PULSE)
4Lumbar region support
Switch on ignition (
page 34).
Shoulder region support

Press æ or ç on switch1.
The air cushion inflates or deflates.Lumbar region support

Press k or j on rocker
switch4.
This selects the air cushion you wish to
adjust.

Press æ or ç on rocker
switch4.
The air cushion inflates or deflates.
Side bolsters adjustment

Adjust the side bolsters so that they
provide good lateral support using
switch 2.Massage function (PULSE)
You can reduce muscle tension during long
trips by periodically using the massage
function.

Press button3.
The indicator lamp on button3 comes
on. The air cushions in the lumbar re-
gion inflate and deflate rhythmically.
iWhen the engine is turned off, the last
cushion setting is retained in memory,
and the cushion is automatically ad-
justed to this setting when the engine
is restarted.
iThe massage function switches off au-
tomatically after approximately eight
minutes. The indicator lamp extinguish-
es.