ContentsSafety and Security........................... 63
Occupant safety................................... 64
Air bags .......................................... 65
Seat belts ....................................... 70
Active head restraints .................... 74
Children in the vehicle .................... 75
Blocking of rear door window
operation ........................................ 82
Panic alarm .......................................... 83
Activating ....................................... 83
Deactivating ................................... 83
Driving safety systems ......................... 84
ABS ................................................ 84
BAS ................................................ 86
ESP
®.............................................. 86
Electro-hydraulic brake system ...... 89
Anti-theft systems................................ 93
Immobilizer..................................... 93
Anti-theft alarm system .................. 93
Tow-away alarm ............................. 95
Controls in detail............................... 97
Locking and unlocking ......................... 98
SmartKey ....................................... 98
SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO* ...... 103
Opening the doors from the inside 111
Opening the trunk ........................ 112
Closing the trunk.......................... 114
Trunk emergency release ............. 120
Valet locking ................................ 121
Automatic central locking ............ 122
Locking and unlocking from
the inside ..................................... 122
Seats ................................................. 124
Front seat active head restraint ... 124
Rear seat head restraints ............. 124
Lumbar support............................ 125
Multicontour seat* ....................... 126
Drive - Dynamic seat* with
multicontour features................... 127
Seat heating* ............................... 128
Seat ventilation* .......................... 130Memory function ............................... 131
Storing positions into memory ..... 132
Recalling positions from memory. 132
Storing exterior rear view mirror
parking position ........................... 133
Lighting ............................................. 134
Exterior lamp switch .................... 134
Combination switch ..................... 138
Corner-illuminating front fog lamps*
(CLS with Bi-Xenon* headlamps) . 139
Hazard warning flasher ................ 140
Interior lighting in the front .......... 141
Interior lighting in the rear ........... 142
Door entry lamps ......................... 143
Trunk lamp ................................... 143
Instrument cluster ............................. 144
Instrument cluster illumination .... 144
Coolant temperature indicator ..... 145
Trip odometer .............................. 146
Tachometer.................................. 146
Outside temperature indicator ..... 146
39 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
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
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 positioned on the body.
Your seat must be adjusted so that you can
correctly fasten your seat belt (
page 46).
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 the SmartKey with
KEYLESS-GO* from the starter switch, take
it with you, and lock the vehicle.
Even with the SmartKey or the 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 unattended in the vehicle, or
with access to an unlocked vehicle. Unsu-
pervised use of vehicle equipment 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.
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 75).
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.
41 Getting started
Adjusting
Head restraint height
Press the switch up or down in the
direction of arrow3.Head restraint tilt
Manually adjust the angle of the head
restraint.
Push or pull on the lower edge of the
head restraint cushion.
For more information on seats, see “Seats”
(
page 124).
Steering wheel
Warning!
G
For your protection, drive only with properly
positioned head restraints.
Adjust head restraint so that it is as close to
the head as possible and the center of the
head restraint supports the back of the head
at eye level. This will reduce the potential 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.
iAdjust the head restraint in such a way
that it is as close to the head as possi-
ble.
Warning!
G
Do not adjust the steering wheel while driv-
ing. Adjusting the steering wheel while driv-
ing could cause the driver to lose control of
the vehicle.
When leaving the vehicle, always remove the
SmartKey or the SmartKey with
KEYLESS-GO* from the starter switch, take
it with you, and lock your vehicle.
Even with the SmartKey removed from the
starter switch or the SmartKey with
KEYLESS-GO* removed from the vehicle,
the steering wheel adjustment feature can
be operated when the driver’s 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.
46 Getting startedDrivingFastening the seat beltsWarning!
G
Make sure that absolutely no objects are ob-
structing the pedals range of movement.
Keep the driver’s footwell clear of all obsta-
cles. If there are any floormats or carpets in
the footwell, make sure that the pedals still
have sufficient clearance.
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 all of your passengers
are properly restrained, even those sitting in
the rear and pregnant women.
Failure to wear and properly fasten and
position 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 70).
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 75).
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.
48 Getting startedDriving
With a smooth motion, pull the belt
from belt outlet1.
Place the shoulder portion of the belt
across the top of your shoulder and the
lap portion across your hips.
Push latch plate2 into buckle4 until
it clicks.
If necessary, tighten the lap portion to
a snug fit by pulling shoulder portion
up.Belt outlet height adjustment
1Release button
Press release button1 and move the
seat belt height adjuster upward or
downward.
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
upright 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 periodically dur-
ing travel to make sure that it is proper-
ly positioned.
Make sure that the seat belt is always
fitted snugly. Take special care of this
when wearing loose clothing.
64 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)
As independent systems, their protective
effects work in conjunction with each oth-
er.The 1indicator lamp in the instrument
cluster comes on
for about 4 seconds when you turn the
SmartKey in the starter switch to
position1 or press the KEYLESS-GO*
start/stop button once.
for about 4 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 1indicator lamp is not lit when
the engine is running.
A malfunction in the system has been
detected if the 1indicator lamp:
fails to go out after approximately
4 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.
More information can be found in the
“Practical hints” section (
page 359).
iFor information on infants and children
traveling with you in the vehicle and
restraint systems for infants and chil-
dren, see “Children in the vehicle”
(page 75).
iThe 1indicator lamp comes on and
remains lit if the SmartKey is turned to
position2 and left there or the
KEYLESS-GO* start/stop button is
pressed twice. The indicator lamp will
go out when you start the engine.
66 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 your 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
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
TM 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
fatal injury will result.
Failure to follow these instructions can
result 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 Manu-
al.
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
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 impact air bag inflates. This could
result in serious injuries or death should
the side impact air bag be deployed.
67 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
(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 activate only
in certain frontal impacts (front
air bags), 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 types of impacts, if of
sufficient severity to meet the deploy-
ment thresholds, will they provide their
supplemental protection.
The driver and passenger should al-
ways wear their seat belts. Otherwise it
is not possible for the air bags to pro-
vide their supplemental protection.
In cases of other frontal impacts, an-
gled impacts, rollovers, other side im-
pacts, rear collisions, or other
accidents, the air bags will not be acti-
vated. The driver and the passenger will
then be protected by the fastened seat
belts.
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
to 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.