2006 MERCEDES-BENZ E350 esp page 94

257 Controls in detail
Driving systems
Driving with Distronic
This section describes a number of driving
situations where special precaution is re-
quired on the part of the driver. Be pre-
pared to brake in such situations. This will
deactivate the Distronic system.The most likely cause for a malfunctioning
system is a dirty sensor (located behind
the hood grille), especially at times of snow
and ice or heavy rain. In such a case,
Distronic will switch off, and the message
Distronic
Currently unavailable
See Operator’s Manualappears in the multifunction display.
For cleaning and care of the Distronic sen-
sor, see “Cleaning the Distronic* system
sensor cover” (
page 368).
Warning!
G
Distronic works to maintain the speed se-
lected by the driver unless a moving obsta-
cle proceeding directly ahead of it in the
same travel direction is detected (e.g. fol-
lowing another vehicle ahead of you at a dis-
tance set by Distronic). This means that:

Your vehicle can pass another vehicle
after you change lanes.


While in a sharp turn or if the vehicle in
front is in a sharp turn, Distronic could
lose sight of a vehicle traveling in front
of it, then your vehicle could accelerate
to the previously selected speed.
Distronic regulates only the distance be-
tween your vehicle and those directly ahead
of it, but does not register stationary objects
in the road, e.g.:

a stopped vehicle in a traffic jam


a disabled vehicle


an oncoming vehicle
The driver must always be on the alert, ob-
serve all traffic and intercede as required by
steering or braking the vehicle.
Warning!
G
Distronic should not be used in snowy or icy
road conditions.
iIf the message Distronic
Currently unavailable
See Operator’s Manualdisappears during driving and the last
speed stored flashes for approximately
5 seconds, the dirt (e.g. slush) has dis-
solved; Distronic works again.

259 Controls in detail
Driving systems
Narrow vehicles
Because of their narrow profile, the vehi-
cles traveling near the outer edges of the
lane have not yet been detected by Dis-
tronic. There will be insufficient distance to
the vehicles ahead.
Airmatic DC (Dual Control)*
Airmatic automatically selects the opti-
mum suspension tuning and ride height for
your vehicle. The Airmatic consists of two
components:

Adaptive Damping System (ADS)


Vehicle level control
The ADS automatically selects the opti-
mum damping for the respective driving
conditions. At the same time the suspen-
sion is set to either Sport 1, Sport 2 or
Comfort.Suspension tuning
The suspension tuning is set according to:


Your driving style


Road surface conditions


Your choice of suspension style,
Sport 1, Sport 2 or Comfort, which you
select using the damping button1
(page 260).
The following suspension styles are
available:


Comfort
Both indicator lamps2
(page 260) are off.


Sport 1
One indicator lamp2
(page 260) is on.


Sport 2
Both indicator lamps2
(page 260) are on.

263 Controls in detail
Driving systems
The button is located in the lower section
of the center console.
1Vehicle level control button
2Indicator lamp 
Start the engine (
page 36).

Briefly press button1 to change from
normal level to raised level. When vehi-
cle is at raised level, pressing the but-
ton will return the vehicle to normal
level.
When raised level is set, indicator
lamp2 in the button comes on.
When normal level is set, indicator
lamp2 in the button goes out.
Parktronic system (Parking assist)*
iAt a speed of approximately above
75 mph (120 km / h) or if the speed
amounts to between 50 mph
(80 km / h) and 75 mph (120 km / h)
for approximately five minutes, the set-
ting raised is canceled. The indicator
lamp 2 in the button goes out.
If you do not drive in this speed range,
the raised level remains stored even if
the SmartKey is removed from the
starter switch.
Warning!
G
Parktronic is a supplemental system. It is
not intended to, nor does it replace, the
need for extreme care. The responsibility
during parking and other critical maneuvers
always rests with the driver.
Special attention must be paid to objects
with smooth surfaces or low silhouettes
(e.g. trailer couplings, painted posts, or road
curbs). Such objects may not be detected by
the system and can damage the vehicle.
The operational function of the Parktronic
system can be affected by dirty sensors, es-
pecially at times of snow and ice, see
“Cleaning the Parktronic system* sensors”
(page 368).
Interference caused by other ultrasonic sig-
nals (e.g. working jackhammers, car wash or
the air brakes of trucks) can cause the sys-
tem to send erratic indications, and should
be taken into consideration.

287 Controls in detail
Useful features
than 10 seconds or do not come on).
The message
Tele Aid malfunction
Drive to workshop
appears in the multi-
function display.Emergency calls
An emergency call is initiated automatical-
ly following an accident in which the emer-
gency tensioning devices (ETDs) or
air bags deploy.
An emergency call can also be initiated
manually by opening the cover next to the
interior rear view mirror labeled SOS, then
briefly pressing the button located under
the cover. See (
page 288) for instruc-
tions on initiating an emergency call man-
ually.
Once the emergency call is in progress, the
indicator lamp in the SOS button will begin
to flash. The message
Connecting call

appears in the multifunction display and
the audio system is muted. When the con-
nection is established, the message
Call connected
appears in the multifunc-
tion display. All information relevant to the
emergency, such as the location of the ve-
hicle (determined by the GPS satellite loca-
tion system), vehicle model, identification
number and color are generated.A voice connection between the Response
Center and the occupants of the vehicle
will be established automatically soon af-
ter the emergency call has been initiated.
The Response Center will attempt to deter-
mine more precisely the nature of the
emergency provided they can speak to an
occupant of the vehicle.
Warning!
G
If the indicator lamps in the SOS button, in
the Roadside Assistance button and/or in
the Information button remain illuminated
constantly in red and/or the message Tele Aid malfunction Drive to
workshop
is displayed in the multifunction
display after the system self-check, a mal-
function in the system has been detected.
If a malfunction is indicated as outlined
above, the system may not operate as ex-
pected. Have the system checked at the
nearest Mercedes-Benz Center as soon as
possible.

290 Controls in detailUseful features
Information button¡
The Information button¡ is located be-
low the center armrest cover.
Press and hold button (for longer than
2 seconds).
A call to the Customer Assistance Cen-
ter will be initiated. The button will
flash while the call is in progress. The
message
Connecting call
will appear
in the multifunction display and the au-
dio system is muted.
When the connection is established, the
message
Call connected
appears in the
multifunction display. The Tele Aid system
will transmit data generating the vehicle
identification number, model, color and lo-
cation (subject to availability of cellular
and GPS signals).A voice connection between the Customer
Assistance Center representative and the
occupants of the vehicle will be estab-
lished. Information regarding the operation
of your vehicle, the nearest authorized
Mercedes-Benz Center or Mercedes-Benz
USA products and services is available to
you.
For more details concerning the Tele Aid
system, please visit www.mbusa.com and
use your ID and password (sent to you sep-
arately) to learn more (USA only).
iThe indicator lamp on the Roadside As-
sistance button• remains illumi-
nated in red for approximately
10 seconds during the system
self-check after switching on the igni-
tion (together with the SOS button and
the Information button¡).
See system self-check (
page 286)
when the indicator lamp does not come
on in red or stays on longer than ap-
proximately 10 seconds.
If the indicator lamp on the Roadside
Assistance button• is flashing con-
tinuously and there was no voice con-
nection to the Response Center
established, then the Tele Aid system
could not initiate a Roadside Assis-
tance call (e.g. the relevant cellular
phone network is not available). The
message
Call failed
appears in the
multifunction display.
Roadside Assistance calls can be ter-
minated using button t on the mul-
tifunction steering wheel or the
respective button for ending a tele-
phone call on the COMAND headunit.
iThe indicator lamp on the Information
button¡ remains illuminated in red
for approximately 10 seconds during
the system self-check after switching
on the ignition (together with the SOS
button and the Roadside Assistance
button•).

291 Controls in detail
Useful features
Call priority
If other service calls such as a
Roadside Assistance call or Information
call are active, an Emergency call is still
possible. In this case, the Emergency call
will take priority and override all other ac-
tive calls. See system self-check (
page 286)
when the indicator lamp does not come
on in red or stays on longer than ap-
proximately 10 seconds.
If the indicator lamp on the Information
button¡ is flashing continuously
and there was no voice connection to
the Response Center established, then
the Tele Aid system could not initiate
an Information call (e.g. the relevant
cellular phone network is not avail-
able). The message
Call failed
ap-
pears in the multifunction display.
Information calls can be terminated us-
ing button t on the multifunction
steering wheel or the respective button
for ending a telephone call on the
COMAND headunit.
!If the indicator lamps do not start flash-
ing after pressing one of the buttons or
remain illuminated (in red) at any time,
the Tele Aid system has detected a
malfunction or the service is not cur-
rently active, and may not initiate a call.
Visit an authorized Mercedes-Benz
Center and have the system checked
or contact the Response Center at
1-800-756-9018 (in the USA) or
1-888-923-8367 (in Canada) as soon
as possible.
iThe indicator lamp in the respective
button flashes until the call is conclud-
ed. Calls can only be terminated by a
Response Center or Customer Assis-
tance Center representative except
Roadside Assistance and Information
calls, which can also be terminated by
pressing buttont on the multifunc-
tion steering wheel or the respective
button for ending a telephone call on
the COMAND headunit.

293 Controls in detail
Useful features
Stolen Vehicle Recovery services
In the event your vehicle was stolen:
Report the incident to the police.
The police will issue a numbered inci-
dent report.

Pass this number on to the
Mercedes-Benz Response Center along
with your password issued to you when
you subscribed to the service.
The Response Center will then attempt
to covertly contact the vehicle’s Tele
Aid system. Once the vehicle is locat-
ed, the Response Center will contact
the local law enforcement and you. The
vehicle’s location will only be provided
to law enforcement.
Garage door opener
The integrated remote control is capable of
operating up to three separately controlled
devices. It provides a convenient way to re-
place up to three hand-held remote con-
trols used to operate devices such as
garage door openers, gate openers, or oth-
er devices compatible with HomeLink
® or
some other systems.
Before the integrated remote control can
be used, it must be programmed to the ga-
rage door opener, gate operator or other
device you wish to operate. See the follow-
ing instructions for programming informa-
tion.
iThe remote door unlock feature is avail-
able if the relevant cellular phone net-
work is available.
The SOS button will flash and the mes-
sage
Call connected
w i l l a p p e a r i n t h e
multifunction display to indicate re-
ceipt of the door unlock command.
Once the vehicle is unlocked, a Re-
sponse Center specialist will attempt
to establish voice contact with the ve-
hicle occupants.
If the trunk recessed handle was pulled
for more than 20 seconds before door
unlock authorization was received by
the Response Center, you must wait
15 minutes before pulling the trunk re-
cessed handle again.
iWhen the anti-theft alarm or the
tow-away alarm stays on for more than
30 seconds, a call is initiated automat-
ically to the Response Center. See an-
ti-theft alarm system (
page 101) and
tow-away alarm (
page 103).

298 Controls in detailUseful features
Reprogramming a single signal trans-
mitter button
To program a device using a signal trans-
mitter button previously trained, follow
these steps:
Switch on the ignition (
page 36).

Press and hold the desired signal
transmitter button (2, 3 or4).
Do not release the button.

The indicator lamp1 will begin to
flash after 20 seconds. Without releas-
ing the signal transmitter button, pro-
ceed with programming starting with
step 3.Operation of integrated remote control

Switch on the ignition (
page 36).

Select and press the appropriate inte-
grated signal transmitter button (2,
3 or4) to activate the remote con-
trolled device.
The integrated remote control trans-
mitter continues to send the signal as
long as the button is pressed – up to
20 seconds.
iUpon completion of programming the
integrated remote control, make sure
you retain the hand-held remote con-
trol that came with the garage door
opener, gate operator or other device.
You may need it for use in other vehi-
cles, for future programming of an
integrated remote control, or simply for
continued use as a hand-held remote
control to operate the respective
device in other situations.