2007 MERCEDES-BENZ CLK350 belt

49 Getting started
Driving
With a smooth motion, pull the belt out
of the seat belt presenter.
Place the shoulder portion of the belt
across the top of your shoulder and the
lap portion across your hips.
Push latch plate1 into buckle3 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
upright position.

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

Do not fasten a seat belt around a
person 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
during travel to make sure that it is
properly positioned.

Make sure that 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
Center.

50 Getting started
Driving
The seat belt presenter slides back:

right after you push the latch plate1
into buckle3 and hear it click.

after approximately 60 seconds if you
do not push latch plate 1 into
buckle3.

if your door is opened.

if you turn the SmartKey in the starter
switch to position 0.

if you release a front seat backrest and
fold it forward.
Starting the engine Automatic transmission
Gearshift pattern for automatic
transmission
PPark position with gear selector lever
lock
RReverse gear
NNeutral
DDrive position
For more information, see “Automatic
transmission” (
page 170).
Warning!G
The seat belt presenter must be retracted
while the vehicle is in motion. Only when the
seat belt presenter is retracted can the seat
belt be properly positioned on the body and
protect the occupant as intended.
Warning!G
Inhalation of exhaust gas is hazardous to
your health. All exhaust gas contains carbon
monoxide (CO), and inhaling it can cause un-
consciousness and possible death.
Do not run the engine in confined areas
(such as a garage) which are not properly
ventilated. If you think that exhaust gas
fumes are entering the vehicle while driving,
have the cause determined and corrected
immediately. If you must drive under these
conditions, drive with at least one window
fully open.

61 Getting started
Parking and locking
Releasing seat belts
Press the seat belt release button
(
page 48).
Allow the retractor to completely re-
wind the seat belt by guiding the latch
plate.
LockingExit the vehicle, take the SmartKey or
the SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO* with
you, and close all doors and the trunk
lid.
!M a k e s u r e t h e s e a t b e l t r e t r a c t s f u l l y s o t h a t
the seat belt and/or latch plate cannot get
caught or pinched in the door or in the seat
mechanism. This can damage the seat belt and
impair the effectiveness of the seat belt, and/or
cause damage to the door and/or door trim pan-
el. Such damage is not covered by the
Mercedes-Benz Limit Warranty.
Damaged seat belts must be replaced. Contact
an authorized Mercedes-Benz Center.
Warning!G
To prevent possible personal injury, always
keep hands and fingers away from the door
openings when closing the doors. Be espe-
cially careful when small children are
around.
Before closing doors, make sure there is no
possibility of someone getting caught in a
door during closing.
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. Do not leave children unat-
tended in the vehicle, or with access to an
unlocked vehicle. A child’s unsupervised ac-
cess to a vehicle could result in an accident
and/or serious personal injury.
iIf you hear a warning signal you have
forgotten to switch off the headlamps before
opening the driver’s door.
In addition the message
Turn off lamps
appears in the multifunction display. Vehicles
with KEYLESS-GO*, this message is only dis-
played for approximately 1 second. It is then
overwritten by the message,
Please do not
forget key
.
Switch off the headlamps.
iOpening a door causes the windows on that
side of the car to open slightly. They will return to
the up position when the door is closed.

64 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
In this section you will learn the most im-
portant facts about the restraint system
components of the vehicle.

Seat belts (page 75)

Child restraints (page 82)

Lower Anchors and Tethers for
CHildren (LATCH) (
page 85)
Additional protection potential provide

Supplemental Restraint System (SRS)
with

Air bags (page 65)

Air bag control unit (with crash
sensors)

Emergency tensioning device (ETD)
for seat belts (
page 79)

Active head restraint (page 80)

Roll bars (page 81)Air bag system components with

Front passenger front air bag off
indicator lamp (
page 74)

Front passenger seat with Occupant
Classification System (OCS)
(
page 71)
Although independent systems, their pro-
tective functions work in conjunction with
each other.
The SRS system conducts a self-test when
the ignition is switched on and in regular
intervals while the engine is running. This
facilitates detection of system malfunc-
tions. The 1indicator lamp in the in-
strument cluster comes on when the
ignition is switched on and goes out no lat-
er than a few seconds after the engine has
been started.The SRS components are in operational
readiness 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 after the engine was started

does not come on at all

comes on after the engine was started
or while driving
iFor information on infants and children
traveling with you in the vehicle and restraint
systems for infants and children, see “Children
in the vehicle” (
page 82).Warning!G
Modifications to or work improperly con-
ducted on restraint systems (such as seat
belts and anchors, emergency tensioning
devices, seat belt force limiters or air bags)
or their wiring, as well as tampering with in-
terconnected electronic systems, can lead
to the restraint systems no longer function-
ing as intended.

66 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Warning!G
To reduce the risk of injury when the front
air bags inflate, it is very important for the
driver and front passenger to always be in a
properly seated position and to wear their
respective seat belts.
For maximum protection in the event of a
collision always be in normal seated position
with your back against the backrest. Fasten
your seat belt and make sure that it is prop-
erly positioned on your body.
Since the air bag inflates with considerable
speed and force, a proper seating and hands
on steering wheel position will help to keep
you at a safe distance from the air bag.
Occupants who are unbelted, out of position
or too close to the air bag can be seriously
injured or killed by an air bag as it inflates
with great force in the blink of an eye:

Sit properly belted in a nearly upright
position with your back against the seat
backrest.

Adjust the driver’s seat as far as possi-
ble rearward, still permitting proper op-
eration 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 your head or chest close to
the steering wheel or dashboard.

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’s 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
always sit nearly upright, properly use
the seat belts and use an appropriately
sized infant or toddler restraint or boost-
er seat recommended for the size and
weight of the child.
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
Operator's Manual.

67 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Safety guidelines for the seat belt,
emergency tensioning device and
air bag
Warning!G
Accident research shows that the safest
place for children in an automobile is in the
rear seat.
There is a possibility for a head-thorax air
bag or rear side impact air bag* related inju-
ry if occupants, especially children, are not
properly seated or restrained when next to a
head-thorax air bag and/or rear 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) Always sit as upright as possible,
properly use the seat belts, and for
children 12 years old and under, use an
appropriately sized infant or toddler
restraint or booster seat recommended
for the size and weight of the child.
(2) Always wear seat belts properly.
iAir bags are designed to deploy only in cer-
tain frontal impacts (front air bags), and in side
impacts (head-thorax air bags and rear side im-
pact air bags*) which exceed preset thresholds.
Only during these events will they provide their
supplemental protection.
The driver and passengers should always wear
their seat belts. Otherwise it is not possible for
the air bags to provide their supplemental pro-
tection.
In case of other types of impacts and impacts be-
low air bag deployment thresholds, air bags will
not deploy. The driver and passenger will then be
protected to the extent possible by a properly
fastened seat belt. A properly fastened seat belt
is also needed to provide the best possible pro-
tection in a rollover.
We caution you not to rely on the presence of the
air bags in order to avoid wearing your seat belt.
It is important to your safety and that of your pas-
sengers that you replace deployed air bags and
repair any malfunctioning air bags to make sure
that the vehicle will continue to provide supple-
mental crash protection for occupants.
Warning!G

Damaged seat belts or belts that were
highly stressed in an accident must be
replaced and their anchoring points
must also be checked. Only use belts in-
stalled or supplied by an authorized
Mercedes-Benz Center.

Air bags and emergency tensioning de-
vices (ETDs) are designed to function on
a one-time-only basis. An air bag or ETD
that is deployed must be replaced.

Do not pass belts over sharp edges.
They could tear.

Do not make any modification that could
change the effectiveness 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 ade-
quate protection.


69 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Front air bags
1Driver air bag
2Passenger air bag
Driver and front passenger front air bags
are deployed:

in the event of certain frontal impacts

if impact exceeds a preset deployment
threshold

independently of the head-thorax air
bag and/or rear side impact air bag*The air bags will not deploy in impacts
which do not exceed the system’s deploy-
ment thresholds. You will then be protect-
ed by the fastened seat belts.The front passenger front air bag will only
be deployed if:

the system, based on OCS weight sen-
sor readings, senses that the front pas-
senger seat is occupied

the56 indicator lamp in the
center console is not lit (
page 74)

the impact exceeds a preset deploy-
ment threshold
iThe front air bags in this vehicle have been
designed to inflate in two stages. This allows the
air bag to have different rates of inflation that are
based on the rate of relevant vehicle decelera-
tion as assessed by the air bag control unit.
On the front passenger side, the front air bag de-
ployment is additionally influenced by the pas-
senger’s weight category as identified by the
Occupant Classification System (OCS)
(
page 71).
The lighter the front passenger side occupant,
the higher the vehicle deceleration rate required
for the second stage inflation of the air bag.

71 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Occupant Classification System
The O
ccupant Classification System (OCS)
automatically turns the front passenger
front air bag on or off based on the classi-
fied occupant weight category determined
by weight sensor readings from the front
passenger seat.
Occupants must sit properly belted in a po-
sition that is as upright as possible with
their back against the seat backrest and
feet on the floor to be correctly classified.
If the occupant's weight is transferred to
another object in the vehicle (e.g. by
leaning on armrests), the OCS may not be
able to properly approximate the
occupant’s weight category. Both driver and the front passenger should
always use the 56 indicator lamp
as an indication of whether or not the front
passenger is properly positioned.
iThe system does not deactivate the
head-thorax air bag and the emergency tension-
ing device.
iIf your seat, including your trim cover and
cushion needs to be serviced in any way, take
the vehicle to an authorized Mercedes-Benz
Center.
Only seat accessories approved by
Mercedes-Benz may be used. Warning!G
If the 56 indicator lamp illuminates
when an adult or someone larger than a
small individual is in the front passenger
seat, have the front passenger re-position
himself or herself in the seat until the
56 indicator lamp goes out.
More information about air bag display
messages (
page 382).
In the event of a collision, the air bag control
unit will not allow front passenger front air
bag deployment when the OCS classified
the front passenger seat occupant as being
up to or less than the weight of a typical
12-month-old child in a standard child
restraint or if the front passenger seat is
sensed as being empty.
When the OCS senses that the front passen-
ger seat occupant is classified as being up
to or less than the weight of a typical
12-month-old child in a standard child
restraint, the 56 indicator lamp will
illuminate when the engine is started and