ContentsSafety and Security........................... 63
Occupant safety................................... 64
Air bags .......................................... 66
Occupant Classification System
(USA only) ...................................... 71
BabySmart
TM air bag deactivation
system (Canada only) ..................... 76
Seat belts ....................................... 78
Preventive occupant safety
(PRE-SAFE®) ................................... 82
Active head restraints .................... 83
Children in the vehicle .................... 84
Blocking of
rear door window operation ........... 89
Panic alarm .......................................... 90
Activating ....................................... 90
Deactivating ................................... 90
Driving safety systems ......................... 91
ABS ................................................ 91
BAS ................................................ 92
Adaptive Brake ............................... 93
EBP................................................. 93
ESP
®............................................... 94Anti-theft systems ............................... 99
Immobilizer .................................... 99
Anti-theft alarm system.................. 99
Controls in detail............................. 101
Locking and unlocking ....................... 102
SmartKey ..................................... 102
SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO* ...... 105
Checking batteries in the
SmartKey or SmartKey with
KEYLESS-GO* .............................. 110
Loss of the SmartKey or
SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO* ...... 110
Opening the doors
from the inside ............................. 111
Opening the trunk ........................ 112
Closing the trunk.......................... 113
Trunk emergency release ............. 116
Valet locking ................................ 117
Automatic central locking ............ 118
Locking and unlocking
from the inside ............................. 118 Seats ................................................ 120
Front seat active head restraints . 120
Rear seat head restraints ............. 120
Lumbar support ........................... 121
Multicontour seat*....................... 122
Seat heating*............................... 123
Seat ventilation* .......................... 124
Memory function ............................... 125
Storing positions into memory ..... 126
Recalling positions from memory. 126
Storing exterior rear view mirror
parking position ........................... 127
Lighting ............................................. 128
Exterior lamp switch .................... 128
Combination switch ..................... 132
Corner-illuminating
front fog lamps* (CLS 550 with
Bi-Xenon* headlamps only).......... 132
Hazard warning flasher ................ 134
Interior lighting in the front .......... 135
Interior lighting in the rear ........... 136
Door entry lamps ......................... 137
Trunk lamp ................................... 137
34 At a glanceDoor control panel
Item
Page
1
Inside door handle
111
2
Seat adjustment
42
3
Memory function (for stor-
ing seat, exterior mirror and
steering wheel settings)
125
4
Exterior rear view mirror ad-
justment
47
5
Switches for opening/clos-
ing front and rear side win-
dows, rear window override
switch
207
6
Remote trunk release
switch, trunk opening/clos-
ing system*
113
114 Controls in detailLocking and unlocking
Closing the trunk from the inside
automatically*
In vehicles with trunk opening/closing sys-
tem* you can close the trunk from the in-
side using the remote trunk opening/
closing* switch.
1Remote trunk opening/closing* switch
Press switch1 until the indicator
lamp in the switch goes out and the
trunk is closed.
To interrupt the closing procedure:
Release switch1.
Warning!
G
To prevent possible personal injury, always
keep hands and fingers away from the trunk
opening when closing the trunk. Be espe-
cially careful when small children are
around.
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.
Warning!
G
Maintain sight of trunk area while operating
the door mounted switch. Monitor the clos-
ing procedure carefully to make sure that no
one is in danger of being injured.
To interrupt the closing procedure, press or
pull the door mounted remote trunk open-
ing/closing* switch.
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 remote trunk
opening/closing* switch can be operated.
Therefore, do not leave children unattended
in the vehicle, or with access to an unlocked
vehicle. A child’s unsupervised access to a
vehicle could result in an accident and/or
serious personal injury.
i
If the trunk lid comes into contact with an
object while closing (e.g. luggage that has been
piled too high) in the upper motion sequence, the
closing procedure is stopped and the trunk re-
opens slightly.
116 Controls in detailLocking and unlockingClosing trunk and locking vehicle from
outside (vehicles with KEYLESS-GO*)
In vehicles with trunk opening/closing sys-
tem* and KEYLESS-GO, you can close the
trunk and lock the vehicle simultaneously
from the outside using the KEYLESS-GO
locking/closing switch.
1KEYLESS-GO locking/closing switch
Make sure you have the SmartKey with
KEYLESS-GO with you.
Press switch1 briefly.
With all doors closed:
The locking knobs in the doors
move down.
The trunk starts to close automati-
cally.
All turn signal lamps flash three
times to confirm locking once the
trunk has closed completely.
An acoustic signal sounds three
times.
The anti-theft alarm system is
armed.
Trunk emergency release
With the emergency release button, the
trunk can be opened from inside the trunk.
1Emergency release button
Briefly press emergency release
button1.
The trunk unlocks and the trunk opens.
i
If the trunk lid comes into contact with an
object while closing (e.g. luggage that has been
piled too high) in the upper motion sequence, the
closing procedure is stopped and the trunk re-
opens slightly.
i
The emergency release button unlocks and
opens the trunk while the vehicle is standing still
or in motion.
117 Controls in detail
Locking and unlocking
Illumination of the emergency release
button:
The button will flash for 30 minutes af-
ter opening the trunk.
The button will flash for 60 minutes af-
ter closing the trunk.
Valet locking
1Neutral position
2Locked
i
The emergency release button does not
open the trunk, if the vehicle battery is dis-
charged or disconnected.
i
If the vehicle has previously been locked us-
ing the SmartKey or KEYLESS-GO*, the exterior
lamps will flash and the alarm will sound as the
trunk opens.
To cancel the alarm, do one of the following:
Insert the SmartKey in the starter switch.
Press buttonŒ or ‹ on the
SmartKey.
In vehicles with KEYLESS-GO*
Pull an outside door handle.
The SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO must be
within 3 ft (1 m) of the vehicle.
Press the KEYLESS-GO* start/stop button
(page 39).
The SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO must be in-
side the vehicle.
i
To deny any unauthorized person access to
the trunk, e.g. when you valet park the vehicle,
lock it separately with the mechanical key. Leave
only the SmartKey or SmartKey with
KEYLESS-GO* less its mechanical key with the
vehicle.
244 Controls in detailUseful featuresStorage compartments Glove box
Opening and closing the glove box
Press glove box lid release3 to open.
The glove box lid opens downward.
Push lid up to close.Locking and unlocking the glove box
Insert mechanical key (
page 396)
into the glove box lock.
Turn the mechanical key to position2
to lock or to position1 to unlock the
glove box.
Storage compartment/telephone*
compartment under center armrest
1Button to open storage/telephone*
compartment
2Cover
Warning!
G
To help avoid personal injury during a colli-
sion or sudden maneuver, exercise care
when storing objects in the vehicle. Put lug-
gage or cargo in the trunk if possible. Do not
pile luggage or cargo higher than the seat
backs. Do not place anything on the shelf
below the rear window.
Luggage nets cannot secure hard or heavy
objects.
Keep compartment lids closed. This will help
to prevent stored objects from being thrown
about and injuring vehicle occupants during
an accident.
1
Unlocked
2
Locked
3
Glove box lid release
398 Practical hintsUnlocking/locking in an emergency
Insert the mechanical key2 into the
driver’s door lock until it stops.
Turn the mechanical key clockwise to
position1.
The driver’s door is locked.
Fuel filler flap emergency release
In case the central locking system does
not release the fuel filler flap, you can open
it manually.
1Release knob
Open trunk.
Remove right-side tail trim.
Pull release knob1 in the direction of
arrow.
The fuel filler flap can know be opened.Manually unlocking the gear selector
lever
In case of power failure, the gear selector
lever can be manually unlocked, e.g. to tow
the vehicle.
1Selector lever cover
2Release
1
Locking
2
Mechanical key
i
This procedure does not arm the anti-theft
alarm system, nor does it lock the fuel filler flap.
413 Practical hints
Flat tire
Preparing the vehicle
Prepare the vehicle as described under
“Preparing the vehicle” on this page.
Take the spare wheel out of the trunk
(page 391).
Take the wheel wrench and the jack
out of the trunk (
page 391).
Removing tensioning straps
(CLS 63 AMG with Performance Pack-
age* only)
A 19" spare wheel has two tensioning
straps on it that must both be removed be-
fore mounting the spare wheel.1Buckle
2Clip
Press on both clips2 simultaneously
to release buckle1.Lifting the vehicle
Prevent the vehicle from rolling away
by blocking wheels with wheel chocks
or other sizeable objects.
When changing wheel on a level surface:
Place the wheel chock in front of and
another sizeable object behind the
wheel that is diagonally opposite to the
wheel being changed.
Always try lifting the vehicle using the jack
on a level surface. However, should cir-
cumstances require you to do so on a hill,
place the wheel chock and the other size-
able object as follows:
Place the wheel chock and another
sizeable object on the downhill side
blocking both wheels of the axle not
being worked on.
i
The tensioning straps are shown in red for
illustration purposes. The tensioning straps on
the spare wheel of your vehicle are black.
i
Keep the tensioning straps in a safe place.
You will need them to store the spare wheel in
the trunk after use (
page 392).