2007 MERCEDES-BENZ E320 BLUETEC Steering wheel controls

41 Getting started
Adjusting
Adjusting
Seats
Warning!
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 seat belt would apply force at
the abdomen or neck. That could cause se-
rious or fatal injuries. The seat back and seat
belts provide the best restraint when the
wearer is in a nearly upright position and
seat belts are properly positioned on the
body.
Warning!
G
Your seat must be adjusted so that you can
correctly fasten your seat belt (
page 49).
Observe the following points:


Adjust the backrest until your arms are
slightly angled when holding the steer-
ing wheel.


Adjust the seat to a comfortable seating
position that still allows you to reach the
accelerator/brake pedal safely. The po-
sition should be as far to the rear as pos-
sible, consistent with ability to properly
operate controls.


Adjust the 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.


Never place hands under the seat or
near any moving parts while a seat is be-
ing adjusted.
Failure to do so could result in an accident
and/or serious personal injury.

70 Safety and SecurityOccupant safetyAir bagsWarning!
G
Air bags are designed to reduce the poten-
tial of injury and fatality in certain frontal im-
pacts (front air bags), side impacts (side
impact air bags and window curtain air bags)
or rollovers (window curtain air bags). How-
ever, no system available today can totally
eliminate injuries and fatalities.
The activation of the air bags temporarily re-
leases a small amount of dust from the
air bags. This dust, however, is neither inju-
rious to your health, nor does it indicate a
fire in the vehicle. The dust might cause
some temporary breathing difficulty for peo-
ple with asthma or other breathing trouble.
To avoid this, you may wish to get out of the
vehicle as soon as it is safe to do so. If you
have any breathing difficulty but cannot get
out of the vehicle after the air bag inflates,
then get fresh air by opening a window or
door.
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 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 contact your 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
inside 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.

134 Controls in detailMemory functionPrior to operating the vehicle, the driver
should check and adjust the seat height,
seat position fore and aft, and seat back-
rest angle if necessary, to ensure adequate
control, reach and comfort. The head re-
straint should also be adjusted for proper
height. See also the section on air bags
(page 70) for more information on prop-
er seat positioning.
In addition, adjust the steering wheel to
ensure adequate control, reach, operation
and comfort. Both the interior and exterior
rear view mirrors should be adjusted for
adequate rear vision.
Fasten seat belts. Infants and small chil-
dren should be seated in a properly se-
cured restraint system that complies with
U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Stan-
dards 213 and 225 and Canadian Motor
Vehicle Safety Standards 213 and 210.2.With the memory function you can store up
to three different settings.
Each stored position on the driver’s side
includes the following settings:


Driver’s seat, backrest, head restraint
position


Multicontour seat*: previously saved
setting


Steering wheel position


Exterior rear view mirrors’ positionEach stored position on the front
passenger side includes the following
settings:


Front passenger seat, backrest, head
restraint position


Multicontour seat*: previously saved
setting
Warning!
G
Do not activate the memory function while
driving. Activating the memory function
while driving could cause the driver to lose
control of the vehicle.

135 Controls in detail
Memory function
MMemory button
1, 2, 3Memory position button
Switch on the ignition (
page 37).
or

Open the respective door.
Storing positions into memory
Adjust the seats, steering wheel and
exterior rear view mirrors to the de-
sired position (
page 41).

Press memory buttonM.

Release memory buttonM and press
memory position button 1, 2 or 3 with-
in 3 seconds.
All the settings are stored to the select-
ed position.
Recalling positions from memory
Press and hold memory position
button1, 2 or3 until the seat, steering
wheel and exterior rear view mirrors
have completely moved to the stored
positions.
!
Do not operate the power seats using the
memory button if the seat backrest is in an ex-
cessively reclined position. Doing so could cause
damage to front or rear seats.
First move seat backrest to an upright position.
i
Releasing the memory position button stops
movement to the stored positions immediately.
The multicontour seat* will continue to be ad-
justed.

142 Controls in detailLightingHigh beam
Turn the exterior lamp switch to
positionB (
page 137).

Push the combination switch in direc-
tion of arrow1 to switch on the high
beam.
The high beam headlamp indicator
lampA in the instrument cluster
comes on (
page 26).

Pull the combination switch in direction
of arrow2 to its original position to
switch off the high beam.
The high beam headlamp indicator
lampA in the instrument cluster
goes out.
High beam flasher

Pull the combination switch briefly in
direction of arrow2.
Corner-illuminating front fog lamps*
The corner-illuminating front fog lamps im-
prove illumination of the area in the direc-
tion into which you are turning.
The corner-illuminating front fog lamps will
operate with the engine running and with

the exterior lamp switch in
positionB (
page 137)
or


the exterior lamp switch in
positionU (
page 137)
or


the daytime running lamp mode
activated (
page 139).Driving forward
Switching on corner-illuminating front
fog lamps

Switch on the left or right turn signal
(page 57), depending on whether
you are turning left or right.
The respective front fog lamp comes on
and illuminates the area in the direc-
tion into which you are turning.
or

Turn steering wheel in desired direc-
tion.
The front fog lamp on the side of your
steering direction comes on.
i
With the automatic headlamp mode activat-
ed: The corner-illuminating front fog lamps will
only come on in low ambient lighting conditions.
i
If you are driving faster than 25 mph
(40 km/h), the corner-illuminating function is
not available.
i
If you have switched on the turn signal for
one side but turn the steering wheel in the oppo-
site direction, the corner-illuminating front fog
lamp comes on for the side indicated by the turn
signal.
The corner-illuminating front fog lamp remains lit
for a maximum of 3 minutes. Afterward, it goes
out even if the turn signal is still switched on.

143 Controls in detail
Lighting
Switching off corner-illuminating front
fog lamps
The combination switch for the turn signal
resets automatically after major steering
wheel movements. This will switch off the
corner-illuminating front fog lamps if they
were activated by switching on the left or
right turn signal.If the turn signal should stay on after mak-
ing the turn, the turn signal and the cor-
ner-illuminating front fog lamps can be
switched off by returning the combination
switch to its original position.Driving in reverse
Switching on corner-illuminating front
fog lamps

Place the gear selector lever in
positionR.
The front fog lamp opposite to your
steering direction comes on.
Switching off corner-illuminating front
fog lamps

Place the gear selector lever out of
positionR.
The respective front fog lamp goes out.
i
The corner-illuminating front fog lamps tem-
porarily come on on both sides of the vehicle if
you turn the steering wheel in one direction and
then again in the other direction shortly thereaf-
ter.
i
The corner-illuminating front fog lamps will
come on automatically depending on the steer-
ing angle, even if you did not switch on either
turn signal.
If the corner-illuminating front fog lamps came
on automatically, they will also go out automati-
cally depending on the steering angle.
i
There may be a brief delay before the cor-
ner-illuminating front fog lamps switch off.

151 Controls in detail
Control system
Control system
The control system is activated as soon as
the SmartKey in the starter switch is
turned to position1 or as soon as the
KEYLESS-GO start/stop button* is in
position1. The control system enables you
to:

call up information about your vehicle


change vehicle settings
For example, you can use the control sys-
tem to find out when your vehicle is next
due for service, to set the language for
messages in the instrument cluster dis-
play, and much more.
The control system relays information to
the multifunction display.
Multifunction display
1Outside temperature
2Trip odometer
3Automatic transmission program mode
4Main odometer
5Current gear selector lever position
Above illustration shows the standard
display.
For more information on menus displayed
in the multifunction display, see “Menus”
(page 154).
i
The displays for the audio systems (radio,
CD player) will appear in English, regardless of
the language selected.
Warning!
G
A driver’s attention to the road and traffic
conditions must always be his/her primary
focus when driving.
For your safety and the safety of others, se-
lecting features through the multifunction
steering wheel should only be done by the
driver when traffic and road conditions per-
mit it to be done safely.
Bear in mind that at a speed of just 30 mph
(approximately 50 km/h), your vehicle is
covering a distance of 44 feet (approximate-
ly 14 m) every second.

152 Controls in detailControl systemMultifunction steering wheel
The displays in the multifunction display
and the settings in the control system
(page 151) are controlled by the buttons
on the multifunction steering wheel.
Depending on the selected menu
(
page 154), pressing the buttons on the
multifunction steering wheel will alter what
is shown in the multifunction display.
The information available in the multifunc-
tion display is arranged in menus, each
containing a number of functions or sub-
menus.
The individual functions are then found
within the relevant menu (radio or CD op-
erations under
AUDIO
, for example). These
functions serve to call up relevant informa-
tion or to customize the settings for your
vehicle.
1
Multifunction displayOperating the control system
2
Selecting the submenu or setting
the volume:
Press buttonæup/to increaseçdown/to decrease
3
Telephone*:
Press buttonsto take a call
to dial
to redialtto end a call
to reject an incoming call
4
Menu systems:
Press buttonèfor next menuÿfor previous menu
5
Moving within a menu:
Press buttonjfor next displaykfor previous display