2007 MERCEDES-BENZ G55AMG wheel

159 Controls in detail
Control system
TEL menu
You can use the functions in the
TEL menu
to operate your telephone, provided it is
connected to a hands-free system and
switched on.
Switch on the telephone and COMAND
system.
Press buttonÿ orè on the
multifunction steering wheel repeat-
edly until the message
TEL appears in
the multifunction display.Which messages will appear in the multi-
function display depends on whether your
telephone is switched on or off:

If the telephone is off, the message
TEL off appears in the multifunction
display.

If the telephone is on:
The telephone will then search for a
network. During this time the multi-
function display is empty.
As soon as the telephone has found a
network, the message
Ready appears in
the multifunction display.
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, we recommend that you
pull over to a safe location and stop before
placing or taking a telephone call. If you
choose to use the telephone while driving,
please use the hands-free device and only
use the telephone when weather, road and
traffic conditions permit.
Some jurisdictions prohibit the driver from
using a cellular telephone while driving a ve-
hicle.
Bear in mind that at a speed of just 30 mph
(approximately 50 km/h), your vehicle is
covering a distance of 44 feet
(approximately 14 m) every second.
Never operate radio transmitters equipped
with a built-in or attached antenna (i.e. with-
out being connected to an external antenna)
from inside the vehicle while the engine is
running. Doing so could lead to a malfunc-
tion of the vehicle’s electronic system, pos-
sibly resulting in an accident and/or
personal injury.

165 Controls in detail
Automatic transmission
Effect
ëNeutral
No power is transmitted from the
engine to the drive axle. When
the brakes are released, the
vehicle can be moved freely
(pushed or towed).
To avoid damage to the trans-
mission, never engage neutral
positionN while driving except:

to coast when vehicle is in
danger of skidding (e.g. on
icy roads) when the ESP
® is
deactivated or malfunction-
ing

when you have to shift the
transfer case
êDrive
The transmission shifts
automatically. All forward gears
are available.
!Coasting the vehicle, or driving for any other
reason with gear selector lever in neutral
positionN can result in transmission damage
that is not covered by the Mercedes-Benz
Limited Warranty.
Warning!G
Getting out of your vehicle with the gear
selector lever not fully engaged in park
positionP is dangerous. Also, park
positionP alone is not intended to or capa-
ble of preventing your vehicle from moving,
possibly hitting people or objects.
Always set the parking brake in addition to
shifting to park positionP (
page 62).
When parked on an incline, turn the front
wheels towards the road curb.
Do not park this vehicle in areas where com-
bustible materials such as grass, hay or
leaves can come into contact with the hot
exhaust system, as these materials could be
ignited and cause a vehicle fire.
Warning!G
When leaving the vehicle, always remove the
SmartKey from the starter switch, take it
with you, and lock the vehicle. Do not leave
children unattended in the vehicle, or with
access to an unlocked vehicle. Children
could move the gear selector lever from
park positionP, which could result in an
accident and/or serious personal injury.

168 Controls in detail
Automatic transmission
One-touch gearshifting
With the gear selector lever in drive
positionD, you can limit or extend the gear
range.Limiting gear range
Briefly press the gear selector lever to
the left in the D–direction.
The transmission will shift to the next
lower gear as permitted by the shift
program. This action simultaneously
limits the gear range of the transmis-
sion (
page 167).Extending gear range
Briefly press the gear selector lever to
the right in the D+direction.
The transmission will shift to the next
higher gear as permitted by the shift
program. This action simultaneously
extends the gear range of the transmis-
sion.
!Allow engine to warm up under low load use.
Do not place full load on the engine until the
operating temperature has been reached.
Shift into reverse gearR or park positionP only
when the vehicle is stopped.
Warning!G
On slippery road surfaces, never downshift
in order to obtain braking action. This could
result in drive wheel slip and reduced
vehicle control. Your vehicle’s ABS will not
prevent this type of loss of control.
iTo avoid overrevving the engine when down-
shifting, the transmission will not shift to a lower
gear if the engine’s max. speed would be
exceeded.
iIf you press on the accelerator when the en-
gine has reached its rpm limit, the transmission
will upshift beyond any gear range limit selected.

174 Controls in detail
Differential locks
A few words about differentials and
differential locks
When a vehicle negotiates a turn, wheels
on the outside of the curve must travel
farther and rotate faster than the inside
wheels. The differential, the operation of a
set of gears that allows the powered
wheels in a vehicle to turn at different
speeds, makes this essential function
possible.
The drawback is that the differential also
sends most of the engine’s power to the
wheel with the least load or strain on it. For
example, if one of a vehicle’s powered
wheels sits on a patch of snow and spins
because there is no traction, all of the
engine’s power will go to that wheel
because the power will take the path of
least resistance. Meanwhile, the opposite
wheel, sitting on dry pavement where it
could get enough grip to start the vehicle
moving, sits idle because it receives no
power.The Electronic Traction System (4-ETS)
addresses this problem and provides for
good control and steering ability by auto-
matically slowing the slipping wheel and
thus increasing the power to the other
non-slipping drive wheels to get the vehicle
moving. The ESP
® and 4-ETS in this vehicle
feature such intelligent limited-slip
differential technology, ideally suited for
on-road and light off-road driving. Transfer
case position LOW (
page 170) also
enhances off-road driving capabilities
(
page 253).
More extreme off-road conditions may call
for another solution, engaging a differen-
tial lock or preventing the differential from
operating altogether. As part of its stan-
dard equipment, this vehicle comes with
three differential locks: front, transfer case
(center) and rear. Each can be engaged
simply by pushing dashboard-mounted
switches in sequential order (center, rear,
front) (
page 175). When the transfer
case (center) differential is locked, half of
the engine’s power is automatically
distributed to the front wheels and half to the rear wheels. When the rear differential
is locked, power going to the rear wheels is
equally distributed, so that both rear
wheels turn at the same speed and torque.
When the front differential is locked, all
four wheels now turn with equal power and
torque. Please be aware that engaging the
differential locks will significantly reduce
the steering ability of the vehicle.
For your safety and the safety of others
and to prevent damage to the vehicle, the
differential locks must not be engaged
when driving on paved roads. It is
important to understand that during
on-road/paved driving, differentials are
absolutely necessary for providing the
essential control and steering ability of the
vehicle. The differential locks, therefore,
must not be engaged when driving on
paved roads and should only be used to
the extent necessary to negotiate off-road
conditions which cannot be handled by the
systems (automatic 4-ETS, the ESP®,
manual switch position “LOW” of transfer
case) this vehicle comes equipped with.

175 Controls in detail
Differential locks
Switching differential locks on and off
The switches are located on the upper part
of the center console.
1Transfer case (center) differential lock
2Rear axle differential lock
3Front differential lock
4Engagement indicator lamps (yellow)
5Function indicator lamps (red)Switching differential locks on
Transfer case differential lock
Press switch1.
The yellow engagement indicator
lamp4 for the transfer case
differential lock comes on.
The ESP
® warning lampv comes
on.When the differential lock engagement
operation has been completed, the red
function indicator lamp5 comes on.
The message
ABS not available
differential locked
appears in the
multifunction display.
The ESP
® warning lampv and
the- indicator lamp in the
instrument cluster come on.
Once the transfer case differential lock
is switched on, you can now, if needed,

switch on rear axle differential
lock2
or

switch on rear axle differential
lock2 and front differential
lock3.
iThe differential locks can only be switched
on in the sequence1, 2, 3.
!To avoid damage to the transfer case and
differential locks:

Engage differential locks only at low speed
(walking speed, not more than 5 mph
[8 km/h]).

Do not engage differential locks if the driving
wheels are spinning due to lack of traction.

Do not engage differential locks on paved
roads.

177 Controls in detail
Good visibility
Good visibility
For information on windshield wipers, see
“Windshield wipers” (
page 58).
Headlamp cleaning system
The button is located on the dashboard to
the left of the steering wheel.
1Headlamp cleaning button
Switch on the ignition (page 39).
Press button1.
The headlamps are cleaned with a
high-pressure water jet.For information on filling up the washer
reservoir, see “Windshield/rear window
washer system and headlamp cleaning
system” (
page 275).
Rear view mirrors
For more information on setting the rear
view mirrors, see “Mirrors” (
page 46).
Auto-dimming rear view mirrors
The reflection brightness of the exterior
rear view mirrors and the interior rear view
mirror will respond automatically to glare
when

the ignition is switched on
and

incoming light from headlamps falls on
the sensor in the interior rear view
mirror
The exterior rear view mirrors and the
interior rear view mirror will not react if

reverse gearR is engaged

the interior lighting is turned on
iThe headlamps will automatically be
cleaned when you have

switched on the headlamps
and

operated the windshield wipers with
windshield washer fluid fifteen times
When you switch off the ignition, the counter
resets.
Warning!G
The auto-dimming function does not react if
incoming light is not aimed directly at
sensors in the interior rear view mirror.
The interior rear view mirror and the exterior
rear view mirrors do not react, for example,
when transporting cargo which covers the
rear window.
Light hitting the mirror(s) at certain angles
(incident light) could blind you. As a result,
you may not be able to observe traffic
conditions and could cause an accident.

183 Controls in detail
Climate control
Climate control panel (U.S. vehicles)
Climate control panel (Canada vehicles)
Item
1Left side defroster air vent, fixed
2Left side air vent, adjustable
3Thumbwheel for air volume control
for left side air vent
4Left front defroster air vent
5Thumbwheel for air volume control
for left center air vent
6Left center air vent, adjustable
7Right center air vent, adjustable
8Thumbwheel for air volume control
for right center air vent
9Right front defroster air vent
aThumbwheel for air volume control
for right side air vent
bRight side air vent, adjustable
cRight side defroster air vent, fixed
dRight footwell air vent
eClimate control panel
fLeft footwell air vent
iFor draft-free ventilation, move the sliders
for the center air vents and side air vents to the
middle position.Item
1Air volume control
2Left side temperature control
3Right side temperature control
4Air distribution control
5Rear window defroster (page 181)
6AC cooling on/off
Residual heat/ventilation
7Air distribution and air volume
(automatic mode)
8Air recirculation
9Front defroster

187 Controls in detail
Climate control
Adjusting air volume for the center air
vents
Opening the center air vents
Turn thumbwheel5 and/or8
(
page 182) to the right.
Center air vent6 and/or7
(
page 182) is open.
Closing the center air vents
Turn thumbwheel5 and/or8
(
page 182) to the left.
Center air vent6 and/or7
(
page 182) is closed.
Adjusting air volume for the side air
vents
Opening the side air vents
Turn thumbwheel3 and/ora
(
page 182) to the right.
Side air vent2 and/orb
(
page 182) is open.Closing the side air vents
Turn thumbwheel3 and/ora
(
page 182) to the left.
Side air vent2 and/orb
(
page 182) is closed.
Front defroster
You can use this setting to defrost the
windshield, for example if it is iced up.
You can also defog the windshield and the
side windows.Activating
Press button0 orP
(
page 183).
The indicator lamp on the button
comes on.
The climate control switches to the
following functions automatically:

maximum blower speed and
heating power

air flows onto the windshield and
the front side windows (side air
vents must be open)

the air recirculation mode is
switched off
iKeep this setting selected only until the
windshield or the side windows are clear again.
iIf you have switched on the defrost function
using button0 orP, you cannot make
any other settings.