2007 MERCEDES-BENZ R350 engine

270 Controls in detail
Driving systems
Briefly lift the cruise control lever up
past the resistance point in direction of
arrow1 (
page 267).
Release the cruise control lever.
The vehicle set speed increases in
increments of 5 mph
(Canada: 10 km/h).
Setting a lower speed
You can reduce the set speed in two ways.Adjustment in 1 mph (Canada: 1 km/h)
increments
Briefly press the cruise control lever
down to the resistance point in direc-
tion of arrow2 (
page 267).
Release the cruise control lever.
The vehicle set speed decreases in in-
crements of 1 mph (Canada: 1 km/h).Adjustment in 5 mph
(Canada: 10 km/h) increments
iThe new speed is set and the vehicle will
accelerate. Keep in mind that it may take a brief
moment until the vehicle has reached the set
speed.
iWhen you use the cruise control lever to
decelerate, the brake system will automatically
brake the vehicle if the engine’s braking power
does not brake the vehicle sufficiently.
iThe set speed value is decreased in 1 mph
(Canada: 1 km/h) increments each time you
press the cruise control lever down to the resis-
tance point.
Warning!G
You can decrease the vehicle set speed in
5 mph (Canada 10 km/h) increments. When
using this feature, keep in mind that it may
take a brief moment until the vehicle has
reached the set speed.
Decelerate the vehicle set speed to a value
that the prevailing road conditions permit.
Otherwise, sudden and unexpected deceler-
ation of the vehicle could cause an accident
and/or serious injury to you and others.
iThe set speed value is decreased in 5 mph
(Canada: 10 km/h) increments each time you
press the cruise control lever down past the
resistance point.

277 Controls in detail
Driving systems
1Setting current or higher speed
Adjustment in 1 mph increments (to
the resistance point) or 5 mph
increments (past the resistance point)
(Canada: 1 km/h or 10 km/h)
2Setting current or lower speed
Adjustment in 1 mph increments (to
the resistance point) or 5 mph
increments (past the resistance point)
(Canada: 1 km/h or 10 km/h)
3Deactivating Distronic
4Activating Distronic or resuming to last
set speedActivating Distronic
You can activate Distronic when the vehi-
cle speed is between 20 mph (30 km/h)
and 110 mph (180 km/h).
When Distronic is activated the multifunc-
tion display will show a message such as
DISTRONIC 55 mph.
If Distronic has not been activated after
pressing the cruise control lever, you will
see the message
DISTRONIC Off in the
multifunction display.
In the following cases you cannot activate
Distronic:

up to 2 minutes after starting the
engine

when you brake

when you have set the parking brake

when the automatic transmission is set
to positionP, R, or N

if the ESP® is switched off

if the ESP® has switched off due to a
malfunctionSetting the current speed
Accelerate or decelerate to the desired
speed.
Briefly lift the cruise control lever in
direction of arrow1 or depress in
direction of arrow2 (
page 276).
Distronic is activated and the current
speed is set.
Remove your foot from the accelerator
pedal.
iIf you do not take your foot off of the accel-
erator pedal but continue to accelerate past the
set speed, the following message will appear in
the multifunction display:
DISTRONIC Override
The distance to a slower moving vehicle in front
of you will not be set. Your vehicle speed will
then be determined only by the accelerator
pedal position.

279 Controls in detail
Driving systems
Setting a lower speed
You can reduce the set speed in two ways.
Adjustment in 1 mph (Canada: 1 km/h)
increments
Briefly press the cruise control lever
down to the resistance point in
direction of arrow2 (
page 276).
Release the cruise control lever.
The vehicle set speed decreases in in-
crements of 1 mph (Canada: 1 km/h).Adjustment in 5 mph
(Canada: 10 km/h) increments
Briefly press the cruise control lever
down past the resistance point in
direction of arrow2 (
page 276).
Release the cruise control lever.
The vehicle set speed decreases in
increments of 5 mph
(Canada: 10 km/h).iWhen you use the cruise control lever to
decelerate, the brake system will automatically
brake the vehicle if the engine’s braking power
does not brake the vehicle sufficiently.
iThe set speed value is decreased in
1 mph (Canada: 1 km/h) increments each time
you press the cruise control lever down to the
resistance point.
Warning!G
You can decrease the vehicle set speed in
5 mph (Canada 10 km/h) increments. When
using this feature, keep in mind that it may
take a brief moment until the vehicle has
reached the set speed.
Decelerate the vehicle set speed to a value
that the prevailing road conditions permit.
Otherwise, sudden and unexpected deceler-
ation of the vehicle could cause an accident
and/or serious injury to you and others.
iThe set speed value is decreased in 5 mph
(Canada: 10 km/h) increments each time you
press the cruise control lever down past the
resistance point.
iThe new speed is set and the vehicle will
decelerate. Keep in mind that it may take a brief
moment until the vehicle has reached the set
speed.

280 Controls in detail
Driving systems
Setting to last stored speed
(“Resume” function)
Briefly pull the cruise control lever in
direction of arrow4 (
page 276).
The Distronic resumes to the last set
speed.
Remove your foot from the accelerator
pedal.
The last set speed or, if no speed is stored,
the current set speed appears in the
multifunction display for approximately
5 seconds.Deactivating Distronic
There are several ways to deactivate the
Distronic system:
Step on the brake pedal.
or
Briefly tip the cruise control lever in
direction of arrow3 (
page 276).
Distronic will be deactivated. The last set
speed will be stored in memory.
Warning!G
The set speed stored in memory should only
be set again if prevailing road conditions
permit. Possible acceleration or decelera-
tion differences arising from returning to the
preset speed could cause an accident
and/or serious injury to you and others.
iThe following message appears in the multi-
function display for approximately 5 seconds:
DISTRONIC Off.
The last stored set speed is deleted when the
engine is turned off.
iThe Distronic switches off automatically
when

you step on the brake pedal

you depress the parking brake pedal
In this case, the Distronic speed segments in the
speedometer (
page 274) will go out.

the vehicle speed is below 20 mph
(30 km/h)

the ESP® is in operation

the ESP® is switched off with the ESP®
switch (
page 104)

the ESP® has switched off due to a
malfunction (
page 441)

you set the automatic transmission toN
while driving
The Distronic speed segments in the speedome-
ter (
page 274) will go out and an acoustic
warning will sound.

285 Controls in detail
Driving systems
Switch on the distance warning func-
tion in the control system
(
page 191).1Symbol for activated distance warning
function
When the distance warning function is
switched on, you will see the : symbol
in the Standard display. When the distance
warning function is deactivated the
:symbol will not appear.
AIRMATIC*
The AIRMATIC* consists of two compo-
nents:

Adaptive Damping System (ADS)*
(
page 286): Automatically optimizes
your vehicle’s suspension tuning.

Vehicle level control* (page 286):
Regulates the ride height of the vehicle.
Warning!G
If the distance warning lampl in the in-
strument cluster comes on while driving
and/or an intermittent warning sounds,
immediate attention on the part of the driver
is required. As required by the traffic
situation, apply the brakes and navigate
around a possible obstacle. However, do not
drive by relying on the distance warning
function, as this will result in an emergency
braking application. This will not always
enable you to avoid a collision, especially
when traveling on varying road surface
conditions and with varying driver reaction.
Complex driving situations are not always
fully recognized by the distance warning
function. This could result in wrong or miss-
ing distance warnings.
Warning!G
R 63 AMG only: When you turn off the
engine, the vehicle may be lowered
(
page 288). To avoid personal injury,
make sure that nobody is in the vicinity of
the wheel housing or under the vehicle when
you turn off the engine.
!R 63 AMG only: When you turn off the en-
gine, the vehicle may be lowered (
page 288).
When parking, make sure there is sufficient
clearance under the vehicle for it to lower with-
out making contact with the road curb for exam-
ple. Otherwise, the vehicle could be damaged.

286 Controls in detail
Driving systems
Adaptive Damping System (ADS)*
The fine tuning of the damping is depen-
dent on:

road surface conditions

your driving style

your personal settings
The ADS switch is located on the upper
part of the center console.
1ADS switch
2Indicator lamp for SPORT setting
3Indicator lamp for COMF settingThe following settings are available:

AUTO (for normal driving situations)
Indicator lamps2 and3 are off.

SPORT (for sporty driving)
Indicator lamp2 comes on.

COMF (for comfort driving)
Indicator lamp3 comes on.
Start the engine (page 54).
Press ADS switch1 repeatedly until
the desired suspension tuning is
reached.Vehicle level control*
The vehicle level control automatically
regulates the ride height to

reduce fuel consumption

improve driving safety
The vehicle begins adjusting to the set
vehicle level as soon as the doors or
tailgate are

unlocked
or

opened or closed with the vehicle
unlocked
For major changes in vehicle level, the
engine must be running.
iThe setting is stored when you turn off the
engine.
iChanges to the vehicle level should be made
while the vehicle is moving. The vehicle will then
reach the set level as fast as possible.

288 Controls in detail
Driving systems
Basic settings (R 63 AMG only)
There are two settings from which to
choose:

Raised level, for driving on rough roads

Highway level, for driving on paved
roads in fair or better condition
For information on ADS settings AUTO,
SPORT, or COMF, see “Adaptive Damping
System (ADS)*” (
page 286).The vehicle lowers to highspeed level auto-
matically when

the vehicles speed exceeds
70 mph (112 km/h)

the vehicles speed is between
60 mph (96 km/h) and
70 mph (112 km/h) for longer than 20
seconds
iThe third available level is the highspeed
level that is set automatically.
iThe vehicle will be lowered by
0.87 in (22 mm) after the engine is turned off.
From the raised level, the vehicle will not be not
lowered after the engine is turned off.
When the engine is started, the previously
selected setting is selected again.
iObey local speed limits. Use prudent driving
speeds appropriate to prevailing conditions.
ADS AUTOADS SPORTADS COMF
Raised level+ 1.69 in (+ 43 mm)+ 1.69 in (+ 43 mm)+ 1.69 in (+ 43 mm)
Highway level+/- 0- 0.28 in (- 7 mm)+ 0.20 in (+ 5 mm)
Highspeed level+/- 0- 0.28 in (- 7 mm)+/- 0

289 Controls in detail
Driving systems
Raised level
Only choose the raised level when the road
conditions permit. Otherwise:

Fuel consumption may increase.

Handling characteristics of the vehicle
may be unfavorable.
Start the engine (page 54).The switch is located on the upper part of
the center console.
1Vehicle level control switch
2Indicator lamp
If indicator lamp2 is off:
Press switch1.
Indicator lamp2 flashes. The vehicle
adjusts to the raised level.
The following message appears in the
multifunction display while the level is
being set:When the raised level is reached, indicator
lamp2 comes on continuously and the
following message appears in the multi-
function display:
iYou can select the raised level at vehicle
speeds of up to 25 mph (40 km/h). At a higher
vehicle speed, the message
n
Level selection not permitted
appears in the multifunction display.
iThe messages can be cleared by pressing
buttonæ orç on the multifunction steer-
ing wheel.