2007 MERCEDES-BENZ R350 dashboard

59 Getting started
Driving
For more information, see “Driving instruc-
tions” (
page 347).
Switching on headlamps
For more information on headlamps, see
“Lighting” (
page 146).
Low beam headlamps
The exterior lamp switch is located on the
dashboard to the left of the steering wheel.
Exterior lamp switch
1 Off
2Low beam headlamps on
Turn the exterior lamp switch to
positionB.
The low beam headlamps come on.High beam
The combination switch is located on the
left of the steering column.
Combination switch
1High beam
2High beam flasher
Push the combination switch in
direction of arrow1.
The high beam headlamps and the
highbeam indicator lampA in the
instrument cluster come on
(
page 26).
For more information on headlamps, see
“Combination switch” (
page 150).
!Shift the automatic transmission to
positionP orR only when the vehicle is stopped
in order to avoid damaging the transmission.
!Do not run cold engine at high engine
speeds. Running a cold engine at high engine
speeds may shorten the service life of the
engine.
R 63 AMG:
At engine temperatures below 68°F (20°C), the
engine’s maximum speed is restricted in order to
protect it from damage. Avoid driving your
vehicle at full speed when the engine is cold to
prevent premature engine wear and/or
diminished comfort.
!Simultaneously depressing the accelerator
pedal and applying the brake reduces engine
performance and causes premature brake and
drivetrain wear.

74 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Air bags
Warning!G
Air bags are designed to reduce the poten-
tial of injury and fatality in certain frontal
impacts (front air bags), side impacts (side
impact air bags and head protection window
curtain air bags) or rollovers (head protec-
tion window curtain air bags). However, no
system available today can totally eliminate
injuries and fatalities.
The deployment of the air bags temporarily
releases a small amount of dust from the air
bags. This dust, however, is neither injurious
to your health, nor does it indicate a fire in
the vehicle. The dust might cause some tem-
porary breathing difficulty for people 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 belt.
For maximum protection in the event of a
collision always be in normal seated position
with your back against the seat backrest.
Fasten your seat belt and make sure it is
properly positioned on your body
(
page 51).
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 inches (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
problems, please see an authorized
Mercedes-Benz Light Truck 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’s front air bag inflates.

Adjust the front passenger seat as far as
possible rearward from the dashboard
when the seat is occupied.

77 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
When you sell your vehicle we strongly
urge you to give notice to the subsequent
owner that it is equipped with an SRS by
alerting them to the applicable section in
the Operator’s Manual.Front air bags
1Driver air bag
2Passenger air bag
Driver and front passenger air bags are
deployed:

in the event of certain frontal impacts

if impact exceeds a preset deployment
threshold

independently of the side impact air
bags

Never place your feet on the instrument
panel, dashboard, or on the seat. Always
keep both feet on the floor in front of the
seat.

In addition, improper repair work on the
SRS creates a risk of rendering the SRS
inoperative or causing unintended air
bag deployment. Work on the SRS must
therefore only be performed by qualified
technicians. Contact an authorized
Mercedes-Benz Light Truck Center.

For your protection and the protection
of others, when scrapping the air bag
unit or emergency tensioning device,
our safety instructions must be fol-
lowed. These instructions are available
from your authorized Mercedes-Benz
Light Truck Center.

Given the considerable deployment
speed, required inflation volume, and
the textile structure of the air bags,
there is the possibility of abrasions or
potentially more serious injuries result-
ing from air bag deployment.
Warning!G
Only use seat covers which have been test-
ed and approved by Mercedes-Benz for your
vehicle model. Using other seat covers may
interfere with or prevent the deployment of
the front side impact air bags or the rear
side impact air bags*. Contact your autho-
rized Mercedes-Benz Light Truck Center for
availability.

81 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Warning!G
USE SEAT BELTS PROPERLY

Seat belts can only work when used
properly. Never wear seat belts in any
other way than as described in this sec-
tion, as that could result in serious inju-
ries in case of an accident.

Each occupant should wear their seat
belt at all times, because seat belts help
reduce the likelihood of and potential
severity of injuries in accidents, includ-
ing rollovers. The integrated restraint
system includes SRS (driver air bag, pas-
senger front air bag, side impact air
bags, head protection window curtain
air bags for side windows) and ETD (seat
belt emergency tensioning device), and
front seat knee bolsters. The system is
designed to enhance the protection of-
fered to properly belted occupants in
certain frontal (front air bags and ETD)
and side (side impact, window curtain
air bags and ETD) impacts which exceed
preset deployment thresholds and in
certain rollovers (window curtain air bags
and ETD).

Never wear the shoulder belt under your
arm, against your neck or off your shoul-
der. In a frontal crash, your body would
move too far forward. That would in-
crease the chance of head and neck in-
juries. The belt would also apply too
much force to the ribs or abdomen,
which could severely injure internal or-
gans such as your liver or spleen.

Never wear belts over rigid or breakable
objects in or on your clothing, such as
eyeglasses, pens, SmartKeys, etc., as
these might cause injuries.

Position the lap belt as low as possible
on your hips and not across the abdo-
men. If the belt is positioned across your
abdomen, it could cause serious injuries
in a crash.

Never use a seat belt for more than one
person at time. Do not fasten a seat belt
around a person and another person or
other objects.

Belts should not be worn twisted. In a
crash, you would not have the full width
of the belt to distribute impact forces.
The twisted belt against your body could
cause injuries.

Pregnant women should also use a
lap-shoulder belt. The lap belt portion
should be positioned as low as possible
on the hips to avoid any possible pres-
sure on the abdomen.

Never place your feet on the instrument
panel, dashboard or on the seat. Always
keep both feet on the floor in front of the
seat.

When using a seat belt to secure infant
or toddler restraints or children in
booster seats, always follow the child
seat manufacturer’s instructions.

212 Controls in detail
Good visibility
For information on the windshield wipers,
see “Windshield wipers” (
page 60).
Headlamp cleaning system*
The button is located on the left side of the
dashboard.
1Headlamp washer 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 372).
Rear view mirrors
For more information on setting the rear
view mirrors, see “Mirrors” (
page 48).
Interior rear view mirror, antiglare
position
1Lever
Tilt the mirror to the antiglare position
by moving lever1 towards the wind-
shield.
The interior rear view mirror is dimmed.
iThe headlamps will automatically be
cleaned when you have

switched on the headlamps
and

operated the windshield wipers with wind-
shield washer fluid fifteen times
When you switch off the ignition, the counter
resets.

293 Controls in detail
Driving systems
Warning indicators
Visual signals indicate to the driver the
relative distance between the sensors and
an obstacle. The warning indicator for the
front area is located above the center air
vents in the dashboard. The warning indi-
cator for the rear area is located in the rear
overhead control panel.
Front area warning indicator
1Left side of the vehicle
2Right side of the vehicle
3Readiness indicatorsEach warning indicator is divided into five
yellow and two red distance segments for
either side of the vehicle. The Parktronic
system is ready when the yellow readiness
indicators3 are illuminated.
The current transmission position deter-
mines which warning indicator will be
activated.As your vehicle approaches an object, one
or more distance segments will illuminate,
depending on the distance. When the
seventh distance segment illuminates, you
have reached the minimum distance.

Front area: An intermittent acoustic
warning lasting a maximum of
2 seconds will sound as the first red
distance segment illuminates and a
constant acoustic warning lasting a
maximum of 2 seconds will sound for
the second red distance segment. The
signal is canceled when the automatic
transmission is set to positionP or the
parking brake is set.

Rear area: An intermittent acoustic
warning lasting a maximum of
2 seconds will sound as the first red
distance segment illuminates and a
constant acoustic warning lasting a
maximum of 2 seconds will sound for
the second red distance segment. The
signal is canceled when the automatic
transmission is set to positionD, P, or
the parking brake is set.
Transmission
positionWarning indicator
DFront area activated
R or NFront and rear area
activated
PNeither activated

522 Practical hints
Fuses
Fuse box in passenger compartment
The fuse box is located behind a cover in
the dashboard on the passenger side.
Open the front passenger door.
1CoverOpening:
Pull cover1 in direction of arrow.
Closing:
Clip upper end of cover1 into open-
ing.
Push on lower end of cover1 until it
engages.
Emergency engine shut-down
If the engine cannot be turned off as de-
scribed in the “Getting started” section
(
page 67), do the following:
Take the fuse chart and the fuse
extractor from the vehicle tool kit
(
page 472).
Open the fuse box in the engine com-
partment (
page 521).
Use the fuse extractor to remove
fuse 120.
Find its location in the fuse chart.
!Do not use sharp objects such as a screw-
driver to open fuse box cover 1, as this could
damage it.
iR 500: Remove fuse 114 to shut-down the
engine. Find its location in the fuse chart.