2007 MERCEDES-BENZ SL550 steering wheel controls

ContentsSafety and Security........................... 65
Occupant safety................................... 66
Air bags .......................................... 68
Occupant Classification System ..... 72
Seat belts ....................................... 77
Roll bar ........................................... 81
Children in the vehicle .................... 83
Panic alarm .......................................... 86
Activating ....................................... 86
Deactivating ................................... 86
Driving safety systems ......................... 87
ABS ................................................ 87
BAS ................................................ 89
ESP
®............................................... 89
Electro-hydraulic brake system ...... 92
Anti-theft systems................................ 96
Immobilizer..................................... 96
Anti-theft alarm system .................. 96
Tow-away alarm ............................. 98
Controls in detail............................. 101
Locking and unlocking ....................... 102
SmartKey ..................................... 102
SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO* ...... 105
Opening the doors from the
inside ........................................... 111
Opening the trunk ........................ 111
Closing the trunk.......................... 113
Valet locking ................................ 117
Trunk lid emergency release ........ 117
Power closing assist for trunk lid . 118
Automatic central locking ............ 119
Locking and unlocking from the
inside ........................................... 119
Seats ................................................. 121
Moving the seats forward and
backward ..................................... 121
Lumbar support............................ 121
Multicontour backrest* ................ 122
Seat heating ................................. 123
Seat ventilation* .......................... 125
Memory function ............................... 126
Storing positions into memory ..... 127
Recalling positions from memory . 127 Lighting ............................................ 128
Exterior lamp switch .................... 128
Corner-illuminating front fog
lamps ........................................... 132
Combination switch ..................... 133
Hazard warning flasher ................ 133
Interior lighting ............................ 134
Courtesy lighting .......................... 135
Trunk lamp ................................... 135
Instrument cluster ............................. 136
Adjusting instrument cluster
illumination .................................. 136
Coolant temperature gauge ......... 137
Trip odometer .............................. 137
Tachometer.................................. 138
Outside temperature indicator ..... 138
Control system .................................. 139
Multifunction display.................... 139
Multifunction steering wheel........ 140
Menus .......................................... 142
Standard display menu ................ 145
AMG menu ................................... 146
AUDIO menu ................................ 149
NAV menu .................................... 151
Distronic* menu .......................... 151

43 Getting started
Adjusting
Seat adjustment
The seat adjustment switch is located in
the door.
1Head restraint height
2Seat height
3Seat cushion tilt
4Seat cushion depth
5Seat fore and aft adjustment
6Seat backrest tilt
Switch on the ignition (
page 39).
or

Open the respective door.Seat fore and aft adjustment

Press the switch forward or backward
in direction of arrow 5.
Adjust seat to a comfortable seating
position that still allows you to reach
the accelerator / brake pedal safely.
The position should be as far to the rear
as possible, consistent with ability to
properly operate controls.
Warning!
G
Children 12 years old and under must be
seated and properly secured in an appropri-
ate infant or child restraint recommended
for the size and weight of the child.
The infant or child restraint must be properly
secured with the vehicle’s seat belt fully in
accordance with the child seat manufactur-
er’s instructions.
A child’s risk of serious or fatal injuries is
significantly increased if the child restraints
are not properly secured in the vehicle and
the child is not properly secured in the child
restraint.
i
The memory function (
page 126) lets you
store the settings for the seat position together
with the settings for the steering wheel and the
exterior rear view mirrors.
!
When moving the seats, make sure there are
no items in the footwell or behind the seats.
Otherwise you could damage the seats.

68 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, driver-side knee bag)
or side impacts (head-thorax air bags). How-
ever, 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 passenger to always be in a prop-
erly seated position and to wear their 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 (
page 49).
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’s seat as far as possi-
ble rearward, still permitting proper op-
eration 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 prob-
lems, please see an 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 in-
side the rim can increase the risk and
potential severity of hand / arm injury
when driver’s front air bag inflates.


Adjust the passenger seat as far as pos-
sible rearward from the dashboard when
the seat is occupied.

126 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 68) for proper 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-
dard 213 and Canadian Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 213.With the memory switch you can store up
to three different settings.
The following settings are stored when us-
ing the buttons on the driver’s door:


Driver’s seat and backrest position


Steering wheel position


Driver’s side exterior rear view mirror
position


Passenger side exterior rear view mir-
ror position
The following settings are stored when us-
ing the buttons on the passenger door:


Passenger seat and backrest positionThe memory switch is located on the door
control panel.
M Memory button
1, 2, 3 Stored positions

Switch on the ignition (
page 39).
or

Open the respective door.
Warning!
G
Do not activate the memory function on the
driver’s side while driving. Activating the
memory function while driving could cause
the driver to lose control of the vehicle.

127 Controls in detail
Memory function
Storing positions into memory
Adjust the seats, steering wheel and
exterior rear view mirrors to the de-
sired position (
page 42).

Press memory buttonM.

Release memory button and press a
stored position button1, 2, or3 within
3 seconds.
All the settings are stored at the select-
ed position.
Recalling positions from memory
On memory switch, press and hold
stored position button1, 2 or3 until
the seat, steering wheel and exterior
rear view mirrors have fully moved to
the stored positions.
i
Releasing the button immediately stops
movement to the stored positions.

128 Controls in detail LightingFor information on how to switch on the
headlamps and use the turn signals, see
“Switching on headlamps” (
page 55)
and “Turn signals” (
page 56).
Exterior lamp switch
The exterior lamp switch is located on the
dashboard to the left of the steering wheel.
MOff
Daytime running lamp mode
(
page 130)
UAutomatic headlamp mode
Daytime running lamp mode
(page 130)
CParking lamps (also tail lamps, li-
cense plate lamps, side marker
lamps, instrument panel lamps)Canada only: When the engine is
running, the low beam headlamps
are also switched on.
BLow beam headlamps (or high
beam headlamps when the combi-
nation switch is pushed forward)
and parking lamps
ˆStanding lamps, right (turn left one
stop)
‚Standing lamps, left (turn left two
stops)
CIndicator lamp for parking lamps
‡Indicator lamp for front fog lamps
†Indicator lamp for rear fog lamp
i
If you drive in countries where vehicles drive
on the other side of the road than the country in
which the vehicle is registered, you must have
the headlamps modified for symmetrical low
beams. Relevant information can be obtained at
any authorized Mercedes-Benz Center.
i
With the SmartKey removed from the starter
switch or the engine turned off with
KEYLESS-GO* and the driver’s door open, a
warning sounds if the parking lamps or the low
beam headlamps are switched on.
The message $
Turn off lamps
appears in
the multifunction display.

132 Controls in detailLightingCorner-illuminating front fog lamps
The corner-illuminating front fog lamps im-
prove illumination of the road 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 128)
or


the exterior lamp switch in
positionU (
page 128)
or


the daytime running lamp mode
activated (
page 130)Driving forward
Switching on corner-illuminating front
fog lamps

Depending on whether you are turning
left or right, switch on the left or right
turn signal (
page 56).
The respective front fog lamp comes on
and illuminates the road onto which
you are turning.
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 corner-illu-
minating front fog lamp can be switched
off by returning the combination switch to
its original position.
Driving rearward
Switching on corner-illuminating front
fog lamps

Place the gear selector lever in
positionR.
The inverse front fog lamp comes on
automatically depending on the steer-
ing direction and steering angle.
Switching off corner-illuminating front
fog lamps

Place the gear selector lever out of
positionR.
The respective front fog lamp goes out.
i
Corner-illuminating front fog lamps will only
come on in low ambient lighting conditions.
The corner-illuminating front fog lamps function
is not available at a vehicle speed above 25 mph
(40 km/h).
i
The corner-illuminating front fog lamps will
come on automatically depending on the
steering angle, even if you did not switch on ei-
ther turn signal.
If the corner-illuminating front fog lamps came
on automatically, they will also go out automati-
cally depending on the steering angle.

137 Controls in detail
Instrument cluster
To brighten illumination
Turn reset button 1 in the instrument
cluster clockwise.
The instrument cluster illumination will
brighten.
To dim illumination

Turn reset button 1 in the instrument
cluster counterclockwise.
The instrument cluster illumination will
dim.
Coolant temperature gauge
Trip odometer
Make sure you are viewing the trip
odometer display (
page 139).

If it is not displayed, press the j or
k button on the multifunction
steering wheel repeatedly until the trip
odometer appears.

Press and hold reset button1
(page 136) until the trip odometer is
reset.
Warning!
G


Driving when your engine is overheated
can cause some fluids which may have
leaked into the engine compartment to
catch fire. You could be seriously
burned.


Steam from an overheated engine can
cause serious burns which can occur
just by opening the hood. Stay away
from the engine if you see or hear steam
coming from it.
Turn off the engine, get out of the vehicle
and do not stand near the vehicle until the
engine has cooled down.
!
Excessive coolant temperature triggers the
coolant temperature warning lamp (
page 337)
and a warning in the multifunction display
(
page 371).
The engine should not be operated with the cool-
ant temperature above 248°F (120°C). Doing so
may cause serious engine damage which is not
covered by the Mercedes-Benz Limited
Warranty.
i
During severe operating conditions, e.g.
stop-and-go traffic, the coolant temperature may
rise close to 248°F (120°C).