2008 MERCEDES-BENZ C300 Sport

C 230 (Canada only)
C 230 Sport (Canada only)
C 230 4MATIC (Canada only)
C 230 4MATIC Sport (Canada only)
C 300
C 300 Sport
C 300 4MATIC
C 300 4MATIC Sport
C 350 (Canada only)
C 350 Sport
C 350 4MATIC (Canada only)
C 350 4MATIC Sport (Canada only)

44 Safety and Security
Occupant safety

If you must install a rear-facing child
restraint on the front passenger seat
because circumstances require you to
do so, make sure the 5/ indica-
tor lamp is illuminated, indicating that
the front passenger front air bag is deac-
tivated. Should the 5/indicator
lamp not illuminate or go out while the
restraint is installed, please check in-
stallation. Periodically check the
5/ indicator lamp while driving
to make sure the 5/indicator
lamp is illuminated.
If the 5/indicator lamp goes out
or remains out, do not transport a child
on the front passenger seat until the
system has been repaired. A child in a
rear-facing child restraint on the front
passenger seat will be seriously injured
or even killed if the front passenger front
air bag inflates.
If you have to place a child in a
forward-facing child restraint on the
front passenger seat, move the seat as
far back as possible, use the proper
child restraint recommended for the
age, size and weight of the child, and
secure child restraint with the vehicle’s
seat belt according to the child seat
manufacturer’s instructions. For
children larger than the typical
12-month-old child, the front passenger
front air bag may or may not be
activated.iDeployment of the driver front air bag does
not mean that the front passenger front air bag
also should have deployed.
The Occupant Classification System (
page 41)
may have determined:

that the seat was empty or occupied by the
weight up to or less than that of a typical
12-month-old child seated in a standard
child restraint – both instances where the
system suppresses deployment of the front
passenger front air bag even though the im-
pact met the criteria and was of sufficient
severity to deploy the driver front air bag.

that the seat was occupied by a small individ-
ual (such as a young teenager or a small
adult) or a child weighing more than the
weight of a typical 12-month-old child in a
standard child restraint – instances where
the system may suppress deployment of the
front passenger front air bag even though
the impact met the criteria and was of suffi-
cient severity to deploy the driver front air
bag.


53 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Occupants, especially children, should al-
ways sit as upright as possible, properly use
the seat belts and use an appropriately sized
infant restraint, toddler restraint, or booster
seat recommended for the size and weight
of the child.
Children can be killed or seriously injured by
an inflating air bag. Note the following im-
portant information when circumstances
require you to place a child in the front
passenger seat:

Your vehicle is equipped with air bag
technology designed to turn off the front
passenger front air bag in your vehicle
when the OCS senses the weight of a
typical 12-month-old child or less along
with the weight of a standard
appropriate child restraint on the front
passenger seat.

A child in a rear-facing child restraint on
the front passenger seat will be serious-
ly injured or even killed if the front
passenger front air bag inflates in a
collision which could occur under some
circumstances, even with the air bag
technology installed in yo ur ve hi cle . Th e
only means to completely eliminate this
risk is to never place a child in a rear-fac-
ing child restraint in the front seat. We
therefore strongly recommend that you
always place a child in a rear-facing
child restraint in the back seat.

If you must install a rear-facing child
restraint on the front passenger seat be-
cause circumstances require you to do
so, make sure the 5/ indicator
lamp is illuminated, indicating that the
front passenger front air bag is deacti-
vated. Should the 5/indicator
lamp not illuminate or go out while the
restraint is installed, please check in-
stallation.
Periodically check the 5/ indica-
tor lamp while driving to make sure the
5/ indicator lamp is illuminated.
If the 5/indicator lamp goes out
or remains out, do not transport a child
on the front passenger seat until the
system has been repaired.
A child in a rear-facing child restraint on
the front passenger seat will be serious-
ly injured or even killed if the front pas-
senger front air bag inflates.

If you have to place a child in a for-
ward-facing child restraint on the front
passenger seat, move the seat as far
back as possible, use the proper child
restraint recommended for the age, size
and weight of the child, and secure child
restraint with the vehicle’s seat belt ac-
cording to the child seat manufacturer’s
instructions. For children larger than the
typical 12-month-old child, the front
passenger front air bag may or may not
be activated.

136 Controls in detail
Manual transmission
Manual transmission is standard
equipment on C 300 Sport and not
available on other models.
For information on driving with a manual
transmission, see “Manual transmission”
(
page 130).
Warning!G
For vehicles equipped with a manual trans-
mission, getting out of your vehicle with the
gearshift lever not engaged in first or
reverse gear and parking brake engaged is
dangerous.
Also, when parked on an incline, an engaged
first or reverse gear alone may not prevent
your vehicle from moving, possibly hitting
people or objects.
Always set the parking brake in addition to
engaging first or reverse gear (
page 134).
When parked on an incline, turn front wheels
towards the road curb.
Do not park this vehicle in areas where
combustible 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 gearshift lever, which could
result in an accident and/or serious person-
al injury.
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.
Warning!G
Make sure absolutely no objects are ob-
structing the pedals’ range of movement.
Keep the driver’s footwell clear of all obsta-
cles. If there are any floormats or carpets in
the footwell, make sure the pedals still have
sufficient clearance.
During sudden driving or braking maneuvers
the objects could get caught between or be-
neath the pedals. You could then no longer
brake or accelerate. This could lead to acci-
dents and injury.

144 Controls in detail
Automatic transmission*
Automatic shift program
The program mode selector switch is
located on the lower part of the center
console.
Program mode selector switch
C Comfort For comfort driving
S Sport For standard drivingThe selected program mode appears in the
multifunction display.
1Selected program mode (comfort or
sport)
Press program mode selector switch
repeatedly until the letter of the
desired program mode appears in the
multifunction display.
SelectCfor comfort driving:

The vehicle starts out in second
gear (both forward and reverse) for
gentler starts. This does not apply if
full throttle is applied or gear
range1 is selected.

Traction and driving stability are
improved on icy roads.

Upshifts occur earlier even when
you give more gas. The engine then
operates at lower rpms and the
wheels are less likely to spin.
SelectSfor standard driving:

The vehicle starts out in first gear.

Upshifts occur later.
!Never change the program mode when the
gear selector lever is out of park positionP. This
could result in a change of driving characteristics
for which you may not be prepared.
iThe last selected program mode (CorS) is
switched on when the engine is restarted.

201 Controls in detail
Audio system
Satellite radio
SIRIUS Satellite Radio provides over
130 channels of digital-quality radio, in-
cluding 100% commercial-free music,
sports, news and entertainment. SIRIUS
Satellite Radio uses a fleet of high-orbit
satellites to broadcast 24 hours per day,
coast to coast, in the contiguous U.S. and
Canada.
This diverse, satellite-delivered program-
ming is available for a monthly subscrip-
tion fee.
For more information and service availabil-
ity call the SIRIUS Service Center
(
page 207) (1-888-539-7474), or con-
tact

www.sirius.com (USA)

www.siriuscanada.com (Canada)Subscribing to satellite radio
Press buttonb on audio control
unit repeatedly until satellite radio Sat
is selected.
The following options are possible:

Satellite radio service is not
activated

Satellite radio service is fully
activated
iAdditional satellite radio equipment and a
subscription to SIRIUS Satellite Radio service
provider are required for the satellite radio oper-
ation described in this chapter.
Contact an authorized Mercedes-Benz Center
for details and availability for your vehicle.
iNote that categories and channels shown in
illustrations are dependent on programming con-
tent delivered by the service provider. Program-
ming content is subject to change. Therefore,
channels and categories shown in illustrations
and descriptions contained in this manual may
differ from the channels and categories
delivered by the service provider.
iSatellite radio service may be unavailable or
interrupted from time to time for a variety of rea-
sons, such as environmental or topographic con-
ditions and other things we can’t control. Service
might also not be available in certain places
(e.g., in tunnels, parking garages, or within or
next to buildings) or near other technologies. In
such situations, the satellite radio’s main menu
shows the “Acquiring signal...” screen. At this
point, the radio’s functions are restricted and the
service info display (
page 207) appears.
iIf a satellite receiver is not installed or not
properly installed:
The message
Device unavailable will ap-
pear.
If the satellite radio service is not activated, the
“SIRIUS Preview” display appears.

203 Controls in detail
Audio system
Main satellite radio menu
1Main area with channel display
2Selected program category
3Number of selected channel
4Selected channel
5Sound settings
6To select program category
7Current artist and title
8Channel information
9Preset options
aSatellite radio optionsSelecting program category
Satellite radio channels are split up into
categories such as News, Sports News, or
Country Music, if available. The category
list is sorted alphabetically.
Call up category list: b
Cat.
or
Slideomp or rotate ymz until Cat is
highlighted.The category list appears.
Select a category: Slideqmr or ro-
tate ymz.
Set the selected category: Press n.
The selected program category (alpha-
betical order) will appear in the audio
display. The channel last tuned in the
new category will begin to play.
When searching, tuning in, or selecting
from the channel list, the “All Chan-
nels” option accesses all of your sub-
scribed channels.
iMain area 1 can show all channels includ-
ed in your subscription. Which channels are
shown depends on the selected program
category4.
Note that categories and channels shown in illus-
trations are dependent on programming content
delivered by the service provider. Programming
content is subject to change.
Therefore, channel and categories shown in illus-
trations and descriptions contained in this man-
ual may differ from the channels and categories
delivered by the service provider.
iThe channels are categorized. Categories al-
low you to tune to stations broadcasting a cer-
tain type of program.
iWhen you select the category “All Chan-
nels”, you have access to all the channels you
subscribe to, regardless of category.

281 Controls in detail
Loading and storing
Split rear bench seat*
To expand the cargo area, you can fold
down the left and right rear seat backrests.
The two sections can be folded down
separately.Folding the backrest forward
The release handles1 is located in the
trunk.
1Release handle
Open the trunk.
Pull on left and/or right release
handle1.
Fully retract the head restraints
(
page 89).
If necessary, pull the driver's and/or
front-passenger seat forward.2Rear seat backrests
Fold rear seat backrests2 forward.
Warning!G
When expanding the luggage compartment,
always fold the seat cushions fully forward.
Unless you are transporting cargo, the back-
rests must remain properly locked in the up-
right position.
In an accident, during hard braking or sud-
den maneuvers, loose items will be thrown
around inside the vehicle, and cause injury
to vehicle occupants unless the items are
securely fastened in the vehicle.