2008 MERCEDES-BENZ C300 mb approved

9
Product information

Introduction
Product information
Please observe the following in your own
best interest:
We recommend using Genuine
Mercedes-Benz Parts as well as conversion
parts and accessories explicitly approved
by us for your vehicle model.
We have tested these parts to determine
their reliability, safety and special suitabili-
ty for Mercedes-Benz vehicles.We are unable to make an assessment for
other products and therefore cannot be
held responsible for them, even if in indi-
vidual cases an official approval or authori-
zation by governmental or other agencies
should exist. Use of such parts and acces-
sories could adversely affect the safety,
performance or reliability of your vehicle.
Please do not use them.Genuine Mercedes-Benz parts, as well as
approved conversion parts and accesso-
ries are available at your authorized
Mercedes-Benz Center. Here they can be
properly installed and you will receive com-
prehensive information, including advice
on permissible technical modifications.

39 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
2Front passenger front air bag
The front air bags are designed to provide
increased protection for the driver and
front passenger against the risk of injuries
to the head and thorax.
Driver and front passenger front air bag are
deployed:
in the event of certain frontal impacts

if impact exceeds a preset deployment
threshold

if the system determines that airbag
deployment can offer additional pro-
tection to that provided by the seat belt

depending on whether the seat belt is
in use

independently of the front side impact
air bags, rear side impact air bags*
and/or the window curtain air bags.

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
Center.

Given the considerable deployment
speed, required inflation volume, and
the textile structure of the air bags,
there is the possibility of abrasions or
other, potentially more serious injuries
resulting from air bag deployment.
Warning!G
Only use seat covers which have been
tested 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 an
authorized Mercedes-Benz Center for avail-
ability.
iThe front air bags in this vehicle have been
designed to inflate in two stages. This allows the
air bag to have different rates of inflation that are
based on the rate of relevant vehicle decelera-
tion as assessed by the air bag control unit.
On the front passenger-side, the front air bag de-
ployment is additionally influenced by the pas-
senger’s weight category as identified by the
Occupant Classification System (OCS)
(
page 41).
The lighter the front passenger-side occupant,
the higher the vehicle deceleration rate required
for the second stage inflation of the air bag.

42 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Both driver and the front passenger should
always use the 5/indicator lamp
as an indication of whether or not the front
passenger is properly positioned.
iIf your seat, including your trim cover and
cushion needs to be serviced in any way, take
the vehicle to an authorized Mercedes-Benz
Center.
Only seat accessories approved by
Mercedes-Benz may be used.Warning!G
If the 5/indicator lamp illuminates
when an adult or someone larger than a
small individual is in the front passenger
seat, have the front passenger re-position
himself or herself in the seat until the
5/indicator lamp goes out, or check
whether objects are caught under or around
the seat.
In the event of a collision, the air bag control
unit will not allow front passenger front air
bag deployment when the OCS classified
the front passenger seat occupant as being
up to or less than the weight of a typical
12-month-old child in a standard child
restraint or if the front passenger seat is
sensed as being empty.
When the OCS senses that the front passen-
ger seat occupant is classified as being up
to or less than the weight of a typical
12-month-old child in a standard child
restraint, the 5/indicator lamp will
illuminate when the engine is started and
remain illuminated, indicating that the front
passenger front air bag is deactivated.
When the OCS senses that the front passen-
ger seat is classified as being empty, the
5/indicator lamp will illuminate
when the engine is started and remain
illuminated, indicating that the front
passenger front air bag is deactivated.
When the OCS senses that the front passen-
ger seat occupant is classified as being
heavier than the weight of a typical
12-month-old child seated in a standard
child restraint or as being a small individual
(such as a young teenager or a small adult),
the 5/indicator lamp will illuminate
for approximately 6 seconds when the
engine is started and then, depending on
occupant weight sensor readings from the
seat, remain illuminated or go out. With the
5/indicator lamp illuminated, the
front passenger front air bag is deactivated.
With the 5/indicator lamp out, the
front passenger front air bag is activated.

47 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Warning!G
Never ride in a moving vehicle with the seat
backrest in an excessively reclined position
as this can be dangerous. You could slide
under the seat belt in a collision. If you slide
under it, the seat belt would apply force at
the abdomen or neck. That could cause se-
rious or even fatal injuries. The seat back-
rest and seat belt provide the best restraint
when the wearer is in a nearly upright posi-
tion and the seat belt is properly positioned
on the body.
Warning!G
Never let more people ride in the vehicle
than there are seat belts available. Make
sure everyone riding in the vehicle is cor-
rectly restrained with a separate seat belt.
Never use a seat belt for more than one per-
son at a time.
Warning!G
Damaged seat belts or seat belts that were
highly stressed in an accident must be re-
placed and their anchoring points must also
be checked.
Only use seat belts which have been
approved by Mercedes-Benz.
Do not make any modifications to the seat
belts. This can lead to unintended activation
of the ETDs or to failure.
Do not bleach or dye seat belts as this may
severely weaken them. In a crash they may
not be able to provide adequate protection.
Have all work carried out only by qualified
technicians. Contact an authorized
Mercedes-Benz Center.
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, front side impact
air bags, rear side impact air bags*, win-
dow curtain air bags for side windows),
ETD (seat belt emergency tensioning de-
vice with seat belt force limiters), 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 (front side impact air bags, rear
side impact air bags*, window curtain
air bags and ETD)


50 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Active head restraints
The active head restraints are intended to
offer the driver and front passenger in-
creased protection from whiplash type in-
juries. In the event of a rear-end collision,
the active head restraints on the driver’s
and front passenger’s seats are designed
to move forward in the direction of travel,
providing the head with increased support
earlier on in the collision sequence. The ac-
tive head restraints move forward whether
the seat is occupied or not.If the active head restraints have been trig-
gered in an accident, the active head re-
straints must be reset. Otherwise, the
active head restraints cannot offer any ad-
ditional protection in the event of another
rear-end collision.
For information on resetting the activated
active head restraints, see “Resetting acti-
vated head restraints” (
page 427).
You cannot remove the active head re-
straint on the driver’s and front passen-
ger’s seats.
For removal contact an authorized
Mercedes-Benz Center.For information on head restraint adjust-
ment, see “Adjusting rear head restraints”
(
page 89).Warning!G
Do not attach any objects (e.g. hangers) to
the head restraint posts. Otherwise, the ac-
tive head restraints may not function prop-
erly or offer the degree of protection they
were designed for in the event of an acci-
dent.Warning!G
Only use seat or head restraint covers which
have been tested and approved by
Mercedes-Benz for your vehicle model.
Using other seat or head restraint covers
may interfere with or prevent the activation
of the active head restraints. Contact an
authorized Mercedes-Benz Center for avail-
ability.
Warning!G
For your protection, drive only with properly
positioned head restraints.
Adjust head restraint so that it is as close to
the head as possible and the center of the
head restraint supports the back of the head
at eye level. This will reduce the potential for
injury to the head and neck in the event of
an accident or similar situation.

222 Controls in detail
Audio system
Telephone*
Safety precautionsWhen the telephone is connected via the
Bluetooth® interface to the audio system,
you can operate the telephone using the
following devices:

audio system (page 237)

Audio controller

Audio control unit

buttonss andt on the multi-
function steering wheel (
page 152)

mobile phone keypad
Please note that these functions are only
available with Mercedes-Benz approved
telephones.
Warning!G
Some jurisdictions prohibit the driver from
using a cellular telephone while driving.
Whether or not prohibited by law, for safety
reasons, the driver should not use the cellu-
lar telephone while the vehicle is in motion.
Stop the vehicle in a safe location before
placing or answering a call.
If you nonetheless choose to use the tele-
phone
1 while driving, please use the hands-
free device and be sure to pay attention to
the traffic situation at all times. Use the tele-
phone only when road, weather and traffic
conditions permit. Otherwise, you may not
be able to observe traffic conditions and
could endanger yourself and others.
1Observe all legal requirements.
Bear in mind that at a speed of just 30 mph
(approximately 50 km/h), your vehicle is
covering a distance of 44 feet (approxi-
mately 14 m) every second.
Warning!G
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.
iThe functions and services available to you
while using the telephone depend on your ser-
vice provider and the type of telephone you are
using. See also separate operating manual for in-
structions on how to use your telephone.

224 Controls in detail
Audio system
Operating options
When the telephone is connected via the
Bluetooth
® interface to the audio system,
you can operate the telephone using the
following devices:

buttonss andt and keypad on
audio control unit

audio controller in center console

multifunction steering wheel
Please note that these functions are only
available with Mercedes-Benz approved
telephones. Please contact an authorized
Mercedes-Benz Center for information on
features available for your telephone of
choice. Unless otherwise indicated, the descrip-
tions and illustrations in this section refer
to audio system.Caller ID
The audio system can display the tele-
phone number and the name of the caller,
e.g. for an incoming call and also in other
menus or displays.
For the telephone number to be displayed,
the caller must transmit their telephone
number.
This is also the case for name displays. For
this, the telephone number and the name
of the caller must also be saved in the tele-
phone book.
iThe components and operating principles of
the audio system can be found on (
page 177)
and (
page 187).
iIn order for the functions described in this
section to work correctly, the Bluetooth® tele-
phone must be linked to the audio system
(
page 192). Please make sure any other Blue-
tooth® device linked with the telephone is
switched off before you use the telephone func-
tions with the audio system.

280 Controls in detail
Loading and storing
Roof rack*
1CoversFlip the covers1 upward in direction
of arrow.
Vehicles with panorama roof with
tilt/sliding panel*: Open the cover 1
carefully in the opposite direction to
that indicated by the arrow.
Only attach the roof-rack system to the
anchorage points under the covers.
Observe manufacturer’s instructions
for installation.
Warning!G
Only use roof racks approved by
Mercedes-Benz for your vehicle model to
avoid damage to the vehicle.
Follow the manufacturer’s installation
instructions. Otherwise, an improperly
attached roof rack system or its load could
become detached from the vehicle.
Do not exceed the maximum roof load of
220 lb (100 kg).
Take into consideration that when the roof
rack is loaded, the handling characteristics
are different from those when operating the
vehicles without the roof rack loaded.
!Load the roof rack in such a way that the ve-
hicle cannot be damaged while driving.
Make sure

you can fully raise tilt/sliding sunroof or the
panorama roof with tilt/sliding panel*

you can fully open the trunk