134 Controls in detail
Driving and parking
Step firmly on parking brake pedal2.
When the engine is running, the
warning lamp;(USA only)
or3(Canada only) in the instru-
ment cluster will be illuminated.Turning off the engine
Manual transmission: Move the gear-
shift lever into first or reverse gear.
Automatic transmission*: Place the
gear selector lever in positionP.
Warning!G
When leaving the vehicle, always remove the
SmartKey or SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO*
(Canada only) 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 release the parking brake and/or
move the gear selector lever from
positionP, either of which could result in an
accident and/or serious personal injury.
PositionP alone may not prevent your vehi-
cle from moving, possibly hitting people or
objects. Always set the parking brake in ad-
dition to shifting to positionP (
page 140)
(manual transmission: first or reverse gear
(
page 126).
When parked on an incline, always turn the
front wheels towards the road curb.
Getting out of your vehicle without taking
the above measurements to secure it is
dangerous.
iVehicles with automatic transmission*:
You can switch off the engine with the selector
lever in positionN. However, to secure the vehi-
cle, you need to set the selector lever toP and
apply the parking brake.
The SmartKey can only be removed from the
starter switch with the gear selector lever in
positionP.
iAlways set the parking brake in addition to
shifting to positionP (manual transmission: first
or reverse gear).
On slopes, turn the front wheels towards the
road curb.
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.
141 Controls in detail
Automatic transmission*
Effect
ëNeutral
No power is transmitted from the
engine to the drive axle. When
the brakes are released, the
vehicle can be moved freely
(pushed or towed).
To avoid damage to the trans-
mission, never engage neutral
positionN while driving.
If the ESP
® is deactivated or
malfunctioning:
Move gear selector lever to neu-
tral positionN only if the vehicle
is in danger of skidding, e.g. on
icy roads.
êDrive
The transmission shifts
automatically. All forward gears
are available.
!Coasting the vehicle, or driving for any other
reason with gear selector lever in neutral
positionN can result in transmission damage
that is not covered by the Mercedes-Benz
Limited Warranty.
Warning!G
Getting out of your vehicle without shifting
into park positionP is dangerous. Also, park
positionP alone is not intended to or capa-
ble of preventing your vehicle from moving,
possibly hitting people or objects.
Always set the parking brake (
page 140)
in addition to shifting to park positionP.
When parked on an incline, turn the front
wheels towards the road curb.
Do not park this vehicle in areas where com-
bustible 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 or SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO*
(Canada only) 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 gear selector lever from
park positionP, which could result in an ac-
cident and/or serious personal injury.
Getting out of your vehicle without taking
the above measurements to secure it is
dangerous.
174 Controls in detail
Control system
Press #.
The current setting
Enabled
or
Disabled is shown.
Press # again if you would like to
change the current status.
Depending on the previous status, the
automatic central locking feature will
be
Enabled orDisabled.
Convenience submenu
Access the
Convenience submenu via the
Settings menu. Use the Convenience
submenu to change the settings for the
convenience features.
The following functions are available:Activate easy-entry/exit feature*
(Canada only)
FunctionPage
Activate easy-entry/exit
feature* (Canada only)174
Setting fold-in function* for exte-
rior rear view mirrors175Warning!G
You must make sure no one can become
trapped or injured by the moving steering
wheel when the easy-entry/exit feature is
activated.
To stop steering wheel movement, do one of
the following:
Move steering wheel adjustment stalk*
(
page 94).
Press memory position switch*
(
page 104).
Do not leave children unattended in the ve-
hicle, or with access to an unlocked vehicle.
Children could open the driver’s door and
unintentionally activate the easy-entry/exit
feature, which could result in an accident
and/or serious personal injury.
270 Controls in detail
Trunk
Closing trunk Closing trunk from outside manually
1Handles
Lower trunk lid by pulling firmly on
handles1 or2.
Close the trunk with hands placed flat
on the trunk lid.
iDo not place the SmartKey in the open
trunk. You may lock yourself out.
iIf the vehicle was previously centrally
locked, the trunk will lock automatically after
closing it. All turn signal lamps flash three times
and an acoustic signal sounds three times to
confirm locking.
Vehicles with KEYLESS-GO* (Canada only): To
prevent a possible inadvertent lockout, the trunk
will open automatically if a SmartKey with
KEYLESS-GO* (Canada only) is recognized
inside the vehicle or in the trunk.
The vehicle is only locked when the turn signals
flash three times and an acoustic signal sounds
three times. If you are carrying a second
SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO* (Canada only) with
you, you can still lock the vehicle.
Warning!G
To prevent possible personal injury, always
keep hands and fingers away from the trunk
lid opening when closing the trunk. Be espe-
cially careful when small children are
around.
When leaving the vehicle, always remove the
SmartKey or SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO*
(Canada only) 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. A child’s
unsupervised access to a vehicle could re-
sult in an accident and/or serious personal
injury.
273 Controls in detail
Power tilt/sliding sunroof
Power tilt/sliding sunroof
Opening and closing power tilt/sliding
sunroof
Warning!G
When closing the tilt/sliding sunroof, make
sure there is no danger of anyone being
harmed by the closing procedure.
If the tilt/sliding sunroof is blocked while
closing and reopens, it can be closed with
greater force if you pull the switch to the re-
sistance point in the direction indicated by
arrow
3 within 2 seconds.
If the tilt/sliding sunroof is blocked again
and reopens, you can close it with deactivat-
ed obstruction sensor function by pulling
the switch again to the resistance point in
the direction indicated by arrow
3 within 2
seconds.
When closing the tilt/sliding sunroof with
the obstruction sensor function deactivated,
make sure no one can become trapped, as
this could result in serious or fatal injuries.
The opening/closing procedure of the
tilt/sliding sunroof can be immediately halt-
ed by releasing the switch or, if the switch
was moved past the resistance point and re-
leased, by moving the switch in any direc-
tion.
The tilt/sliding sunroof is made out of glass.
In the event of an accident, the glass may
shatter. This may result in an opening in the
roof.
In a vehicle rollover, occupants not wearing
their seat belts or not wearing them properly
may be thrown out of the opening. Such an
opening also presents a potential for injury
for occupants wearing their seat belts
properly as entire body parts or portions of
them may protrude from the passenger
compartment.When leaving the vehicle, always remove the
SmartKey or SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO*
from the starter switch, take it with you, and
lock the vehicle. Do not leave children unat-
tended in the vehicle, or with access to an
unlocked vehicle. A child’s unsupervised ac-
cess to a vehicle could result in an accident
and/or serious personal injury.
!To avoid damaging the seals, do not trans-
port any objects with sharp edges which can
stick out of the tilt/sliding sunroof.
Do not open the tilt/sliding sunroof if there is
snow or ice on the roof, as this could result in
malfunctions.
!Please keep in mind that weather conditions
can sometimes change rapidly. Make sure to
close the tilt/sliding sunroof when leaving the
vehicle. If water enters the vehicle interior, vehi-
cle electronics could be damaged which is not
covered by the Mercedes-Benz Limited
Warranty.
277 Controls in detail
Panorama roof with power tilt/sliding panel*
Opening and closing panorama roof
with power tilt/sliding panel
The tilt/sliding panel only operates with
the roller sunblinds extended.
Warning!G
When opening or closing the tilt/sliding pan-
el, make sure there is no danger of anyone
being harmed by the opening or closing pro-
cedure.
The opening procedure of the tilt/sliding
panel can be immediately halted by releas-
ing the switch or, if the switch was moved
past the resistance point and released, by
moving the switch in any direction.
The closing procedure of the tilt/sliding
panel can be immediately halted by releas-
ing the switch.
The panorama roof with power tilt/sliding
panel is made out of glass. In the event of an
accident, the glass may shatter. This may re-
sult in an opening in the roof.
In a vehicle rollover, occupants not wearing
their seat belts or not wearing them properly
may be thrown out of the opening.
Such an opening also presents a potential
for injury for occupants wearing their seat
belts properly as entire body parts or por-
tions of them may protrude from the pas-
senger compartment.
When leaving the vehicle, always remove the
SmartKey or SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO*
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. A child’s unsupervised
access to a vehicle could result in an acci-
dent and/or serious personal injury.
!To avoid damaging the seals, do not trans-
port any objects with sharp edges which can
stick out of the tilt/sliding panel.
Do not open the tilt/sliding panel if there is snow
or ice on the roof, as this could result in malfunc-
tions.
!Please keep in mind that weather conditions
can sometimes change rapidly. Make sure to
close the tilt/sliding panel when leaving the ve-
hicle. If water enters the vehicle interior, vehicle
electronics could be damaged which is not cov-
ered by the Mercedes-Benz Limited Warranty.
iWhen the panorama roof with power
tilt/sliding panel is open, resonance noises may
result in addition to the usual wind noises. They
are caused by minimal pressure changes in the
passenger compartment. To reduce or eliminate
these noises, change the position of the panora-
ma roof with power tilt/sliding panel or open a
side window slightly.
iYou can also open or close the tilt/sliding
panel using the SmartKey, see “Summer open-
ing feature” (
page 123) and “Convenience
closing feature” (
page 124).
290 Controls in detail
Useful features
Rear window sunshade*
The switch is located in the center console.
1Rear window sunshade switch
Switch on the ignition.
Always raise the sunshade fully for its sup-
port against the window frame.
Raising: Press switch1 briefly.
The sunshade is raised completely.
Stopping the raising procedure:
Press switch1 again.
The sunshade stops.
Lowering: Press switch1 briefly.
The sunshade is lowered completely.
Stopping the lowering procedure:
Press switch1 again.
The sunshade stops.
!Make sure the movement of the rear win-
dow sunshade is not restricted by objects on the
rear window shelf. Otherwise, the sunshade or
the objects could be damaged.
Warning!G
When operating the rear window sunshade,
make sure there is no danger of anyone be-
ing harmed by the raising or lowering
procedure.
The raising or lowering procedure can be
immediately halted by briefly pressing the
switch1.
Briefly press switch1 again to raise or low-
er the rear window sunshade completely.
Warning!G
When leaving the vehicle, always remove the
SmartKey or SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO*
(Canada only) 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. Unsu-
pervised use of vehicle equipment may
cause an accident and/or serious personal
injury.