2008 MERCEDES-BENZ S-Class steering

72 Safety and SecurityDriving safety systemsEBP
The Electronic Brake Proportioning (EBP)
enhances braking effectiveness by allow-
ing the rear brakes to supply a greater pro-
portion of the braking effort in straight line
braking without a loss of vehicle stability.
ESP
®
The Electronic Stability Program (ESP
®) is
operational as soon as the engine is run-
ning and monitors the vehicle’s traction
(force of adhesive friction between the
tires and the road surface) and handling.
The ESP
® recognizes when a wheel is spin-
ning or if the vehicle starts to skid. By ap-
plying brakes to the appropriate wheel and
by limiting the engine output, the ESP
®
works to stabilize the vehicle. The ESP® is
especially useful while driving off and on
wet or slippery road surfaces. The ESP®
also stabilizes the vehicle during braking
and steering maneuvers.
The ESP
® warning lamp v in the instru-
ment cluster flashes when the ESP
® is en-
gaged.
The ESP
® warning lamp v in the instru-
ment cluster comes on when you switch on
the ignition (
page 370). It goes out when
the engine is running.
Warning!
G
When the EBP is malfunctioning, the ABS,
BAS, BAS Plus* and ESP
® are also switched
off.
If the EBP is malfunctioning, the brake sys-
tem will still function with full brake boost.
However, the rear wheels could lock up dur-
ing emergency braking situations, for exam-
ple. You could lose control of the vehicle and
cause an accident. Adapt your driving style
to the changed driving characteristics.
Warning!
G
Never switch off the ESP
® when you see the
ESP
® warning lamp v flashing in the in-
strument cluster. In this case proceed as fol-
lows:


While driving off, apply as little throttle
as possible.


While driving, ease up on the accelera-
tor.


Adapt your speed and driving style to
the prevailing road conditions.
Failure to observe these guidelines could
cause the vehicle to skid.
The ESP
® cannot prevent accidents result-
ing from excessive speed.

81 Safety and Security
Driving safety systems
PRE-SAFE
® Brake does not always clearly
interpret complex traffic situations. If a vi-
sual and/or acoustic warning is issued in
an uncritical driving situation, or if the ve-
hicle brakes lightly, you can interrupt the
PRE-SAFE® Brake maneuver by


pressing down all the way on the accel-
erator or using kickdown


releasing the brake pedalThe PRE-SAFE
® Brake maneuver is termi-
nated immediately when


you avoid the obstacle by evasive
steering


you drive less than 9 mph (15 km/h)


an obstacle can no longer be identified
ahead of you


the system no longer senses the risk of
a collisionAfter a hard collision or damage to the
front of the vehicle from an accident, have
the settings and operation of the radar
sensors checked by an authorized
Mercedes-Benz Center.
i
PRE-SAFE
® Brake will remain passive while
DISTRONIC Plus* is switched on (
page 451).

89 Control systems
COMAND introduction
Instrument cluster multifunction
display
This section describes features and con-
trols via the COMAND controller, display
and shortcut buttons only.
Please refer to the “Instrument cluster
control system” section of this manual
(page 287) for function descriptions and
operation of the instrument cluster multi-
function display and multifunction steering
wheel buttons as they relate to COMAND
features described in this section.Adjusting COMAND display
illumination
1Knob

Brightening illumination: Turn
knob1 clockwise.

Dimming illumination: Turn knob1
counterclockwise.Swiveling COMAND display
1Button for swiveling display to the left
2Button for swiveling display to the right
You can swivel the COMAND display to the
left or right. The buttons are on the
right-hand side of the instrument cluster.
i
The layout of the menus may vary depending
on your vehicle’s equipment. This manual shows
the menus for a fully equipped vehicle.

99 Control systems
COMAND introduction
Volume of navigation announcements
You can adjust the volume of the naviga-
tion announcements independently from
the volume of the respective audio source.
During a navigation announcement:
turn thumbwheel,.
or

pressæ or ç on the multifunc-
tion steering wheel.
Adjusting volume for telephone calls
In hands-free mode, you can adjust the vol-
ume of a telephone call while the call is
currently active.
During a telephone call:

turn thumbwheel,.
or

pressæ or ç on the multifunc-
tion steering wheel.Selecting sound settings
You can select different sound settings for
each individual audio source. The respec-
tive sound menu can be found via the sub-
menu for which you wish to make settings.
Example:
“Audio”
“Audio”
“FM/AM Radio”

“Sound” Adjusting treble or bass

Select “Sound”
“Treble” or “Bass”.
The setting last selected is indicated by
an outlined bar.
Adjusting treble and bass1Setting last selected
2Current setting
Changing setting: Slide rmq or
rotateymz until desired treble or bass
setting is reached.

Exiting menu: Press n, L or
slideomp.
The setting is saved.

142 Control systemsCOMAND telephone*Operating options
When the mobile phone is inserted in the
cradle, you can operate the telephone us-
ing the following devices:

mobile phone keypad


COMAND telephone keypad


buttonss andt on the multi-
function steering wheel (
page 288)


Voice Control (
page 313)


Bluetooth
® headset (
page 157)Please note that these functions are only
available with Mercedes-Benz approved
mobile phones. Please contact an autho-
rized Mercedes-Benz Center for informa-
tion on features available for your mobile
phone of choice.
You can control other functions of the mo-
bile phone via the COMAND, instrument
cluster control system (
page 299) or
Voice Control.
The descriptions in this section assume
that the mobile phone is inserted in the
cradle. Exceptions to this are clearly stat-
ed.Unless otherwise indicated, the descrip-
tions and illustrations in this section refer
to COMAND and the telephone keypad.
Operation using the mobile phone and
Bluetooth
® headset is described in the re-
spective separate Operating Instructions.
Caller ID
COMAND can display the telephone num-
ber 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 mo-
bile phone book.
i
The components and operating principles of
COMAND can be found on (
page 87) and
(
page 96).
i
Various mobile phone cradles can be in-
stalled in the front center armrest, see separate
installation instructions for the mobile phone
cradle. These mobile phone cradles can be ob-
tained from an authorized Mercedes-Benz Cen-
ter. For more information about telephone
(
page 539).
i
In order for the functions described in this
section to work correctly, the Bluetooth
® head-
set must be linked to COMAND (
page 180).
Please make sure any Bluetooth
® headset linked
with the mobile phone is switched off or that the
headset is linked with COMAND before you in-
sert the mobile phone in the cradle (page 539)
and use the telephone functions with COMAND.

152 Control systemsCOMAND telephone*Adding to an existing entry in the
COMAND address book
Slide omp or rotate ymz and select
list entry (
page 150).

Select “Options”
“Save”
“Add”.

Select a number category to add,
e.g. “Home”.

Select a telephone category to add,
e.g. “Land Line”.

Select “Save”.
The search menu for COMAND address
book entries appears.

Search for desired entry.

Press n when you have finished
searching.
COMAND saves the data if there are
fewer than four numbers assigned to
the entry you are searching for in the
selected number category.
If four numbers are saved for the entry
you are searching for, a prompt will ap-
pear asking whether you want to over-
write one of the existing numbers.

Select “Yes” or “No”.
If you select “Yes”, a selection list will
appear containing the four existing
numbers.

Select the number to be overwritten.
COMAND overwrites the selected num-
ber with the new data.
Incoming call
Rejecting or accepting the call
Rejecting: Select “Reject”.
or

Press t on the telephone keypad or
on the multifunction steering wheel.

Accepting: Select “Accept”.
or

Press s on the telephone keypad or
on the multifunction steering wheel.
or

Press 0 on the multifunction steer-
ing wheel.

Use the mobile phone (see mobile
phone operating instructions).
or
i
“Save” does not function if the selected list
entry is already saved in the COMAND address
book.
i
There is a detailed description of searching
for an COMAND address book entry in the
“Searching for an address book entry” section
(
page 170).
i
If you have a CDMA/TDMA mobile phone
and reject a call, only the ring tone will stop. The
call itself can only be ended by the caller.

153 Control systems
COMAND telephone*

Use the Bluetooth
® headset
(see headset operating instructions).
If you have accepted the call using
COMAND, the telephone keypad, the mul-
tifunction steering wheel or the mobile
phone, the call will be conducted via the
hands-free system. The volume of the call
can be adjusted (
page 98).
If you have accepted the call using the
Bluetooth
® headset, the call will be con-
ducted via the headset.
Further operating functions can be found
in the “Functions during a single-call con-
nection” section (
page 155).
You can also accept a call if the
COMAND display is showing a screen oth-
er than the telephone mode screen. After
accepting the call, you will see the caller’s
data in a window.

Closing window: Slide qmr oromp
or press n.
Making an outgoing call
Entering the telephone number using
the COMAND controller
Switching screen to telephone
mode: Call up main telephone menu
(page 149).

Entering digits: Select desired digits
by rotating ymz or sliding omp and
press n.

Deleting individual digits: Select )
and briefly press n.

Deleting an entire telephone num-
ber: Select ) and press and hold n
until the telephone number is deleted.

Connecting a call: Select “S”.
Entering a telephone number using the
telephone keypad

Switching screen to telephone
mode: Call up main telephone menu
(page 149).

Use telephone keypad to enter digits.

Connecting a call: Press s.
i
The use of a Bluetooth
® headset requires
Bluetooth
® to be activated and the Bluetooth
®
headset to be authorized (
page 180).
i
If you place an outgoing call and receive a
busy signal, the telephone automatically starts
to redial as long as the provider and the mobile
phone support this function (see mobile phone
operating instructions).
While the call is connecting, you can also send
character strings (
page 156).
i
A detailed description of how to enter digits
using the telephone keypad can be found on
(
page 90).

157 Control systems
COMAND telephone*

Sending a phone book entry as a
character string: Select “Name”.

Select desired phone book entry.
The entry is immediately sent as a char-
acter string.

Switching back to the call display:
Select “Y”.
Sending character strings via the tele-
phone keypad

Press corresponding button on tele-
phone keypad.
Each character you select is immedi-
ately sent.Ending an active call

Ending a call: Select “4END” in the
call display.
or

Press t on the telephone keypad or
on the multifunction steering wheel.
The COMAND display will change to
the previously selected display, if
applicable.
Transferring a call
From the hands-free system to the
Bluetooth
® headset
The call transfer is controlled by pressing
the PTT button on the Bluetooth
® headset
(see headset operating instructions). Nor-
mally, it is sufficient to press the PTT but-
ton once, but under certain circumstances
you may have to press it a second time.
Once the call has been transferred to the
Bluetooth
® headset, all the functions will
be available to you which are described in
the “Functions during a single-call connec-
tion” section (
page 155).
Exception: “Switching the hands-free mi-
crophone on or off” function (
page 156).
i
Telephone numbers containing the + char-
acter may impair the function.
i
The + character may impair the function.
i
The use of a Bluetooth
® headset requires
Bluetooth
® to be activated and the Bluetooth
®
headset to be authorized (
page 180).