2008 MERCEDES-BENZ S600 steering

67 Safety and Security
Driving safety systems
Braking
At the instant one of the wheels is about to
lock up, a slight pulsation can be felt in the
brake pedal, indicating that the ABS is in
the regulating mode.
Keep firm and steady pressure on the
brake pedal while experiencing the pul-
sation.
Continuous, steady brake pedal pressure
yields the advantages provided by the ABS,
namely braking power and the ability to
steer the vehicle.
The pulsating brake pedal can be an indica-
tion of hazardous road conditions and
functions as a reminder to take extra care
while driving.
Emergency brake maneuver
Keep continuous full pressure on the
brake pedal.For more information, see “Practical hints”
(
page 598).
Adaptive Brake
Adaptive Brake provides a high level of
braking safety as well as increased braking
comfort. It is coupled with ABS, ESP
® and
BAS. Adaptive Brake takes driver and vehi-
cle characteristics into consideration, thus
achieving an optimal braking effect.
Warning!G
When the ABS is malfunctioning, the BAS,
BAS Plus* and ESP® are also switched off.
When the ABS is malfunctioning, the wheels
may lock during hard braking, reducing
steering capability and extending the brak-
ing distance.
Warning!G
The ABS cannot prevent the natural laws of
physics from acting on the vehicle, nor can
it increase braking or steering efficiency
beyond that afforded by the condition of the
vehicle brakes and tires or the traction
afforded. The ABS cannot prevent acci-
dents, including those resulting from exces-
sive speed in turns, following another
vehicle too closely, or hydroplaning.
Only a safe, attentive, and skillful driver can
prevent accidents.
The capabilities of an ABS equipped vehicle
must never be exploited in a reckless or dan-
gerous manner which could jeopardize the
user’s safety or the safety of others.

71 Safety and Security
Driving safety systems
EBP
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 344). 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.

80 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.
iPRE-SAFE® Brake will remain passive while
DISTRONIC Plus* is switched on (
page 424).

87 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 264) 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.
iThe layout of the menus may vary depending
on your vehicle’s equipment. This manual shows
the menus for a fully equipped vehicle.

97 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 bass
1Setting 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.

132 Control systems
COMAND telephone*
Safety precautions
General notes
Calls disconnected while the vehicle is
in motion
A call may be disconnected if:

there is insufficient network coverage

you move from one transmitter/receiv-
er area (cell) into another and no chan-
nels are free or the cell is fullOperating 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 265)

Voice Control* (page 289)

Bluetooth® headset (page 146)
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 mobile
phone
1 while driving, please use the hands-
free feature and be sure to pay attention to
the traffic situation at all times. Use the mo-
bile phone only when road, weather and traf-
fic conditions permit. Otherwise, you may
not be able to observe traffic conditions and
could endanger yourself and others.
Bear in mind that at a speed of just 30 mph
(approximately 50 km/h), your vehicle is
covering a distance of 44 feet (approxima-
tely 14 m) every second.
1Observe all legal requirements.
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 components and operating principles of
COMAND can be found on (
page 85) and
(
page 94).
iVarious 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 507).

142 Control systems
COMAND telephone*
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
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 96).
i“Save” does not function if the selected list
entry is already saved in the COMAND address
book.
iThere is a detailed description of searching
for an COMAND address book entry in the
“Searching for an address book entry” section
(
page 226).
iIf 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.
iThe use of a Bluetooth® headset requires
Bluetooth® to be activated and the Bluetooth®
headset to be authorized (
page 239).


146 Control systems
COMAND telephone*
1Back to the call display
2Character entry
3To call up the phone book
Sending individual characters:
Rotateymz or slide omp and select
desired character.
Each character you select can be seen
in the main area and is sent immediate-
ly.
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 appli-
cable.
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 145).
Exception: “Switching the hands-free mi-
crophone on or off” function (
page 145).
iTelephone numbers containing the + char-
acter may impair the function.
iThe + character may impair the function.
iThe use of a Bluetooth® headset requires
Bluetooth® to be activated and the Bluetooth®
headset to be authorized (
page 239).