2008 MERCEDES-BENZ SL ROADSTER Owners Manual

Side windows
94 even if you are only leaving it for
ashort
time. G
Risk of injury
Do not leave children unsupervised in the
vehicle, even if they are secured in achild
restraint system. The children could:
R be seriously or even fatally injured on
parts of the vehicle
R be seriously or even fatally injured by
prolonged exposure to extremely high or
extremely low temperatures
If children open adoor, they could:
R seriously or even fatally injure other peo-
ple
R get out of the vehicle, thereby injuring
themselves or be seriously or even fatally
injured by apassing vehicle
The switches for all side windows are located
on the driver's door. There is also aswitch for the front-passenger side window on the front-
passenger door. 1
Front and rear, left
2 Front and rear, right
X Make sure that the key is in position 2in
the ignition lock.
i When the key is turned to position 0or
removed from the ignition lock, it is still
possible to operate the windowsu ntil the
driver's or front-passenger door is opened,
but for no longer than five minutes.
Opening/closing the front side win-
dows i
The front and rear side windowso pen
simultaneously if the roof is open. X
To open/close: press the switch down or
pullitupb eyond the pressure point and
hold it until the corresponding window is in
the desired position.
X To open/close fully: press the switch
down or pullitupb eyond the pressure point
and release it.
X To stop: briefly press the corresponding
switch down or pullitu p.
i You can use the soft-top switch in the
centre console to close all the side win-
dows at the same time.
Closing with increased force and without
the anti-entrapment feature G
Risk of injury
Make sure that nobody can become trap-
ped and possibly be seriously or fatally
injured as you close aside window with
increased force or withoutt he anti-entrap-
ment feature. Controls
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Driving an
dpark ing 95
If
as idew indo wl ocks up during closing and
ha sr eopened againsligh tly:
X Immediatel yafter the windo wlocks up ,pull
the switc hupwards until the windo wis
closed.
Th es idew indo wisc losedwithm oref orce.
If as idew indo wl ocks up agai ndurin gclosing
an dh asreopene dagain slightly:
X Immediatel yafter the windo wlocks up ,pull
the switc hupwards until the windo wis
closed.
Th es idew indo wisc losedwithout the anti-
entrapment feature.
Opening the rea rsidew indows Yo
uc an onlyopena nd close the rear side
windows fully.
X Whe nthe roo fiso pen: open the front
window.
Th ef ront an drears idew indows open
simultaneously.
X Whe nthe roo fisc losed: pressthe corre-
sponding switc hfor the front side windows
again.
X To sto pasidew indow: brieflypress the
corresponding switc hdownorp ullitu p. Closin
gthe rea rsidew indows X
Clos ethe front windows.
X Pull the switc hupwards again.
X To sto pasidew indow: brieflypress the
corresponding switc hdownorp ullitu p.
i If the windo wisobstructed during clos-
ing ,the closing procedure is interrupted
an dito pens agai nsligh tly. Resettin
gthe windows
Eac hsidew indo wm ustber esetif the battery
wa sd isconnected or discharged.
X Make sure tha tthe key is in position 2in
the ignition lock.
X Pull the switc hupwards until the windo wis
closed, an dholditint hisp osit ionf or
another second. Drivin
gand parking Starting th
eengine G
Risk of accident
Do no tkee pa ny objects in th edriver's foot-
well. If you use afloormat or carpet in the
driver's footwell, mak esuret hatthe ya re
correctl ysecure dand that there is suffi-
cien tclearanc efor thep edals.
Objects could otherwise get between the
pedals in th eevent of sudden braking or
acceleration .You may then no longer be
able to brake ,cha ng eg ear or accelerat eas
intended. Thi smay result in an acciden tand
injury. G
Risk of poisoning
Never leav ethe engin erunning in enclosed
spaces. The exhaus tgase scontai ncarbon
monoxide. Inhalin gexhaus tfumes consti-
tute sah ealth hazard and could lead to loss
of consciousness or eve ndeath.
! Do no tdepress th eaccelerator pedal
when startin gthe engine.
i If you depress th ebrake when startin gthe
engine, peda ltra ve lw ill be unusuall ylong
and there will be les speda lresistance. Cont
rols
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Driving an
dpark ing 96
Automatic transmission
P
Park positio nwiths elect or leve rlock
R Reverse gear
N Neutral
D Drive position
X Before starting, make sure Pis selected.
i Thee ngine ca nalsobes tartedwhent he
selector leve risinposition N.
Furthe rinformation abou tthe automatic
transmission (Y page 99).
Startin gthe engine with the key i
Youc an also us ethe "touch-start" func-
tion. To do this, tur nthe key to position 3
an dr elease it immediately .The engine then
starts automatically. X
Turn the key to position 3(Y page 73) in
the ignition lock an drelease it as soon as
the engine is running.
Startin gthe engine with KE YLESS GO* G
Risk of injury
Your vehicle can be started usin gavalid
KEYLESS GO key*. Fo rthisr eason ,children
should never be lef tunsupervised in the
vehicle. Always take th eKEYLESS GO
key* wit hyou when leavin gthe vehicle,
eve nify ou are only leavin gitforas hort
time.
The KEYLESS GO butto ncan be used to start
th ev ehicle without inserting th ekeyin the
ignition lock. The KEYLESS GO butto
nisontheselector
lever. 1
KEYLESS GO button
X Depress th ebrake pedal.
The selecto rlever loc kisreleased.
X Press KEYLESS GO button 1once.
The engin estartsa utomatically. Cont
rols
*optional
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Driving an
dpark ing 97Pulling away
! Warm up the engine quickly .Donot use
the engine's full performance until it has
reache dopera ting temperature.
Onl yshift into reverse gear when the vehi-
cle is stationary.
Wher epossible, avoidspinning the drive
wheels when pulling away on slippery
roads .You could otherwise damage the
driv etrain.
! SL 63 AMG :atlowengine temperatures
(unde r+20†),the maximum engine speed
is limited in order to protect the engine.
Avoid driving at full throttle when the
engine is col dinorder to protect the engine
an dm aintain smooth engine operation.
i Thev ehicl eloc ks centrall yonce yo uhave
pulled away .The locking knob sinthe doors
drop down.
Yo uc an open the doors fro mthe insid eat
an yt ime.
Yo uc an also deactivate the automati cloc k-
ing feature (Y page 120).
i It is onl ypossibl etom ovet he selector
leve rtot he desire dposit ioni fyou depress the brake pedal. Onl
ythenist he selector
leve rloc kr eleased.
X Depress the brake peda land hold it down.
X Pull the parking brake releas ehandleto
releas ethe parking brake.
X Move the selector leve rtopositionDor R.
i Wait until the shif tprocess is completed
befor epulling away.
X Releas ethe brake pedal.
X Carefull ydepress the accelerato rpedal.
i Upshifts tak eplace at higher engine
speeds after acolds tart. This help sthe
catalytic converter to reac hits operating
temperatur emoreq uickly. Parking
G
Ris
kofa ccident
Onl yrem ovet he key fro mthe ignition lock
when the vehicle is stationary since you
cannot steer the vehicle with the key
removed.
Neve rleave childre nunsuper visedint he
vehicle .The yc ould releas ethe parking
brake .Thisc ould lead to aserious or fatal
accident. G
Ris
koff ire
Make sure tha tthe exhaust syste mdoes
not unde rany circumstances com einto
contact with easily ignitabl emateria lsuch
as dr ygrass or petrol. Th emateria lcould
otherwise ignite an dsetthe vehicle on fire. Controls
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Automatic transmission
98
Parking brake
1
Releas ehandle
2 Parking brake
X To release: depress thebrake peda land
keep it depressed.
X Pull release handle 1.
X The 3 indicator lamp in th einstrument
cluster goe sout.
X To apply: depress parking brake 2firmly.
The 3 indicator lamp in th einstrument
cluster lights up if th eengineisr unning.
i On steep slopes ,tur nt he fron twheels
toward sthe kerb. Switchin
goff th eengine G
Risk of accident
If th eengineisn otrunning ,the re is no
powe rassistanc efor thes teerin gand
brakes. Steerin gand braking then takes
muc hmoree ffort.
As aresult ,you might los econtrol of the
vehicle, caus eanacciden tand injur eyour-
sel fand others.
Do no tswitch of fthe engin ewhile driving.
X Mov ethe selecto rlever to P.
Usin gthe key
X Tur nthe keyt op osition 0(Y page 73 )in
th ei gnition loc kand remov eit.
The immobilise risactivated.
Usin gKEYLESS GO*
X Press and hol dthe KEYLESS GO button
(Y page 73).
The engin estops and all th elamp sint he
instrumen tcluster go out (Y page 26). Automatic transmission
Introduction to th
etransmi ssion G
Risk of accident
The movemen tofthepedals mus tnotbe
impaire dinany way. Do no tkeepa ny
objects in th edriver's footwell. Mak esure
that floormat sorcarpetsare correctly
secure dand that there is sufficien tclear-
anc efor thep edals. G
Risk of accident
Do no tchang ed own fo radditional engine
braking on aslipper yroads urface. This
could caus ethe drive wheels to los etheir
grip and th evehicl ecould skid. Thi scould
caus eyou to los econtrol of your vehicle
and caus eanaccident. Cont
rols
*optional
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Automatic transmission
99Automatic transmission
1
Shift range/selecto rleve rposition
2 Gearshift program (S/C)or(S/C/M)*
The curren tshif trange and gearshif tprogram
(S/C) or(S/C/M)* appear in th edisplay of
th es peedometer.
i SL 63 AMG: in addition ,the curren tposi-
tio nisa lso indicated in red on th eprogram
selector. When th
eselecto rleve risinp ositionD,you
can influence th egearshifts made by the
automatic transmission by:
R restricting th eshiftrange
R changin ggear yourself
Selector lever positions ì Par
kposition
Prevent sthe vehicle from rolling
away when stopped. Only mov ethe
selecto rleve rto Pwhen th evehicle
is stationary.
i The key can only be removed
when th eselecto rleve risinp osi-
tion P.Ift hekey is removed from
th ei gnition lock, th eselector
leve risl ocked in position P. í Reverse gear
Only mov
ethe selecto rleve rtoR
when th evehicle is stationary. ë Neutral
Releasin gthe brakes will allow you
to mov ethe vehicle freely, e.g .to
push it or to wit.
Do no tmovet he selecto rleve rto
Nwhile you are driving .The auto-
matic transmission could other-
wise be damaged.
If ESP ®
is deactivate dorfaulty:
only mov ethe selecto rleve rto Nif
th ev ehicle is in danger of skidding,
e.g .oni cy roads. ê Drive
The automatic transmission
changes gear automatically. All
forward gears are available. One-touch gearshifting
When th
eselecto rleve risinp ositionD,you
can perform gearshifts yourself, even on vehi-
cle sw ith automatic transmission.
X To shif tup:briefly pres sthe selecto rlever
to th erigh ttow ards D+.
The automatic transmission shifts up to the
nex tgear, dependin gonthegearshif tpro- Controls
*o ptional
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Automatic transmission
100gram selected. Thi
salso extend sthe shift
range.
X To shift down: brieflypress th eselector
lever to th eleftt ow ards D–.
The automatic transmissio nshift sdown to
th en extg ear ,dependin gonthegear cur-
rentl yselected. Thi salso restrict sthe shift
range.
i To preven tthe engin efromo verrevving,
th ea utomatic transmissio ndoesn otshift
down if you push th eselector lever towards
D– while drivin gattoohighas peed.
X To derestrict th eshift range: press and
hol dthe selector lever towards D+until D
is shown once more in th edisplay.
The automatic transmissio nshift sfromt he
curren tshift range directl ytoD.
X To select th emoste ffective shift
range: press and hol dthe selector lever to
th el eftt ow ards D–.
The automatic transmissio nwill shift to a
range whic hallow sideal acceleration and
deceleration .Todothis, th eautomatic
transmissio nwill shift down on eormore
gears. Shift ranges Whe
nthe selecto rlever is in position D,itis
possibl etorestrict or derestric tthe shift
range fo rthe automatic transmission.
X Briefly press th eselecto rlever to th eright
towards D+or to th eleftt ow ards D–.
The shift range selecte disshown in the
display. The automatic transmissio nshifts
only as far as th eselecte dgear.
i If th emaximum engin espeed fo rthe shift
range is reached and you continue to accel-
erate ,the automatic transmissio nshift sup
in order to preven tthe engin efromo ver-
revving, eve niftheshift range is restricted. Drivin
gsituation è The braking effec
toftheengin ecan
be used in this position. ç To use th
ebraking effec tofthe
engin eond ownhill gradients and
fo rd riving:
R on steep mountain roads
R in mountainous terrain
R in arduous conditions æ To use th
ebraking effec tofthe
engin eone xtremel ysteep downhill
gradients and lon gdownhill
stretches. Program selector button
1
Program selecto rbutton Cont
rols
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Automatic transmission
101S
Sport Fo
ra ll normal drivin gcon-
ditions C
Comfort Fo
rc omfort mode !
Only press program selector button 1
when th eselector lever is in position P,N
or D.
X Press program selector button 1repeat-
edly until th eletter (C/S) fort he desired
gearshift program appears in th espeed-
ometer display.
Comfort mode Cis characterised by th efol-
lowing:
R an increase in traction .Thisi mproves the
drivin gstabilit yofthe vehicl eons lippery
road surfaces, fo rexample.
R thea utomatic transmissio nshiftin gup
sooner. The vehicl eisdriven at lower
engin espeeds and th ewheels are less
likely to spin. SL 63 AMG program selector 1
Program selector C Fo
rc omfort mode S Fo
ra ll normal drivin gcon-
dition s(Sp ortp rogram) S+ SportPlus mode (with
shorter shift times)
M Fo
rm anual gearshifting RS RACE START
i
RScanno tbeselecte dduring normal driv-
ing. Fo rfurther information on RACE
START ,see (Y page 138). !
Only tur nprogram selector 1when the
selecto rlever is in position P,Nor D.
X Tur nprogram selector 1until th edesired
program is shown in th edisplay.
The display on th eprogram selecto ris
shown in red.
Drivin gtips Accelerator pedal position
Your style of drivin
ginfluences how th eauto-
matic transmissio nshift sgear:
R littl ethrottle :early upshifts
R more throttle: lat eupshifts
Kickdown
Use kickdown fo rmaximum acceleration.
X Depress th eaccelerator peda lbeyond the
pressure point.
The transmissio nshift stoal owergear
dependin gontheengin espeed.
X Ease of fthe accelerator peda loncet he
desire dspeed is reached.
The automatic transmissio nshift sbacku p. Cont
rols
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