2008 MERCEDES-BENZ SL ROADSTER Owners Manual

Automatic transmission
102 Steering wheel gearshif
tpaddl es*
an dm anua lgearshif tprogram*
i The full range of function softhesteering
whee lshift paddles and th emanual gear-
shift program are only available once oper-
atin gtem perature is reached.
Steering wheel gearshif tpaddl es It is possibl
etoshift gear usin geither the
steerin gwhee lgearshift paddles or th eselec-
to rlever. 1
Left-han dpaddle: to shift down
2 Right-han dpaddle: to shift up Upshifting
X
Pull right-hand paddle 2.
The automatic transmissio nshift suptot he
next gear .Ifyou are no tdrivin ginm anual
gearshift program M,thent he shift range
will be derestricted.
Downshifting 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.
X Pull left-han dpaddle 1.
The automatic transmissio nshift sdown to
th en extg ear .Ify ou are no tdrivin ginm an-
ual gearshift program M,theshift range will
be restricted.
i Whe nthe selecto rlever is in position P,
N or R,y ou canno tchang eg ear usin gthe
steerin gwhee lgearshift paddles.
If manual gearshift program Mhas been
selecte dand you restart th eengine, the
automatic transmissio nwill switch to an
automatic gearshift program. If automatic
gearshift program Sor Chas been selected, th
ea utomatic transmissio nwill resume the
correspondin ggearshift program when you
restart th eengine.
Manua lgearshif tprogram In manual gearshift program
M,you can
chang egear usin gthe steerin gwhee lgear-
shift paddles or th eselecto rlever. Manual
gearshift program Mcan be selecte dusing
th ep rogram selecto rbutton. 1
Program selecto rbutton Cont
rols
*optional
230_AKB; 5; 4, en-GB
bjanott,
Version: 2.9.6
2008-04-08T15:09:54+02:00
-Seite 102 Dateiname: 6515_3089_02_buchblock.pdf; preflight

Automatic transmission
103S
Sport Fo
ra ll normal drivin gcon-
ditions C
Comfort Fo
rc omfort mode M
Manual Fo
rm anual gearshifting X
To activate: press program selector but-
ton 1repeatedly until Mappears in the
speedometer display.
If th eselector lever is in position D,you can
shift up or down through th egears. The gear
currentl yselected and engage disshown in
th es peedometer display.
X To deactivate: press program selector
button 1repeatedly until Sor Cappears
in th espeedometer display.
Upshifting
X Briefly press th eselector lever to th eright
towards D+
or
X Pull th eright-hand steerin gwhee lgearshift
paddl e(Ypage 102).
The automatic transmissio nshift suptot he
next gear. SL 65 AMG
!
In manual gearshift program M,theauto-
matic transmissio ndoesn otshift up auto-
matically eve nwhen th elimitin gspeed for
th ec urren tgear is reached. Whe nthe lim-
itin gspeed is reached, th efue lsupply is cut
to preven tthe engin efromo verrevving.
You mus tmakes uret hatthe engin espeed
doe snotreach th ered are aoftherev coun-
ter. There is otherwise ariskofe ngine
damage.
X Shift up agear if th ecolour in th edisplay
changes to red and UPappears in th erev
counter.
Downshifting 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.
X Briefly press th eselector lever to th eleft
towards D-
or X
Pull th eleft-han dsteerin gwhee lgearshift
paddle (Y page 102).
The automatic transmissio nshift sdown to
th en extg ear.
i Form aximum acceleration ,pull th eleft-
han dsteerin gwhee lgearshift paddle until
th et ransmissio nselects th eoptimum gear
fo rt he curren tspeed.
Kickdown
i It is no tpossibl etouse kickdown in man-
ual gearshift program Mon vehicles with
AM Ge ngines.
You can also use kickdown fo rmaximum
acceleration in manual gearshift program M.
X Depress th eaccelerator peda lbeyond the
pressure point.
The transmissio nshift stoal owergear
dependin gontheengin espeed.
i It is no tpossibl etoshift gear susingthe
steerin gwhee lgearshift paddles during
kickdown. Cont
rols
230_AKB; 5; 4, en-GB
bjanott,
Version: 2.9.6
2008-04-08T15:09:54+02:00
-Seite 103 ZDateiname: 6515_3089_02_buchblock.pdf; preflight

Automatic transmission
104
Manua
lgearshif tprogram on th eSL63
AMG In manual gearshift program
M,you can
chang egear usin gthe steerin gwhee lgear-
shift paddles or th eselector lever. Manual
gearshift program Mcan be selected using
th ep rogram selector.
SL 63 AM Gprogram 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).
X To activate: turnp rogram selector 1
clockwise until Mappears in th espeedom-
eter display.
Indicator M1 on th eprogram selector
lights up in red.
If th eselecto rlever is in position D,you can
shift up or down through th egears. The gear
currentl yselecte dand engage disshown in
th ed isplay.
X To deactivate: turnp rogram selector 1
until Sor Cappears in th edisplay.
Upshifting
X Briefly press th eselecto rlever to th eright
towards D+
or X
Pull th eright-hand steerin gwhee lgearshift
paddle (Y page 102).
The automatic transmissio nshift suptot he
next gear.
! In manual gearshift program M,theauto-
matic transmissio ndoesn otshift up auto-
matically eve nwhen th elimitin gspeed for
th ec urren tgear is reached. Whe nthe lim-
itin gspeed is reached, th efue lsupply is cut
to preven tthe engin efromo verrevving.
You mus tmakes uret hatthe engin espeed
doe snotreach th ered are aoftherev coun-
ter. There is otherwise ariskofe ngine
damage.
X Shift up agear if th ecolour in th edisplay
changes to red and UPappears in th erev
counter.
Downshifting 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.
X Briefly press th eselecto rlever to th eleft
towards D-
or Cont
rols
230_AKB; 5; 4, en-GB
bjanott,
Version: 2.9.6 2008-04-08T15:09:54+02:00-Seite 104 Dateiname: 6515_3089_02_buchblock.pdf; preflight

Instrument cluster
105
X
Pull th eleft-han dsteerin gwhee lgearshift
paddl e(Ypage 102).
The automati ctransmissio nshift sdown to
th en extg ear.
i Form aximum acceleration ,pull th eleft-
han dsteerin gwhee lgearshift paddl euntil
th et ransmissio nselect sthe optimum gear
fo rt he curren tspeed.
Kickdown
i It is no tpossibl etouse kickdown in man-
ual gearshift program Mon vehicles with
AM Ge ngines. Instrument cluster
Points to remember
You will fin danillustration of th einstrument
cluster in th e"At ag lance "section
(Y page 26). G
Risk of accident
If th einstrument cluster or multi-function
display fails, no display message scan be
displayed.
This mean stha tyou will no tsee information
about th edrivin gsituation ,suc hast he
speed, outside temperature, warning/indi-
cator lamps, display message sorsystem
failures .Handlin gcharacteristics may be
affected. Adapt your drivin gstyle and
speed accordingly.
Immediately consult aqualified specialist
workshop whic hhas th eneces saryspecial-
ist knowledge and tools to carry out the
wor krequired. Mercedes-Ben zrecom-
mends that you use aMercedes-Benz
Service Centr efor this purpose .Inparticu-
lar, wor krelevan ttosafetyoro nsafety-
relate dsystems mus tbecarriedout at a
qualified specialist workshop. Activating th
emulti-function display
X Switc hont heignition.
The multi-function display is also activated
when you:
R switch on th elights
R press th ereset butto nontheleft-han dside
of th einstrument cluster
R open adoor Adjusting th
einstrument cluster
lighting
X Brighte rordimmer: turnthe reset button
in th einstrument cluster clockwise or anti-
clockwise. Cont
rols
230_AKB; 5; 4, en-GB
bjanott,
Version: 2.9.6
2008-04-08T15:09:54+02:00
-Seite 105 ZDateiname: 6515_3089_02_buchblock.pdf; preflight

On-boar
dcomputer 106 Coolant temperatureg
auge
The coolant temperature gauge is in the
instrument cluster on the left-hand side.
Under normal operatin gconditions and with
the specified concentration of antifreeze/
corrosion inhibitor ,the coolant temperature
may rise to 120 † Resetting the trip meter
X Select the standard display menu
(Y page 110).
X Press and hold the reset butto ninthe
instrument cluster until the trip meter is
reset. Rev counter
The red band in the rev counter indicates the
engine's overrevvin grange. The fuel supply is
interrupted to protec tthe engin ewhen the
red band is reached.
! Do not drive in the overrevvin grange.
Doin gsow ill damage the engine. H
Environmental note
Avoid driving at high engin espeeds, as this
increases your vehicle's consumption
unnecessarily and pollutes the environ-
ment through increased emissions. Outsid
etemperatured isplay G
Risk of accident
The road surface may be icy, especially in
wooded areas or on bridges, even if tem-
peratures are just above freezing point .The
vehicle could skid if you fail to adapt your
driving style. You should therefore always
adapt your driving style and speed to suit
the weather conditions.
There is ashort delay before achang eino ut-
side temperature is displayed. On-boar
dcomputer Points to remember
The on-board computer is activated as soon
as you turn the key to position 1in the ignition
lock .You can use the on-board computer to
call up information relatin gtoyour vehicle
and to make and adjust settings.
You can call up the nex tservic edue date,
select the display language for the instrument
cluster and set other functions. G
Risk of accident
Only use the on-board computer when road
and traffic condition spermit .You would
otherwise be distracted and unable to con-
centrat eproperly on driving ,and could
cause an accident.
The on-board computer shows information in
the multi-function display. Controls
230_AKB
;5;4,en-GB
bjanott, Version:2.9.6
2008-04-08T15:09:54+02:0
0-Seite 106 Dateiname: 6515_3089_02_buchblock.pdf; preflight

On-boar
dcomputer 107Multi-function steering wheel
You can control the multi-function display and
the settings in the on-board computer with
the buttons on the multi-function steering
wheel. 1 Multi-function displayint
he speed-
ometer 2 Multi-function displayint
he rev
counter 3 s
t
Accepts or rejectsac
all*
æ
ç R
Selects submenus in the
Settings menu
R Changes values
R Adjusts the volume
R Operates the RACETIMER 13 4 è
ÿ
Selecting menus: scrolls back
and forth j
k
Press briefly
to scroll back
and forth in amenu.
Select the Audio/TV*/DVD
menu to select astored sta-
tion, an audio track or avideo
scene.
In the Telephone* menu:
switches to the phone book
and selects aname or phone
number. j
k
Press and hold:
in the
Audio/TV*/DVD menu to
select the next/previous sta-
tion using rapid scrolling.
Press and hold in the Tele-
phone* menu: starts rapid
scrolling through the tele-
phone book. Several functions are combined thematically
in the menus.
For example, the
Audio/TV*/DVD menu
contains functions for operating the radio or
DVD player. The functions can be used either
to look up information or to change settings
for your vehicle.
13 Only on AMG vehicles. Controls
*o ptional
230_AKB;5;4,e
n-GB
bjanott ,V ersion: 2.9.6
2008-04-08T15:09:54+02:00
-Seite 107 ZDateiname: 6515_3089_02_buchblock.pdf; preflight

On-boar
dcomputer 108
You can thin
kofthe configuration of the
menus and the function swithin amenu as a
circle:
X Press the èorÿ buttonrepeatedly
to call up individual menus in sequence.
X Press the korj buttontoc all up
the function swithin amenu.
Unlik eother menus, the Settingsmenu con-
tains anumber of submenus ( Ypage 116).
The number of menus depends on the equip-
ment in your vehicle. Multi-function display
The multi-function display shows you values
and settings as well as any display messages
that may have been generated. 1
Status bar with outside temperature or
speed (Y page 118)
2 Engaged gear/selector lever position
3 Trip meter
4 Drive program
5 Total distanc erecorder Controls
230_AKB; 5; 4, en-GB
bjanott,
Version: 2.9.6 2008-04-08T15:09:54+02:00-Seite 108 Dateiname: 6515_3089_02_buchblock.pdf; preflight

On-boar
dcomputer 109Menus and submenusControls
230_AKB
;5;4,en-GB
bjanott, Version:2.9.6
2008-04-08T15:09:54+02:0
0-Seite 109
Z Dateiname: 6515_3089_02_buchblock.pdf; preflight