Driving sys
tems 131
Adjusting the se
tdistance
X To increase: turnthumbwheel 2towards
the ¯ symbol.
Distroni cthe nm aintains agreate rdistance
between your vehicl eand the vehicl ein
front.
X To decrease: turnthumbwheel 2towards
the ® symbol.
Distroni cthe nm aintains ashorter distance
between your vehicl eand the vehicl ein
front.
i Make sure tha tyou maintain the mini-
mu md istance to the vehicl einfront
required by law. Adjust the distance to the
vehicl einfront if necessary.
Distance warning function Even if Distroni
cisd eact ivated, thi sfun ction
warns yo uatspeedsabove 30 km/h if:
R the distance to the vehicl einfront is too
short for the spee dyou ared riving at for
several seconds. The EDTR warning
lamp in the speedomete rlight supinr ed.
R yo ua reapproaching avehicl einfront at too
great aspeed .You the nhearani ntermit-
tent warning tone ,and the EDTR warn- ing lamp in the speedomete
rlight supin
red.
Yo um usta pply the brakes yourself in order
to maintain the correc tdistance to the vehicle
and to avoi dacollision. G
Ris
kofa ccident
Be especiall yobser vant of traffi ccondi-
tions when the EDTR warning lamp in
the speedomete rlight suporani ntermit-
tent warning tone sounds.
Brake or take evasive actio nasnecessary.
i Distroni cdoesn ot always clearly recog-
nis ec omplex roa dand traffi cconditions.
Yo um aythe nreceive afalse distance warn-
ing tone or none at all.
X To activate/deactivate: press button1.
When the functio nisa ctivated, the indica-
tor lamp in button 1lights up and aloud-
speaker symbo lappears in the display.
When the functio nisd eact ivated, the indi-
cator lamp in button 1goes ou tand the
loudspeaker symbo ldisappear sfromt he
multi-functio ndisplay. Distroni
cdisplays in the speedometer 1
White/red EDTR warning lamp
2 Stored speed
i For design reasons, the spee ddisplayed
in the speedomete rmaydiffe rsligh tlyf rom
the spee dsetfor Distronic.
When Distroni cdetects avehicl eahead ,the
E DTR warning lamp in the speedometer
lights up in white. Controls
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Driving sys
tems 132
Distroni
cmenui nt he on-board com-
puter Yo
uc an rea dthe current Distronicsettings
in the Distroni cmenu. Th ereading in the
multi-functio ndisplay depends on if Distronic
and the distance warning functio nareactiva-
ted or deactivated.
X Press the èorÿ button repeatedly
unti lone of the following two displays
appear sinthe multi-functio ndisplay.
Distroni cdeactivated
When Distroni cisd eact ivate dyou will se ethe
standard Distroni cdisplay in the multi-func-
tio nd isplay. 1
Vehicle in front, if detected
2 Distanc eindicator, displaying current dis-
tanc etot he vehicl einfront
3 Specifie dminimum distance to the vehi-
cle in front, adjustable
4 Ownvehicle 5
Symbo lfor activate ddistance warning
function
Distroni cactivated
When yo uactivate Distronic, yo uwills ee the
DTR symbo land the stored spee dinthe left-
hand multi-functio ndisplay. 1
Display for activate dDistronic
2 Stored speed Deactivating Distronic 1
Deactivating Distronic
2 LIM indicator lamp
3 To switch between Distroni cand variable
Speedtronic
There ar eseveral ways to deactivate Dis-
tronic:
X Briefl ypress the cruis econtrol lever for-
wards 1.
or
X Brake.
or Controls
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Driving sys
tems 133
X
Briefl ypress the cruis econtrol lever in the
directio nofarrow 3.
Variable Speedtroni ciss elect ed.LIM indi-
cator lamp 2in the cruis econtrol lever
lights up.
i Youw ills ee the DTR off message in the
multi-functio ndisplay for approximately
five seconds.
Th elasts peed stored is cleared when you
switch off the engine.
i Distroni cisn ot deactivate difyoudepress
the accelerator pedal. If yo uaccelerate
briefl ytoo vertake, Distroni cadjusts the
vehicle' sspeed to the last spee dstored
after yo uhavef inishe dovertaking.
Distroni cisa utomaticall ydeact ivate dif:
R yo ud epress the parking brake
R yo ua redriving at less tha n30km/h
R ESP ®
is intervening or yo udeact ivate
ESP ®
R yo um ovet he selector lever to Nwhil edriv-
ing
If Distroni cisd eact ivated, yo uwillh eara
warning tone .You will se ethe DTR off mes-sage in the multi-functio
ndisplay for approx-
imately five seconds.
Tips fo rdrivin gwithD istronic Th
efollowing contains descriptions of certain
roa dand traffi cconditions in which yo umust
be particularl yattentive. In such situations,
brake if necessary .Distroni cist hend eact i-
vated.
Cornering, goin gintoa nd comin goutof a
bend Th
ea bility of Distroni ctodetect vehicles
when cornering is limited .Yourv ehicl emay
brake unexpectedly or belatedly. Vehicle
stravellin gonad ifferentline Distroni
cmaynot detect vehicles travelling
on adifferen tline. Th edistance to the vehicle
in front will be too short.
Othe rvehicles changin glane Controls
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Driving sys
tems 136
Making adjustments in 10 km/
hincre-
ments X
Briefl ypress the cruis econtrol lever up
1 for ahighe rspeed or down 4for a
lowe rspeed.
or
X Kee pthe cruis econtrol lever presse duntil
the desired spee disset.P ress the cruise
control lever ,up1forahighe rspeed or
down 4for alower speed.
Making fine adjustments in 1km/h
increments X
Fo rah ighe rs peed: brieflypullt he cruise
control lever towards you 3.
or
X Kee pthe cruis econtrol lever pulled
towards you 3unti lthe desired spee dis
set.
Deactivating variabl eSpeedtronic There ar
eseveral ways to deactivate variable
Speedtronic:
X Briefl ypress the cruis econtrol lever for-
wards 6.
or X
Briefl ypress the cruis econtrol lever in the
directio nofarrow 5.
LIM indicator lamp 2in the cruis econtrol
lever goes out. Variable Speedtroni cis
deactivated.
Cruise control or Distronic* is selected.
Variable Speedtroni cisd eact ivate dautomat-
icall ywheny ou depress the accelerator pedal
beyond the pressure point (kickdown) ,but
onl yify ourc urrent spee ddoesn ot diffe rby
mor ethan20k m/h fro mthe stored speed.
Yo uw illh ea raw arning tone if thi sisthe case. G
Ris
kofa ccident
It is not possibl etodeactivate variable
Speedtroni cbybraking.
i Thelas ts peed stored is cleared when you
switch off the engine.
Permanent Speedtronic i
Permanent Speedtroni ciso nlya vailable
in certai ncountries.
Yo uc an uset he on-board computer to limit
the spee dpermanentl ytoavaluebetween
160 km/h (e.g. for driving with winter tyres)
and the maximum speed. Shortl
ybefor et he stored spee disreache dit
appear sinthe multi-functio ndisplay.
Yo uc annot exceed the stored limi tspeed,
eve nify oudepress the accelerator pedal
beyond the pressure point (kickdown).
Settin gpermanent Speedtronic
X Press the èor· button to select the
Settings menu(Ypage 116).
X Press the jbutton to call up the selec-
tio nofs ubmenus.
X Press the æorç button to select the
Vehicle submenu.
X Press the jbutton to select Speed
limit (winte rtyres) . X
Press the æorç button to select the
desired setting.
Th ef ollowing setting scan be selected:
R Off Controls
*optional
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Driving sys
tems 137
Permanent Speedtroni
cisd eact ivated.
R Al imit spee dbetween 240 km/h and
160 km/h in increments of 10 km/h
X To select adifferen tdisplay ,press the
j, èorÿ button. SBC Hold
SBC ®
Hol dassis ts the driver in the following
situations:
R when pulling away ,especially on steep
slopes
R when manoeuvring on steep slopes
R when waiting in traffic
Th ev ehicl eisk epts tationar ywithout the
driver having to depress the brake pedal.
Th eb raking effect is cancelle dand SBC Hold
deactivate dwheny ou depress the accelera-
tor peda ltopulla way.
Activation conditions Yo
uc an activate SBC Hol dif:
R the vehicl eisstationary
R the engine is running
R the driver's door is closed R
the parking brake is not applied
R the bonnet is closed
R the selector lever is in position D,Ror N
Activating SBC Hold X
Make sure tha tthe activation conditions
ar em et.
X Depres sthe brake.
X Depres sthe brake agai nquickl yu ntil
SBC H appear sinthe multi-functio ndis-
play.
SBC Hol disactivated. Yo ucan release the
brake pedal. 1
SBC Hol disactivated. G
Ris
kofa ccident
Th ev ehicle' sbrakes ar eapplied when SBC
Hol disa ctivated. For thi sreason, deacti-
vate SBC Hol difthe vehicl eistobes etin
motion by other means (e.g. in acarwash
or by towing).
Deactivating SBC Hold SBC Hol
disdeactivate dif:
R yo ua ccelerate when the selector lever is in
position Dor R
R yo um ovet he selector lever to position P
R yo ua pply the brakes agai nwithac ertain
amount of pressure unti lthe SBC H mes-
sage in the multi-functio ndisplay goes out G
Ris
kofa ccident
Never ge toutof the vehicl ewhenS BC Hold
is activated.
SBC Hol dmustn eve rbeo perated or deac-
tivate dbyapassenge rorfromo utside the
vehicle.
SBC Hol ddoesn ot replace the parking
brake and must not be used for parking.
Th eS BC Hol dbraking effect is cancelled
and the vehicl ecould rol lawa yif: Controls
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Driving sys
tems 138 R
SBC Hol disdeactivate dbyano ccupant
in the vehicl ebydepressing the acceler-
ato rpedal or the brake pedal
R there is amalfu nctio ninthe syste moran
interruption in the powe rsupply, e.g.bat-
tery failure
R the electrica lsystemint he engine com-
partment or the fuse shaveb eent am-
pered with
R the battery is disconnected G
Ris
kofa ccident
If yo uwishtol eave the vehicl eorparki t,
deactivate SBC Hol dand secure the vehicle
against rolling away.
Yo uw ills ee aw arning message in the multi-
functio ndisplay if SBC Hol disactivate dand:
R the driver's door is opene dand yo urelease
the seat belt
R the ignition is switched off
R the bonnet is opened
Selector lever to P X
Immediatel ydepress the brake or shift the
selector lever to Pto preven tthe vehicle
fro mr olling away.
SBC Hol disdeactivated. Th ewarning mes-
sage in the multi-functio ndisplay disap-
pears.
Yo uw illh ea rac ontinuous tone if SBC Hol dis
activate dand you:
R sto pthe engine and open the driver's door
R open the bonnet
Th es ounding of the horn alerts yo utothe fact
tha tthe vehicl ehasbeen parked while
SBC Hol disstill activated. Th esound
becomes louder if yo uattempt to lock the
vehicle. Th evehicl eisn ot locked unti lSBC
HOL Disd eact ivated.
i If the ignition ha sbeens witched off ,the
engine cannot be started agai nuntil
SBC Hol dhasbeen deactivated.
If SBC Hol disactivate dand ha sasystemf ault
or there is adisruption in the powe rsupply,
the multi-functio ndisplay shows the message
Brake immediately.D epressthe brake
firmly, unti lthe warning message in the multi-
functio ndisplay goes out, or mov ethe selec-
tor lever to position P.Thisd eact ivates
SBC Hold. RACE START (S
L63AMG)
RAC ESTAR Tenables optimal acceleration
fro mas tanding start with suitabl ehigh- grip
roa dsurface conditions. G
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kofa ccident
RAC ESTAR Tiso nlya vailable when ESP ®
Sports mod eisactivated. ESP ®
Sport sta-
bilise sthe vehicl einalimited manner if the
vehicl estarts to ski dorwhenaw heelis
spinning.
RAC ESTAR Tshoul donlybeu sedonc losed
off circuits .Alway sadapt your driving style
to suit the prevailing roa dand weather con-
ditions.
Conditions fo ractivation RAC
ESTAR Tcan be activate dwhen
R the doors ar eclosed
R the engine is running and it ha sreache dan
operating temperatur eofapproximately
80 †. This is the case when the engine oil
temperatur elam pint he multi-functio ndis-
play stops flashing
R ESP ®
Sport is activate d(Ypage 56)
R the steering whee lisinthe straight-ahead
position Controls
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Driving sys
tems 139
R
the vehicl eisatresta nd the brake peda lis
depresse d(left foot)
R the gear selector lever is in position D.
Activating RACE START X
Depres sthe brake peda lwithy ourlef tf oot,
kee pitd epressed.
X Turn the progra mselect or switch clock-
wise (Y page 101) ,unti lthe RS lamp lights
up.
Th eleft-hand multi-functio ndisplay shows
the RACESTART Cancel Paddle DOWN
message and the right-hand displa yshows
the RACESTART Confir mPaddle UP
message.
X To cancel :pullt he left paddle
(Y page 102).
or
X To confirm: pull the righ tpaddle
( Y page 102).
Th eleft-hand multi-functio ndisplay shows
the RACESTART message and the right-
hand displa yshows the Depressaccel
pedal message. X
Depres sthe accelerator peda lfully.
Th ee ngine spee drises to approximately
4,000 rpm.
Th eleft-hand multi-functio ndisplay shows
the RACESTART message and the right-
hand multi-functio ndisplay shows the
Releas ebrake to start message.
X Take your foo toff the brake, bu tkeept he
accelerator peda ldep ressed.
Th ev ehicl epulls away at maximum accel-
eration.
Th eleft-hand multi-functio ndisplay shows
the RACESTART message and the right-
hand multi-functio ndisplay shows the
active message.
RAC ESTAR Tisd eactivate dwhent he vehicle
reache saspeed of approximately 50 km/h.
Drive program S+is activated. ESP ®
Sport
remains activated.
i If RAC ESTAR Tisu sedr epeatedly in a
short period of time, it is onl yavailable
agai nafter having driven the vehicl eacer-
tai nd istance. Activ
eBodyC ontrol* (ABC)
Vehicle level Your vehicl
eautomaticall yadjusts its ride
height to reduc epetrol consumption and
improve driving safety.
Depending on the vehicl eheight thathas
been set, the vehicl eautomaticall yadjusts its
height according to the current speed. The
vehicl eislower ed as the spee dincreases. As
the spee disreduced ,the vehicl eisraisedup
to the se tvehicl eheight. G
Ris
kofi njury
SL 63 AMG ,SL65AMG:
Th ev ehicl eislower ed fro mthe normal level
when the engine is switched off .Makes ure,
therefore ,tha tn obod yisint he vicinity of
the whee lhousin goru nder the vehicle
when yo uswitch off the engine .Otherwise,
limbs could becom etrapped.
! SL 63 AMG ,SL65AMG:
Th ev ehicl eislower ed fro mthe normal level
when the engine is switched off .Makes ure
when parking tha tyou positio nyourvehicle
so tha titdoesn ot make contact with the
kerb as it descends .Otherwise, the vehicle
could be damaged. Controls
*o ptional
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Driving sys
tems 141
Suspension tuning Th
es uspe nsiontuning depends on:
R your driving style
R the roa dsurface conditions
R the payload
R your individua lselect ion
Th es uspe nsiontuning ca nbesetfor a"com-
fortable "or"sporty"d riving style.
Your selectio nremains saved eve nwheny ou
switch off the engine.
Selecting the suspension tuning (except
SL 63 AMG) 1
To select the suspensio ntuning
2 Indicator lamp
X Make sure tha tthe engine is running. If indicator lamp
2is not lit:
X Press button 1.
Indicator lamp 2lights up .You have selec-
ted the suspensio nfor as porty driving
style.
If indicator lamp 2is lit:
X Press button 1.
Indicator lamp 2goes out. Yo uhaves elec-
ted the suspensio nfor ac omfortable driv-
ing style.
Selecting the suspension tuning
(S L63A MG) 1
To select the suspensio ntuning
2 To store AMG settings
X Make sure tha tthe engine is running. If indicator lamp
1is not lit:
X Press button 1.
Button 1lights up red .You have selected
the suspensio nfor as porty driving style.
If button 1is lit:
X Press button 1.
Button 1is no longe rlit.Y ou have selected
the suspensio nfor ac omfortable driving
style.
Storin gand callin gupsettings
Once the suspensio ntuning and gearshift
progra mhaveb eens elect ed,you cans tore
and call up your setting susing AMG button
2.
X To store: press AMG button 2unti lyou
hear atone.
X To call up: press AMG button 2.
Th es tored suspensio ntuning and gearshift
progra mareselected.
X To display: brieflypress AMG button 2.
Your selectio nappears in the multi-func-
tio nd isplay. Controls
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