2008 MERCEDES-BENZ SL550 steering wheel adjustment

70 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Air bags
Warning!G
Air bags are designed to reduce the poten-
tial of injury and fatality in certain frontal im-
pacts (front air bags, driver-side knee bag)
or side impacts (head-thorax air bags).
However, no system available today can
completely eliminate injuries and fatalities.
The deployment of the air bags temporarily
releases a small amount of dust from the air
bags. This dust, however, is neither injurious
to your health, nor does it indicate a fire in
the vehicle. The dust might cause some tem-
porary breathing difficulty for people with
asthma or other breathing trouble. To avoid
this, you may wish to get out of the vehicle
as soon as it is safe to do so. If you have any
breathing difficulty but cannot get out of the
vehicle after the air bag inflates, then get
fresh air by opening a window or door.
Warning!G
To reduce the risk of injury when the front
air bags inflate, it is very important for the
driver and passenger to always be in a prop-
erly seated position and to wear their seat
belts.
For maximum protection in the event of a
collision always be in normal seated position
with your back against the backrest. Fasten
your seat belt and make sure that it is prop-
erly positioned on your body (
page 50).
Since the air bag inflates with considerable
speed and force, a proper seating and hands
on steering wheel position will help to keep
you at a safe distance from the air bag.
Occupants who are unbelted, out of position
or too close to the air bag can be seriously
injured or killed by an air bag as it inflates
with great force in the blink of an eye:

Sit properly belted in a position that is
as upright as possible with your back
against the seat backrest.

Adjust the driver’s seat as far as possi-
ble rearward, still permitting proper
operation of vehicle controls. The dis-
tance from the center of the driver’s
breastbone to the center of the air bag
cover on the steering wheel must be at
least 10 inches (25 cm) or more. You
should be able to accomplish this by a
combination of adjustments to the seat
and steering wheel. If you have any
problems, please contact an authorized
Mercedes-Benz Center.

Do not lean your head or chest close to
the steering wheel or dashboard.

Keep hands on the outside of the steer-
ing wheel rim. Placing hands and arms
inside the rim can increase the risk and
potential severity of hand/arm injury
when driver’s front air bag inflates.

Adjust the passenger seat as far as pos-
sible rearward from the dashboard when
the seat is occupied.

167 Controls in detail
Control system
Move the selection marker with
theæ orç button to the

Convenience
submenu.
Press button j or k repeatedly
until the message
Easy-entry
Function
appears in the multifunction
display.
The selection marker is on the current
setting.
Press button æ or ç to switch
the easy-entry/exit feature
On or Off.
Trip computer menu
Use the trip computer menu to call up
statistical data on your vehicle.
The following information is available:
Warning!G
You must make sure no one can become
trapped or injured by the moving steering
wheel when the easy-entry/exit feature is
activated.
To stop steering wheel movement, do one of
the following:

Move steering wheel adjustment stalk
(
page 47).

Press one of the memory position
buttons* or the memory button M*
(
page 129).
Do not leave children unattended in the ve-
hicle, or with access to an unlocked vehicle.
Children could open the driver’s door and
unintentionally activate the easy-entry/exit
feature, which could result in an accident
and/or serious personal injury.
FunctionPage
Fuel consumption statistics
since start168
Fuel consumption statistics
since last reset168
Resetting fuel consumption
statistics168
Distance to empty169
iThe last function called up will reappear the
next time you enter the trip computer menu.

481 Index
Selective (SmartKey) 107
Speedometer display mode 160
Time 161
Units in speedometer 160
Shift program mode, Automatic
transmission 177
Shifting, Automatic transmission 172
Shoulder support
Seat adjustment 125
Side marker lamps 410
Cleaning lenses 336
Side windows
Automatic closing 203
Automatic opening 202
Closing 201, 202
Closing fully 203
Closing with KEYLESS-GO* 203
Express-close 203
Express-open 202
Opening 201, 202
Opening fully 202
Stopping 203
Synchronizing power windows 203Sidewall 324
SmartKey see Key, SmartKey
SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO* see
Key, SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO*
Snow chains 329
Spare tire see Spare wheel 417
Spare wheel 400, 401, 417, 453
Collapsible tire 422, 453
Inflating collapsible tire 422
Tire inflation pressure 422
Speed settings
Cruise control 217
Distronic* 224
Speedometer 27
Setting units 160
Sporty driving style 233
SRS
Indicator lamp 354
Messages in the multifunction
display 373
Standing lamps 131, 410
Standing water
Driving instructions 275Starter battery 290, 427
Starter switch 25, 40
Starter switch positions 40
Starting difficulties 54
Starting position 40
Starting the engine
With the SmartKey 53
With the SmartKey with
KEYLESS-GO* 54
Steering column
Up/down adjustment 47
Steering wheel
Adjusting 46
Buttons 30
Cleaning 339
Height adjustment 47
Steering wheel adjustment stalk 25
Steering wheel gearshift control one-touch
gearshifting*
Automatic transmission 180
Stopping
Windows 203