2008 MERCEDES-BENZ SLK280 Dashboard

55 Getting started
Driving
Switching on headlamps
Low beam headlamps
The exterior lamp switch is located on the
dashboard to the left of the steering wheel.
Exterior lamp switch
1Off
2Low beam headlamps on
Turn the exterior lamp switch to
positionB.
The low beam headlamps come on.High beam
The combination switch is located on the
left of the steering column.
Combination switch
1High beam
2High beam flasher
Push the combination switch in
direction of arrow1.
The high beam headlamps and high
beam headlamp indicator lampA in
the instrument cluster come on
(
page 26).
For more information on headlamps, see
“Lighting” (
page 109).
Turn signals
The combination switch is located on the
left of the steering column.
Combination switch
1Turn signals, right
2Turn signals, left

66 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Air bags
Warning!G
Air bags are designed to reduce the poten-
tial of injury in certain frontal impacts (front
air bags, knee bags), or side impacts
(head-thorax air bags) which may cause
significant injuries. 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 ensure it is prop-
erly positioned on your body (
page 48).
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 the driver’s front air bag inflates.

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

69 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
When you sell your vehicle, we strongly
urge you to give notice to the subsequent
owner that it is equipped with an SRS by
alerting them to the applicable section in
the Operator’s Manual.Front air bags
1Driver air bag
2Passenger air bag
3Knee bag (passenger side)
4Knee bag (driver’s side)
Driver and passenger air bags and knee
bags are deployed

in the event of certain frontal impacts

if impact exceeds a preset deployment
threshold

independently of the head-thorax
air bags

Never place your feet on the instrument
panel, dashboard, or on the seat. Always
keep both feet on the floor in front of the
seat.

In addition, improper repair work on the
SRS creates a risk of rendering the SRS
inoperative or causing unintended air
bag deployment. Work on the SRS must
therefore only be performed by qualified
technicians. Contact an authorized
Mercedes-Benz Center.

For your protection and the protection
of others, when scrapping the air bag
unit or emergency tensioning device,
our safety instructions must be fol-
lowed. These instructions are available
from any authorized Mercedes-Benz
Center.

Given the considerable deployment
speed, required inflation volume, and
the textile structure of the air bags,
there is the possibility of abrasions or
other, potentially more serious injuries
resulting from air bag deployment.
Warning!G
Only use seat covers which have been
tested and approved by Mercedes-Benz for
your vehicle model. Using other seat covers
may interfere with or prevent the deploy-
ment of the head-thorax air bags. Contact
an authorized Mercedes-Benz Center for
availability.

78 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Enhanced seat belt reminder system
When the engine is started, the seat belt
telltale< will always illuminate
for 6 seconds to remind you and your
passenger to fasten your seat belts.
If the driver’s seat belt is not fastened
when the engine is started, an additional
warning chime will also sound for a maxi-
mum of 6 seconds or until the driver’s seat
belt is fastened.
If after these 6 seconds, the driver’s or the
passenger’s seat belt (with the passenger
seat occupied) are not fastened with both
doors closed,

the seat belt telltale< remains illu-
minated for as long as either the driv-
er’s or passenger’s seat belt is not
fastened.

and if the vehicle speed once exceeds
15 mph (25 km/h), the seat belt
telltale< starts flashing and a
warning chime sounds with increasing intensity for a maximum of 60 seconds
or until both the driver’s and
passenger’s seat belt are fastened.
If the driver’s or the passenger’s seat
belt remains unfastened after
60 seconds, the warning chime stops
sounding. The seat belt telltale<
stops flashing but continues to be
illuminated.
The seat belt telltale< will only go out
if both the driver’s and the passenger’s
seat belt (with the passenger seat occu-
pied) are fastened, or the vehicle is stand-
ing still and a door is opened.
For more information, see the “Practical
hints” section (
page 353).

Seat belts should not be worn twisted.
In a crash, you would not have the full
width of the seat belt to manage impact
forces. The twisted seat belt against
your body could cause injuries.

Pregnant women should also always use
a lap-shoulder belt. The lap belt portion
should be positioned as low as possible
on the hips to avoid any possible
pressure on the abdomen.

Never place your feet on the instrument
panel, dashboard or on the seat. Always
keep both feet on the floor in front of the
seat.

When using a seat belt to secure infant
or toddler restraints or children in
booster seats, always follow the child
seat manufacturer’s instructions.


134 Controls in detail
Control system
Selecting satellite radio station*
The Sirius satellite radio is treated as a
radio application.
Select satellite radio with the corre-
sponding soft key (SAT) in the radio
menu.
1SAT mode and preset number
2Channel name or number
Press buttonjork repeatedly
until the desired channel is found.Operating the CD player
Switch on the radio and select the
CD player (
page 212).
Vehicles with COMAND*:
Refer to the separate operating instruc-
tions.
Press buttonèorÿ repeatedly
until the settings for the CD currently
being played appear in the multifunc-
tion display.
1Current CD
(
CD0 for single CD drive in head unit,
CD1 through CD6 for CD in
CD changer*)
2Current track
Press buttonjork repeatedly
until the desired track is selected.
iFor more information on satellite radio
operation, see “Introduction to satellite radio*”
(
page 203).
Vehicles with COMAND*:
Refer to separate operating instructions.
iTo select a CD from the magazine, press a
number on the audio system or the COMAND*
system key pad located in the center dashboard.

433 Practical hints
Fuses
Fuse box in passenger compartment
1Fuse box cover
Opening
Open the driver’s door.
Insert flat, blunt object as a lever into
recess on the edge of cover1 at the
position indicated by the arrow.
Loosen cover1 from dashboard using
the lever.
Pull cover1 out and remove.Closing
Attach cover1 in the front.
Fold cover1 in until it engages.
Fuse box in engine compartment
The fuse box is located in the engine com-
partment on the driver’s side.
1Fuse box
2Clamp
3Fuse box cover
Opening
Open the hood (page 294).
With a dry cloth, remove any moisture
from the fuse box.
Release clamps2.
Remove fuse box cover3.
Closing
Make sure the sealing rubber is
properly positioned.
Press fuse box cover3 down and
secure with clamps2.
!Do not use sharp objects such as a
screw driver to open fuse box cover1 in the
dashboard, as this could damage it.
!Fuse box cover3 must be properly
positioned as described to prevent moisture or
dirt from entering the fuse box and possibly
impairing fuse operation.