2008 SMART FORTWO COUPE service

Let the fun begin!
Take a moment to familiarize yourself with
your smart fortwo coupé or smart fortwo ca

brio and read through the Operator’s Manual
before setting off. This will ensure you get
more fun out of your vehicle
and avoid dan

ger to yourself and others.
This Operator’s Manual contains very impor

tant information about how to safely and ef

fectively operate the vehicle. It is important
to note that this is a unique vehicle. It is obvi

ously smaller than most vehicles on the road
and, for this reason, it can provide both
unique experiences and special responsibili

ties. It is extremely important that you read
this entire Manual and that you familiarize
yourself with how the vehicle works. Some of
the features may be different from the fea

tures on other compact passenger vehicles.
Should you have any questions about the vehi

cle and how to safely operate its features,
please use common sense and contact smart
dealer representatives, who are available to
help you.smart is a vehicle manufactured by
DaimlerChrysler, distributed in the United
States by the Penske Automotive Group, and
sold and serviced by independent, authorized
smart centers.
Because of this vehicle’s unique characteris

tics, we strongly recommend that you service
and maintain the vehicle only at authorized
smart service facilities. A list of service facil

ities is available by calling smart Customer
Assistance representatives at:
1
800
762
7887.
Although we cannot prevent you from servic

ing the vehicle at facilities other than smart
authorized facilities, this is not advisable.
Optional extras are identified with an
asterisk *. The equipment in your vehicle may
vary depending on the model, version and
availability. smart is constantly bringing its
vehicles up to the very latest state of the art
and reserves the right to modify them in form,
equipment and engineering.Should you find that a particular feature in
this manual is important to your decision to
purchase the vehicle, we recommend that you
personally check the vehicle to ensure that
this feature has been installed before buying
the vehicle.
The Operator’s Manual, Quick Guide and Main

tenance/Warranty Booklet (USA only) or Ser

vice/Warranty Booklet (Canada only) belong to
the vehicle. You should always keep these
documents in the vehicle and make sure that
you pass them on to the next owner if and when
you come to sell your smart.
Please contact an authorized smart center if
you have any further questions.
The Technical Documentation team at
DaimlerChrysler AG wishes you many happy
hours at the wheel.

6>> Keywords Fuel
Additives, see Gasoline additives
Fuel level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Fuel tank capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
Premium unleaded gasoline . . . . . . . . . 306
Refueling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
Reserve fuel indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
RON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170, 306
Fuel filler flap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Fuses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
Assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Fuse box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283>> GGasoline additives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
GAWR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Gear selector lever
Gearshift pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Positions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129, 137
Shifting procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Gearshift
Display message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Manual gearshifting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Glove box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41, 160Gross Axle Weight Rating, see GAWR
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating, see GVWR
Gross Vehicle Weight, see GVW
GVW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
GVWR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
>> HHandbrake see Parking brake
Hazard warning flasher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Activation after emergency
braking maneuver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Heating
Air distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Air vents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Air volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Defrosting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
High beam headlamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Flasher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Indicator lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Switching on/off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
High mounted brake lamp . . . . . . . . 255, 260
Replacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Hill start assist system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Hood see Service flapHorn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Hydraulic brake assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Hydroplaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
>> IIdentification labels, see Labels
Ignition (Position in starter switch) . . . . . 91
Immobilizer, see Anti
theft systems
Infant and child restraint systems, see
Children in the vehicle
Instrument cluster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33, 136
Lamps, indicator and warning . . . . . . . . 237
Multifunction display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Instruments and controls, see Cockpit
Interior lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Interior rear view mirror, see Mirrors
Intermitted wiping, see Windshield wipers>> JJump starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Jump start assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

>> Keywords
7
>> KKey
Replacing the transmitter battery . . . . 252
With remote control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Kickdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131, 134
Kilometer reading, see Trip odometer>> LLabels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
Lamp in the overhead control panel . . . . . 64Lamps, indicator and warning
ABS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Air bags, SRS indicator lamp . . . . . . . . 246
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Brake system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Coolant temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Engine malfunction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
EPS* warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
ESP
® . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Front fog lamps* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
High beam headlamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Low beam headlamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Oil pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Passenger air bag off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Seat belt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
TPMS combination telltale . . . . . . . . . . 239
Turn signal indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Layout of the poly
V
belt . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
License plate lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Light alloy wheels
Technical data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299Lighting
Automatic headlamp mode . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Coming home function* . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Daytime running lamp mode . . . . . . . . . 103
Exterior lamp switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Front fog lamps* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Hazard warning flasher . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
High beam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
High beam flasher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Interior lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Low beam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102, 223
Multifunction display, instrument
illumination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136, 141
Parking lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Limp
home mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155, 185, 204
Locking
And unlocking, inside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
And unlocking, outside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Loss of
Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Service and Warranty Information
Booklet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Low beam headlamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Lubricants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

8>> Keywords>> MMain dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Main odometer display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Maintenance service interval display . . 139
Malfunction
Data bus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Electronic immobilizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Shifting system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Manual gearshift
Gear selector lever,
gearshift paddle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Gearshift pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Maximum load rating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Maximum loaded vehicle weight . . . . . . . 205
Maximum tire inflation pressure . . . . . . 205
Miles reading, see Trip odometer
Mirrors
Exterior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Interior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
MON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170, 306
Motor Octane Number see MON
MP3 interface* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144Multifunction display
Digital clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Illumination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Selecting display for status indicator . 138
>> NNeutral gear position
Automatic/manual transmission . . 128, 129
Normal occupant weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Number, Vehicle identification (VIN) . . . 294>> OOccupant Classification System see OCS
Occupant distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Occupant safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
OCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Passenger front air bag off
indicator lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Seat belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50, 98
SRS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
OCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Self
test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Oil, see Engine oilOn
board Diagnostics Socket (OBD) . . . . 292
Operating safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Operating your vehicle outside the USA or
Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Operator’s Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Outside temperature display . . . . . . . . . . 136
Overhead control panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
>> PPaintwork care see Vehicle care
Panic alarm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Panorama roof* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Parcel net bag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41, 156
Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Parking brake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Parking lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Parts service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
PASS AIR BAG OFF indicator lamp see Passen

ger front air bag off indicator lamp
Passenger air bag see Air bags
Passenger compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Passenger front air bag off indicator
lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64, 245
Passenger safety see Occupant safety

10
>> Keywords Self
test
OCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Service
Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Service and warranty
Booklet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Service flap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Service interval display . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Service life (Tire) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Shifting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Side rails
Mounting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Removing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Side windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Sidemarker lamps front/rear . . . . . . . . . 255
Sidewall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Sign and labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
Smartmove Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Snow chains* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209Soft top system
Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Closing rear soft top . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Mounting the side rails . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Opening and closing, rear soft top . . . 115
Opening and closing, retractable
soft top . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Removing the side rails . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Sound package* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
SRS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Indicator lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Standing water, driving instructions . . . 219
Steering wheel gearshift control*
Activating, shifting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Storage compartments
Coin holder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Coinholder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Cup holder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41, 155
Door pockets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41, 160
Glove box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41, 160
Next to the steering wheel . . . . . . . 41, 160
Tailgate coupé . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41, 161
Storing tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Sun roof see Panorama roof*
Sun screen* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164Sun visors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
>> TTachometer* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Tail lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Tailgate
cabrio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
coupé . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Technical data
Air conditioning refrigerant . . . . . . . . . 305
Brake fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Coolants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
Electrical system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
Engine oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Fuel additives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Fuel requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
Premium unleaded gasoline . . . . . . . . . . 306
Rims and tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Service fluids and capacities . . . . . . . . 303
Vehicle main dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Weights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
Windshield/rear window washer system 308

Operator’s Manual
>> Introduction.
17
This Operator’s Manual contains a great deal
of useful information. We urge you to read it
carefully and familiarize yourself with the
vehicle before driving.
For your own safety and longer service life of
the vehicle, we urge you to follow the instruc

tions and warnings contained in this manual.
Ignoring them could result in damage to the
vehicle or personal injury to you or others.
Vehicle damage caused by failure to follow
instructions is not covered by the smart
Limited Warranty.
Your vehicle may have some or all of the
equipment described in this manual. There

fore, you may find explanations for optional
e q ui pm e nt n ot in stal l ed in you r veh icl e. If yo u
have any questions about the operation of any
equipment, your authorized smart center will
be glad to demonstrate the proper proce

dures.We continuously strive to improve our prod

uct, and ask for your understanding that we
reserve the right to make changes in design
and equipment. Therefore, information, illus

trations and descriptions in this Operator’s
Manual might differ from your vehicle.
Optional equipment is also described in this
manual, including operating instructions
wherever necessary. Since they are
special
order items, the descriptions and
illustrations herein may vary slightly from the
actual equipment of your vehicle.
If there are any equipment details that are not
shown or described in this Operator’s Manual,
your authorized smart center will be glad to
inform you of correct care and operating
procedures.
The Operator’s Manual and Maintenance/War

ranty Booklet (USA only) or Service/Warranty
Booklet (Canada only) are important docu

ments and should be kept with the vehicle.
Warranty informationThe Warranty Information Booklet contains
detailed information about the warranties
covering your smart, including:
• New Vehicle Limited Warranty
• Emission System Warranty
• Emission Performance Warranty
• Corrosion Warranty
• California, Maine, Massachusetts, and
Vermont Emission Control System Warranty
(California, Maine, Massachusetts, and
Vermont only)
• smartmove Assistance (Canada)
• State Warranty Enforcement Laws (Lemon
Laws, USA only)

Operator’s Manual
18
>> Introduction.
Important notice for California
retail buyers and lessees of smart
automobilesUnder California law you may be entitled to a
replacement of your vehicle or a refund of the
purchase price or lease price, if smart USA
Distributor, LLC and/or its authorized repair
or service facilities fail to fix one or more
substantial defects or malfunctions in the ve

hicle that are covered by its express warranty
after a reasonable number of repair attempts.
During the period of 18 months from original
delivery of the vehicle or the accumulation of
18 000 miles (approximately 29 000 km) on the
odometer of the vehicle, whichever occurs
first, a reasonable number of repair attempts
is presumed for a retail buyer or lessee if one
or more of the following occurs:(1) The same substantial defect or malfunction
results in a condition that is likely to cause
death or serious bodily injury if the vehi

cle is driven, that defect or malfunction
has been subject to repair two or more
times, and you have directly notified smart
USA Distributor, LLC in writing of the need
for its repair,
(2) the same substantial defect or malfunction
of a less serious nature than category (1)
has been subject to repair four or more
times and you have directly notified us in
writing of the need for its repair, or(3) the vehicle is out of service by reason of
repair of the same or different substantial
defects or malfunctions for a cumulative
total of more than 30 calendar days.
Written notification should not be sent to a
dealer, it should be addressed to:
smart USA Distributor, LLC
Customer Assistance Center
1765 Telegraph Rd.
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302

Operator’s Manual
>> Introduction.
19 Maintenance
The Service Booklet describes all the neces

sary maintenance work which should be per

formed at regular intervals. It is important
that you service your vehicle in accordance
with the prescribed maintenance schedule.
Failure to do so may render your vehicle un

safe, it may affect the durability of the vehi

cle, and it may otherwise void the limited,
express warranty.
Always have the Service Booklet with you when
you take the vehicle to your authorized smart
center for service. The service advisor will
record each service in the booklet for you.
Roadside AssistanceThe smartmove Assistance (Canada) and
smart1 (USA) Program provides factory
trained technical help in the event of a break

down. Calls to the toll
free Roadside Assis

tance number
1
800
762
7887 (in the USA)
1
877
627
8004 (in Canada)
will be answered by smart Customer
Assistance Representatives 24 hours a day,
365 days a year.
Roadside Assistance will be provided in
accordance with standard program guidelines
which include providing service to the vehicle
up to a reasonable distance from a paved
roadway. We will make every effort to assist in
a breakdown situation, however, the accessi

bility of your vehicle will be determined by our
authorized smart center technician or the tow
service provider on a case
by
case basis and
may be a factor in our ability to respond.Additional charges may be applicable for a
breakdown location determined not to be a
reasonably accessible roadside location as
determined by our authorized technician and
tow service provider.
For additional information refer to the smart
Roadside Assistance Program brochure in
your vehicle literature portfolio.