Cockpit
10
Cockpit
Around the steering wheel: controls and displays
3Folding exterior mirrors in and out*47
4 Adjusting exterior mirrors, automatic curb
monitor
*47
1 Safety switch for electric rear
windows
36
2 Opening and closing windows 36 5
Parking lamps 90
Low beams 90
Automatic headlamp control
*90
Adaptive Head Light
*91
6 Fog lamps 92
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At a glance
11Reference
Controls
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
8Instrument cluster 12
11 Ignition lock 53
12 Buttons on the steering wheel 14
Horn, the entire surface
15 Adjusting the steering wheel 48
17 Releasing the hood 211
18 Opening the tailgate/luggage compartment
lid 30
7
Turn signals 57
High beams, headlamp flasher 92
Roadside parking lamps
*92
Computer 69
Settings and information about the
vehicle 70
Instrument lighting 92
9 Windshield wipers 58
Rain sensor
*58
Sports Wagon:
Rear window wiper 59
10 Switching the ignition on/off and
starting/stopping the engine
53
Telephone
*:
> Press: accepting and ending a
call; dialing
* the selected
phone number; redialing if no
phone number is selected
> Press longer: redialing
Volume
Activating/deactivating voice acti-
vation system
*22
Changing radio station
Selecting music track
Scrolling through phone book and
lists with stored phone numbers
Next entertainment source
Recirculated-air mode 96
13 Steering wheel heating
*48
16 Cruise control
*59
Active cruise control
*61
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Voice activation system
22
Voice activation system
The concept
The voice activation system allows you to con-
trol operation of various vehicle systems with-
out removing your hands from the steering
wheel.
Individual menu items on the Control Display
can be spoken as commands. It is not neces-
sary to use the controller.
The voice activation sy stem transforms your
oral commands into control signals for the
selected systems and provides support in the
form of instructions or questions.
The voice activation system uses a special
microphone located in the area of the interior
rearview mirror, refer to page 14.
Precondition
Via iDrive, select the language in which the
voice activation system is operating, so that the
spoken commands can be identified. Selecting
the language for iDrive, refer to page 78.
Symbols in the Owner's Manual
Saying commands
Activating voice activation system
1.Press the button on the steering wheel. This symbol on the Control Display and
an acoustic signal indicate that the voice
activation system is ready to receive spo-
ken commands.
2. Say the command.
The command appears on the Control Dis-
play.
This symbol appears on the Control Display
when you can enter additional commands.
If no further commands are possible, continue
by operating the item of equipment via iDrive.
Terminating or canceling voice
activation system
Press the button on the steering wheel
or
In dialogs that call for a text of your choice, the
procedure can only be canceled using the but-
ton on the steering wheel.
Possible commands
The commands available in each case depend
on the menu item selected on the Control Dis-
play.
To have the available commands read aloud:
For example, if "CD/DVD" is selected, the com-
mands for operating CD/Multimedia are read
aloud
.
*
{ ...} Say the specified commands word for
word.
{{ ...}} Indicates responses of the voice acti-
vation system.
{ Cancel }
{ Voice commands }
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At a glance
23Reference
Controls
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
Using alternative commands
There are often a number of commands to run a
function, e.g.:
Calling up functions immediately via
short commands
Short commands enable you to perform certain
functions immediately, irrespective of which
menu item is selected, refer to page243.
Example: selecting the track of a CD
1.If necessary, switch on entertainment audio
output.
2. Press the button on the steering wheel.
Setting the voice dialog
You can set whether the system should use the
standard dialog or a shorter variant. In the
shorter variant of the voice dialog, the prompts
and responses from the system are abbrevi-
ated.
1."Settings"
2. "Language/Units"
3. "Speech mode:"
4. To select the setting:
>"Default"
> "Short"
Notes
For information on voice control of the
telephone, refer to page 175.<
For voice commands, bear in mind the follow-
ing:
> Do not use the voice activation system to
initiate an Emergency Request. In stressful
situations, the voice and vocal pitch can
change. This can unne cessarily delay the
establishment of a telephone connection.
> Pronounce the commands and digits
smoothly and at normal volume, avoiding
excessive emphases and pauses. This also
applies when spelling out and saying a full
word during destination entry.
> When selecting a radio station, use the
standard pronunciation of the station name.
> For entries in the voice-activated phone
book, only use names in the language of the
voice activation system and no abbrevia-
tions.
> Keep the doors, windows and glass roof/
panorama glass roof closed to prevent
interference from outside noise.
> Avoid ambient noise in the vehicle while
speaking.
{
Radio on } or {Radio }
3. Select the music track, e.g.:
{CD track 4 }
System says:
{{ Track 4 }}
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Controls
41Reference
At a glance
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
Adjustments
Sitting safely
The ideal sitting position can make a vital con-
tribution to relaxed, fati gue-free driving. In con-
junction with the safe ty belts, the head
restraints and the airbags, the seated position
has a major influence on your safety in the event
of an accident. To ensu re that the safety sys-
tems operate with optimal efficiency, we
strongly urge you to observe the instructions
contained in the following section.
For additional information on transporting chil-
dren safely, refer to page 49.
Airbags
Always maintain an adequate distance
between yourself and the airbags. Always
grip the steering wheel on the rim, with your
hands in the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions,
to minimize the risk of injury to the hands or
arms in the event of the airbag being triggered
off.
No one and nothing is to come between the air-
bags and the seat occupant.
Do not use the cover of the front airbag on the
front passenger side as a storage area. Make
sure that the front passen ger is sitting correctly,
e.g. not resting feet or legs on the dashboard,
otherwise leg injuries can occur if the front air-
bag is triggered.
Make sure that passengers do not lean their
heads against the side or head airbags, other-
wise serious injuries could result if the airbags
suddenly deployed. <
Even if you follow all the instructions, injuries
resulting from contact with airbags cannot be
fully excluded, depending on the circum-
stances. The ignition and inflation noise may
provoke a mild hearing loss in extremely sensi-
tive individuals. This e ffect is usually only tem-
porary.
For airbag locations and additional information
on airbags, refer to page 88.
Head restraint
A correctly adjusted head restraint reduces the
risk of neck injury in the event of an accident.
Adjust the head restraint in such a way
that its center is at approx. ear level. Oth-
erwise, there is an increased risk of injury in the
event of an accident. <
Head restraints, refer to page 43.
Safety belt
Before every drive, make sure that all occupants
wear their safety belts. Airbags complement the
safety belt as an additi onal safety device, but
they do not represent a substitute.
Your vehicle has five seats, each of which is
equipped with a safety belt.
Never allow more than one person to
wear a single safety belt. Never allow
infants or small children to ride in a passenger's
lap. Make sure that the be lt in the lap area sits
low across the hips and does not press against
the abdomen.
The safety belt must not rest against the throat,
run across sharp edges, pass over hard or frag-
ile objects or be pinched. Fasten the safety belt
so that it sits as snugly as possible against the
lap and shoulder withou t being twisted. Other-
wise the belt could slide over your hips and
injure your abdomen in the event of a frontal
collision.
Avoid wearing bulky clothing and regularly pull
the belt in the upper-bo dy area taut, otherwise
its restraining effect could be impaired.
Sports Wagon: if the rear center safety belt is
used, the wider backrest must be locked in
place, refer to page 107. Otherwise the safety
belt will have no restraining effect. <
Safety belts, refer to page 46.
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Adjustments
48
The glass of the mirror on the passenger
side tilts slightly do
wn. This allows the
driver to see the area immediately adjacent
to the vehicle, e.g. a curb, when backing into
a parking space.
Deactivating
Push the switch to the position for the passen-
ger-side mirror, arrow 2.
Interior rearview mirror
Turn the knob to reduce glare from the head-
lamps of cars behind yo u when driving at night.
Interior and exterior mirrors, automatic
dimming feature*
The automatic dimming fe ature of the interior
and exterior mirrors
* is controlled by two photo
cells in the interior re arview mirror. One photo
cell is in the mirror frame, see arrow; the other is
on the back of the mirror.
In order to ensure that the system functions
correctly, keep the photo cells clean, do not
cover the area between the interior rearview
mirror and windshield, and do not affix adhesive
labels or stickers of an y kind to the windshield
directly in front of the mirror.
Steering wheel
Adjustments
Do not adjust the steering wheel position
while the car is in mo tion, otherwise there
is a risk of accident due to an unexpected move-
ment. <
1. Fold the lever down.
2. Move the steering wheel to the preferred
height and angle to suit your seated posi-
tion.
3. Swing the lever back up.
Do not use force to swing the lever
back up, otherwise the mechanism
will be damaged. <
Steering wheel heating*
Press the button.
The LED in the button lights up when the steer-
ing wheel heating is switched on.
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Driving
56
Changing selector lever positions
>With the ignition switched on or the engine
running, the selector lever can be moved
out of position P: interlock.
> Before moving the lever away from P or N
with the vehicle stationary, first depress the
brake; otherwise the selector lever will
refuse to move: shiftlock.
To prevent the vehicle from creeping
after you select a driving position,
depress the brake until you are ready to
start. <
A lock prevents you from inadvertently engag-
ing selector lever positions R and P. To cancel
the lock, press the butto n on the front of the
selector lever, see arrow.
P Park
Select this only when th e vehicle is stationary.
The rear wheels are locked.
R Reverse
Select this only when th e vehicle is stationary.
N Neutral
You can select this in a car wash, for example.
The vehicle can roll.
D Drive, automatic position
Position for normal vehicle operation. All for-
ward gears are sele cted automatically.
Under normal operating conditions, fuel con-
sumption is lowest when you are driving in posi-
tion D.
Kick-down
Kick-down enables you to achieve maximum
performance.
Press the accelerator pedal beyond the full-
throttle resistance point.
Sport program and manual operation
M/S
Move selector lever from position D toward the
left into the M/S shifting slot:
The sport program is activated and DS is dis-
played in the instrument cl uster. This position is
recommended for a performance-oriented driv-
ing style.
To use the automatic mode again, move the
selector lever to the right into position D.
Shifting gears via the selector lever
When you press the select or lever forwards or
backwards, the manual mode is activated and
Steptronic changes gear. M1 through M6 are
displayed in the instrument cluster.
Upshifts and downshifts are executed only
when they will result in a plausible combination
of engine and vehicle speed; thus, for example,
a downshift that would cause the engine to
overrev will not be executed by the system. The
gear selected is briefly displayed in the instru-
ment cluster, followed by the gear actually in
use.
Shifting gears via shift paddles* on the
steering wheel
The shift paddles allo w you to shift gears
quickly since both hands can remain on the
steering wheel.
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Controls
57Reference
At a glance
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
>When you use the shift paddles on the
steering wheel to shif t gears in automatic
mode, the transmission switches to manual
mode.
> If you do not accelerate or shift gears using
the shift paddles for a certain amount of
time, the transmission switches back to
automatic mode.
If the selector lever is in the M/S gear
plane, manual mode remains active. <
> To shift up: pull one of the shift paddles.
> To shift down: press one of the shift pad-
dles.
Upshifts and downshifts are executed only
when they will result in a plausible combination
of engine and vehicle speed; thus, for example,
a downshift that would cause the engine to
overrev will not be executed by the system. The
gear selected is briefly displayed in the instru-
ment cluster, followed by the gear actually in
use.
Overriding selector lever lock
Should the selector lever refuse to move out of
position P although the button on the selector
lever is pressed, the sele ctor lever lock can be
overridden:
1. Unclip the sleeve of the selector lever.
2. Pull the sleeve up over the selector lever
until the sleeve is inside out. 3.
Using the screwdriver from the onboard
tool kit, refer to page 222, press the red
lever while moving the selector lever to the
desired position.
Turn signals/
headlamp flasher
1 High beams
2 Headlamp flasher
3 Turn signals
Using turn signals
Press the lever beyond the resistance point.
To turn off manually, press the lever to the
resistance point.
Unusually rapid flashi ng of the indicator
lamp indicates that a turn signal indicator
has failed. <
Indicating a turn briefly
Press the lever as far as the resistance point for
as long as you wish to indicate a turn.
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