Driving
44
Driving
Ignition lock
Inserting the key into the ignition lock
Insert the key all the way into the ignition lock.
Radio readiness
Individual electrical consumers can operate.
Removing the key from the ignition lock
Press in the key briefly. It is ejected slightly.
At the same time:
>The ignition is switched off if it was on
beforehand.
Automatic transmission
You cannot take out the key unless the selector
lever is in the P position: interlock.
Start/stop button
Press the start/stop button to switch radio readi-
ness or the ignition on and off. Do not depress
the brake or clutch while doing so.When you press the start/stop button and
depress the clutch if the car has manual
transmission or the brake if the car has auto-
matic transmission, the engine starts.<
Radio readiness
Individual electrical consumers can operate. The
time and outside temperature are displayed in
the tachometer.
Radio readiness is switched off automatically:
>When the key is removed from the ignition
lock
>When using Comfort Access
* by pushing
the button on the door handle or the
button on the remote control, refer
to Locking on page27
>after a certain has elapsed
Ignition on
Most indicator and warning lamps in indicator
area 1, page13, light up for varying lengths of
time.
When the engine is off, switch off the igni-
tion and any unnecessary electrical con-
sumers in order to preserve the battery.<
Radio readiness and ignition off
All indicator and warning lamps in the displays
go out.
The ignition automatically turns off
* when the
driver's door is opened. Pressing the start/stop
button again switches the ignition back on.
The ignition is not switched off in situations such
as the following:
>The clutch or brake is depressed
>The low beams are switched on
Driving
46
Releasing
Pull slightly upwards, press the button and lower
the lever.
In exceptional cases, if the parking brake
has to be used to slow or stop the car, do
not pull the lever up too hard. In doing so, con-
tinuously press the button of the parking brake
lever.
Otherwise, excessive force could lead to over-
braking and loss of traction, i.e. fishtailing, at the
rear axle.<
Manual transmission
When shifting into 5th or 6th gear, press
the gearshift lever to the right. Otherwise,
the engine could be damaged if you inadvert-
ently shift into 3rd or 4th gear.<
Reverse gear
Select this only when the vehicle is stationary.
When the gearshift lever is pressed to the left, a
slight resistance has to be overcome.
Automatic transmission*
with Steptronic
In addition to the fully automatic mode, you can
shift gears manually using Steptronic, page47.
Parking the vehicle
To prevent the vehicle from rolling, always
select position P and apply the parking
brake before leaving the vehicle with the engine
running.<
Removing the key
1.Move the selector lever to position P.
2.Switch off the engine.
3.Remove the key.
Selector lever positions
P R N D M/S + –
Displays in the tachometer
P R N D DS M1 to M6
The selector lever position is displayed, or the
current gear in the manual mode.
Changing selector lever positions
>The selector lever can only be moved out of
position P if the ignition is switched on or the
engine is running: 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.<
REFERENCEAT A GLANCE CONTROLS DRIVING TIPS MOBILITY
47
A lock prevents accidental shifting into selector
lever positions R and P.
Overriding the selector lever lock
Press the button on the front of the selector
lever, arrow.
P Park
Select this only when the vehicle is stationary.
The transmission locks to prevent the drive
wheels from turning.
R Reverse
Select this only when the vehicle is stationary.
N Neutral
Select this when you are in a car wash, for exam-
ple. The vehicle can roll.
D Drive, automatic position
Position for normal vehicle operation. All for-
ward gears are selected automatically.
Under normal operation conditions, fuel con-
sumption is lowest when you drive in position D.
Kickdown
Kickdown enables you to achieve maximum
performance.
Depress the accelerator pedal beyond the full-
throttle resistance point.
Sport program and manual operation
M/S
Move the selector lever from position D to the
left into the M/S shifting slot:
The Sport program is activated and DS is dis-
played. This position is recommended for a per-
formance-oriented driving style.
To deactivate the sport program or manual
mode M/S, move the selector lever to the right
into position D.
Shifting with the selector lever
Push the selector lever forward or pull it back to
activate manual operation. Steptronic shifts the
gear.
>Pull the selector lever in the + direction.
Transmission shifts up.
>Push the selector lever in the – direction.
Transmission shifts down.
The selected gear is displayed in the tachome-
ter, e.g. M1.
To use the automatic mode again, move the
selector lever to the right into position D.
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 over-
rev will not be executed by the system. The
selected gear is displayed briefly, followed by
the current gear.
Shifting on the steering wheel*
With the selector lever in position D, automatic
drive, you can shift gears using the shift paddles
on the steering wheel. The transmission auto-
matically switches to manual mode.
Driving
48
If you do not shift gears with the shift paddles or
accelerate for a certain amount of time, the
transmission automatically returns to D, auto-
matic drive.
>Pull one of the shift paddles.
Transmission shifts up.
>Push one of the shift paddles.
Transmission shifts down.
M1 to M6 is displayed in the gear indicator.
Manually unlock the selector lever lock
Should the selector lever refuse to move out of
position P even though the ignition is switched
on, the brake is depressed and the button on the
selector lever is pressed, the selector 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. Disconnect the
cable connector if necessary.
3.Insert extractor hook1 from the onboard
vehicle tool kit into the loop on the passen-
ger's side.
4.Pull the loop up.
5.Move the selector lever into the desired
position by pressing the button on the front
of the selector lever.Only unlock the selector lever lock manu-
ally when the vehicle is to be towed. Do
not forget to firmly apply the parking brake prior
to the tow; otherwise, the vehicle may roll
away.<
Turn signals/
headlamp flasher
1Turn signal indicator
2Headlamp flasher
Using turn signals
Press the lever beyond the resistance point.
To turn off manually, press the lever to the resis-
tance point.
Unusually rapid flashing of the indicator
lamp indicates that an indicator bulb 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.
Triple turn signal activation
Press the lever as far as the resistance point.
You can set whether the turn signal is to flash
once or three times.
REFERENCEAT A GLANCE CONTROLS DRIVING TIPS MOBILITY
49
1.Switch on the ignition, refer to page44.
2.Briefly press the button in the turn indicator
lever repeatedly until "SET/INFO" is dis-
played.
3.Press and hold the button until the display
changes.
4.Briefly press the button repeatedly until the
symbol and "SET" are displayed.
5.Press and hold the button until the display
changes.
6.Briefly press the button repeatedly until the
display shows the illustrated symbol, arrow.
7.Press and hold the button until the display
changes.8.Briefly press the button to select:
>
Brief indication of a turn.
>
Triple turn signal.
9.Press and hold the button until the display
changes. The setting is stored.
Wiper system
1Switching on wipers
2Switching off wipers or brief wipe
3Activating/deactivating intermittent mode
or rain sensor
*
4Cleaning windshield and headlamps*
Switching on wipers
Press the lever upward, arrow1.
The lever automatically returns to its initial posi-
tion when released.
Normal wiper speed
Press once.
The system switches to intermittent operation
when the vehicle is stationary.
Fast wiper speed
Press twice or press beyond the resistance point.
The system switches to normal speed when the
vehicle is stationary.
Intermittent wipe or rain sensor*
If the car is not equipped with a rain sensor, the
intermittent-wipe time is preset.
Driving
50
If the car is equipped with a rain sensor, the time
between wipes is controlled automatically and
depends on the intensity of the rainfall. The rain
sensor is mounted on the windshield, directly in
front of the interior rearview mirror.
Activating intermittent wipe or rain
sensor
Press button, arrow3.
Deactivate the rain sensor before entering
an automatic car wash. Failure to do so
could result in damage caused by undesired
wiper activation.<
Adjusting the sensitivity of the rain
sensor
1.Switch on the ignition, refer to page44.
2.Briefly press the button in the turn indicator
lever repeatedly until "SET/INFO" is dis-
played.
3.Press and hold the button until the display
changes.
4.Briefly press the button repeatedly until the
symbol and "SET" are displayed.5.Press and hold the button until the display
changes.
6.Press the button to select the desired sensi-
tivity.
7.Wait, or press and hold the button until the
display changes.
The settings are stored.
Deactivating intermittent wipe or rain
sensor
Press the button again, arrow3.
Brief wipe
Press the lever downward once, arrow2.
Cleaning windshield and headlamps*
Pull the lever, arrow 4.
Washer fluid is sprayed onto the windshield and
the wipers are operated briefly.
When the vehicle lighting system is switched on,
the headlamps are cleaned at regular and
appropriate intervals.
In cars equipped with an alarm system, the
headlamps cannot be cleaned when the hood is
open.
Do not use the washers when the washer
fluid reservoir is empty; otherwise, you will
damage the washer pump.
Only use the washers if the hood has been com-
pletely closed; otherwise, the headlamp washer
system
* may be damaged. Do not use the
washers if there is any danger that the fluid will
freeze on the windshield. If you do, your vision
could be obscured. For this reason, use anti-
freeze.<
Driving
52
Activating
1Resuming cruise control
2Activating/deactivating cruise control
3Maintaining, storing and increasing speed
4Maintaining, storing and decreasing speed
Indicator lamp in the speedometer lights up. The
cruise control system is ready and can be acti-
vated.
Activating/deactivating cruise control
Press button 2.
In addition, the system is automatically deacti-
vated:
>When the brakes are applied
>When the clutch is depressed
>When the automatic transmission is in selec-
tion lever position N
>When the driving stability control system is
active
Cruise control is not deactivated by depressing
the accelerator pedal. Once the accelerator
pedal is released, the stored speed is achieved
again and maintained.
The stored speed is cleared when the ignition is
switched off.
Maintaining current speed
Press button3.
The system maintains and stores the current
vehicle speed.
If, on a downhill grade, the engine braking effect
is not sufficient, the controlled speed may be
exceeded. On uphill grades vehicle speed may
drop if the engine output is insufficient.
Increasing speed
Press button3 repeatedly until the desired
speed is reached. Every time you press the but-
ton, the speed increases by approx. 1 mph or
2km/h.
Accelerating using the button
Press and hold button3.
The vehicle accelerates without pressure on the
accelerator pedal. After the button is released,
the driving speed is maintained and stored.
Decreasing speed
Press button4 repeatedly until the desired
speed is reached.
The functions here are the same as for increas-
ing the speed or accelerating, except that the
speed will be decreased.
Resuming a speed stored beforehand
Press button 1.
The last speed stored is achieved again and
maintained.
The stored speed is cleared when the ignition is
switched off.
Display in tachometer*
Selected speed is displayed briefly.
If --- mph or --- km/h is displayed briefly in
the tachometer, the conditions necessary
for operation may not be fulfilled.<
Malfunction
The warning lamp in the tachometer
lights up if the system fails.
REFERENCEAT A GLANCE CONTROLS DRIVING TIPS MOBILITY
53
Controls overview
Odometer, outside
temperature display,
clock
1Outside temperature display and clock or
current speed
2Odometer and trip odometer
3Resetting the trip odometer
Units of measure
Select the respective units of measure, miles or
km for the odometer as well as 7 or 6 for the
outside temperature, page57.
Outside temperature display, time
Setting the time, refer to page60.
Outside temperature warning
When the displayed temperature sinks to
approx. +377/+36, a signal sounds and a
warning lamp lights up. There is an increased
risk of black ice.
Black ice can also form at temperatures
above +377/+36. Therefore, drive
carefully, e.g. on bridges and sections of road in
the shade; otherwise, there is an increased acci-
dent risk.<
Current vehicle speed
To have the current speed shown in the upper
display otherwise serving for the outside tem-
perature display and clock.1.Press the button in the turn indicator lever
repeatedly until the current speed appears
in the lower display.
2.Wait for the speed display to automatically
move to the upper display.
The outside temperature then appears in the
lower display.
Odometer and trip odometer
Resetting the trip odometer
With the ignition switched on, press knob 3 in
the tachometer.
When the vehicle is parked
To display the time, outside temperature and
odometer briefly after the key is removed from
the ignition lock:
Press knob 3 in the tachometer.
Tachometer
Never operate the engine with the needle in the
red overspeed zone of the gauge. In this range,
the fuel supply is interrupted to protect the
engine.
Coolant temperature
A warning lamp will come on if the coolant, and
therefore the engine, becomes too hot.
Check coolant level, refer to page118.