66 Seat s a nd s tor ag e
Seats and storage
General recommen
dations
Why is your seat adjustment so
important?
The safety belts and the airbag system can
only provide maximum protection if the front
seats are correctly adjusted.
There are various ways of adjust ing the front
seats to provide safe and comfortable support
for the driver and the front passenger . Adjust
your seat properly so that :
- you can easily and quick ly reach all the
switches and controls in the instrument
panel
-your body is prope rly supported thus reduc
ing physical stress and fatigue
- the safety be lts and airbag system can offe r
maximum protection
¢ page 115 .
In the following sec tions, you will see exactly
how you can best adjust you r seats .
There are special regulations and instructions
for insta lling a child safety seat on the front
passenger's seat. Always heed the informa
tion rega rd ing child safety provided in
¢ page 136, Child Safety .
A WARNING
Incorrect seating position of the driver and
all other passengers can result in serious
personal injury.
- Always keep your feet on the floor when
the vehicle is in motion -never p ut your
feet on top of the instrument panel, out
of the w indow or on top of the seat cush
ion! This applies espec ially to the passen
gers .
If your seating position is incorrect
you increase the r isk of injury in the case
of sudden braking or an acc ident.
If the
airbag infla tes and the seating position
is incorrect this could result in personal
injury or even death.
- It is import ant for bo th the driver and
front passenger to keep a distance of at least 10 inches (25 cm) between them
selves and the steering wheel and/or in
strument panel. If you're s itting any
closer than th is, the a irbag system can
not protect you properly . In addition to
this, the front seats and head restra ints
must be adjusted to your body height so
that they can give you max imum protec
tion.
- Always try to keep as much distance as
possible between yourself and the s teer
ing wheel or instrument pane l.
- Do not adjust the driver's o r fron t pa s
senger's seat whi le the vehicle is moving.
Your seat may move unexpected ly, caus
ing sudden loss of vehicle contro l and
personal injury . If you ad just yo ur seat
while the veh icle is moving, you are out
of posit ion.
Driver's seat
The correct seat position is important for safe
and relaxed driving.
We recommend that you adjust the driver's
seat in the fo llowing manner:
.,. Adjust the seat in fo re and aft direction so
t ha t you can easily p ush the peda ls to the
floor wh ile keeping your knee slightly bent
i::> A in Why is your seat adjustment so im
portant? on page
66 .
.,. Adjust the seatback so that when you sit
w ith your back against the seatback, you can
still grasp the top of the steering wheel.
.,. Posit io n the head restraint according to the
occupant 's height
<=:>page 70 . For maxi
mum protection, t he top of the head re
s t raint shou ld be a t least at eye level, pref
erab ly higher and idea lly level with the top
of the head
¢ page 101, fig. 109 .
A WARNING "--
Never place any objects in the dr iver's foot-
well. An object could get into the pedal
area and interfere with pedal function. In
case of sudden braking or an acc ident, you
wo uld not be able to brake or accelerate!
Front passenger's seat
Always move the front passenger seat into the rearmost position .
To avoid contact with the airbag while it is de
p loying, do not sit any closer to the instru
ment panel than necessary and always wear
the three-point safety belt provided adjusted
correctly . We recommend that you adjust the
passenger's seat in the following manner:
.,. Move the front passenger seat into the rear
most position of the fore and aft adjustment
range
c:::> &. in Why is your seat adjustment
so important? on page
66.
.,. Bring the backrest up to an (almost) upright
position.
Do not ride with the seat reclined .
.,. The idea l position for the head restraint is
with the upper edge of the restraint leve l
with the top of your head
c:::> page 70. You
shou ld
not lower the top of the restra int be
low the level of your eyes .
.,. Place your feet on the floor in front of the
passenge r's seat .
Adjusting front seats
manually
Adjustment controls
App lies to vehicles: with manual seat adjustment
Various controls on the manual seats provide
a wide range for individual adjustments .
Fig. 73 Adjustment contro ls: loca tions o n dr iver's seat
CD Moving the seat forward or backward
@ Adjusting the lumbar support
c:::> page 69
@ Adjusting the seat height
© Adjusting the seatback angle
Seats and storage 67
(D Tips
Some of the controls are fitted on certain
models on ly or they are optional equip
ment .
Adjusting the manual seats
Applies to vehicles : wit h manual seat adjustment
Position, angle and shape of the manual
seats can be adjusted to provide safe and
comfortable seating .
Reed and heed all WARNINGS c:::> A before
you adjust your seat .
Moving the front seats forward or
backward
... Lift the lever CD c:::> page 67, fig. 73 and slide
the seat to the desired position.
.,. Release the lever and then move the seat
further until you feel and hear it engage.
Adjusting the seat height
.,. Pull the lever @ up and pump it to raise the
seat.
... Push the lever down and pump it to lower
the seat.
Adjusting the seatback angle
.,. Lean forward to take your weight off the
seatback.
... Turn the hand wheel © in the direction yo u
want the seatback to tilt.
A WARNING
-
- Never adjust the driver's or front pas
senger's seat whi le the vehicle is moving.
If you do th is while the vehicle is moving,
you will be out of position. Always adjust
the driver's or front passenger's seat
when the vehicle is not moving.
- Be careful when adjusting the seat
height. Check to see that no one is in the
way, or serious injury could result!
- To reduce the risk of injury in the case of
sudden braking or accident, front pas
sengers must never rid e in a moving ve
hicle with the seatback reclined . Safety
68 Seats and st o ra ge
belts and the airbag system only offe r
maximum protection when the seat back
is u pright and the safety belts are prop
erly positioned on the body . The more
the seatback is reclined, the greater the
risk of personal injury from an incorrect
seating pos it ion and improperly posi
t ioned s afety be lts!
Power seats
Adjustment switches
App lies to vehicles: with power seats
The operating logic for the switches corre
sponds to the construction and function of
the seat.
F ig . 7 4 Adju stm en t sw it c h es: locat io ns o n dr ive r seat
Push or pull e ither switch in exactly the same
d irection you like the corresponding part of
the seat to move.
@ Adjusting the lumba r support
¢ page 69
@ Seat adjus tment¢ page 68
© Adjusting the ang le of the seatback
¢ page 69
A WARNING
- Never adjust t he d river's o r front passe n
ger seat wh ile the vehicle is moving . If
yo u do this while t he veh icle is moving,
yo u will be ou t of posi tion. Always adjust
t h e dr ive r's or front passenger se at when
the vehicle is not mov ing.
- B e caref ul when adju sting t he seat
heig ht. Check to see that no one is in the
way, or serious injury could result! -
Because the seats can be e lectrically ad
justed with the ignition key removed,
never leave chi ldren unattended in the
veh icle . Unsupervised use of the electric
seat adjustments may ca use serio us in
Jury .
Power seat adjustment
Applies to vehicles: wit h power seats
The switches can be moved in various direc
tions to allow precise adjustment.
Fig. 75 Sea t cus hion ad ju st me nt: s wit c h m oti on s
P ush or p ull the switch i n the same direction
yo u like the sea t cushion to move.
Moving the seat forward and backward ©
.., Press the switc h forward or backward hor i-
zontally ¢& .
Adju sting the seat height@and @
together
.., Pull the sw itch evenly at both ends t o raise
the seat ¢ A.
.., Push the lever evenly at both ends to lower
t he sea t¢ & -
Angling the seat cushion up and down@
or @
.., To angle t he seat cushion up, pull the sw itch
at the fron t only ¢& .
.., Altern ative ly, push the switc h at the rear
only ¢& .
.., To angle the seat c ushion down, push the
sw itch
at the front only¢ A.
.., Alternative ly, pull the sw itch at the rear on-
ly ¢& . ....
70 Seats and st o ra ge
Head restraints
Adjusting head restraints, front seats
The head restraints must be adjusted proper
ly to provide protection .
Fig. 78 Dr iver "s seat hea d restra int: ad justing the
height
The head restraints on the front seats can be
adjusted to prov ide safe support to head and
neck at the optimum he ight. When optimally
adjusted, the top of the restra int should be
leve l with the top of the head
qpage 101,
Proper adjustment of head restraints.
Raising head rest raint
• Grasp the side of the head restraint with
bot h hands.
• Adjust the head restra ints so that the top of
the head rest raint is
at l east level with you r
eyes or higher
qfig. 78.
Lowe ring head restraint
• Grasp the sides of the head restra int with
both hands.
• Press the button
q fig . 78 and adjust the
head restraint.
• Adjust the head restra ints so that the top of
t h e head restrain t is
at least level wi th you r
eyes or higher
q fig . 78 .
Refe r to q page 101, Proper adjus tment of
head restraints
for gu idelines o n how to ad
just the heigh t of the front head rest raints to
f it the occupa nt's body size.
&_ WARNING
- Driv ing witho ut head restra ints or with
head restraints that are not properly ad-
-
justed increases the risk of ser ious or fa
tal neck injury dramatica lly.
- Read and heed all WARNI NGS
qpage 101.
(D Tips
Correct ly adjusted head restraints and
safety be lts are an extreme ly effect ive
com bination of safety features.
Luggage compartment
Pass-through with Ski Bag
Using the pass-through and the removable
ski bag, you can transport long objects (e.g.
skis) neatly and without damaging the interi
or.
F ig. 79 Open sto rage compartment between the seat
backs
Fi g. 80 Reta iner fo r th e sk i bag betwee n the seatbacks
Loading
• Open the flip cover to the storage compart
ment between th e seatbacks
q page 7 4.
• To unlock it, pull the handle and fo ld the
cover of the pass-through to the t runk
qfig. 79.
"" Flip the cover upward in the direction of the
ar row.
• Open the tru nk lid.
During normal driving the belt lets you move
freely.
Safety belt pretensioners
The safety belts are equipped with a belt p re
tensione r that helps to t igh ten the safety be lt
and remove s lack when the pretensione r is ac
tivated. The function of the pretensioner is monitored by a warning light
¢ page 16.
Switchable locking feature
Every safe ty belt excep t the one on the driver
seat is eq uipped w ith a switchab le locking fea
ture that
mu st be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child seat . Be s ure to read the
important informat ion about th is f eature
c:;, page 144.
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious injury in an accident
¢ page 111, Safety belt position .
-Safety belts offer optimum protection
only when the seatback is upright and
belts are properly positioned on the
body .
-
-Never attach the safety belt to the buck
le for another seat . Attach ing the belt to
the wrong buckle will reduce safety belt effect iveness and ca n cause seri ous per
sonal in jury.
- A passenger who is no t properly rest rain
ed can be se rio usly inju red by the safety
belt itself when it moves from the stron
ger parts of the body into critical areas
like the abdomen .
- Always lock the convert ible locking re
tractor when yo u are secur ing a chi ld
seat in the vehicle
c:;, page 146 .
Safety belts 111
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts .
Fig . 1 16 Head restra int a nd safety be lt pos it io n as
see n fr om t he side
Use the height adjustment to change the posi
tion of the shoulder straps of the fro nt seat
safety belts .
A WARNING
Imp roperly posit ioned safety be lts can
cause ser ious persona l injury in an acci
dent.
- The shou lder belt portion of the safety
be lt must be posi tioned over the midd le
of the occupant's shoulder and never
across the neck or throat.
- The safety be lt must lie fla t and sn ug on
the occupant's upper body¢
fig. 116.
Pull on the belt to tighten if necessary.
-
- The lap be lt po rtion of the safety belt
must be posit ioned as low as possib le
across pelvis and never over the abdo
men. Make sure the belt lies flat and
snug ¢
fig. 116 . Pull on the belt to tight
en if necessary .
- A loose-fitting safety belt can cause seri
ous injuries by shifting its pos it ion on
your body from the strong bones to more
vulne rable , soft tissue and cause ser ious
in jury .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
¢page 109.