2011 MERCEDES-BENZ SLK300 Owner's Manual

Vehicle equipment ..............................
32
Occupant safety .................................. 32
Panic alarm .......................................... 47
Driving safety systems ....................... 47
Anti-theft systems .............................. 51 31Safety and security
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Vehicle equipment
i This Operator’s Manual describes all
features, standard or optional, potentially
available for your vehicle at the time of
purchase. Please be aware that your
vehicle might not be equipped with all
features described in this manual. Occupant safety
Introduction
In this section you will learn the most
important facts about the restraint system
components of the vehicle.
The restraint systems are:
R Seat belts
R Child restraints
Additional
protection potential is provided by:
R Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) with
- Air bags
- Air bag control unit (with crash sensors)
- Emergency Tensioning Device (ETD) for
seat belts
- Seat belt force limiter
R Air bag system components with
-Passenger

front air bag off indicator lamp
- Passenger seat with Occupant
Classification System (OCS)
Although the systems are independent, their
protective

functions work in conjunction with
each other. G
Warning!
Modifications to or work improperly
conducted on restraint system components
or their wiring, as well as tampering with
interconnected electronic systems, can lead
to

the restraint systems no longer functioning
as intended. Air bags or Emergency Tensioning Devices
(ETDs), for example, could deploy
inadvertently or fail to deploy in accidents
although the deceleration threshold for air
bag deployment is exceeded. Therefore,
never modify the restraint systems. Do not
tamper with electronic components or their
software.
i See “Children in the vehicle”
(Y page 45) for information on
R infants

and children traveling with you in
the vehicle
R restraint systems for infants and children SRS indicator lamp
The SRS system conducts a self-test when
the ignition is switched on and in regular
intervals while the engine is running. This
facilitates detection of system malfunctions.
The SRS indicator lamp + in the
instrument cluster comes on when the
ignition is switched on. It goes out no later
than

a few seconds after the engine has been
started.
The SRS components are in operational
readiness when the SRS indicator lamp
+ is not lit while the engine is running. G
Warning!
The SRS self-check has detected a
malfunction when the SRS indicator lamp
+
R does not come on at all
R fails to go out after approximately
4 seconds after the engine was started
R comes on after the engine was started or
while driving
For

your safety, we strongly recommend that
you contact an authorized Mercedes-Benz
Center immediately to have the system
checked. Otherwise the SRS may not be
activated when needed in an accident, which 32
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could result in serious or fatal injury. The SRS
might also deploy unexpectedly and
unnecessarily
which could also result in injury
as well.
In addition, improper 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.
If it is necessary to modify an air bag system
to accommodate a person with disabilities,
contact an authorized Mercedes-Benz Center.
USA only: Call our Customer Assistance
Center at 1-800-FOR-MERCedes
(1-800-367-6372) for details. Air bags
G
Warning!
Air bags are designed to reduce the potential
of injury and fatality in certain
R frontal impacts (front air bags and knee
bags)
R side impacts (head-thorax air bags)
However, no system available today can
completely eliminate injuries and fatalities.
Deployment of the air bags temporarily
releases a small amount of dust from the air
bags. This dust, however, is neither harmful
to

your health, nor does it indicate a fire in the
vehicle. The dust might cause some
temporary 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. G
Warning!
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 properly
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 seat backrest.
Fasten your seat belt and make sure it is
properly positioned on your body.
Since the air bag inflates with considerable
speed and force, a proper seating position
and correct positioning of the hands on the
steering

wheel will help to keep you at a safe
distance from the air bag. Occupants who are
not wearing their seat belt, are not seated
properly or are too close to the air bag can be
seriously injured or killed by an air bag as it
inflates with great force instantaneously:
R Sit with the seat belt properly fastened in a
position that is as upright as possible with
your back against the seat backrest.
R Move the driver’s seat as far back as
possible, still permitting proper operation
of vehicle controls. The distance from the
center of the driver’s chest 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
adjusting the seat and steering wheel. If
you have any difficulties, please contact an
authorized Mercedes-Benz Center.
R Do not lean your head or chest close to the
steering wheel or dashboard.
R Keep hands on the outside of the steering
wheel rim. Placing hands and arms inside
the rim can increase the risk and potential
severity of hand/arm injury when the driver
front air bag inflates.
R Adjust the passenger seat as far as possible
rearward from the dashboard when the
seat is occupied.
R Occupants, especially children, should
never place their bodies or lean their heads
in the area of the door where the head-
thorax air bag inflates. This could result in
serious injuries or death should the head- Occupant safety
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thorax air bag be deployed. Always sit as
upright as possible, wear the seat belt
properly and use an appropriately sized
infant restraint, toddler restraint, or
booster
seat recommended for the size and
weight of the child.
Failure to follow these instructions can result
in severe injuries to you or other occupants.
If you sell your vehicle, it is important that you
make the buyer aware of this safety
information. Be sure to give the buyer this
Operator’s Manual. G
Warning!
There is a possibility of a head-thorax air bag-
related injury if occupants, especially
children,

are not properly seated or restrained
when next to a head-thorax air bag which
needs to deploy rapidly in a side impact in
order to do its job.
To help avoid the possibility of injury, please
follow these guidelines:
(1) Occupants, especially children, should
never place their bodies or
lean their heads in the area of the
door where the head-thorax air
bag inflates. This could result in
serious injuries or death should
the head-thorax air bag be
deployed.
(2) Always sit as upright as possible, wear
the seat belt properly, and for
children 12 years old and under,
use an appropriately sized infant
restraint, toddler restraint, or
booster seat recommended for the
size and weight of the child.
(3) Always wear seat belts properly.
If you believe that, even with the use of these
guidelines, it would be safer for your
passenger seat occupants to have the
passenger side head-thorax air bag
deactivated,

then deactivation can be carried
out upon your written request at an authorized Mercedes-Benz Center at an
additional cost.
Please

contact an authorized Mercedes-Benz
Center or call the Customer Assistance
Center (in the USA) at 1-800-FOR-MERCedes
(1-800-367-6372), or Customer Service (in
Canada) at 1-800-387-0100 for details.
Air bags are designed to deploy only in certain
frontal impacts (front air bags and knee bags)
and in side impacts (head-thorax air bags) if
the system determines the need for air bag
deployment. Only in the event of such a
situation will they provide their supplemental
protection.
The driver and passenger should always wear
their seat belts. Otherwise it is not possible
for the air bags to provide their supplemental
protection.
In case of other types of impacts and impacts
below air bag deployment thresholds, air
bags will not deploy. The driver and passenger
will then be protected to the extent possible
by a properly fastened seat belt. A properly
fastened seat belt is also needed to provide
the best possible protection in a rollover.
Air bags are not a substitute for seat belts.
Always wear your seat belt, regardless of
whether or not your vehicle is equipped with
air bags.
It is important to your safety and that of your
passenger to have deployed air bags replaced
and to have any malfunctioning air bags
repaired. This will help to make sure the air
bags will continue to provide supplemental
crash protection for occupants.
Safety guidelines for the seat belt,
Emergency Tensioning Device (ETD)
and air bag G
Warning!
R Damaged
seat belts or seat belts that have
been subjected to stress in an accident
must be replaced. Their anchoring points
must also be checked. Only use seat belts 34
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installed or supplied by an authorized
Mercedes-Benz Center.
R Air bags and pyrotechnic Emergency
Tensioning Devices (ETDs) contain
perchlorate material, which may require
special handling and regard for the
environment. Check with your local
government’s disposal guidelines.
California residents, see
www.dtsc.ca.gov/HazardousWaste/
Perchlorate/index.cfm.
R Air bags and ETDs are designed to function
on a one-time-only basis. An air bag or ETD
that has deployed must be replaced.
R Do not pass seat belts over sharp edges.
They could tear.
R Do not make any modification that could
change the effectiveness of the seat belts.
R Do not bleach or dye seat belts as this may
severely weaken them. In a crash they may
not be able to provide adequate protection.
R No modifications of any kind may be made
to any components or wiring of the SRS.
R Do no change or remove any component or
part of the SRS.
R Do not install additional trim material, seat
covers, badges, etc. over the steering
wheel hub, passenger front air bag cover,
outboard sides of the seat backrests, door
trim panels, or door frame trims.
R Do not install additional electrical/
electronic equipment on or near SRS
components and wiring.
R Keep area between air bags and occupants
free of objects (e.g. packages, purses,
umbrellas, etc.).
R Air bag system components will be hot after
an air bag has inflated. Do not touch them.
R 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. R
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.
R For your protection and the protection of
others, when scrapping the air bag unit or
ETD, our safety instructions must be
followed. These instructions are available
from any authorized Mercedes-Benz
Center.
R Given the considerable deployment speed,
required inflation volume, and the material
of the air bags, there is the possibility of
abrasions or other, potentially more serious
injuries resulting from air bag deployment.
If you sell your vehicle, we strongly
recommend that you inform the subsequent
owner that the vehicle is equipped with SRS.
Also refer them to the applicable section in
the Operator’s Manual.
Front air bags G
Observe Safety notes, see page 33. Driver’s front air bag
: and passenger front
air bag ; are designed to provide increased
protection for the driver and passenger
against the risk of injuries to the head and
thorax. Occupant safety
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Driver and passenger front air bags and knee
bags are deployed
R
in the event of certain frontal impacts
R if the system determines that air bag
deployment can offer additional protection
to that provided by the seat belt
R depending on whether the respective seat
belt is in use
R independently of the head-thorax air bags
The front air bags in this vehicle have been
designed to inflate in two stages. This allows
the air bags to have different rates of inflation.
The rate of inflation is based on the vehicle
deceleration rate as assessed by the air bag
control unit.
The passenger front air bag deployment is
additionally influenced by the passenger’s
weight category as identified by the Occupant
Classification System (OCS) ( Y page 37).
The lighter the passenger-side occupant, the
higher the vehicle deceleration rate required
for second stage inflation of the passenger
front air bag.
The air bags will not deploy in impacts which
do not exceed the system’s preset
deployment thresholds. You will then be
protected by the fastened seat belts.
The front air bags will not deploy in the event
of a rollover unless the vehicle’s rate of
longitudinal deceleration or acceleration
exceeds the preset deployment threshold for
the front air bags.
The passenger air bag will only be deployed if
R the system, based on OCS weight sensor
readings, detects that the passenger seat
is occupied
R the 04 indicator lamp in the
center console is not lit (Y page 37)
R the impact exceeds a preset deployment
threshold Knee bags
The knee bags are designed to provide
increased protection for the driver and
passenger against the risk of injuries to the
knees, thighs and lower legs.
Driver side knee bag ? is located on the
driver side lower instrument panel. Passenger
side knee bag = is located on the passenger
side below the glove box. They are designed
to operate together with the front air bags in
certain frontal impacts if the system
determines that air bag deployment can offer
additional protection to that provided by the
seat belt. The knee bags operate best in
conjunction with properly positioned and
fastened seat belts.
Head-thorax air bags G
Observe Safety notes, see page 33. Head-thorax air bags
: are designed to
provide increased protection for the head and
thorax but not for the arms.
Head-thorax air bags : are deployed
R on the impacted side of the vehicle
R in instances with a high rate of lateral
vehicle deceleration or acceleration
R if the system determines that air bag
deployment can offer additional protection
to that provided by the seat belt
R depending on whether the seat belt is in
use 36
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R
independently of the front air bags
R independently of the ETDs
The passenger head-thorax air bag : will
only deploy if the OCS senses that the
passenger seat is occupied and the impact
exceeds a preset deployment threshold.
Head-thorax air bags : are not deployed in
side impacts which do not exceed the
system’s deployment threshold. G
Warning!
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 deployment of
the head-thorax air bags. Contact an
authorized Mercedes-Benz Center for
availability. Occupant Classification System
The Occupant Classification System (OCS)
activates or deactivates the passenger front
air bag and passenger-side knee bag
automatically.
The respective status is based
on the classified occupant weight category
determined by weight sensor readings from
the passenger seat.
The system does not deactivate the
passenger head-thorax air bag and the
Emergency Tensioning Devices (ETDs).
To be classified correctly, the passenger must
sit
R with the seat belt properly fastened
R in a position that is as upright as possible
with the back against the seat backrest
R with the feet on the floor
If the occupant’s weight is transferred to
another object in the vehicle (e.g. by leaning
on armrests), the OCS may not be able to
properly approximate the occupant’s weight
category.
If your seat, including the trim cover and
cushion, needs to be serviced in any way, take the vehicle to an authorized Mercedes-Benz
Center.
Only seat accessories approved by
Mercedes-Benz may be used.
Both the driver and the passenger should
always use the
04 indicator
lamp as an indication of whether or not the
passenger is properly positioned. G
Warning!
If the 04 indicator lamp
illuminates when an adult or someone larger
than a small individual is in the passenger
seat, have the passenger reposition himself
or herself in the seat until the
04 indicator lamp goes out.
In the event of a collision, the air bag control
unit will not allow passenger front air bag
deployment when the OCS has classified the
passenger seat occupant as weighting as
much as or less than a typical 12-month-old
child in a standard child restraint or if the
passenger seat is classified as being empty.
When

the OCS senses that the passenger seat
occupant is classified as being up to or less
than the weight of a typical 12-month-old
child in a standard child restraint, the
04 indicator lamp will illuminate
when the engine is started and remain
illuminated, indicating that the passenger
front air bag is deactivated.
When the OCS senses that the passenger seat
is classified as being empty, the
04 indicator lamp will illuminate
when the engine is started and remain
illuminated, indicating that the passenger
front air bag is deactivated.
When the OCS senses that the passenger seat
occupant is classified as being heavier than
the weight of a typical 12-month-old child
seated in a standard child restraint or as being
a small individual (such as a young teenager
or a small adult), the 04
indicator lamp will illuminate for
approximately 6 seconds when the engine is
started and then, depending on occupant Occupant safety
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weight sensor readings from the seat, remain
illuminated or go out. With the
04 indicator lamp illuminated,
the passenger front air bag is deactivated.
With the 04 indicator lamp out,
the passenger front air bag is activated.
When
the OCS senses that the passenger seat
occupant is classified as an adult or someone
larger than a small individual, the
04 indicator lamp will illuminate
for approximately 6 seconds when the engine
is started and then go out, indicating that the
passenger front air bag is activated.
If the 04 indicator lamp is
illuminated, the passenger front air bag is
deactivated and will not be deployed.
If the 04 indicator lamp is not
illuminated, the passenger front air bag is
activated and will be deployed
R in the event of certain frontal impacts
R if impact exceeds a preset deployment
threshold
R independently of the head-thorax air bag
If the passenger front air bag is deployed, the
rate of inflation will be influenced by
R the rate of relevant vehicle deceleration as
assessed by the air bag control unit
R the passenger’s weight category as
identified by the OCS
For more information on air bag display
messages in the multifunction display, see
(Y page 239). G
Warning!
Children 12 years old and under must be
seated
and properly secured in an appropriate
infant restraint, toddler restraint, or booster
seat recommended for the size and weight of
the child.
The infant or child restraint must be properly
secured with the vehicle’s seat belt fully in
accordance with the child seat
manufacturer’s instructions. Occupants, especially children, should always
sit as upright as possible, wear the seat belt
properly

and use an appropriately sized infant
restraint, toddler restraint, or booster seat
recommended for the size and weight of the
child.
Children can be killed or seriously injured by
an inflating air bag. Note the following
important information:
R Your vehicle is equipped with air bag
technology designed to deactivate the
passenger front air bag in your vehicle
when the system senses the weight of a
typical 12-month-old child or less along
with the weight of a standard appropriate
child restraint on the passenger seat.
R A child in a rear-facing child restraint on the
passenger seat will be seriously injured or
even killed if the passenger front air bag
inflates in a collision which could occur
under some circumstances, even with the
air bag technology installed in your vehicle.
R If you install a rear-facing child restraint on
the passenger seat, make sure the
04 indicator lamp is
illuminated, indicating that the passenger
front air bag is deactivated. Should the
04 indicator lamp not
illuminate or go out while the restraint is
installed, please check installation.
Periodically check the 04
indicator lamp while driving to make sure
the 04 indicator lamp is
illuminated. If the 04 indicator
lamp goes out or remains out, do not
transport a child on the passenger seat
until the system has been repaired.
A child in a rear-facing child restraint on the
passenger seat will be seriously injured or
even killed if the passenger front air bag
inflates.
R If you place a child in a forward-facing child
restraint on the passenger seat, move the
seat as far back as possible, use the proper
child restraint recommended for the age, 38
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