48 Clear vision
Clear vision Lights
Switching the headlights on and off
Fig . 53 Instr ument pane l: light sw itch
Fig. 54 Instr ument pane l: ligh t switch w ith dayti me
running lights (DR L)
The light switch must not be overturned past
the stops in
either direct ion.
Switching on automatic headlight
control*
.,. Turn the light switch to AUTO* ¢ fig. 53.
Switching on the side marker lights
... Turn the light switch to :;oo:.
Switching on the headlights and high
beam
... Turn the light switch to iD.
... Push the high beam lever forward towards
the instrument panel¢
page SO.
Switching off the lights
... Turn the light switch to 0.
The head lights only work when the ignition is
switched on. While start ing the engine or
when switching off the ignition, the head- lights
will go off and only the side ma rker
lights will be on.
Daytime running lights (DRL) (USA
models)
T he daytime running lights can be turned on
or off using this function. If the function is ac
tive, the daytime running lights are turned on
automatically when the ignit ion is switched
on.
The daytime running lights are activated
only
when the light switch is at the AUTO* or DRL *
position.
Daytime running lights (Canada models
only)
The daytime running lights are activated only
when the light switch ¢ fig. 53 is either at the
0 or the :;oo: position.
T he daytime r unning lights funct ion cannot be
turned off.
Automatic headlight control*
In the switch position AUTO the automatic
headlight control
is turned on. The low
beams are turned on automatically through a
light sensor as soon as ambient brightness
(e .g. when driving into a tunnel) falls below a
value preset at the factory. When ambient
brightness increases aga in, the low beams are
turned off again automatically ¢.&. .
In the
AUTO position the low beams are
switched off automatically when the ignition
is turned off .
Light Sensor Malfunction*
In the event of a light sensor malfunction, the
driver is notified in the instrument cluster dis
play:
El Automatic headlights/automatic wipers
defective
For safety reasons the low beams are turned
on permanently with the switch in
AUTO* .
However, you can continue to turn the lights
on and off using the light switch. Have the
Ill>-
50 Clear vis ion
Front fog lights
F ig. 55 Fog light act ivation: light switch pos itio n on
veh icles WITHOUT sensor light
Switching on the front fog lights iO
.,. Do no t turn the light switch ·'t/- · ¢ fig. 55 to-
ward the fog light symbol
}D.
.,. Turn the light switch to :o o: or to io .
.,. Pull the ligh t switch to the first stop @.
When the front fog lights are on, the symbol
}D next to the light switch will i llum ina te.
@ Tips
With the switch in AUTO front fog lights
cannot be turned on in addit ion.
Turn signals and high beam lever
The lever on the left side of the steering col
umn is used to operate the turn signals and
the high beam as well as the headlight flash
er .
Fig. 56 Tu rn signa l and hig h beam lever
The turn signal and high beam lever has the
following functions:
Turn signals ¢ Q ©@
.,. Push the lever up as fa r as it ca n go to t urn
on the right turn s ignal or down to tu rn on
the left turn signal ¢
fig. 56 .
.,. Move the lever briefly unti l you meet res ist
ance and release it to flash three times .
.,. Move the lever (up or down) until you meet
resistance and hold it there to determine
the flashing time for the turn signals .
High be am gD @
.,. Push the lever forward to switch on the high
beam.
.,. Pull the lever back towards you to switch off
the high beam.
Headlight fla sh er gD @
.,. Pull the lever toward the steering whee l to
use the headlight flasher.
Not es on thes e features
- The turn signals on ly work wi th the ignition
sw itched on. The indicator lights
F-1 or rl in
the instrument cluster¢
page 12 also blink.
- After you have turned a co rner, the turn s ig-
na l switches off automa tically .
- The
high beam works on ly w hen the he ad
lights a re on . The indicator light
II in t he
instrument cluster illuminates when the
high beams are on.
- The
headlight flasher works only as long as
you ho ld the lever - even if there a re no
lights turned on. The indicator light
II in
the instrument cluster illuminates when you
use the headlight flasher.
A WARNING
-
Do not use the h igh beam or head light
flasher if yo u know that these could b lind
oncom ing traffic.
-
Emergency flasher
The emergency flasher makes other motorists
a w are that you or your vehicle are in an emer
gency situation.
Fi g. 57 Center conso le: emergency flasher sw itch
.. Press the switch ~~ fig. 57, to switch the
emergency flasher on or off.
When the emerge ncy flashe r is on, al l four
turn signals blink at the same time. The t urn
signal indicator lights
II Hin the instrument
cluster, as we ll as the light in the emergency
flasher switch~ blink likewise. The emergen
cy flashers also work when the ignition is
turned off.
The emergency flasher will automatica lly
switch on if you are in an acc ident where the
airbag has deployed.
@ Tips
You should switch on the emergency flash
er when:
- you are the last vehicle sta nding in a traf
fic jam so that any other vehicles coming can see you, or when
- your vehicle has broken down or yo u are
i n an emergency situation, or when
-you r vehicle is being towed by a tow
truck or if yo u are towing a nothe r vehicle
behind you. Clear vi
sion 51
Interior lights
Interior lights
The interior lights include the reading lights
for the driver and the front passenger.
Fig. 58 Section from headli ner: Interior lights
Activating door contact circuit
.. Press the button @. The L ED in the button
ill um inates.
Deactivating door contact circuit
.. Press the button @. The LED in the button
goes out .
Front read ing lights ~
.. Press one of the switches ® to turn the
r ight or left reading light on or off.
With the door contact ci rcuit, the inter ior
lights turn on as soon as you unlock the vehi
cle or open the doors. The interior lights are
also turned on when the ignition key is re
moved. The lights turn off about 30 seconds
after the doors are closed . When the veh icle is
locked or when the ignition is turned on, the
in terior lig hts are tu rned off.
When a door is open, the inte rior lights are
tu rned off after about 10 minutes to preve nt
batte ry dra in ing.
The brightness of the lights is controlled au
tomat ica lly by a d immer when they are
switched on and off.
52 Clear vis ion
Instrument panel illumination
F ig. 59 In strum ent panel ill uminatio n
The illumina tion of the instruments, displays
and the center conso le can be adjusted . You
regulate the br ightness of the inst ruments
with the left thumbwhee l
CJ:J ~ fig. 59 .
Ignition ON, light switch at @.
With the ignition switched ON, the glow of in
strument needles can be adjusted to appear
brighte r or d immer.
Ignition ON, light switch at ;oo~ or io .
With the l ights sw itched on, the brightness of
instrument cluster (i.e. needles, gauges and
displays) and center console illuminat ion can
be adjusted.
@ Note
The instrument cl uster and cente r console
illumination (gauges and needles) comes
on when you switch on the ignition and the
veh icle headlights are off. Be aware of the
following difference between mode ls built
to US or Canadian specifications:
- USA mode ls : illumination of the instru
ment cluster (gauges and needles), dash
and cente r consol e around the gearsh ift
l ever is controlled by a light senso r locat
ed in the instrument panel. The instru
ment pane l ill umination will a utomat i
ca lly become dimmer as the daylight
fades away and eventually will go o ut
complete ly when outside light is very
l ow . Th is is to rem ind you, the driver, to
switch on the headlights before it gets
too dark . -
Canada models: instr ument panel illumi
nation will stay bright regardless of the
intensity of ambient light . A lways be
aware of changes in outside light condi
tions while you are driving. Respond in
time to fading daylight by tur ning the
light switch to position fD (o r "AUTO" if
your car is equipped with this feature) to
t ur n on you r headlights.
Luggage compartment light
The light is located on the right side of the
lu ggage compartme nt. These lights come on
automat ica lly when the rea r lid is opened . The
lights turn off automatica lly if the lid is left
open for more then 10 minutes.
Vision
Adjusting the exterior mirrors
F ig. 60 Fo rwa rd sect io n of drive r's armr est: power mir
ror cont rol s
Turn the knob to the desired posit ion:
Q/ P -In this pos ition, you can adjust the
drive r's and front passenger's exte rior m irrors
by turning the knob in the desired d irection.
4iil -The mirrors are heated depending on the
outside temperature .
8 -The exterior mirror s fold in*
You are we ll-advised to fold the exterior mir
rors in when maneuvering in tight spaces or
when leaving the car parked close to other
vehicles. ..,,.
78 On the road
Speed warning 2: setting a speed limit
Switches in the wiper arm are used to operate
warning threshold
2 .
'----I ®
Fig. 85 Wiper lever: Tr ip computer con trols
To store maximum speed
>Turnoff the ignition.
> Briefly press the button in the instrument
cl uster ¢
page 77, fig. 84. The odometer
and the digital clock are now illuminated .
> Press the button for at least 2 seconds . The
currently stored maximum speed appears in
the display
or the crossed out symbol for
warning threshold 2, if no max imum speed
was set previously.
> Press the function selector sw itch in the
wipe r lever @¢
fig. 85 up or down to
change the set value. Values run up or dow n
i n steps of 6.2 mph (10 km/h).
To delete maximum speed
>Turnoff the ignit ion.
> Briefly press the button in the instrument
cluster <:::>
page 77, fig . 84 . The odometer
and the digital clock are now illumi nated.
> Press the button fo r at least 2 seconds . The
cu rrently stored maxim um speed appears in
the display.
> Press the reset button in the wiper lever ®
<:::>
fig . 85 until the crossed out speed warn
ing symbol for warning threshold 2 appears
i n the display.
A few seconds after the adjustment is com
pleted, the illumination for the odometer and
the dig ital clock will go out.
(D Tips
This warning threshold can a lso be con
trolled thro ugh the tr ip computer
¢ page 25, Navigating the menu.
Cruise control
Switching the system on
The cruise control system makes it possible to
drive at a constant speed starting at 20 mph (30 km/h) .
®-
Fig. 86 Contro l leve r with set b utton
Fig. 87 Display : Se lecte d speed
> Pull the lever to position (D <:::> fig. 86 to
switch the system on.
> Dr ive at the speed you w ish to set.
> Press button @ to set that speed.
.., ....
i
The display <:::> fig. 87 will show the set speed .
The display may vary depending on the type of
display in your vehicle. The indicator light
M;ll)~14 (US model)/ . (Canadian model) will
also light up in the instrument cluster .
A WARNING
- Always pay attention to traffic even when
the cruise control is switched on. You are
always responsib le for your speed and
82 Transmi ssion
Transmission
S tronic transmission
Introduction
App lies to vehicles : wit h S tro nic
Your veh icle is equipped with a S tronic trans
miss ion, a lso called a double-clutch system/
tra nsmission.
Power is transfe rred between the engine and
the transm ission by means of two i ndepend
ent cl utches. They replace the to rque conve rt
e r of conventional a utomat ic transm iss io ns
and a llow the vehicle to acce le rate w it h out a
noticeab le break in the power flow .
W ith the aid oftiptroni c, the gea rs can op
tionally be sh ifted
manually ¢ page 85.
Selector lever positions
App lies to vehicles: wit h S tro nic
All the selector lever positions are explained
in this section.
l-- -·· -----,,1
+55°F
~ 340mi
D
F ig. 90 Display: Selector lever posit ion
The instrument cluster display shows these
l ector lever posit ion.
P - Park lock
I n th is posi tion the ge ars are mechan ically
l ocked .
The park lock must on ly be engaged with t he
ve hicl e
stationary ¢&, .
To engage P and to remove the lever from th is
position, you must depress the release button
(button in the selector leve r hand le)
and si
multaneous ly yo u m ust s tep on the brake
pedal.
R -reverse
In this pos ition, reverse is eng aged .
Reve rse gear m ust only be e ngaged w ith the
vehicle
stationary and the engine ru nning at
idle speed ¢ &, .
T o engage R, you have to depress the release
button
and simultaneously step on the b rake
peda l. In the R pos ition, the bac k-up lights il
l u minate w ith the igni tion o n.
N - Neutral
The transm iss ion is in neut ral i n this pos ition.
D -No rmal position fo r driving forward
In this position, the forward gears are auto
matically shifted up and down, depending on
engine load and vehicle speed.
T o engage D from
N, the brake pedal m ust be
depressed at s peeds below 5 km/h or when
the ve hicle is stationary ¢& .
In cert ain circ umstan ces (driving in the moun
ta ins for examp le) it can be beneficia l to
switch temporari ly to the man ual shift pro
gram ¢
page 85 in order to ad just the gear
ratios to driving conditions
manually .
S -Sport setting
T he S setting sho uld be se lec ted for sporty
driving. The power reserves of the engine can
be fully explo ited through later upshifts.
T o engage S from N, t he brake peda l m ust be
depressed at speeds below 5 km/h o r when
t h e vehi cle is stationary ¢& .
A. WARNING
- Never p lace the se lector lever i n the R or
P posit ion while the veh icle is moving -
risk of an accident!
- W ith the engine r unning, it is necessary
to hold the vehicle with the foot brake in
all se lector lever positions (except P and
N), because even at idle speed the trans
fe r of power is never completely inter
r u pted - t he vehicle "creeps". If t he vehi-
cle is stat io nary and the t rans missio n is
~
engaged, the engine should never be
speeded up unintentionally (e.g. manual ly from under the hood). Otherwise the
vehicle will immediately start to move -
sometimes even if the parking brake is
firmly applied - risk of an accident!
- Before you or other persons open the
hood and work on a running engine, the
selector lever must be moved to P and
the parking brake applied firmly - risk of
an accident! Follow the warning stickers.
@ Tips
If you have inadvertently sh ifted into N
while the veh icle is moving, you should re
move your foo t from the accelerator and
wait until the engi ne speed has dropped to
id le before shifting back to Dor S.
Selector lever lock
Applies to vehicles: with S tro nic
The selector lever lock prevents a gear from
being engaged occidentally and unintention
ally setting the vehicle in motion .
Fig. 91 Selector lever locks
The selector lever lock is released as follows:
.,. Switch the ignition on.
.,. Step on the brake pedal
and simultaneously
hold down the re lease button.
Automatic selector lever lock
The selector lever is locked in the P and N po
sitions when the ignition is on. To move the
l ever from these positions the driver must de
press the brake pedal. As a reminder to the
driver, the following warning appears in the
Transmission 83
instrument cluster display when the se lector
is in P and N:
To start engine or select gear apply foot
brake when stationary
The selector lever lock is effective only when
the vehi cle is stationary and a t speeds below
S km/h . At higher speeds, the lock in the N
pos ition is automat ically switched off.
The selector lever is not locked when rapid
shifts are made through the N position (e.g.
from R to D) . This allows you to "rock " the ve
hicle if it becomes stuck. If the lever is in the
N position for more than 1 second with the
brake pedal not depressed, the selector lock
engages automatically .
Release button
The release butto n in the selector lever han
dle prevents accidental shifts into certain se
lector lever positions . When you press the re
lease button , the selector lever lock is cancel
led. In the illustration, the positions in which
the release button has to be pressed are high
lighted in color
¢ fig . 91.
Ignition key removal lock
The ignition key can only be removed after the
ignition is switched off if the selector lever is
in P. As long as the ignition key is removed,
the selector lever is locked in P.
(y Tips
If the se lector lever does not engage,
there is a malfunction . The engine is disa
bled to prevent th e vehicle from driving off
unintentionally. To allow the selector lever
to engage again, proceed as follows: Press
and release the brake pedal.
86 Transmis sion
If you have selected a lower gear than the cur
rent one, the transmission w ill only shift down
when the engine cannot be overspeeded.
I f kick-down is actuated, the transmiss ion
shifts into a lower gear independently of
speed and engine rpm .
Steering wheel with Tiptronic controls
Applies to vehicles: with S tro nic
The selector paddles allow the driver to keep
both hands on the steering wheel when shift
ing gears.
Fig. 95 Spo rt stee ring wheel w ith selecto r paddle s
Shifting up
.,. Pull the right paddle, marked 0 ¢ fig. 95
briefly towards you .
Shifting down
.,. Pull the left paddle, marked O ¢ fig. 95
briefly towards you .
The selector paddles on the steering wheel
are activated when the selector lever on the
center console is in D, 5 or in the manual posi
tion ( Tiptronic mode).
You can also shift gears in the Tiptronic mode
using the selector lever on the center console.
(D Tips
With the gear selector lever in either Dor
5 the transmission will switch back to the
automatic mode if you do not use the pad
dles within approx . 30 seconds.
Kick-down feature
Applies to vehicles: w it h S tronic
The kick-down feature allows maximum ac
celeration.
If you depress the accelerator pedal fully be
yond the full-throttle position, the transmis·
sion automatically downshifts one gear, de·
pending on vehicle speed and eng ine rpm. The
upshift into the next higher gear takes place
as soon as the maximum specified engine
speed is reached.
.&_ WARNING i-==
Please note that the drive wheels can spin
if the kick-down is used on a smooth slip·
pery road -risk of skidding!
Launch Control Program
Applies to veh icles: w it h S t ronic
The Launch Control Program permits maxi
mum acceleration.
In order to use Launch Control, the ASR (Anti
S lip Regulation) must be disabled . When ASR
is disabled , the ESC warning/indicator light
fl
in the instrument cluster illuminates. So that
Launch Control can be used, the engine must
be at operating temperature and the steering
wheel must not be turned.
.,. With the engine running, briefly press the
ESC button . The message "Stabilization pro
gram off" or "Sport control Warning! Re
stricted stability" in the driver information
system display .
.,. Shift the gear lever to "5" or the tiptronic
position .
.,. Step on the brake pedal with your left foot
and keep the brake pedal fully depressed for
at least one second.
.,. With yo ur right foot, step on the accelerator
to the wide-open throttle position or Kick·
down. The eng ine speed settles at about
3,200 rpm .
.,. Take your left foot off the brake. ..,.