2020 MERCEDES-BENZ SL CLASS tow

Never
leavechildren oranimal sunattended
in the vehicle.
When leavingthe vehicle, always take the
SmartKey withyouand lock thevehicle. This
also appliesforthe Digital Vehicle Keyifthe
"Digital Vehicle Key"function isactivated via
Mercedes meconnect . Unlo
cking andopeni ngdoors from
the inside
! The
side window swil lnot open/close if
the battery isdischarge dor ifthe side win-
dows haveicedup.Itwil lthen notbepossi-
ble toclose thedoor. Donot attempt to
force thedoor closed. Youcould otherwise
dama gethe door orthe side window .
You canopen adoor from inside thevehicle
even ifit has been locked.
If the vehicle haspreviou slybeen locked from
the outside ,opening adoor from theinside
wil ltrigger theanti-theft alarm system. Switch
off the alarm (Ypage 72). X
Pull door handle 0044.
If the door islocked, lockingknob0043pops
up. The door isunlocked andcanbe
opened.
When adoor isopened, theside window on
that side opens slightly .When thedoor is
closed, theside window closesagain. Cen
trally locking andunloc kingthe
vehic lefrom theinside
You cancentrally lockorunlock thevehicle
from theinside. Forexample ,you can unlock the
front- passe ngerdoor from theinside or
lock thevehicle beforeyoupullawa y. X
To unloc k:press button 0043.
X To loc k:press button 0044.
If the front- passe ngerdoor isclosed, the
vehicle locks.
The central locking buttondoesnotlock or
unlock thefuel fillerflap orthe stowage com-
partments, suchasthe glove box.
You cannot unlockthevehicle centrally from
the inside ifthe vehicle hasbeen locked with
the SmartKey orKEYLESS- GO.
You canopen adoor from inside thevehicle
even ifit has been locked.
If alocked doorisopened fromtheinside, the
previou sunlock statusofthe vehicle willbe
taken intoconsideration if:
R the vehicle waslocked usingthelocking
button forthe central locking, or
R ifthe vehicle waslocked automa tically
The vehicle willbe fullyunlocked ifit had pre-
viousl ybeen fullyunlocked. Ifonly thedriver's
door hadbeen previou slyunlocked, onlythe
door which hasbeen opened fromtheinside is
unlocked. 80
Do
orsOpeni ngand closi ng

Problems
withtheside window s G
WARNING
If you close aside window againimmediately afterithas been blocked, theside window closes
with increased ormaximum force.Thereversing functionisthen notactive. Partsofthe body
could betrapped inthe closing areainthe process. Thisposes anincreased riskofinjury or
even fatalinjury.
Make surethatnoparts ofthe body areinthe closing area.Tostop theclosing process,
release theswitch orpush theswitch againtoreopen theside window. Problem
Possible
causes/co nsequences and0050 0050
Solutions A
side window cannot
be closed because itis
blocked byobject s,e.g.
leaves inthe window
guide. X
Remove theobject s.
X Close theside window. A
side window cannot
be closed andyoucan-
not see thecause. If
aside window isobstruct edduring closing andreopens again
slightly:
X Immediately afterthewindow blocks,pullthecorrespondin g
switch againuntiltheside window hasclosed.
The side window isclosed withincreased force.
If aside window isobstruct edagain during closing andreopens
again slightly:
X Immediately afterthewindow blocks,pullthecorrespondin g
switch againuntiltheside window hasclosed.
The side window isclosed without theautomatic reversingfunc-
tion. The
side windows can-
not beopened orclosed
using theconven ience
opening/c losingfea-
ture. The
SmartK eybattery isdischarged ornearly discharged.
X Check theSmartK eybattery (Ypage 77)and replace itifneces-
sary (Ypage 77). Roof
Import
antsafety notes G
WARNING
If you donot fully open/close thesoft top,
the soft- tophydraul icsdepressurize aftera
short time.Thiscauses thesoft toptolower
unexpect edlyandmay cause youorothers
to be trapped. Thereisarisk ofinjury.
Always openorclose thesoft topcom-
pletely. G
WARNING
Closing theroof manually isacomplicated
and techn ically demanding procedure,which
requires alot ofstren gth.Youorothers can
become trapped. Thereisarisk ofinjury.
Only have thesoft topclosed manually ata
quali fiedspecialist workshop.
! Never
siton the rear compartmen ttrim or
stow heavy objectsthere. Youwillotherwise
damage theroof andrear compartmen ttrim
of the vehicle. 90
RoofOpening
andclosing

!
Do
not forget thattheweather canchange
abruptly .Make certain thattheroof is
closed whenyouleave thevehicle. Thevehi-
cle electronics canbedamage difwater
enters thevehicle interior.
! When
opening andclosing theroof, make
sure that:
R there issufficient clearance, asthe roof
swings upwards.
R there issufficient clearance behindthe
vehicle, asthe trunk lidswings backwards
beyond thebumper.
R the trunk isonly loade dto below the
trunk partition.
R the trunk partition isnot pushed upbythe
load.
R the trunk partition isclosed.
R the trunk lidisclosed.
R the outside temperature isabove 5‡
(00F815 †).
You could otherwise damagetheroof, trunk
and other partsofthe vehicle.
The vehicle dimensions foropening/closing
the roof canbefound inthe "Vehicle data"
section (Ypage 330).
Make surethattheroof andrear window are
clean anddrybefore opening theroof. Other-
wise, water ordirt could enterthevehicle inte-
rior ortrunk. Opening
andclosing using theroof
switch
Importa ntsafety notes G
WARNING
When opening orclosing theroof, body
parts could betrapped by,forexample, the
roof mechanism, trunklidorside windows.
There isarisk ofinjury.
When raising orlowering theroof, make
sure thatnobody parts areinthe vicinity of
moving component s.Ifsomeone becomes
trapped, releasethebutton.
For safety reasons, youcan only open orclose
the roof when thevehicle isstationary. !
Operating
theroof while pulling awa y:
R Observe thefollowi ngtraffic carefully .
R Do not drive faster than25mph
(40 km/h).
R Avoid abrupt braking andswerving
maneuvers.
Do not operate theroof when cornering,
driving onuneven surfaces orduring strong
winds. Thevehicle mayotherwise bedam-
aged.
i If
the traffic conditions meanthatyouhave
to drive offwhile opening/closing theroof,
the procedure whichwasstarted whilesta-
tionary canbecont inued atspeeds ofup to
approximately 25mph (40km/h).
Opening andclosing X
Close thetrunk lid(Ypage 81).
If the trunk isloade dcorrect ly,the trunk
partition closesautomaticall y.
X Turn theSmartKey toposition 0048inthe igni-
tion lock.
X Open thecover inthe lower center console.
Roof switch 0043islocated underthecover.
X To open: pullroof switch 0043until theentire
roof isstowed awayin the trunk.
The Vario-Roof inOperation Vario-Roof
inOperation message
appea rsinthe multifunction display.Once
the opening procedure iscomplete, the
message disappearsandatone sounds.
All ofthe side windows open.
X To clos e:press andhold soft-t opswitch 0043
until thesoft topisfully closed.
The Vario-Roof inOperation Vario-Roof
inOperation message
appea rsinthe multifunction display.Once
the opening procedure iscomplete, the
message disappearsandatone sounds. Roof
91Opening andclosing Z

seat
beltguide .This makes iteasier tomove
the seats forward.
Before youdrive off,theseat beltmust be
inserted intotheseat beltguide .
Observe thesafety guidelinesforseat belts
(Y page 42).
X To remove: openupmagnetic head0044and
fold thetabupinthe direction ofthe arrow.
X Take theseat beltoutofseat beltguide 0043.
X To insert: foldthetabupinthe direction of
the arrow.
X Insert theseat beltback intotheseat belt
guide andfold thetabback down. Adjusting
thehead restra ints G
WARNING
You could losecontrolofyour vehicle ifyou
do the followi ngwhile driving:
R adjust thedriver's seat,head restraint,
steering wheelormirrors
R fasten theseat belt
There isarisk ofan accident.
Adjust thedriver's seat,head restraint,
steering wheelandmirror andfasten your
seat beltbefore starting theengine.
X To adju stthe head restra intheight: slide
the switch forthe head restraint adjust-
ment 0043upordown inthe direction ofthe
arrow. Moving
theseats forward/back G
WARNING
When youadjust aseat, youorother vehicle
occupants couldbecome trapped, e.g.on
the seat guide rail.There isarisk ofinjury.
When adjusting aseat, make surethatno
one hasany body parts inthe sweep ofthe
seat.
! Make
surethatthere arenocont ainers in
the cup holder andnoobjects inthe foot-
well orbehind theseats when adjusting the
seats. Otherwise, youcould damage the
seats andtheobjects. You
canmove theseat forwards inorder to
gain better access tothe rear compartment ,
e.g. toreach thestowage compartment inthe
rear passenger compartment .
X Remove theseat beltfrom theseat belt
guide (Ypage 99).
X To move theseat forwards: press0064on
switch 0043.
The seat moves automaticall yto the fore-
most position.
X To move theseat backwards: press0063
on switch 0043.
The seat moves backtothe previous posi-
tion.
X To stop seatmovement: press0064or
0063 inthe opposite direction. Adjusting
themulticontour seat
You canadjust themulticontour seatusing
COMAND (seeDigital Operator's Manual). Adjusting
theactive multicontour
seat
The active multicontour seatcanbeadjusted
using COMAND (seetheDigital Operator's
Manual ). Adjusting
the4-way lumbar support
You canadjust the4-way lumbarsupport
using COMAND (seetheDigital Operator's
Manual ). 100
SeatsSeats,
steering wheeland mirrors

Note
son bre aking-in ane wve hic le Impo
rtant safety notes
Th ese nso rsy ste mof some driving and driving
sa fety syste ms adjus tsautoma tically wh ile a
cer taindista nce isbe ing driven after the vehi-
cle hasbe en deliver edorafter repairs. Full
sy ste meff ecti vene ssisnot reache dunti lthe
end ofthistea ch-i npro ced ure.
New andreplaced brakepads and discs only
rea chthe irop tim um braking effect after sev-
era lhu ndr edkilome ters ofdri ving. Compe n-
sa te for thisby applying gre aterfor ce tothe
bra kepedal. The
first 1000 miles(150 0km)
Th emor eyo ulook after the enginewhen itis
new ,the mor esa tis fied youwi llbe with its
pe rfo rma nce inthe futur e.
R Yo usho uld the refore drive atvarying vehicle
and enginespee ds for the first 1,000 miles
(1, 500 km).
R Avoi dhe avylo ad s,e.g .dri ving atfullthro t-
tle ,du ring thispe riod .
R Ch ang ege ar ingo od tim e,be for ethe tach-
ome ternee dle is 00C3 ofthe wayto the red
ar ea ofthe tachomete r.
R Do not manua lly shi ftto alowe rge ar to
bra kethe vehicle.
R Try toavoid de pre ssing the accelera tor
pe dalbe yond the point ofres istanc e(ki ck-
do wn) .
Add itiona lbre aking-i nnote sfor Merce des-
AMG vehicles :
R Do not drive faste rtha n85 mph (140km/h )
for the first 1,000 miles(1, 500 km).
R Onl yal lo w the enginetorea chama xim um
eng inespee dof 4,5 00 rpm briefly.
R Ide ally,for the first 1000 miles(15 00km),
dri ve inpro gramC.
R Ch ang ege ar ingo od tim e.
After 1000 miles(15 00km) ,yo ucan increase
the enginespee dgra dually and accelera tethe
veh icleto fullsp ee d.
Yo usho uld also observe thesenote son bre ak-
ing inifthe engineorparts ofthe drive train
on your veh icleha ve been rep laced .
Alw aysob serve the maxim um permi ssible
sp ee d. Se
lf-lo ckingrea raxl edif feren tial
(M erc ede s-AMG vehic les)
Yo ur veh icleis eq uipp ed with ase lf-lo cking dif-
fer enti alon the rearaxl e.
Ch ang ethe oilto impro vepro tecti onofthe
rea raxl ediffe rent ial:
R after abre aking-i npe riod of2000 miles
(U SA)
R after abre aking-i npe riod of3000 km(Can-
ad a)
R eve ry30, 000 milesor 3ye ars( USA)
R every 60,000 kmor4years (Canad a)
These oilchanges prolongtheservice lifeof
the differential. Havetheoilchange carried
out ataqual ified speciali stworkshop. Driving
Importa
ntsafety notes G
WARNING
Objects inthe driver's footwell mayrestrict
the clearance aroundthepedal sor block a
depressed pedal.This jeopardizes theoper-
ating androad safety ofthe vehicle. Thereis
a risk ofan accident.
Stow allobjects securely inthe vehicle so
that they donot getinto thedriver's foot-
well .When usingfloormats orcarpets, make
sure thatthey areproperly securedsothat
they donot slip orobstruct thepedal s.Do
not place several floormats orcarpets on
top ofone another. G
WARNING
Unsuitable footwearcanhinder correct
usage ofthe pedal s,e.g.:
R shoes withthick soles
R shoes withhigh heels
R slippe rs
There isarisk ofan accident.
Wear suitabl efootwear toensure correct
usage ofthe pedal s. Driving
125Drivingandparking Z

Problem
Possible
causes/co nsequences and0050 0050
Solutions The
engine isnot run-
ning smoothly andis
misfiring. There
isamalfunction inthe engine electron icsorinamechanical
componen tof the engine management system.
X Only depress theaccelerator pedalslightly.
Otherwise, non-combusted fuelmay getinto thecatalytic con-
verter anddamage it.
X Have thecause rectified immediately ataqual ified specialist
workshop. The
coolant tempera-
ture display showsa
value above 248‡
(120 †).The coolant
warning lampmayalso
be on and awarning
tone maysound. The
coolant levelistoo low. Thecoolant istoo hotand theengine is
no longer beingcooled sufficiently.
X Stop assoon aspossible andallow theengine andthecoolant to
cool down.
X Check thecoolant level(Ypage 270). Observe thewarning notes
as you dosoand add coolant ifnecessary. If
the coolant leveliscorrect ,the engine radiator fanmay befaulty.
The coolant istoo hotand theengine isno longer beingcooled suf-
ficiently.
X At coolant temperatures below248‡(120 †),drive tothe near-
est quali fiedspecialist workshop.
X Avoid heavy loadsonthe engine asyou doso, e.g. driving in
mountainous terrainandstop-and- gotraffic. Notes
ontowing vehicles
The vehicle isnot suitable forattaching tow
bar systems, suchasthose usedforflat tow-
ing ordinghy towing.
Att aching orusing towbarsystems mayresult
in damage tothe vehicle.
When towing avehicle withtowbarsystems,
safe driving characterist icscannot beguaran-
teed forthe towing vehicle orthe towed vehi-
cle.
The vehicle/vehicle combinationmayswerve.
Observe thepermissible towingmethods
(Y page 292)andthenotes ontowing with
both axles onthe ground (Ypage 292). DYNAMIC
SELECTcontroller General
informat ion
Select thedrive program usingtheDYNAMIC
SELE CTcont roller. Available
driveprogra ms: I
Individual Individual
settings C
Comfort Comfort-
oriented, opti-
mum-econ omyengine and
transmission settings S
Sport Sporty
engine andtrans-
mission settings S+
Sport Plus Particularly
sportytrans-
mission settings Race
Maximum
sportiness and
engine andtransmission
settin gssuitable forthe
racetrack Depending
onthe drive program selected the
following vehiclecharacterist icswill change:
R the drive (engine management)
R the transmission management
R ESP ®
R the suspension
R the steering 132
DY
NAMIC SELECTcontrolle rDrivingandparking

With
theSmartKey: ifyou then open thedriv-
er's door orthe front-passenge rdoor or
remove theSmartKey fromtheignitio n,the
au tomatic transmissi onshifts to005D automati-
call y.
With KEYLESS-GO :if you then open thedriv-
er's orfront-passenge rdoor, theautomatic
transmissi onshifts to005D automatical ly.
If you want theautomatic transmissi onto
remai nin neutral 005C,e.g. when havingthe
vehicl eclea ned inan automatic carwas hwith
a towing system:
X Vehic leswith KEYLESS-GO :remove the
Start/Stop buttonfromtheignitio nlock.
X Insert theSmartKey intotheignitio nlock.
X All vehi cles:swi tch the ignitio non.
X Depress thebrake pedaland keep it
depre ssed.
X Shift toneutral 005C.
X Rel ease thebrake pedal.
X Rel ease theelectric parkingbrake.
X Switch offthe ignitio nand leavethe Smart-
Key inthe ignitio nlock.
Eng agin gdrive position D X
When thevehicl eis stationa ry,depre ssthe
brake pedal.
X Push thesele ctor leverback pastthefirst
point ofresis tance. Transmissio
npositi ons 0045 Park
positi on
This prevents thevehicl efrom roll-
ing awa ywhen stoppe d.
Only shiftthetransmissi oninto
posi tion 0045 (Ypag e135) when
the vehicl eis stationa ry.The park-
ing lock shou ldnot beused asa
brake whenparking.Alwa ysapp ly
the electronic parkingbrake inadd i-
tion tothe parki nglock inorder to
secure thevehicl e.
If the SmartKey isremoved fromthe
ignitio nlock, thetransmissi onis
locked.
The automatic transmissi onshifts
to 0045 automatical ly:
R when theSmartKey isremoved
from theignitio nlock
R when theengine isswi tched off
with thetransmissi oninposi tion
0046 or003A andone ofthe
doors isopened
In the event ofamalfu nction ofthe
vehicl e'selectronics, thetransmis-
sion may lockinposi tion 0045.
Have thevehicl eelectronics
checked immediatelyat aqua lified
speci alist worksho p. 0046 Reverse
gear
Only shiftthetransmissi oninto
posi tion 0046 when thevehicl eis
stationa ry. 138
Automatic
transmissio nDrivingand parking

0044 Neut
ral
Do not shiftthe transmi ssion to
0044 while dri ving .The automa tic
tra nsmi ssion cou ldothe rwise be
da ma ged.
No powe ris tra nsmi ttedfromthe
eng inetothe drive wheels.
Re leas ing the brakepedalwi llal lo w
yo uto mov ethe vehiclefre ely, e.g .
to push itor tow it.
If ESP ®
is de acti vated orfaulty: shift
the transmi ssion topositio n0044 if
the vehicleis in da nge rof ski dding ,
e.g .on icy roads.
! Co
asting inneu tral005C may
cau sedama getothe drive train. 003A Dri
ve
The automa tictransmi ssion
cha nge sge ar automa tically. All
for wa rdgearsar eav ailabl e. Dri
ving tips
Ch ang ingge ar The
automa tictransmi ssion shifts thro ughthe
ind ividu alge arsau toma tically wh en itis in
tra nsmi ssion positio n005B. Thisau toma ticgear
shi fting behavio ris de term inedby :
R the selecte ddri ve pro gram
R the positio nof the acce lera tor pedal
R the roadspe ed
Ac celerator pedalpos ition Yo
ur sty leof dri ving influences howtheauto-
ma tic transmi ssion shifts gear:
R little thro ttle:ea rly upshi fts
R mor ethro ttle:la te upshi fts Ki
ck dow n Use
kickd ownfor maxim um accelera tion.
X Dep ressthe accelera tor pedalbe yond the
pre ssu repoint.
The automa tictransmi ssion shifts toalowe r
ge ar dependi ng on the enginespeed.
X Eas eoff the accelera tor pedalonce the
de sired speedisrea che d.
The automa tictransmi ssion shifts back up. Dri
veprog rams
Al lve hic les(e xc ept Merce des -AMG
ve hic les) Dri
veprog ramC(C omfo rt)
Driv epro gramCis cha racteri zedbythe follow-
ing :
R the vehiclepu lls aw ay mor ege ntly in
for wa rdand revers ege ars, unl ess theaccel-
era tor pedalis de pre sse dfu lly.
R low fuel cons umption resulting fromthe
au toma tictransmi ssion shifting upsoo ner.
The vehicleis dri ven inthe low eng inespee d
ra nge and thewheelsareless likel yto spin.
R the suspe nsion exh ibits comf ortable da mp-
ing setti ngs.
R the stee ring exhibits comf ortable stee ring
cha racteri stics.
R ESP ®
pro vides the optimu mcomp romise
be twe entractio nand stability. Fur ther infor-
ma tionab ou tESP ®
(Y page 66).
i Sel
ect thisdri ve pro gramfor diffi cul troa d
cond itions, e.g. snow andiceorwe troa d
su rfa ces .
Dri veprog ramS(S port)
Driv epro gramSis cha racteri zedbythe follow-
ing :
R the vehicleexh ibits spo rtydriving character-
is tics .
R the vehiclepu lls aw ay infirst gear.
R the automa tictransmi ssion shifts uplater.
The fuel cons umption possi blybe ing highe r
as ares ultof the later automa tictransmi s-
si on shiftpo ints .
R the suspe nsion exh ibits firm dampi ngset-
ting s. Au
tomati ctrans mission
139Dr ivi ng andparki ng Z