Control unit MERCEDES-BENZ C-Class 2003 W203 Comand Manual
Page 3 of 225
Welcome to COMAND!
Please make yourself familiar with your 
COMAND control unit and read the instruc-
tions in this manual before operating the 
COMAND system. This will help you derive 
a greater benefit from the system. Please 
also follow the instructions and warnings 
contained in this manual. Ignoring them 
could result in damage to the vehicle or 
personal injury to you or others. 
Your COMAND system may have some or 
all of the equipment described in this ma-
nual. Therefore, you may find explanations 
for optional equipment not installed in your 
vehicle. If you have any questions about 
the operation of any equipment, your au-
thorized Mercedes-Benz Center will be 
glad to demonstrate the proper procedu-
res. 
We continuously strive to improve our pro-
duct and ask for your understanding that 
we reserve the right to make changes in design and equipment. Therefore, informa-
tion, illustrations and descriptions in this 
manual might differ from the equipment in-
stalled in your vehicle. As such, the infor-
mation, illustrations and descriptions 
contained in this manual may not be reaso-
nably relied upon in making any claims 
with respect to the actual performance of 
the product. 
These operating instructions form an inte-
gral part of the vehicle and should there-
fore always be kept inside the vehicle and 
passed on to the new owner if the vehicle 
is sold. 
We extend our best wishes for many miles 
of safe, pleasurable driving.
Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC
A DaimlerChrysler Company 
Page 5 of 225
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Where to find it  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Operating safety. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3At a glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
COMAND control unit  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Screen displays  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Multifunction display  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Quick reference COMAND . . . . . . . . . . 12
Switching the COMAND control unit 
on and off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Adjusting the volume  . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Radio operation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
CD operation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Telephone operation . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Entering a destination and 
calculating a route  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Selecting beeps  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Radio operation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Quick reference  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Switching on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Switching another system on . . . . . 28
Changing the Radio band . . . . . . . . 29
Selecting a station  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Memory functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Multifunction display  . . . . . . . . . . . 40
CD operation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Quick reference  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
General information on 
CD operation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Menu overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Switching on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Switching another system on . . . . . 50
Track select  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Selecting a CD  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Fast forward/reverse . . . . . . . . . . . 54
CD track scan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Naming a CD  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Playback mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Muting CD playback . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Error messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Multifunctional display . . . . . . . . . . 62
Sound settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Adjusting sound settings  . . . . . . . . 63
Telephone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Important notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Multifunction display  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Display overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Telephone operation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Quick reference  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Menu overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Switching telephone operation on  . 78
Switching telephone operation off  . 79
Incoming call. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Outgoing calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Notebook  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Editing the phone book . . . . . . . . . . 98 
Page 13 of 225
5 At a glance
COMAND control unit
Multifunction display
Quick reference COMAND 
Page 14 of 225
6 At a glanceCOMAND control unit
COMAND control unit
SYS
TELFM
AM
NAV
CDVOL-RPT
ABCJKLTUV
OPR
GHI
PQRS+
DEFMNO
WXYZ
2
1
3
5
4
6
8
7
9
0
DEL
BACK
PWR1
4
5
6
3
7
8
9
10
11
1314
2
17
18
192324
121615
202122
MAP
+Z
-ZDETR INFO
MUT
DISP
P82.85-9058-31 
Page 15 of 225
7 At a glance
COMAND control unit
/
Function
Page
1
Switching COMAND on 
and off
12
2
Switching the navigation 
system on
Quick reference
122
116
3
CD drive for an audio or a 
navigation CD
4
Zooming in for more de-
tailed map
158
5
Zooming out for less de-
tailed map
158
6
Route guidance is active:
Switching between map 
and symbol display or ac-
tivating the map
Route guidance is 
not active:
Activating the location 
map
156
149
7
Selecting a detour during 
route guidance
163
8
Requesting destination 
and route information
147
9
Muting of:
Audio source
Voice output during 
route guidance
28
153
10
Setting the display dim-
ming characteristics 
(day and night display)
198
11
Ejecting an audio or a na-
vigation CD
45
12
Radio operation:
Selecting a station
Saving stations manually
CD operation:
Selecting a track or CDs
Telephone:
Entering the unlock code 
Entering the telephone 
number
 
30
34
51, 53
78
82
Function
Page
Navigation (Destination 
input):
Selecting destination via 
the map
131
13
Subsequent dialing
Displaying a long list en-
try in full in a window
Removing a window
84
127
127
14
Subsequent dialing
84
15
From within a system:
Return to the previous 
menu
Telephone:
Ending a call
81
Function
Page 
Page 16 of 225
8 At a glanceCOMAND control unit
Function
Page
16
General:
Altering or deleting 
entries
CD operation:
Deleting a CD name
Telephone:
Altering or deleting the 
unlock code or a tele-
phone number
18
57
83
17
Turn to highlight a func-
tion or a menu field
Press to start a function 
or activate a submenu
18
Turn to adjust the volu-
me of 
Audio source
Hands-free operation 
of the telephone
Voice output during 
route guidance
Press to repeat the cur-
rent voice output
14
       
19
Radio operation:
Automatic seek tuning
Manual tuning
CD operation:
Track select
Fast forward/reverse
30
31
51
53
20
Requesting and dis-
playing Info Services
Adjusting system set-
tings
184
187
Function
Page
21
Switching radio operati-
on on 
Quick reference
Changing the radio band
28
24
29
22
Switching CD operation 
on
Quick reference
50
42
23
Switching telephone 
operation on 
Quick reference
78
74
24
Color screen, e.g. with 
main radio menu
14
Function
Page 
Page 17 of 225
9 At a glance
COMAND control unit
Screen displays include:
Main system menus, e.g. the main ra-
dio menu
Lists for the selection of entries, 
e.g. the city list (
page 19)
Input menus, e.g. during destination 
input (
page 18)
Selection menus, e.g. during route 
calculation (
page 20)
Symbol display (
page 20) or map 
(
page 132) in navigation
Pop-up windows (
page 171)Main menu structure
Main radio menu1Status line, displays active system 
2Station frequency and function that 
has been switched on
3Menu fields to call further menus or 
functions
4Symbol barStatus line and symbol bar 
Screen displays
P82.85-9059-31
1
23
4
Symbols
Status line
FM1
AM, WB
CD, TEL
NAV, SVC
SYS, AUX
Symbol bar
>
M 
Meaning
The radio is switched on in 
FM Band; the current sta-
tion has been saved in me-
mory location 1 in the FM 
preset menu
AM or Weather Band WB
The corresponding system 
is active
Reception strength of the 
mobile phone
Incoming SMS message
1
1 if available from carrier 
Page 18 of 225
10 At a glanceCOMAND control unitPop-up screen messages
Battery voltage gets low
You can still operate COMAND without the 
engine running.You will see the message “Caution. Please 
start engine. Otherwise COMAND will shut 
down in 3 minutes”.
Start the engine.
You will see the message “Caution. Please 
start engine. Otherwise COMAND will shut 
down in 10 seconds”.
Start the engine.
You will see the message “Caution. 
COMAND will shut down now”.
Start the engine.Transmitting an emergency call 
via TELE AID*
Refer to the vehicle operating instructions 
for information regarding the operation 
TELE AID emergency call system and on 
how to transmit an emergency call.
You will see the message “Tele Aid active”.
Press the right-hand rotary/push-
button v to remove the window.
COMAND will mute an audio source or one 
of the two service sources Voice output in 
navigation or Voice recognition system.
iThe symbol bar appears in all system 
main menus.
For symbol and map displays in naviga-
tion:
The symbol bar appears on the left hand 
side of the display and shows different 
symbols.!To prevent the car battery from running 
down, you will be receiving two mes-
sages asking you to start the engine 
when battery power gets low.
iIf you do not start the engine, you can 
continue using COMAND until the next 
message appears. 
Page 20 of 225
12 At a glanceQuick reference COMAND
Quick reference COMANDThe section “Quick reference COMAND” 
summarizes information regarding the 
main functions of your COMAND system. 
You should read this section with particu-
lar care if you are operating COMAND for 
the first time.
For detailed information, please refer to 
the pages indicated and the respective 
system chapters.Switching on
Press #.
The Mercedes logo and the lettering 
Mercedes-Benz will appear. The display 
then changes and an alert box will ap-
pear.COMAND switches on the last active 
system and displays the corresponding 
menu.Switching the COMAND control unit 
on and off
P82.85-9060-31
P82.85-9061-31 
Page 21 of 225
13 At a glance
Quick reference COMAND
The navigation system was the last sys-
tem used
The menu displayed will vary according to 
the last navigation function used.
If route guidance was active:
the symbol display or
the map
If route guidance was active and the 
COMAND was switched off for more than 
2hours:
an inquiry menu (
page 169)If destination input was active:
the main destination input menuSwitching another system on
Press a system key, e.g. d.
The main CD menu will appear.
Switching off
Press #.
The COMAND control unit will switch 
off.
iIf COMAND is switched off for more 
than 30 minutes during active route 
guidance, all manually entered traffic 
jams and detours are deleted. You will 
see a corresponding message. Selec-
ting a detour (
page 163).