MERCEDES-BENZ E WAGON 2005 S211 Repair Manual

60 Getting startedParking and locking1Lock button on the door handle

After exiting the vehicle, press lock
button1 on the door handle or on the
tailgate.

All turn signal lamps flash three
times.


An acoustic signal sounds three
times (if equipped and feature acti-
vated).
For more information, see “Factory
setting” (
page 110).


The locking knobs in the doors
move down.


The anti-theft alarm system is
armed.For more information, see the “Controls in
detail” section (
page 107).
Warning!
G
When leaving the vehicle, always take the
SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO* with you, and
lock the vehicle. Do not leave children unat-
tended in the vehicle, or with access to an
unlocked vehicle. Unsupervised use of vehi-
cle equipment may cause an accident
and/or serious personal injury.


61 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Panic alarm
Driving safety systems
Anti-theft systems

62 Safety and SecurityOccupant safetyIn this section you will learn the most
important facts about the restraint system
components of the vehicle.

Seat belts (
page 69)


Child restraints (
page 73)


Lower anchors and tethers for children
(LATCH) (
page 83)
Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) with


Air bags (
page 63)


Air bag control unit (with crash
sensors)


Emergency tensioning device (ETD) for
seat belts (
page 72)Air bag system components with


75indicator lamp
(page 80)


Front passenger seat with Occupant
Classification System (OCS)
(page 76)
As independent systems, their protective
functions work in conjunction with each
other. The SRS system conducts a self-test when
the ignition is switched on and in regular
intervals while the engine is running. This
facilitates early detection of malfunctions.
The
1
indicator lamp in the instrument
cluster lights up when the ignition is
switched on and goes out no later than a
few seconds after the engine has been
started.
The SRS components are in operational
readiness if the
1
indicator lamp is not
lit when the engine is running.
A malfunction in the system has been
detected if the
1
indicator lamp:


fails to go out after approximately
four seconds after the engine was
started


does not come on at all


comes on after the engine was started
or while driving
iFor information on infants and children
traveling with you in the vehicle and
restraint systems for infants and chil-
dren, see “Children in the vehicle”
(page 73).

63 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Air bags
Warning!
G
In the event that the 1 indicator lamp
comes on during driving or does not come
on at all, the SRS self-check has detected a
malfunction. For your safety, we strongly
recommend that you visit an authorized
Mercedes-Benz Center immediately to have
the system checked; otherwise the SRS may
not be activated when needed in an acci-
dent, which could result in serious or fatal
injury, or it might deploy unexpectedly and
unnecessarily which could also result in
injury.
In addition, improper repair work on the SRS
creates a risk of rendering the SRS inopera-
tive or causing unintended air bag deploy-
ment. Work on the SRS must therefore only
be performed by qualified technicians. Con-
tact an authorized Mercedes-Benz Center.
If it is necessary to modify an air bag system
to accommodate a person with disabilities,
contact a local authorized Mercedes-Benz
Center or call our Customer Assistance Cen-
ter at 1-800-FOR-MERCedes
(1-800-367-6372) for details.
Warning!
G
Air bags are designed to reduce the poten-
tial of injury and fatality in certain frontal im-
pacts (front air bags), side impacts (side
impact air bags and head protection window
curtain air bags) or rollovers (head protec-
tion window curtain air bags). However, no
system available today can totally eliminate
injuries and fatalities.
The deployment of the air bags temporarily
releases a small amount of dust from the air
bags. This dust, however, is neither injurious
to your health, nor does it indicate a fire in
the vehicle. The dust might cause some tem-
porary 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.

64 Safety and SecurityOccupant safetyWarning!
G
To reduce the risk of injury when the front
air bags inflate, it is very important for the
driver and front passenger to always be in a
properly seated position and to wear their
respective seat belts.
For maximum protection in the event of a
collision always be in normal seated position
with your back against the backrest. Fasten
your seat belt and make sure that it is prop-
erly positioned on your body.
Since the air bag inflates with considerable
speed and force, a proper seating and hands
on steering wheel position will help to keep
you at a safe distance from the air bag.
Occupants who are unbelted, out of position
or too close to the air bag can be seriously
injured by an air bag as it inflates with great
force in the blink of an eye:

Sit properly belted in a nearly upright
position with your back against the seat
backrest.


Adjust the driver seat as far as possible
rearward, still permitting proper opera-
tion of vehicle controls. The distance
from the center of the driver’s breast-
bone to the center of the air bag cover
on the steering wheel must be at least
10 in (25 cm) or more. You should be
able to accomplish this by a combina-
tion of adjustments to the seat and
steering wheel. If you have any prob-
lems, please see your authorized
Mercedes-Benz Center.


Do not lean your head or chest close to
the steering wheel or dashboard.


Keep hands on the outside of steering
wheel rim. Placing hands and arms
inside the rim can increase the risk and
potential severity of hand/arm injury
when driver front air bag inflates.


Adjust the front passenger seat as far as
possible rearward from the dashboard
when the seat is occupied.


Occupants, especially children, should
never place their bodies or lean their
heads in the area of the door where the
side impact air bag inflates. This could
result in serious injuries or death should
the air bag be triggered. Always sit near-
ly upright, properly use the seat belts
and use an appropriately sized infant or
toddler restraint or booster seat recom-
mended for the size and weight of the
child.
Failure to follow these instructions can
result in severe injuries to you or other occu-
pants.
If you sell your vehicle, it is important that
you make the buyer aware of this safety in-
formation. Be sure to give the buyer this
Operator’s Manual.

65 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Warning!
G
Accident research shows that the safest
place for children in an automobile is in the
rear seat.
It should be noted that with respect to both
front and rear side impact air bags there is a
possibility for a side impact air bag related
injury if occupants, especially children, are
not properly seated or restrained when next
to a side impact air bag which needs to de-
ploy 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
side impact air bag inflates. This could
result in serious injuries or death should
the side impact air bag be deployed.
(2) Always sit nearly upright, properly use
the seat belts and for children 12 years
old and under, use an appropriately
sized infant or toddler restraint or boost-
er 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
rear seat occupants to have the rear mount-
ed side impact air bags deactivated, then
deactivation can be accomplished upon
your written request to do so at your autho-
rized Mercedes-Benz Center at an additional
cost.
Please contact your local authorized
Mercedes-Benz Center or call our Customer
Assistance Center at 1-800-FOR-MERCedes
(1-800-367-6372) for details.
iAir bags are designed to deploy only in
certain frontal impacts (front air bags),
side impacts (side impact and head
protection window curtain air bags)
which exceed preset thresholds and in
certain rollovers (head protection win-
dow curtain air bags). Only during
these events will they provide their
supplemental protection.
The driver and passengers should al-
ways wear their seat belts. Otherwise it
is not possible for air bags to provide
their supplemental protection.

66 Safety and SecurityOccupant safety
Safety guidelines for the seat belt,
emergency tensioning device and air
bag In case of other types of impacts and
impacts below air bag deployment
thresholds, air bags will not be de-
ployed. The driver and passenger will
then be protected to the extent possi-
ble by a properly fastened seat belt. A
properly fastened seat belt is also
needed to provide the best possible
protection in a rollover.
We caution you not to rely on the pres-
ence of the air bags in order to avoid
wearing your seat belt.
It is important to your safety and that of
your passengers that you replace de-
ployed air bags and repair any malfunc-
tioning air bags to make sure that the
vehicle will continue to provide supple-
mental crash protection for occupants.Warning!
G


Damaged seat belts or belts that were
highly stressed in an accident must be
replaced and their anchoring points
must also be checked. Use only belts
installed or supplied by an authorized
Mercedes-Benz Center.


Air bags and emergency tensioning de-
vices (ETDs) are designed to function on
a one-time-only basis. An air bag or ETD
that was activated must be replaced.


Do not pass belts over sharp edges.
They could tear.


Do not make any modification that could
change the effectiveness of the belts.


Do not bleach or dye seat belts as this
may severely weaken them. In a crash
they may not be able to provide ade-
quate protection.


No modifications of any kind may be
made to any components or wiring of
the SRS. This includes changing or re-
moving any component or part of the
SRS, the installation of additional trim
material, badges etc. over the steering
wheel hub, passenger front air bag cov-
er, door trim panels, or door frame
trims, and installation of additional elec-
trical/electronic equipment on or near
SRS components and wiring. Keep area
between air bags and occupants free
from objects (e.g. packages, purses,
umbrellas, etc.).


Do not hang items such as coat hangers
from the coat hooks or handles over the
door. These items may turn into projec-
tiles and cause head and other injuries
when curtain air bag is deployed.


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.


Air bag system components will be hot
after an air bag has inflated. Do not
touch.

67 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
When you sell your vehicle we strongly
urge you to give notice to the subsequent
owner that it is equipped with an SRS by
alerting them to the applicable section in
the Operator’s Manual.Front air bags
1Driver’s air bag
2Passenger air bag
Driver and front passenger air bags are de-
ployed:


in the event of certain frontal impacts


if impact exceeds a preset deployment
threshold


independently of the side impact air
bags


In addition, 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.


For your protection and the protection
of others, when scrapping the air bag
unit or emergency tensioning device,
our safety instructions must be fol-
lowed. These instructions are available
from your authorized Mercedes-Benz
Center.


Given the considerable deployment
speed, required inflation volume, and
the textile structure of the air bags,
there is the possibility of abrasions or
other more significant injuries resulting
from air bag deployment.
Warning!
G
Only use seat covers which have been test-
ed and approved by Mercedes-Benz for your
vehicle model. Using other seat covers may
interfere with or prevent the deployment of
the front side impact air bags. Contact your
authorized Mercedes-Benz Center for avail-
ability.

68 Safety and SecurityOccupant safety
The air bags will not deploy in impacts
which do not exceed the system’s deploy-
ment thresholds. You will then be protect-
ed by the fastened seat belts.
The passenger front air bag will only be
deployed if:

the system, based on OCS weight sen-
sor readings, senses that the front pas-
senger seat is occupied


the 75indicator lamp in the
center console is not lit (
page 80)


the impact exceeds a preset deploy-
ment thresholdSide impact air bags, window curtain
air bags
1Side impact air bags
2Window curtain air bag
The side impact air bags and window
curtain air bags are deployed:


on the impacted side of the vehicle


in impacts exceeding a preset deploy-
ment threshold


independently of the front air bags
iThe front air bags in this vehicle have
been designed to inflate in two stages.
This allows the air bag to have different
rates of inflation that are based on the
rate of relevant vehicle deceleration as
assessed by the air bag control unit.
On the front passenger side, the front
air bag deployment is additionally influ-
enced by the passenger’s weight cate-
gory as identified by the Occupant
Classification System (OCS)
(page 76).
The lighter the front passenger side oc-
cupant, the higher the vehicle deceler-
ation rate required for the second
stage inflation of the air bag.

69 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
In addition, the window curtain air bags 2
are deployed:

in certain vehicle rollovers
The side impact air bags and window cur-
tain air bags are not deployed in impacts
which do not exceed the system’s deploy-
ment threshold.
Seat belts
When the engine is started the seat belt
telltale< illuminates for approximately
six seconds. A warning chime sounds to
remind you to fasten your seat belt.
If after these six seconds, the driver’s or
the front passenger’s seat belt (with the
front passenger seat occupied) are not fas-
tened with all doors closed,


and the vehicle speed does not exceed
15 mph (25 km/h), the seat belt tell-
tale < remains illuminated for as
long as either the driver’s or front pas-
senger’s seat belt are not fastened.


and the vehicle speed exceeds 15 mph
(25 km/h), the seat belt telltale <
starts flashing and a warning chime
sounds with increasing intensity until
both the driver’s and front passenger’s
seat belt are fastened, or for a maxi-
mum of 60 seconds from the time the
vehicle speed exceeded 15 mph
(25 km/h) if either the driver’s or front
passenger’s seat belt remains unfas-
tened.
If the driver’s or front passenger’s seat
belt remains unfastened after
60 seconds, the seat belt telltale<
stops flashing and the warning chime
stops sounding. The seat belt
telltale< then continues to be illu-
minated for as long as either the driv-
er’s or front passenger’s seat belt are
not fastened.The seat belt telltale < will only go out
if both the driver’s and front passenger’s
seat belt (with the front passenger seat oc-
cupied) are fastened, or the vehicle is
standing still and a front door is opened.
For more information, see “Practical hints”
(
page 357).
The use of seat belts and infant and child
restraint systems is required by law in all
50 states, the District of Columbia, the
U.S. territories and all Canadian provinces.
Even where this is not the case, all vehicle
occupants should have their seat belts fas-
tened whenever the vehicle is in motion.
For more information, see “Fastening the
seat belts” (
page 44).