display MERCEDES-BENZ S CLASS 2007 Owners Manual

389 Controls in detail
Driving systems
Displaying the distance graphic
In the “Assistance” menu under “Distance
display” you see the current settings for
DISTRONIC Plus. The information shown in
the multifunction display depends on
whether DISTRONIC Plus is activated or
deactivated.
Press ( or & to select the
“Assistance” menu.

Press % or $ to select the
“Distance display” function.

Press #.
The DISTRONIC Plus distance graphic
appears and you will see one of the fol-
lowing displays on the multifunction
display.DISTRONIC Plus activated
When you turn DISTRONIC Plus on, you will
see the set speed in the multifunction dis-
play for about 5 seconds. You then see the
following display in the multifunction dis-
play.
1DISTRONIC Plus activated
2Your vehicle
3Preset distance threshold to vehicle
ahead
4Vehicle ahead, if detectedDISTRONIC Plus deactivated
If DISTRONIC Plus is deactivated, the stan-
dard display of DISTRONIC Plus appears in
the multifunction display.
1Symbol for activated distance warning
function
2Vehicle ahead, if detected
3Actual distance to vehicle ahead
4Preset distance threshold to vehicle
ahead
5Your vehicle
i
For activating or deactivating the DISTRON-
IC Plus system, see “Activating
DISTRONIC Plus” (
page 390) or “Activating
DISTRONIC Plus” (page 395).
For activating or deactivating the distance warn-
ing function, see “Distance warning function*
activating/deactivating” (
page 252).

390 Controls in detailDriving systemsDISTRONIC Plus lever
The DISTRONIC Plus system is operated by
means of the DISTRONIC Plus lever.
1Setting current or higher speed
Adjustment in 1 mph or 5 mph
increments (Canada: 1 km/h or
10 km/h)
2Setting current or lower speed
Adjustment in 1 mph or 5 mph
increments (Canada: 1 km/h or
10 km/h)
3Canceling DISTRONIC Plus
4Activating DISTRONIC Plus or resum-
ing to last set speed
5Setting target distanceActivating DISTRONIC PlusYou can activate DISTRONIC Plus when:


you are driving slower than 20 mph
(30 km/h) and DISTRONIC Plus has
detected a vehicle ahead of you


you are driving above 20 mph
(30 km/h)
If DISTRONIC Plus has not been activated
after pressing the DISTRONIC Plus lever,
you will see the message: “DISTRONIC
PLUS Off” in the multifunction display.
In the following cases you cannot activate
DISTRONIC Plus:


up to 2 minutes after starting the en-
gine


if the engine is switched off


if you step on the brake pedal while
driving


the vehicle is secured with the electric
parking brake
Warning!
G
When DISTRONIC Plus is braking, the brake
pedal is retracted (i.e. depressed automati-
cally). The pedals’ range of motion must not
be impeded by any obstacles:

Do not place any objects in the footwell.


Make sure that the floor mats and car-
pets are securely in place.


Do not rest your foot underneath the
brake pedal, as it could otherwise be
trapped.
You could otherwise cause an accident and
injure yourself and others.
Warning!
G
When DISTRONIC Plus is switched on, the
vehicle can be braked. You should therefore
switch off DISTRONIC Plus if the vehicle
must be towed.
i
The maximum speed you can set is 124 mph
(200 km/h).

391 Controls in detail
Driving systems


if the gear selector lever is in
positionP, R, or N


if ESP
® is switched off


if the hood is open


if the driver’s door is open and the driv-
er has not fastened his or her seat belt


if the radar sensors are switched off
(page 256).
Switching on while driving

Tap DISTRONIC Plus lever up1 or
down2 until desired speed is set.
DISTRONIC Plus is switched on.
or

Pull DISTRONIC Plus lever briefly in di-
rection of arrow4 to call up speed
last set (
page 395).
DISTRONIC Plus is switched on.

Take your foot off the accelerator ped-
al.
Your vehicle adapts its speed to the ve-
hicle ahead, observing the set speed as
a maximum value.
Switching on when approaching a sta-
tionary vehicle
If the vehicle in front of you is stationary,
you can only switch on DISTRONIC Plus if
your vehicle is also at a standstill.

Tap DISTRONIC Plus lever up1 or
down2 until desired speed is set.
DISTRONIC Plus is switched on.
or

Pull DISTRONIC Plus lever briefly in di-
rection of arrow4 to call up speed
last set (
page 395).
DISTRONIC Plus is switched on.
i
Under 20 mph (30 km/h), you can only
switch on DISTRONIC Plus if the vehicle ahead of
you has been detected and is shown on the mul-
tifunction display. If you no longer see the vehi-
cle in front of you on the multifunction display
and if it is no longer detected because it has
changed lanes, for example, DISTRONIC Plus
switches off and you will hear a signal.
i
If you do not completely lift your foot off the
accelerator pedal, the message“DISTRONIC
PLUS passive” appears on the multifunction dis-
play. The distance to a slower-driving vehicle will
not be set. You will drive at the speed you dictate
by pressing the accelerator pedal.
i
It is helpful to switch on the DISTRONIC Plus
display in the instrument cluster since you can
only switch on DISTRONIC Plus under a speed of
20 mph (30 km/h) when a vehicle has been de-
tected in front of you.
i
You can adjust the set speed using the
DISTRONIC Plus lever and the target distance
using the distance setting switch on the
DISTRONIC Plus lever (
page 396).
i
The distance warning function will still issue
warnings even when DISTRONIC Plus is switched
off if you have activated it on using the instru-
ment cluster control system (
page 252).

393 Controls in detail
Driving systems
Once DISTRONIC Plus has stopped your
vehicle and it is at a standstill, it remains
stationary; the brake pedal does not need
to be depressed.
Setting the current speed
Accelerate or decelerate to the desired
speed.

Briefly lift the DISTRONIC Plus lever in
the direction of arrow1 or depress in
the direction of arrow2.
DISTRONIC Plus is activated and the
current speed is set.

Remove your foot from the accelerator
pedal.Setting a higher speed
You can increase the set speed in two stag-
es.
Adjustment in 1 mph (Canada: 1 km/h)
increments

Briefly lift the DISTRONIC Plus lever to
the resistance point in direction of
arrow1 (
page 381).

Release the DISTRONIC Plus lever.
The vehicle speed increases in incre-
ments of 1 mph (Canada: 1 km / h).
Adjustment in 5 mph
(Canada: 10 km/h) increments
i
After a short while, your vehicle is secured in
place by the electric parking brake so that the
operating brake can be relieved of load.
i
Depending on the following distance set us-
ing the distance setting switch on the DISTRON-
IC Plus lever, your vehicle will stop approx.
13.1 ft. (4 m) away from the vehicle in front of
you.
i
If you do not take your foot off of the accel-
erator completely, the following message will ap-
pear in the multifunction display:
DISTRONIC PLUS passive
The distance to a slower moving vehicle in front
of you will not be set. Your vehicle speed will
then be determined only by the accelerator ped-
al position.
i
The set speed value is increased in 1 mph
(Canada: 1 km/h) increments each time you lift
the DISTRONIC Plus lever to the resistance
point.
Warning!
G
You can increase the vehicle speed in 5 mph
(Canada 10 km/h) increments. When using
this feature, keep in mind that it may take a
brief moment until the vehicle has reached
the set speed.
Increase the vehicle speed to a value that
the prevailing road conditions permit. Other-
wise, sudden and unexpected acceleration
of the vehicle could cause an accident
and/or serious injury to you and others.i
The set value is increased in 5 mph
(Canada: 10 km/h) increments each time you lift
the DISTRONIC Plus lever past the resistance
point.


395 Controls in detail
Driving systems
Setting to last stored speed (“Resume”
function)
Briefly pull the DISTRONIC Plus lever in
the direction of arrow4 (
page 390).
DISTRONIC Plus is set to the last
stored speed.
DISTRONIC Plus resumes the last set
speed or if no speed is stored, it will set
and store the current speed.

Remove your foot from the accelerator
pedal.Deactivating DISTRONIC Plus
There are several ways to deactivate the
DISTRONIC Plus system:

Briefly tip the DISTRONIC Plus lever in
the direction of arrow3 (
page 390).
or

Step on the brake pedal.
DISTRONIC Plus will be deactivated.
The last speed set will be stored into
memory.
If the vehicle has been stopped by DIS-
TRONIC Plus and a malfunction occurs in
the system, the message “Brake immedi-
ately” will appear on the multifunction dis-
play. Step on the brake immediately to
prevent the vehicle from rolling. DISTRON-
IC Plus is then switched off and the mes-
sage disappears.
Warning!
G
The speed stored in memory should only be
set again if prevailing road conditions per-
mit. Possible acceleration or deceleration
differences arising from returning to preset
speed could cause an accident and/or seri-
ous injury you and others.i
Upon switching off the engine, the last
stored speed is deleted.
i
The following message will appear in the
multifunction display for approximately
5 seconds:
DISTRONIC PLUS Off
The last stored speed is deleted when you turn
off the engine.
i
DISTRONIC Plus deactivates automatically
when:


the vehicle is secured with the electric park-
ing brake


the vehicle speed is below 20 mph
(30 km/h) and no preceding vehicle is de-
tected


the ESP
® is in operation or switched off with
the ESP® switch (
page 73)


you set the automatic transmission toP, R,
or N while driving


the radar sensors are switched off
(page 256).
The segments in the multifunction display go out,
an acoustic warning sounds, and the message
“DISTRONIC PLUS Off” appears in the multifunc-
tion display for approximately 5 seconds.

396 Controls in detailDriving systems
Setting the following distance in
DISTRONIC Plus
You can set the specified following dis-
tance for DISTRONIC Plus by varying the
time setting between 1.0 and 2.0 seconds.
Using this time setting and the current set
speed of your vehicle, DISTRONIC Plus cal-
culates and sets the required following dis-
tance to the vehicle ahead. The set
distance will be shown in the multifunction
display.The distance setting switch for the target
distance is located on the DISTRONIC Plus
lever.
1Distance setting switch for target dis-
tance
2To increase target distance
3To decrease target distance
Increasing distance
Increasing the distance setting causes
DISTRONIC Plus to maintain a greater fol-
lowing distance to the vehicle ahead.

Move distance setting switch 1 in di-
rection 2.
Warning!
G
DISTRONIC Plus switches off and releases
the brakes when the vehicle decelerates be-
low the minimum speed of 20 mph
(30 km / h) by operation of the system un-
less DISTRONIC Plus detects a vehicle di-
rectly ahead of you. At that time the driver
must apply the brakes in order to reduce ve-
hicle speed further or bring it to a stop.!
Setting the automatic transmission toN
while driving cancels the DISTRONIC Plus. How-
ever, the automatic transmission should not be
set toN while driving except to coast when the
vehicle is in danger of skidding (e.g. on icy
roads).
i
Depressing the accelerator pedal does not
deactivate DISTRONIC Plus. After brief accelera-
tion (e.g. for passing), DISTRONIC Plus will re-
sume the last speed set.
Warning!
G
It is up to the driver to exercise discretion to
select the appropriate setting given road
conditions, traffic, driver’s preferred driving
style and applicable laws and driving recom-
mendations for safe following distance.

397 Controls in detail
Driving systems
Decreasing distance
Decreasing the distance setting causes
DISTRONIC Plus to maintain a shorter fol-
lowing distance to the vehicle ahead.
Move distance setting switch 1 in di-
rection 3.
Distance warning function
When DISTRONIC Plus is deactivated, this
function will continue to warn you when
recognizing a slower vehicle moving in
your vehicle’s path or a stationary object in
your vehicle’s path and the danger of a col-
lision exists:


The distance warning lampl in the
instrument cluster comes on.


An intermittent warning sounds.
If these warnings are issued, you must
brake manually to maintain a safe distance
and avoid a collision with the vehicle or
stationary object ahead.When pressing the brake pedal, the warn-
ing sound stops. The warning sound also
stops when the distance to the vehicle
ahead is sufficient again without applying
the brake pedal. In this case the distance
warning lampl also goes out.Activating and deactivating
The distance warning function can be acti-
vated or deactivated using the instrument
cluster control system (
page 252).
After the function has been activated,
: appears on the left-hand side of the
multifunction display.
Driving with DISTRONIC Plus
This section describes a number of driving
situations where special precaution is re-
quired on the part of the driver. Be pre-
pared to brake in such situations which will
deactivate the DISTRONIC Plus system.
Warning!
G
If the DISTRONIC Plus warning lampl in
the instrument cluster comes on while driv-
ing and/or an intermittent warning sounds,
immediate attention on the part of the driver
is required. As required by the traffic situa-
tion, apply the brakes and navigate around a
possible obstacle. However, do not drive by
relying on the distance warning function, as
this will result in an emergency braking ap-
plication. Especially depending on road sur-
face conditions and driver reaction, this will
not always enable you to avoid a collision.
Warning!
G
DISTRONIC Plus works to maintain the
speed selected by the driver unless a mov-
ing obstacle proceeding directly ahead of it
in the same travel direction is detected (e.g.
following another vehicle ahead of you at a
distance set by DISTRONIC Plus).


398 Controls in detailDriving systems
The most likely cause for a malfunctioning
system is a dirty sensor (located behind
the hood grille), especially at times of snow
and ice or heavy rain. In such a case,
DISTRONIC Plus will switch off, and the
message:
DISTRONIC PLUS
currently unavailable
See Oper. Manual
appears in the multifunction display.
For cleaning and care of the
DISTRONIC Plus sensor, see “Cleaning the
DISTRONIC Plus* system sensor cover”
(page 537).Another cause might be that the radar sen-
sors have been manually switched off in
the instrument cluster control system.
Please verify that the radar sensors are
switched on (
page 256).
This means that:

Your vehicle can pass another vehicle
after you change lanes.


While in a sharp turn or if the vehicle in
front is in a sharp turn, DISTRONIC Plus
could lose sight of a vehicle traveling in
front of it, then your vehicle could accel-
erate to the previously selected speed.
DISTRONIC Plus regulates only the distance
between your vehicle and those directly
ahead of it. It may not register stationary ob-
jects in the road, e.g.:


a stopped vehicle in a traffic jam


a disabled vehicle


an oncoming vehicle
The driver must always be on the alert, ob-
serve all traffic and intercede as required by
steering or braking the vehicle.
Warning!
G
DISTRONIC Plus should not be used in
snowy or icy road conditions.
i
If the message:
DISTRONIC PLUS
currently unavailable
See Oper. Manual
disappears during driving and the last speed
stored flashes for approximately 5 seconds, the
dirt (e.g. slush) has dissolved; DISTRONIC Plus is
again operational.


402 Controls in detailDriving systemsThe Airmatic button with the indicator
lamp is located on the control panel on the
right-hand side of the instrument cluster.
1Vehicle level control switch
2Indicator lamp

Start the engine.

Briefly press switch1 to change from
one level setting to the other.
The message:
Vehicle rising
appears in the multifunction display
when changing from normal level to
raised level.
The indicator lamp2 is then lit. The
display switches off when the vehicle is
raised.

Press switch1 again to lower the ve-
hicle. The indicator lamp2 is off.Suspension tuning
The Adaptive Damping System (ADS) auto-
matically tunes shock absorbers and
springs.
The program mode selector switch (S/C)
(
page 374) is used to adjust the suspen-
sion tuning:
In addition, suspension characteristics in
both driving programs (S/C) depend on:


your driving style


road surface conditions


the vehicle loading
Warning!
G
To help avoid personal injury, keep hands
and feet away from wheel housing area, and
stay away from under the vehicle when low-
ering the vehicle chassis.
i
The selected vehicle level setting remains
stored in memory even if the engine is turned off
and restarted except when you


exceed a speed of 75 mph (120 km/h)
or


maintain a speed of between 50 mph
(80 km/h) and 75 mph (120 km/h) for more
than 3 minutes
The vehicle then lowers to regular level.
Driving program
Suspension tuning
CComfort
Comfortable
(default setting)
SStandard
Standard
for dynamic driving

413 Controls in detail
Driving systems
Dynamic Rear View Monitor*
The Dynamic Rear View Monitor is an elec-
tronic and visual parking aid. It shows you
the area behind the vehicle on the
COMAND display.
In addition, the Dynamic Rear View Moni-
tor contains guide lines to help you with re-
verse parking (back-in parking) and
parallel parking.
The area behind the vehicle is displayed as
a reverse-mirror image similar to the view
in a rear-view mirror.The Dynamic Rear View Monitor is in the
handle strip of the trunk lid.
1Dynamic Rear View Monitor
View through the camera
i
The image from the Dynamic Rear View
Monitor is shown on the COMAND display
(
page 31).
Warning!
G
Please note that objects which do not touch
the ground, such as the bumper of a vehicle
parked behind you, a trailer hitch, or the
back of a truck, may appear to be further
away than they actually are. In this case, you
should not use the guide lines to judge dis-
tance. The use of the guide lines to judge
distance increases the risk of impacting the
objects.