Air MERCEDES-BENZ CLK550 COUPE 2007 C209 Owner's Guide

74 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
The 56indicator lamp is located in
the center console.
1Front passenger front air bag off
indicator lamp
The 56indicator lamp1 will be
illuminated, except with the SmartKey
removed from the starter switch or with
the starter switch in position0.Self-test Occupant Classification
System
After turning the SmartKey in the starter
switch to position1 or2 or pressing the
KEYLESS-GO* start/stop button once or
twice, the 56 indicator lamp
located in the center console illuminates. If
an adult occupant is properly sitting on the
front passenger seat and the system
senses the occupant as being an adult,
the56 indicator lamp will
illuminate and go out after
approximately 6 seconds.
If the seat is not occupied and the system
senses the front passenger seat as being
empty, the 56 indicator lamp will
illuminate and not go out.
Warning!G
If the 1indicator lamp and the
56indicator lamp are lit at the same
time, there is a malfunction in the Occupant
Classification System. The front passenger
front air bag will be deactivated in this case.
In order to ensure proper operation of the
air bag system and OCS:

Have the system checked as soon as
possible by qualified technicians.
Contact an authorized Mercedes-Benz
Center.

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

Do not lean on the armrests or lift your-
self from the seat by using the handle
over the door as this may cause the OCS
to be unable to correctly approximate
the occupant weight category.

Only have the seat repaired or replaced
by an authorized Mercedes-Benz
Center.

Read and observe all warnings in this
chapter.

75 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
More information can be found in the
“Practical hints” section (
page 366).
Seat belts
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
fastened whenever the vehicle is in
motion.
For more information, see “Fastening the
seat belts” (
page 47).
Warning!G
If the 56 indicator lamp should not
illuminate, the system is not functioning.
You must see an authorized Mercedes-Benz
Center before seating any child on the front
passenger seat.
Warning!G
Never place anything between seat cushion
and child seat (e.g. pillow), since it reduces
the effectiveness of the Occupant Classifi-
cation System. The bottom of the child seat
must make full contact with the passenger
seat cushion. An incorrectly mounted child
seat could cause injuries to the child in case
of an accident, instead of increasing protec-
tion for the child.
Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for
installation of child seats.
iFor information on infants and children trav-
eling with you in the vehicle and restraint sys-
tems for infants and children, see “Children in
the vehicle” (
page 80).
Warning!G
Always fasten your seat belt before driving
off. Always make sure all of your passengers
are properly restrained, including those sit-
ting in the rear.
Failure to wear and properly fasten and
position your seat belt greatly increases
your risk of injuries and their likely severity
in an accident. You and your passengers
should always wear seat belts.
If you are ever in an accident, your injuries
can be considerably more severe without
your seat belt properly buckled. Without
your seat belt buckled, you are much more
likely to hit the interior of the vehicle or be
ejected from it. You can be seriously injured
or killed.
In the same crash, the possibility of injury or
death is lessened if you are properly wearing
your seat belt. Air bags can only protect as
they are designed if the occupants are
properly wearing their seat belts.

76 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Warning!G
Never ride in a moving vehicle with the seat
backrest in an excessively reclined position
as this can be dangerous. You could slide
under the seat belt in a collision. If you slide
under it, the belt would apply force at the
abdomen or neck. That could cause serious
or even fatal injuries. The seat backrest and
seat belt provide the best restraint when the
wearer is in a nearly upright position and the
belt is properly positioned on the body.
Warning!G
Never let more people ride in the vehicle
than there are seat belts available. Make
sure everyone riding in the vehicle is
correctly restrained with a separate seat
belt. Never use a seat belt for more than one
person at a time.
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.
Only use seat belts which have been
approved by Mercedes-Benz.
Do not make any modifications to the seat
belts. This can lead to unintended activation
of the ETDs or to their failure to activate
when necessary.
Do not bleach or dye seat belts as this may
severely weaken them. In a crash they may
not be able to provide adequate protection.
Have all work carried out only by qualified
technicians. Contact an authorized
Mercedes-Benz Center.
Warning!G
USE SEAT BELTS PROPERLY

Seat belts can only work when used
properly. Never wear seat belts in any
other way than as described in this
section, as that could result in serious
injuries in case of an accident.

Each occupant should wear their seat
belt at all times, because seat belts help
reduce the likelihood of and potential
severity of injuries in accidents, includ-
ing rollovers. The integrated restraint
system includes SRS (driver air bag,
passenger front air bag, front side im-
pact air bags, rear side impact air bags*,
window curtain air bags for side win-
dows), ETD (seat belt emergency ten-
sioning device), and front seat knee
bolsters. The system is designed to en-
hance the protection offered to properly
belted occupants in certain frontal (front
air bags and ETD)

77 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Enhanced seat belt reminder system
When the engine is started, the seat belt
telltale< will always illuminate
for 6 seconds to remind you and your pas-
sengers to fasten your seat belts.
If the driver’s seat belt is not fastened
when the engine is started, an additional
warning chime will also sound for a maxi-
mum of 6 seconds or until the driver’ s
seat belt is fastened.
If after these 6 seconds the driver’s or the
front passenger’s seat belt (with the front
passenger seat occupied) is not fastened
with both doors closed,

the seat belt telltale< remains illu-
minated for as long as either the driv-
er’s or front passenger’s seat belt is not
fastened.

and if the vehicle speed once exceeds
15 mph (25 km/h), the seat belt
telltale< starts flashing and a
warning chime sounds with increasing
and side (front side impact air bags, rear
side impact air bags*, window curtain
air bags and ETD) impacts which exceed
preset deployment thresholds.

Never wear the shoulder belt under your
arm, against your neck or off your shoul-
der. In a frontal crash, your body would
move too far forward. That would
increase the chance of head and neck
injuries. The belt would also apply too
much force to the ribs or abdomen,
which could severely injure internal or-
gans such as your liver or spleen.

Never wear belts over rigid or breakable
objects in or on your clothing, such as
eyeglasses, pens, keys, etc., as these
might cause injuries.

Position the lap belt as low as possible
on your hips and not across the abdo-
m e n . I f t h e b e l t i s p o s i t i o n e d a c r o s s y o u r
abdomen, it could cause serious injuries
in a crash.

Never use a seat belt for more than one
person at a time. Do not fasten a seat
belt around a person and another
person or other objects.

Belts should not be worn twisted. In a
crash, you wouldn’t have the full width
of the belt to distribute impact forces.
The twisted belt against your body could
cause injuries.

Pregnant women should also always use
a lap-shoulder belt. The lap belt portion
should be positioned as low as possible
on the hips to avoid any possible
pressure on the abdomen.

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.

When using a seat belt to secure infant
or toddler restraints or children in
booster seats, always follow the child
seat manufacturer’s instructions.

82 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Warning!G
According to accident statistics, children
are safer when properly restrained in the
rear seating positions than in the front seat-
ing position. Thus, we strongly recommend
that children be placed in the rear seats
whenever possible. Regardless of seating
position, children 12 years old and under
must be seated and properly secured in an
appropriate infant or child restraint recom-
mended for the size and weight of the child.
The infant or child restraint must be properly
secured with the vehicle’s seat belt, the seat
belt and top tether strap, or lower anchors
and top tether strap, fully in accordance
with the child seat manufacturer’s instruc-
tions.
Occupants, especially children, should nev-
er place their bodies or lean their heads in
the area of the door or the rear side trim
panel where the front side impact air bag
and/or the rear side impact air bag* in-
flates. This could result in serious injuries or
death should the air bag be triggered. Al-
ways sit nearly upright, properly use the
seat belts and use an appropriately sized in-
fant or toddler restraint or booster seat rec-
ommended for the size and weight of the
child.
Children can be killed or seriously injured by
an inflating air bag. Note the following
important information when circumstances
require you to place a child in the front
passenger seat:

Your vehicle is equipped with air bag
technology designed to turn off the front
passenger front air bag in your vehicle
when the OCS senses the weight of a
typical 12-month-old child or less along
with the weight of a standard
appropriate child restraint on the front
passenger seat.

A child in a rear-facing child restraint on
the front passenger seat will be
seriously injured or even killed if the
front passenger front air bag inflates in
a collision which could occur under
some circumstances, even with the
air bag technology installed in your vehi-
cle. The only means to completely elim-
inate this risk is to never place a child in
a rear-facing child restraint in the front
seat. We therefore strongly recommend
that you always place a child in a
rear-facing child restraint in the back
seat.

If you must install a rear-facing child
restraint on the front passenger seat
because circumstances require you to
do so, make sure that the
56indicator lamp is illuminated,
indicating that the front passenger front
air bag is deactivated. Should the
56 indicator lamp not illuminate
or go out while the restraint is installed,
please check installation. Periodically
check the 56 indicator lamp
while driving to make sure the
56indicator lamp is illuminated.
If the 56 indicator lamp goes out
or remains out,

83 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
do not transport a child on the front pas-
senger seat until the system has been
repaired. A child in a rear-facing child re-
straint on the front passenger seat will
be seriously injured or even killed if the
front passenger front air bag inflates.

If you have to place a child in a
forward-facing child restraint on the
front passenger seat, move the seat as
far back as possible, use the proper
child restraint recommended for the
age, size and weight of the child, and
secure child restraint with the vehicle’s
seat belt according to the child seat
manufacturer’s instructions. For
children larger than the typical
12-month-old child, the front passenger
front air bag may or may not be
activated (
page 71).
Warning!G
Infants and small children should never
share a seat belt with another occupant.
During an accident, they could be crushed
between the occupant and seat belt.
A child’s risk of serious or fatal injuries is
significantly increased if the child restraints
are not properly secured in the vehicle
and/or the child is not properly secured in
the child restraint.
Children too big for a toddler restraint must
ride in seats using regular seat belts. Posi-
tion shoulder belt across chest and shoul-
der, not face or neck. A booster seat may be
necessary to achieve proper belt positioning
for children over 41 lbs until they reach a
height where a lap/shoulder belt fits
properly without a booster.
When the child restraint is not in use,
remove it from the vehicle or secure it with
the seat belt to prevent the child restraint
from becoming a projectile in the event of
an accident.
Do not leave children unattended in the
vehicle, even if the children are secured in a
child restraint system. Unsupervised
children in a child restraint system may use
vehicle equipment and may cause an
accident and/or serious personal injury.

103 Controls in detail
Locking and unlocking
Important notes on using KEYLESS-GO*

You can also use the SmartKey with
KEYLESS-GO like a normal SmartKey
(
page 98).

You can combine KEYLESS-GO func-
tions with normal SmartKey functions
(e.g. unlocking with KEYLESS-GO and
locking with the‹button).

Always carry the SmartKey with
KEYLESS-GO with you.

Never store the SmartKey with
KEYLESS-GO together with:

Electronic items such as a cellular
phone or another SmartKey with
KEYLESS-GO.

Metallic objects such as coins or
metal foil.
Doing so could impair the function of
the KEYLESS-GO system.

To lock or unlock the vehicle, the
SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO must be
located outside the vehicle within ap-
proximately 3 ft (1 m) of the door to be
opened or the trunk lid.

In order to start the engine with the
SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO:

The SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO
must be located in the vehicle.

All doors must be closed.

The brake pedal must be firmly de-
pressed. Do not depress the accel-
erator.

If the SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO is
positioned farther away from the vehi-
cle, the system may no longer recog-
nize the SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO.
The vehicle then cannot be locked or
the engine started via the KEYLESS-GO
system.

If the SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO is re-
moved from the vehicle (e.g. if passen-
ger exits the vehicle with the SmartKey
with KEYLESS-GO).
iYou can also open and close the windows
(
page 245) and the tilt/sliding sunroof*
(
page 251) using the SmartKey with
KEYLESS-GO.
!If you can no longer lock or unlock the vehi-
cle with the SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO, then
the batteries in the SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO
are discharged, the SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO
is malfunctioning or the vehicle battery is
drained.

Check the batteries in the SmartKey with
KEYLESS-GO (
page 107) and replace
them if necessary (
page 404).

Use the mechanical key to unlock the driv-
er’s door (
page 399) and the trunk
(
page 400).

Use the mechanical key to lock the driver’s
door (
page 400) and the trunk
(
page 117).

Have the vehicle battery and the battery con-
nections checked (
page 421).
If the SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO is malfunc-
tioning, contact an authorized Mercedes-Benz
Center.

123 Controls in detail
Seats
Removing rear seat head restraints
Fold back head restraint (page 121).
Pull head restraint to its highest
position.
Push release button1 and pull out
head restraint.
Installing rear head restraints
Insert head restraint and push it down
until it engages.
Push release button1 and adjust
head restraint to desired position.
Multicontour seat*
The multicontour seat has a movable seat
cushion and inflatable air cushions built
into the backrest to provide additional
lumbar and side support.
The seat cushion movement, backrest
cushion height and curvature can be
continuously varied with switches on the
side of the seat after switching on ignition.
1Seat cushion depth
2Backrest bottom
3Backrest center
4Side bolster adjustment
Switch on ignition (page 38).Seat cushion depth
Adjust the seat cushion depth to the
length of your upper leg using
switch1.
Backrest contour
Adjust the contour of the backrest to
the desired position using switches2
and3.
Backrest side bolsters
Adjust the backrest side bolsters so
that they provide good lateral support
using switch4.
iAdjust the head restraint in such a way that
it is as close to the head as possible.
iIf, after a period of time, the seat no longer
provides the desired contour, then repeat the ad-
justment procedure.

126 Controls in detail
Memory function
Prior to operating the vehicle, the driver
should check and adjust the seat height,
seat position fore and aft, and seat back-
rest angle if necessary, to ensure adequate
control, reach and comfort. The head
restraint should also be adjusted for
proper height. See also the section on
air bags (
page 65) for proper seat
positioning.
In addition, adjust the steering wheel to
ensure adequate control, reach, operation
and comfort. Both the interior and exterior
rear view mirrors should be adjusted for
adequate rear vision.
Fasten seat belts. Infants and small chil-
dren should be seated in a properly se-
cured restraint system that complies with
U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standards 213 and 225 and
Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards
213 and 210.2.The following settings are stored when
using the buttons on the driver’s door:

Driver’s seat, backrest and head
restraint position

Steering wheel position

Exterior rear view mirror position
The following settings are stored when
using the buttons on the passenger door:

Front passenger seat, backrest and
head restraint positionThe memory button and memory position
switch are located on the door.
1Memory button
2Memory position switch
Switch on the ignition (page 38).
or
Open the respective door and insert
the SmartKey in the starter switch.
Warning!G
Do not activate the memory function while
driving. Activating the memory function
while driving could cause the driver to lose
control of the vehicle.

135 Controls in detail
Lighting
Hazard warning flasher
The hazard warning flasher can be
switched on at all times, even with the
SmartKey removed from the starter switch
or with the SmartKey with KEYLESS-GO*
removed from the vehicle.
The hazard warning flasher switches on
automatically when an air bag deploys.
The hazard warning flasher switch is
located on the center console.
1Hazard warning flasher switchSwitching on hazard warning flasher
Press hazard warning flasher
switch1.
All turn signal lamps are flashing.Switching off hazard warning flasherPress hazard warning flasher switch1
again.
iWith the hazard warning flasher activated
and the combination switch set for either left or
right turn, only the respective left or right turn
signals will operate when the ignition is switched
on (
page 38).
iIf the hazard warning flasher has been
activated automatically, press hazard warning
flasher switch1 once to switch it off.