Air suspension MERCEDES-BENZ E500 2004 W211 Owner's Manual

226 Controls in detailDriving systemsAirmatic DC (Dual Control)*
Airmatic automatically selects the opti-
mum suspension tuning and ride height for
your vehicle. The Airmatic consists of two
components:

Adaptive Damping System (ADS)


Vehicle level control
The ADS automatically selects the opti-
mum damping for the respective driving
conditions. At the same time the suspen-
sion is set to either sporty or comfort.
Suspension tuning
The suspension tuning is set according to:


Your driving style


Road surface conditions


Your choice of suspension style,
“sporty I”, “sporty II” or “comfortable”,
which you select using the damping
button.The following suspension styles are
available:


Comfortable
Both indicator lamps2 are off.


Sporty I
One indicator lamp2 is on.


Sporty II
Both indicator lamps2 are on.
1Damping button
2Indicator lamps

Start the engine.

Press the damping button1 until the
desired suspension style is set.iThe selected suspension style is stored
in memory, even after the SmartKey is
removed from the starter switch.iIn the sporty suspension style the vehi-
cle is lowered up to 0.6 in (15 mm).

227 Controls in detail
Driving systems
Vehicle level control
Your vehicle automatically adjusts its ride
height to

reduce fuel consumption


increase vehicle safety
The following vehicle chassis ride heights
can be selected:


Normal


RaisedThe vehicle chassis ride height is raised or
lowered according to the selected level
setting and to the vehicle speed:


At a speed above approximately above
68 mph (110 km / h) and the sporty
suspension style selected
(page 226), ride height is reduced
automatically by up to approximately
0.6in (15mm).


With decreasing speed, the ride height
is again raised to the “Normal” level.Select the “Raised” level only when re-
quired by current driving conditions. Oth-
erwise


fuel consumption may increase


handling may be impaired
iThese height adjustments are so small
that you may not notice any change.
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.

435 Index
Speed in cruise control 213
Speed in Distronic* 219
Speedometer display mode 141
Suspension tuning 226
Synchronizing the time 144
Temperature (interior) 178, 188
Temperature indicator 141
Tire inflation pressure 143
Units
Speedometer 141
Temperature 141
Tire inflation pressure 143
Vehicle level control 227
Settings
Calling up Distronic* 136, 217
Convenience functions 150
Factory, KEYLESS-GO* 94
Factory, SmartKey 89
Individual 152
Lighting (control system) 146
Menus and submenus 131
Resetting all (control system) 138
Resetting in the submenu 139
Selective 89, 94Settings menu
Functions in 138
Individual vehicle settings 138
Submenus 139
Shift lock 415
Shifting
Gear selector lever positions 161
Into optimal gear range (automatic
transmission) 159
Side impact airbags 61
Side marker lamps 359, 363
Side windows
Automatic opening 198
Cleaning 306
Closing 197, 198, 199
Closing with KEYLESS-GO* 200, 203
Closing with SmartKey 199
Opening 197, 199
Opening fully (Express-open) 198
Opening with SmartKey 199
Stopping 199
Synchronizing power windows 200
Simultaneous wiping and washing
Windshield wipers 49Single wipe 49
Ski sack* 233
Removing 236
Unfolding and loading 233
Unloading and folding 235
SL 55 AMG Kompressor
MANUAL shift program mode 165
Sliding/pop-up roof* 201
Closing 201
Closing with KEYLESS-GO* 200, 203
Closing with SmartKey 202
Opening 201
Opening with SmartKey 202
Stopping 202
Synchronizing 204
Sliding/pop-up roof* or panorama slid-
ing/pop-up roof*
Emergency operations 358
SmartKey 88
Battery check lamp 89, 94
Checking the batteries 91, 96
Factory setting 89
Global locking 89
Global locking and unlocking 89
Global unlocking 89