MERCEDES-BENZ S CLASS 2003 Owners Manual

151 Controls in detail
Control system
Setting daytime running lamp mode
(USA only)
Move the selection marker with
the
æ
or
ç
button to the
LIGHT-
ING
submenu.

Press button
j
or
k
repeatedly
until you see this message in the dis-
play:
LAMP CIRCUIT HEADLAMP MODE
.
The selection marker is on the current
setting.

Press
æ
or
ç
to select manual
or daytime running lamp (constant)
mode. This function is not available in
countries where daytime running
lamps are mandatory.With daytime running lamp mode se-
lected and the exterior lamp switch at
position0, the following lamps will
come on automatically when the en-
gine is turned on:


Parking lamps and low beam head-
lamps


License plate lamps (in low ambient
light conditions) Setting locator lighting
During darkness, the following lamps will
come on when the exterior lamp switch is
in position
U
, the locator lighting fea-
ture is activated, and the vehicle is un-
locked by remote control:


Parking lamps


Tail lamps


License plate lamps


Front fog lamps
The locator lighting switches off when the
driver’s door is opened. It switches off au-
tomatically after a period of approximately
40 seconds.

Move the selection marker with
the
æ
or
ç
button to the
LIGHT-
ING
submenu.
iIf you turn the exterior lamp switch to
another position, the corresponding
lamp(s) will switch on.
For safety reasons, resetting the LIGHTING
submenu to factory settings
(
page 147) while driving will not re-
set the daytime running lamp mode.
In the display you will then see the mes-
sage:
LIGHTING – CANNOT BE TOTALLY
RESET TO FACTORY SETTINGS WHILE
DRIVING.


152 Controls in detailControl system
Press button
j
or
k
repeatedly
until you see this message in the dis-
play:
LOCATOR LIGHTING
.
The selection marker is on the current
setting.

Press
æ
or
ç
to select the de-
sired setting.
The locator lighting will be switched on
or off.Setting night security illumination (Exte-
rior lamps delayed shut-off)
Use the
HEADLIGHTS DELAYED SHUT-OFF

function to set whether and for how long
you would like the exterior lamps to illumi-
nate during darkness after all doors are
closed. When the delayed shut-off feature
is activated and the exterior lamp switch is
in position
U
, the following lamps will
remain lit after you remove the SmartKey
from the starter switch:


Parking lamps


Tail lamps


License plate lamps


Front fog lamps

Move the selection marker with
the
æ
or
ç
button to the
LIGHT-
ING
submenu.

Press button
j
or
k
repeatedly
until you see this message in the dis-
play:
HEADLIGHTS DELAYED SHUT-OFF
.
The selection marker is on the current
setting.

iYou can reactivate this function within
ten minutes by opening a door.
If you do not open a door after remov-
ing the SmartKey, the lamps will auto-
matically switch off after 60 seconds.

153 Controls in detail
Control system

Press
æ
or
ç
to select the de-
sired lamp-on period.
You can select:


0 S
, the delayed shut-off feature is
deactivated


15 S
, 30 S
, 45 S
, or
60 S
, the de-
layed shut-off feature is activatedYou can temporarily deactivate the de-
layed shut-off feature:

Before leaving the vehicle, turn the
SmartKey in the starter switch to
position0.

Turn the SmartKey in the starter switch
to position2 and back to0.
The delayed shut-off feature is deacti-
vated. It will reactivate as soon as you
reinsert the SmartKey in the starter
switch.
Vehicles with KEYLESS-GO*:

Press the KEYLESS-GO start/stop
button on the gear selector lever
(page 33).Interior lighting delayed shut-off
Use this function to set whether and for
how long you would like the interior light-
ing to remain lit during darkness after the
SmartKey is removed from the starter
switch.

Move the selection marker with
the
æ
or
ç
button to the
LIGHT-
ING
submenu.

Press button
j
or
k
repeatedly
until you see this message in the dis-
play:
INT. LIGHTING DELAYED
SHUT-OFF
.
The selection marker is on the current
setting.


154 Controls in detailControl system
Press
æ
or
ç
to select the de-
sired lamp-on time period. You can se-
lect:


0 S
, the delayed shut-off feature is
deactivated.


5 S,
10 S
, 15 S
, or
20 S
, the delayed
shut-off feature is activated.Vehicle submenu
Access the
VEHICLE
submenu via the
SET-
INGS
menu. Use the
VEHICLE
submenu to
make general vehicle settings. The follow-
ing functions are available:
Setting station selection mode
Use the
STATION SEARCH USING
function to
select the manual or memory station se-
lection mode for the radio (
page 136).

Move the selection marker with
the
æ
or
ç
button to the
VEHI-
CLE
submenu.

Press button
j
or
k
repeatedly
until you see this message in the dis-
play:
STATION SEARCH USING
.
The selection marker is on the current
setting.

Press
æ
or
ç
to select the de-
sired station selection mode. You can
select:


FREQUENCY


MEMORY
selects next stored station

Function
Page
Set station selection mode
(radio)
see
below
Setting automatic locking
155

155 Controls in detail
Control system
Setting automatic locking
Use this function to activate or deactivate
the automatic central locking. With the au-
tomatic central locking system activated,
the vehicle is centrally locked at vehicle
speeds of approximately 9 mph
(15 km/h).
Press button
æ
or
ç
to move
the selection marker to the Vehicle
submenu.

Press button
j
or
k
repeatedly
until you see this message in the dis-
play:
AUTOMATIC DOOR LOCK
.The selection marker is on the current
setting.

Press
æ
or
ç
to switch
AUTOMATIC DOOR LOCK
ON or
OFF
.Convenience submenu
Access the
CONVENIENCE
submenu via the
SETTINGS
menu. Use the
CONVENIENCE
sub-
menu to change the settings for a number
of convenience features. The following
functions are available:
Function
Page
Setting key dependency
see
below
Activating easy-entry/exit fea-
ture
156
Setting parking position for exte-
rior rear view mirror
158
Adjusting the drive-dynamic seat
(drivers’s side)
159
Adjusting the drive-dynamic seat
(passenger side)
159
Setting fold-in function for exteri-
or rear view mirrors
158
Setting automatic locking
155

156 Controls in detailControl systemSetting key dependency
Use this function to set whether the mem-
ory settings for the seats, the steering
wheel, the mirrors, and the automatic cli-
mate control should be stored separately
for each SmartKey (
page 117).

Move the selection marker with
the
æ
or
ç
button to
the
CONVENIENCE
submenu.

Press button
j
or
k
repeatedly
until you see this message in the dis-
play:
SETTINGS KEY-DEPENDENT
.
The selection marker is on the current
setting.

Press
æ
or
ç
to set key depen-
dency to
ON or
OFF
. Activating easy-entry/exit feature
Use this function to activate and deacti-
vate the easy-entry/exit feature. When the
feature is activated, the steering wheel and
driver’s seat will move back to facilitate ex-
iting when you:


remove the SmartKey from the starter
switch


open the driver’s door
However, the engine must be turned off.
Warning!
G
You must make sure that no one can be-
come trapped or injured by the moving
steering wheel and the driver’s seat when
the easy-entry/exit feature is in operation
and the driver’s door is being opened or the
SmartKey is removed from the starter
switch.
Do not leave children unattended in the ve-
hicle, or with access to an unlocked vehicle.
Unsupervised use of vehicle equipment may
cause an accident and/or serious personal
injury.
Do not leave children unattended in the ve-
hicle, or with access to an unlocked vehicle.
Children could open the driver’s door and
unintentionally activate the easy-entry/exit
feature, which could result in an accident
and/or serious personal injury.

157 Controls in detail
Control system
After entering the vehicle, the steering
wheel and seat will move into the position
stored in memory when:

the driver’s door is closed


you put the SmartKey in the starter
switch


press the appropriate stored position
button on the memory switch
(page 117)

Move the selection marker with
the
æ
or
ç
button to
the
CONVENIENCE
submenu.

Press button
j
or
k
repeatedly
until you see this message in the dis-
play:
EASY-ENTRY FEATURE ACTIVATE
.
The selection marker is on the current
setting.

Press
æ
or
ç
to change the
easy-entry/exit setting.The following settings are available for the
easy-entry/exit feature:
iTo cancel seat/steering wheel move-
ment, do one of the following:

Press seat adjustment switch
(page 35)


Move the steering column stalk
(page 38)


Press the memory switch
(page 117)
OFF
The easy-entry/ex-
it feature is deacti-
vated.
STEER. COL.
Only the steering
column is moved.
ST. COL + SEAT
Both the steering
column and the
seat are moved.

158 Controls in detailControl systemSetting parking position for exterior rear
view mirror
Use the
MIRROR SETTING WHEN PARKING

function to select whether the passen-
ger-side exterior rear view mirror should be
turned downward during parking maneu-
vers when reverse gearR is engaged. For
additional information see “Activating ex-
terior rear view mirror parking position”
(
page 169).

Move the selection marker to the CONVENIENCE
submenu using the
æ

or
ç
button.

Press button
j
or
k
repeatedly
until you see this message in the dis-
play:
MIRROR SETTIMG WHEN PARKING
.The selection marker is on the current
setting.

Press
æ
or
ç
to switch function
ON or
OFF
.Setting fold-in function for exterior rear
view mirrors
Using this function, you can set the exteri-
or rear view mirrors to be automatically
folded in when you lock your vehicle
(
page 170).

Move the selection marker to the
CON-
VENIENCE submenu
with the
æ
or
ç
button.

Press the
j
or
k
button repeat-
edly until the message FOLD MIRRORS
WHEN LOCKING
appears in the display.

159 Controls in detail
Control system
The selection marker is on the current
setting.

Press the
æ
or
ç
button to
switch the automatic fold-in setting for
the mirrors
ON or
OFF
when the vehicle
is locked.
Adjusting drive-dynamic seats
Use this function to adjust the settings for
the drive-dynamic seats (page 159).

Move the selection marker with
the
æ
or
ç
button to
the
CONVENIENCE
submenu.

To adjust the driver’s drive-dynamic
seat press button
j
or
k
re-
peatedly until you see this message in
the display:
DRIVING DYNAM. SEAT AD-
JUST., FR. DRIV
.
The selection marker is on the current
setting.

To adjust the passenger’s
drive-dynamic seat press button
j

or
k
repeatedly until you see this
message in the display:
DRIVING DY-
NAM. SEAT ADJUST., FR. PASS
.
The selection marker is on the current
setting.

Press
æ
or
ç
to select the de-
sired setting. The following settings are available:
Setting 1
(Sporty) Strong lat-
eral support and
fast air pressure
build-up in the air
chambers of the
backrest side bol-
sters
Setting 2
(Comfort) Less lat-
eral support and
slow air pressure
build-up in the air
chambers of the
backrest side bol-
sters

160 Controls in detailAutomatic transmission
Automatic transmissionInformation for driving with an automatic
transmission is found in the “Getting start-
ed” section (
page 43).
Your vehicle’s transmission adapts its gear
shifting process to your individual driving
style by continually adjusting the shift
points up or down. These shift point adjust-
ments are performed based on current op-
erating and driving conditions.
If the operating conditions change, the au-
tomatic transmission reacts by adjusting
its gear shift program.The automatic transmission selects indi-
vidual gears automatically, depending on:


the selector lever positionD with gear
ranges4, 3, 2, 1 (
page 162)


the selected shift program (C/S)
(page 164)


the position of the accelerator pedal
(page 165)


the vehicle speed
The current selector lever position and
shift program (C/S) appear in the tachom-
eter display (
page 22). When the selector lever is in positionD,
you can influence transmission shifting by:


limiting the gear range


changing gears manually
iDuring the brief warm-up, the transmis-
sion upshifting is delayed. This allows
the catalytic converter to heat up more
quickly to operating temperature.
Warning!
G
It is dangerous to shift the selector lever out
of P or N if the engine speed is higher than
idle speed. If your foot is not firmly on the
brake pedal, the vehicle could accelerate
quickly forward or reverse. You could lose
control of the vehicle and hit someone or
something. Only shift into gear when the en-
gine is idling normally and when your right
foot is firmly on the brake pedal.