Mercedes-Benz 2003 E 500 Automobile User Manual


 
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Controls in detail
Driving systems
1 Distance warning function on/off
switch
2 Control lamp
3 Thumbwheel for setting distance
Increasing distance
Increasing the distance setting tells Dis-
tronic to maintain a greater following dis-
tance to the vehicle ahead.
̈ Turn thumbwheel 3 towards ¯.
Decreasing distance
Decreasing the distance setting tells Dis-
tronic to maintain a shorter following dis-
tance to the vehicle ahead.
̈ Turn thumbwheel 3 towards ®.
Distance warning function
When Distronic is deactivated, this func-
tion will continue to warn you when recog-
nizing a stationary obstacle or a slower
vehicle moving in the vehicle’s path and
the danger of a collision exists:
ț The distance warning lamp l in the
instrument cluster comes on.
ț 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
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 lamp also extinguishes.
Warning! G
If the DTR warning lamp l in the instru-
ment cluster lights up while driving and/or
an intermittent warning sounds, immediate
attention on the part of the driver is re-
quired.
As required by the traffic situation, apply the
brakes and navigate around a possible ob-
stacle. However, do not drive by relying on
the distance warning function, as this will re-
sult in an emergency braking application.
Especially depending on road surface condi-
tions and driver reaction, this will not always
enable you to avoid a collision.
i
Complex driving situations are not al-
ways fully recognized by Distronic. This
could result in wrong or missing dis-
tance warnings.