2020 Mercedes-Benz SL ROADSTER Owner’s Manual

The 2020 Mercedes-Benz SL Roadster is an automotive masterpiece that blends speed, luxury, and a classic look in a way that works perfectly. This famous convertible is a great example of how cars have changed over the years. It has a wide range of strong engines to meet the needs of every car enthusiast. Its striking shape and sculpted lines give off an air of elegance, and the retractable hardtop offers a driving experience that can’t be matched. Inside, luxury and cutting-edge technology come together to surround the people inside with the best materials and most advanced features. The 2020 Mercedes-Benz SL Roadster redefines the art of driving with a perfect balance of speed and style. It can be driven along beautiful roads or on a racetrack.

Center console

Center console, upper section

1. COMMAND
2. Seat heating 101
3. Seat ventilation 102
4. AIRSCARF 102
5. Parking Assist
   PARKTRONIC 174
6. Hazard warning lamps 111
7. Indicator lamp
8. ESP® (except Mercedes-AMG vehicles)

Occupant safety

Fastening seat belts
Observe the safety notes on the seat belt
(Y page 42) and the notes on correct use of seat belts (Y page 43).

Basic illustration

• Adjust the seat (Y page 97). The seat backrest must be in an almost upright position.
• Pull the seat belt smoothly out of seat belt guide 3 and engage belt tongue; into belt buckle :.
  The seat belt on the driver’s seat and the front-passenger seat may be tightened automatically, see “Belt adjustment” (Y page 44).
• If necessary, pull up on the shoulder section of the seat belt to tighten the belt across your body.
  In order to attach the child restraint system securely in the vehicle, the seat belt on the front-passenger seat is equipped with a spe-cial seat belt retractor. Further information on
  the “Special seat belt retractor” (Y page 57).
  Releasing seat belts
• Make sure that the seat belt is fully rolled up. Otherwise, the seat belt or belt tongue will be trapped in the door or in the seat mechanism. This could damage the door, the door trim panel and the seat belt. Damaged seat belts can no longer fulfill their protective function and must be replaced. Visit a qualified specialist workshop.
• Press the release button in the belt buckle, hold the belt tongue firmly and guide the belt back.

Seat belt adjustment
The seat-belt adjustment is an integral part of the PRE-SAFE® convenience function. This function adjusts the driver’s and front-passenger seat belt to the upper body of the vehicle occupants.
The belt strap is tightened slightly when:
the belt tongue is engaged in the buckle and
the ignition is switched on
The seat-belt adjustment will apply a certain retraction force if any slack is detected between the vehicle occupant and the seat belt. Do not hold on to the seat belt tightly while it is adjusting.
You can switch the seat-belt adjustment on and off in the onboard computer (Y page 204).

Belt warning for the driver and front passenger 
The 7 seat belt warning lamp in the instrument cluster is a reminder that all vehicle occupants must wear their seat belts. It may light up continuously or flash. In addition, there may be a warning tone.
Regardless of whether the driver’s seat belt has already been fastened, the seat belt warning lamp lights up for six seconds each time the engine is started. If the doors are closed and the driver’s or front-passenger seat belt has not been fastened, the seat belt warning lamp lights up again after the six seconds. As soon as the driver’s and front-passenger seat belts are fastened or a front door is opened again, the seat belt warn-ing lamp goes out.
If the driver’s seat belt is not fastened after the engine is started, an additional warning tone will sound. The warning tone switches off after six seconds or once the driver’s seat belt is fastened.
If the vehicle’s speed exceeds 15 mph (25 km/h) once and the driver and front passenger seat belts are not fastened, a warn-ing tone sounds. A warning tone also sounds with increasing intensity for 60 seconds or until the driver or front passenger have fastened their seat belts.
If the driver or front passenger unfasten their seat belts during the journey, the seat belt warning is activated again.

Active Brake Assist with cross-traffic function

General information
Active Brake Assist with cross-traffic function can help you to minimize the risk of a collision with the vehicle in front or a pedestrian. Active Brake Assist with cross-traffic function can also reduce the effects of such a collision. If Active Brake Assist with cross-traffic function has detected a risk of collision, you will be warned visually and acoustically as well as by automatic braking.

Pay attention to the important safety notes in the “Driving safety systems” section (Y page 60).
Active Brake Assist with cross-traffic function is only available in vehicles with the Driving Assistance Plus package.
For Active Brake Assist with cross-traffic functions to assist you when driving, the radar sensor system and the camera system must be operational.
The radar sensor system and camera system help Active Brake Assist with cross-traffic function to detect obstacles that are in the path of your vehicle for an extended period of time.
In addition, pedestrians in the path of your vehicle can be detected.
Active Brake Assist with cross-traffic function detects pedestrians using typical characteristics such as body contours and the posture of a person standing upright.
Observe the restrictions described in the “Important safety notes” section (Y page 70).

Important safety notes

WARNING
Active Brake Assist with the cross-traffic function will initially brake your vehicle by a par-tial application of the brakes if a danger of collision is detected. There may be a collision unless you brake yourself. Even after subsequent full application of the brakes a collision cannot always be avoided, particularly when approaching at too high a speed. There is a risk of an accident.
Always apply the brakes yourself and try to take evasive action, provided it is safe to do so.
If you partially apply the brakes, the vehicle is braked with up to 50% of the full braking force.

WARNING
Active Brake Assist with cross-traffic function cannot always clearly identify objects and complex traffic situations.
In such cases, Active Brake Assist with cross-traffic function might:
give an unnecessary warning and then brake the vehicle
neither give a warning nor intervene
There is a risk of an accident.
Always pay particular attention to the traffic situation and be prepared to brake, especially if Active Brake Assist with cross-traffic function alerts you. Terminate the intervention in a non-critical driving situation.

 

WARNING
Active Brake Assist with cross-traffic function cannot always clearly identify people, particularly if they are moving. Active Brake Assist with cross-traffic function cannot intervene in these cases. There is a risk of an accident.
Always pay particular attention to the traffic situation and be prepared to brake, especially if Active Brake Assist with cross-traffic function alerts you.
In order to maintain the appropriate distance to the vehicle in front and thus prevent a colli-sion, you must apply the brakes yourself.

WARNING
Active Brake Assist with cross-traffic function does not react:
Rto small people, e.g. children
to animals
to oncoming vehicles
when cornering
As a result, Active Brake Assist with cross-traffic function may not warn you or engage in all critical situations. There is a risk of an accident.
Always pay careful attention to the traffic situation and be ready to brake.

In the event of snowfall or heavy rain, recognition can be impaired.
Recognition by the radar sensor system is also impaired if:

• there is dirt on the sensors or anything else covering the sensors
• there is interference by other radar sources
• there are strong radar reflections, for example in parking garages
• a narrow vehicle is traveling in front, e.g. a motorbike
• a vehicle is traveling in front on a different line
• recognition by the camera system is also impaired in the event of:
• dirt on the camera or if the camera is covered
• glare on the camera system, e.g. from the sun being low in the sky
• darkness
• or if:
  • pedestrians move quickly, e.g. into the path of the vehicle
  • the camera system no longer recognizes a pedestrian as a person due to special clothing or other objects
  • a pedestrian is concealed by other objects
  • the typical outline of a pedestrian is not distinguishable from the background
    Following damage to the front end of the vehicle, have the configuration and operation of the radar sensors checked at a qualified specialist workshop. This also applies to collisions at slow speeds where there is no visible damage to the front of the vehicle.
    Following damage to the windshield, have the configuration and operation of the camera sys-tem checked at a qualified specialist workshop.

Function 

• To activate or deactivate: activate or deactivate Active Brake Assist with cross-traffic function using the onboard computer (Y page 200).
  When Active Brake Assist with cross-traffic function is deactivated, the æ symbol appears in the assistance graphic display of the multifunction display.
  Starting at a speed of around 4 mph (7 km/h), this function warns you if you rapidly approach a vehicle in front. An intermittent warning tone will then sound and the · distance warning lamp will light up in the instrument cluster.
  Brake immediately to defuse the situation. or
  Take evasive action provided it is safe to do so.
  Active Brake Assist with cross-traffic function can also brake the vehicle automatically under the following conditions:
  the driver and front passenger have their seat belts fastened and
• the vehicle speed is between approximately 4 mph (7 km/h) and 124 mph (200 km/h) Up to a speed of approximately 44 mph (70 km/h), Active Brake Assist with cross-traf-fic function may react to:
  Stationary objects in the path of your vehicle, e.g. stopped or parked vehicles
  pedestrians in the path of your vehicle
  If there is an increased risk of a collision, preventive passenger protection measures (PRE-SAFE®) are triggered (Y page 55).

If the risk of collision with the vehicle in front remains and you do not brake, take evasive action or accelerate significantly, the vehicle may perform automatic emergency braking, up to the point of full brake application. Automatic emergency braking is not performed until immediately prior to an imminent accident.
You can prevent the intervention of Active Brake Assist with cross-traffic function at any time by:

• depressing the accelerator pedal further
• activating kick down
• releasing the brake pedal
  The braking application of Active Brake Assist with cross-traffic function is ended automatically if:
• you maneuver to avoid the obstacle
• there is no longer a risk of collision
  Ran obstacle is no longer detected in front of your vehicle

FAQ