2009 Mercedes CLS-Class Owner's Manual - Page 115

Controls in detail Automatic transmission G Warning! It is dangerous to shift the automatic transmission out of park position P or neutral position 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 in reverse. You could lose control of the vehicle and hit someone or something. Only shift into gear when the engine is idling normally and when your right foot is firmly on the brake pedal. ! Only shift the automatic transmission into reverse gear R or park position P when the vehicle is stopped. Otherwise the automatic transmission could be damaged. i Shifting the automatic transmission out of park position P is only possible with the brake pedal depressed. Only depressing the brake pedal releases the gear selector lever lock. i The current gear selector lever position corresponds with the current transmission position. The current transmission position P, R, N, or D appears in the multifunction display (Y page 113). There are additional indicators on the cover of the shifting gate showing the current gear selector lever position. The indicators come on when you insert the SmartKey into the starter switch, and go out when you remove the SmartKey from the starter switch. Transmission positions The current transmission position appears in the multifunction display. Shifting procedure The automatic transmission selects individual gears automatically, depending on: Rdrive position D (Y page 114) with gear ranges (Y page 115) Rthe selected program mode: C/S (Y page 116) or M (CLS 63 AMG only) (Y page 118) position of the accelerator pedal vehicle speed 1 Transmission position indicator Rthe Rthe With drive position D selected, you can influence transmission shifting by: Rlimiting the gear range the gear range Z Rextending Rchanging the gears manually (CLS 63 AMG only) 113