2003 MERCEDES-BENZ ML500 airbag off

Contents
Introduction.......................................... 9
Product information ................................ 9
Operator’s Manual ............................... 10
Service and warranty information .. 10
Important notice for California
retail buyers and lessees of
Mercedes-Benz automobiles .......... 11
Maintenance .................................. 12
Roadside Assistance ...................... 12
Change of address or ownership.... 12
Operating your vehicle outside
the USA or Canada......................... 13
Where to find it .................................... 15
Symbols ............................................... 16
Operating safety .................................. 17
Proper use of the vehicle ............... 17
Problems with your vehicle .................. 18
Reporting safety defects...................... 19
Reporting safety defects ................ 19
At a glance.......................................... 21
Cockpit ................................................. 22
Instrument cluster ................................ 24
Center console ..................................... 27
Upper part ...................................... 27
Lower part ...................................... 28
Overhead control panel ........................ 29Getting started................................... 31
Unlocking ............................................. 32
Remote control with folding key ..... 32
Adjusting .............................................. 34
Seats............................................... 34
Steering wheel ................................ 37
Mirrors ............................................ 38
Driving .................................................. 40
Fastening the seat belts.................. 40
Starting the engine ......................... 44
Switching on headlamps ................. 46
Turn signals..................................... 47
Windshield wipers ........................... 47
Rear window wiper.......................... 48
Problems while driving .................... 49Parking and locking .............................. 50
Parking brake ................................. 50
Switching off headlamps................. 51
Turning off engine ........................... 51
Safety and Security........................... 53
Occupant safety ................................... 54
Airbags ........................................... 55
Seat belts ....................................... 60
Children in the vehicle .................... 63
Blocking of rear door
window operation ........................... 69
Panic alarm .......................................... 70
Activating........................................ 70
Deactivating.................................... 70
Driving and safety systems .................. 71
ABS ................................................. 71
BAS ................................................. 73
4-ETS .............................................. 73
EBP ................................................. 74
ESP ................................................. 75
Anti-theft systems ................................ 78
Immobilizer ..................................... 78
Anti-theft alarm............................... 78

40 Getting startedDriving
DrivingFastening the seat beltsWarning!
G
Do not lay any objects in the driver’s foot-
well. Be careful that floor mats or carpets in
the driver’s footwell have sufficient clear-
ance for the pedals.
During sudden driving or braking maneuvers
the objects could get caught between the
pedals. You could then no longer brake or
accelerate.Warning!
G
Always fasten your seat belt before driving
off. Always make sure your passengers are
properly restrained, even those sitting in the
rear and pregnant women.
Failure to wear and properly fasten and po-
sition your seat belt greatly increases your
risk of injuries and their likely severity in an
accident. You and your passengers should
always wear seat belts.
If you are ever in an accident, your injuries
can be considerably more severe without
your seat belt properly buckled. Without
your seat belt buckled, you are much more
likely to hit the interior of the vehicle or be
ejected from it. You can be seriously injured
or killed.
In the same crash, the possibility of injury or
death is lessened if you are wearing your
seat belt. The airbags can only protect as ex-
pected if the occupants are using their seat
belts (
page 54).
Warning!
G
Children 12 years old and under must never
ride in the front seat, except in a
Mercedes-Benz authorized BabySmart
TM
compatible child seat, which operates with
the BabySmart
TM system installed in the ve-
hicle to deactivate the passenger front air-
bag when it is properly installed. Otherwise
they will be struck by the airbag when it in-
flates in a crash. If this happens, serious or
fatal injury will result.
According to accident statistics, children
are safer when properly restrained in the
rear seating positions than in the front seat-
ing positions. Infants and small children
must ride in back seats and be seated in an
appropriate infant or child restraint system,
which is properly secured with the vehicle's
seat belt and top tether strap, or secured via
lower anchors and top tether strap, fully in
accordance with the child seat manufactur-
er's instructions.

56 Safety and SecurityOccupant safety

Occupants, especially children, should
never lean their heads in the area of the
door where the side impact airbag in-
flates. This could result in serious inju-
ries or death should the airbag be
triggered. Always sit upright, properly
use the seat belts and appropriate size
infant or child restraint system.


Children 12 years old and under must
never ride in the front seat, except in a
Mercedes-Benz authorized
BabySmart
TM compatible child seat,
which operates with the BabySmart
TM
system installed in the vehicle to deacti-
vate the passenger side front airbag
when it is properly installed. Otherwise
they will be struck by the airbag when it
inflates in a crash. If this happens, seri-
ous or fatal injury will result.
Failure to follow these instructions can re-
sult in severe injuries to you or other occu-
pants.
If you sell your vehicle you are responsible
to make the buyer aware of these points. Be
sure to give the buyer this Operator’s
Manual.
Warning
G
Accident research shows that the safest
place for children in an automobile is in the
rear seat. Should you choose to place a child
12 years old or under in the passenger seat
of your vehicle, you must properly use a
BabySmart
TM child restraint which will turn
off the passenger side front airbag
(
page 65). BabySmart
TM will not, howev-
er, turn off any side impact airbag.
It should be noted that with respect to both
front and rear side impact airbags there is a
possibility for a side airbag related injury if
occupants, especially children, are not prop-
erly seated or restrained when next to a side
airbag which needs to deploy rapidly in a
side impact in order to do its job.
To help avoid the possibility of injury, please
follow these guidelines: (1) occupants, espe-
cially children, should never place their bod-
ies or lean their heads in the area of the door
where the side airbag inflates. This could re-
sult in serious injuries or death should the
side airbag be activated; (2) always sit up-
right, properly use the seat belts and use an
appropriately sized infant or child restraint
system for all children 12 years old or under;
and (3) always wear seat belts properly.
If you believe that, even with the use of
these guidelines, it would be safer for your
rear seat occupants to have both rear door
mounted side airbags deactivated, then de-
activation can be accomplished upon your
written election to do so at your authorized
Mercedes-Benz Light Truck Center at an ad-
ditional cost. Please contact your local au-
thorized Mercedes-Benz Light Truck Center
or call our Customer Assistance Center at
1-800-FOR-MERCedes (1-800-367-6372)
for details.

60 Safety and SecurityOccupant safetyThe side impact airbags and window
curtain airbags are not deployed in im-
pacts which do not exceed the system’s
deployment threshold.
The passenger airbag will only be deployed
if:

the passenger seat is occupied


the
7
indicator lamp in the instru-
ment cluster is not lit (
page 26)
Seat belts
After starting the engine, a warning sounds
and the seat belt warning lamp
<
re-
mains illuminated for approx. six seconds
if the driver’s seat is not fastened.
The use of seat belts and infant and child
restraint systems is required by law in all
50 states and all Canadian provinces. Even
where this is not the case, all vehicle occu-
pants should have their seat belts fastened
whenever the vehicle is in motion.
Information on fastening seat belts is
found in the “Getting started” section
(
page 40).iFor information on infants and children
traveling with you in the vehicle and re-
straint systems for infants and chil-
dren, see “Children in the vehicle”
(page 63)
Warning!
G
Always fasten your seat belt before driving
off. Always make sure your passengers are
properly restrained, even those sitting in the
rear and pregnant women.
Failure to wear and properly fasten and po-
sition your seat belt greatly increases your
risk of injuries and their likely severity in an
accident. You and your passengers should
always wear seat belts.
If you are ever in an accident, your injuries
can be considerably more severe without
your seat belt properly buckled. Without
your seat belt buckled, you are much more
likely to hit the interior of the vehicle or be
ejected from it. You can be seriously injured
or killed.
In the same crash, the possibility of injury or
death is lessened if you are properly wearing
your seat belt. Airbags can only protect as
they are designed if the occupants are prop-
erly wearing their seat belts.

61 Safety and Security
Occupant safety
Warning!
G
Never ride in a moving vehicle with the back-
rest reclined. Sitting in an excessively re-
clined position can be dangerous. You could
slide under the seat belt in a collision. If you
slide under it, the belt would apply force at
the abdomen or neck. That could cause se-
rious or even fatal injuries. The backrest and
seat belt provide the best restraint when the
wearer is in an upright position and the belt
is properly positioned on the body.Warning!
G
Never let more people ride in the vehicle
than there are seat belts available. Be sure
everyone riding in the vehicle is correctly re-
strained with a separate seat belt.
Warning!
G
Damaged seat belts or belts that were highly
stressed in an accident must be replaced
and their anchoring points must also be
checked.
Only use seat belts which have been ap-
proved by Mercedes-Benz.
Do not make any modifications to the seat
belts. This can lead to unintended activation
or to failure.
Have all work carried out only by an autho-
rized Mercedes-Benz Light Truck Center.
Warning!
G
USE SEAT BELTS PROPERLY

Seat belts can only work when used
properly. Never wear seat belts in any
other way than as described in this sec-
tion, as that could result in serious inju-
ries in case of an accident.


Each occupant should wear their seat
belt at all times, because seat belts help
reduce the likelihood of and potential
severity of injuries in accidents, includ-
ing rollovers. The integrated restraint
system includes SRS (driver airbag,
front passenger airbag, front and rear
door mounted side impact airbags and
window curtain airbags), ETD (seat belt
emergency tensioning device for the
outboard passenger seats [except in the
optional 3rd row seats]), and front seat
knee bolsters. The system is designed
to enhance the protection offered to
properly belted occupants in certain
frontal (front airbags) and side (side im-
pact airbags and window curtain air-
bags) impacts which exceed preset

106 Controls in detailLightingSwitching off rear fog lamp
Press upper part1 of switch.
The yellow indicator lamp2 in the
switch goes out.
Switching off front fog lamps

Press upper part1 of switch.
The green indicator lamp
‡
in the
instrument cluster goes out.
Hazard warning flasher
The hazard warning flasher can be activat-
ed with the ignition switched on or off. It is
activated automatically when an airbag is
deployed.
The switch is located on top of the steering
column.Hazard warning flasher switch
Switching on hazard warning flasher
Press the hazard warning flasher
switch.
All the turn signals will blink.
Switching off hazard warning flasher

Press hazard warning flasher switch
again.iIf the hazard warning flasher was acti-
vated automatically, press the hazard
warning flasher switch twice to deacti-
vate.

232 Practical hintsWhat to do if …Problem
Possible cause
Suggested solution
?
The yellow “CHECK ENGINE”
malfunction indicator lamp
comes on while driving.
There is a malfunction of:

The fuel management system


The ignition system


The emission control system


Systems which affect emissions
Such malfunctions may result in excessive
emissions values and may switch the engine
to its limp-home (emergency operation)
mode.

Have the vehicle checked as soon as
possible by an authorized
Mercedes-Benz Light Truck Center.
An on-board diagnostic connector is
used by the service station to link the
vehicle to the shop diagnostics sys-
tem. It allows the accurate identifica-
tion of system malfunctions through
the readout of diagnostic trouble
codes. It is located in the front left
area of the footwell next to the park-
ing brake pedal.
The fuel cap is not closed tightly.
Check the fuel cap (
page 200).
Your fuel tank is empty.

After refuelling start the engine three
or four times in succession.
The limp-home mode is canceled. You do
not need to have your vehicle checked.
7
The indicator lamp lights up.
A BabySmart
TM child seat is installed on the
front passenger seat. The front passenger
airbag is therefore switched off.
The system is malfunctioning when there is
no BabySmart
TM child seat installed on the
front passenger seat.

Have the system checked as soon as
possible by an authorized
Mercedes-Benz Light Truck Center.

295 Technical terms
Memory function*
Used to store three individual seat,
steering wheel and mirror positions.
MON
(M
otor O
ctane N
umber)
The Motor Octane Number for gasoline
as determined by a standardized meth-
od. It is an indication of a gasoline's
ability to resist undesired detonation
(knocking). The average of both the
MON (Motor Octane Number) and
->RON (Research Octane Number) is
posted at the pump, also known as AN-
TI-KNOCK INDEX.
Multifunction display
A display field in the instrument cluster
used to present information provided
by the control system.
Parktronic*
System which uses visual and acoustic
signals to assist the driver during park-
ing maneuvers.Poly-V-belt drive
Drives engine-components (alternator,
AC compressor, etc.) from the engine.
Power train
Collective term designating all compo-
nents used to generate and transmit
motive power to the drive axles, includ-
ing


engine


clutch/torque converter


transmission


transfer case


drive shaft


differential


axle shafts/axlesRemote Vehicle Diagnostics
Transmission of vehicle data and cur-
rent location to the Mercedes-Benz
Customer Assistance Center for sub-
scribers to Tele Aid service.
REST
(Residual engine heat utilization)
Feature that uses the engine heat
stored in the coolant to heat the vehi-
cle interior for a short time after the en-
gine has been turned off.
Restraint system
Seat belts, belt tensioner, airbags and
child seat restraint systems. As inde-
pendent systems, their protective func-
tions complement one another.