
391
Operation
Driving tips
Yo ush ould brak efirm lyafter driving on a
wet or snow-cove redroad surfa ce before
st opping th eengine, espec iallyifroad salts
ha ve been spread .Th iswillhe at thebra ke
di sc s, thereb ydr ying them morequickl y
an d prot ecting them againstcorros ion.
You shou ldoccas ional lytest the effective-
ne ss oftheb rake sifyou usually onlybrake
with moderation. Todo so, brake th eveh i-
cl e from high spee d. Thiswill impro vethe
grip of the brakes.
Fo r sa fety reas ons ,Me rced es-B enz rec om-
men dsthat you on lyhave brak epads /
li nings fitte dthat have be enapproved for
Me rced es-Ben zv ehicles. Brake pads /
li nings wh ich have not be en approved for
Me rced es-Benz cou ldaffect you rvehicle ’s
op erating safety. AMG
vehicles
Th ehigh -per forman cebrake syst em isde-
signe dfo rhi gh loads .Th isma ylea d to
noi sewhen brak ing. Thisis depe ndent on:
! speed
! brak ing po wer
! ambient cond ition s,e.g. tem perature
an dhumi dity Th
ewea ran d tea ron individual brake sys-
te m comp one nts, e.g. brake pads/lini ng s
or disc s,de pends on:
! the in dividual drivi ng style
! theop erating co nditio ns
No gene rally appli cablemi leag eca nthe re-
fo re be specif ied. Wear is acco rdingly high
if an ag gressi vedriving sty leisem ployed.
Wh ile the vehicle canbe fully controlled
at ace rtain spee d on dry roads, youmu st
reduce yo urspeed onwetor icy ro adsto
achie vethesa me road safety.
If ice ha sfo rm ed onthe ro adsurface
(e.g. from fogor freezing rain ),alight film
of water wil lrapidly develop on the ice
wh en youbra ke,w hich consider ab lyre-
du cest yre gri p.Dri vepartic ular ly ca ref ully
in such weathe rcond itions. If
wat erhas acc umulatedon a road surface
to ace rtai ndep th,the re isad angerof aq-
uaplani ngoccu rring even if youar e driving
sl owl yan d yo urtyres have suffic ie nt tre ad
depth.
Fo r th isreas on, do not dri vein tyr eruts
an d brake caref ully.
If you have to drive throu ghwater, please
be ar inmi nd that wh en theve hicle is
ra ised ,the still water dept hmu stnot ex-
ceed 25cm, andt hat youmu stdrive no
fast erthan walki ngpace.
! Notethat vehicles in fron tor oncom ing
ve hicles create waves. This maym eanth at the
maximum permit tedwa ter dept his exceeded.
You mustobserve thes e notes ,othe rwise dam-
age mayoc curto the engi ne,electrics or trans-
mi ssion. Tyre grip Drivi
ngonwetro ads Driving on
flooded roads 216_R
E_2006-12a.book Seit e391 Montag, 2. Oktob er2006 12:06 12

394 Operation
Ca
re
Th eval ue ofyo ur ve hicle will be retained by
regul arand prope rca re. Th ebest way to
protect yo urveh icle from harm fulen viron-
me ntal in flue nces is towa shitan duse pro-
te ctive tre atme nts regul arly.
Mercedes -Ben zre co mm ends th atyou
tre atthe paintwork twi ceaye ar (e.g.in
sp ring and in autumn ).
i It is advis ableto useMe rcede s-Be nz care
prod ucts. They are designed specifi cally for
Me rced es-Benz veh icles and represe ntthe state
of thea rt.Me rcedes-Benz care produc tsare
available fr omany Merced es-Benz Service
Cent re.
Sc ratche s,co rrosi vedeposits, area sa f-
fect edbycorros ion and da magecaused by
neg lect or inadeq uate care cannot alwa ys
be comp letel yrep aired. Insu ch cases, vis it
aq ualified specialist worksho pimm ediate-
ly ,e.g. a Mercedes -Ben z Service Ce ntre.
Re pair dama gecaused byloos echi ppings
an d rem ovet he following immediate ly:
! Insect remains
! Bird droppings
! Tree resin !
Oils an dgre ase
! Fuel
! Tarst ains
! Donota ffix:
! unsuita ble stic kers
! films
! mag netic plat esor similar
to paint edsurfac es, ot herwise you could dam-
age the paint work. !
Do not park the vehicle im mediately for an
ex tended period aft ercleanin g,partic ularly af ter
cl eanin gth ew heels wit hwheelclean er.Wh eel
cl eaners may lead toincreas edcorrosion on
brak edis csand brake pads /linings. Generally
park theve hicle at opera ting temp erature after
cl eanin g. Au
tomat iccar wash
Yo uca nclea nth eve hicle in an automa tic
ca r wash from the very star t,bu t prefera bly
one wi thhigh -pre ss urewa sher jets.
Do not useabrus h-free autom atic car
wa sh that uses chem icalag en ts to wash
the vehicle.
If the veh icle is ver ydirty, prewash it be-
fo re you drive into the car wash.
! Make su retha t the windscreen wiper swit ch
is set toM ( = page 253), ot herwise the rain
sensor could be ac tiva ted, for example, and trig-
ger in advertent wiper swe eps.Th isco uld res ult
in damag etothe vehicl e.
Af terusin gan autom atic ca r wash, wipe off
wax or othe rchemi calre sidu es from the
winds cree n. Thiswillprevent smearing. Care
G
Risk of poisoni ng Al
wa ysfollow the inst ructions forus ing the
care produ cts.
Alwa yskeep care products tightly closed
and ou tof thereach of children. H
Environ mental note Di
spose of emptycont aine rs,c lean ing
clot hsand pol ishi ng wads inan enviro nm en-
tall yre sponsible manner. Ca
re of the ve hicle 216_R
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