
Wheels and Tyres223
Using the systemSafetyDriving TipsGeneral MaintenanceBreakdown assistanceTechnical Data
Wheels and Tyres
Wheels
General comments
•New tyres do not offer optimal grip at first and should therefore be run in for
about 500 km at a moderate speed and an appropriately cautious style of driving.
You will also profit from longer tyre life.
•The tread depth of new tyres may differ because of design features and the
configuration of the tread (depending on the type of tyre and the manufacturer).
•Drive over curbs on the side of the road and other such obstacles slowly and,
where possible, at a right angles in order to avoid damage to tyres and wheel trims.
•Inspect your tyres from time to time for damage (punctures, cuts, splits and
bulges). Remove foreign bodies from the tyre profile.
•Damage to tyres and wheels is frequent ly not visible. Unusual vibrations or
pulling of the vehicle to one side could be a sign of tyre damage. Please reduce
your speed immediately and stop if you suspect that a wheel is damaged.
Inspect the tyres for signs of damage (bulge s, splits, etc.) If no visible damage is
present, please drive at an appropriatel y slow speed and carefully to the nearest
specialist garage in order to have your vehicle inspected.
•Also protect your tyres from contact with oil, grease and fuel.
•Immediately replace any dust caps of the valves which have got lost.
•Mark wheels before removing them so th at their previous direction of running
can be maintained when mounted them again.
•Always store wheels or tyres which been removed in a cool, dry and, where
possible, dark place. Tyres which are not fixed to a wheel trim should be stored
upright.
Unidirectional tyres*
The direction of rotation of the tyres is marked by arrows on the wall of the tyre. This
indicates the direction of rotation of the tyre, and it is essential that the tyres are
fitted on to run in this direction. Only then are the tyres able to provide the optimal
properties in terms of grip, low noise, wear-and-tear and aquaplaning. Further information concerning
the use of unidirectional tyres ⇒page 227.
WARNING
•New tyres during the first 500 km do not offer optimal grip and should
therefore be run appropriately - risk of accident!
•Never drive with damaged tyres - risk of accident!
Note
Please observe the various differing legal requirements regarding tyres.
Tyre life
The life of your tyres very much depends on the following points:
Tyre pressure
The working life of tyres will be shortened considerably if the tyres are insufficiently
or over-inflated and this will have an adverse effect on the handling of your vehicle.
Correctly inflated tyres are of partic ular importance when travelling at high speeds.
It is therefore good to check the pressure at least once a month and also before
Fig. 204 An opened fuel
filler flap with the tyre
inflation pressure table
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Wheels and Tyres
224
setting off on a long trip. Please do not forget the spare wheel when checking the
tyres.
The tyre inflation pressures for summer tyres are indicated on the inside of the fuel
filler flap ⇒page 223, fig. 204 . The inflation pressures for winter tyres are 20 kPa
(0.2 bar) higher than those for summer tyres ⇒page 227.
The tyre pressure should be at the highest pressure specified for your vehicle at all
times.
The tyre inflation pressure of the emergency spare wheel R 18 is 420 kPa (4.2 bar).
Always check the inflation pressure of ty res when cold. Do not reduce the higher
pressure of warm tyres. Adapt the inflation pressure of the tyres accordingly if your
vehicle is carrying a significantly higher payload.
Driving style
Fast cornering, sharp acceleration and braking (squealing tyres) increase wear-and-
tear on your tyres.
Balancing wheels
The wheels of a new vehicle are balanced. There are a wide range of influences
when driving which may result in an imbalance and which makes themselves felt
through vibration in the steering.
You should have the wheels rebalanced since any imbalance increases wear-and-
tear on the steering, the suspension and tyres. A wheel must also be rebalanced
when a new tyre is fitted and each time a tyre is repaired.
Wheel alignment errors
Incorrect wheel alignment at the front and re ar will not only increase wear-and-tear
on the tyres but will also has an adverse effect on vehicle safety. Contact your
specialist garage if you notice any unusual tyre wear.
WARNING
If the inflation pressure is too low, the tyre must perform a greater flexing
work. At higher speeds the tyre will warm up as a result of this. This can
result in tread separation and even a tyre blowout.
•Immediately replace the damaged rims or tyres.
For the sake of the environment
Tyres which are insufficiently inflated increase your fuel consumption.
Wear indicators
The base of the tread of the original tyres has wear indicators 1.6 mm high, installed
at right angles to the direction of travel. These wear indicators are located at 6 - 8
points depending on the make and are evenly spaced around the circumference of
the tyre ⇒fig. 205 . Markings on the walls of the tyres through the letters “TWI”,
triangular symbols or other symbols identi fy the position of the wear indicators.
A remaining tread of just 1.6 mm, measured in the grooves of the tread next to the
wear indicators, means that your tyres have reached their legally permissible
minimum tread depth.
WARNING
•You must have your tyres replaced with new ones at the latest when the
wear indicators have been worn do wn. The legally permissible minimum
tread depth should be observed.
•Worn tyres do not provide the necessary adhesion to the road surface at
high speeds on wet roads. One could experience “aquaplaning” (uncon-
trolled movements of the vehicle - “swimming” on a wet road surface).
Fig. 205 Tyre tread with
wear indicators
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Breakdown assistance233
Using the systemSafetyDriving TipsGeneral MaintenanceBreakdown assistanceTechnical Data
The tyre repair kit is located in a textile ba
g. There is a velcro fastener on the under-
side of the bag, with which the bag is atta ched to the floor covering of the luggage
compartment in such a way that the side of the bag rests on the right side of the
luggage compartment and on the seat backrest.
Spare wheel
The spare wheel lies in a well under the floor covering of the luggage compartment
and is fixed in place using special screws ⇒fig. 210 .
Before removing the spare wheel, you must take out the box with the vehicle tool
kit box ⇒page 232, fig. 209 .
One should check the inflation pressure in the spare wheel (at best when generally
checking the tyre air pressures - see sign on the fuel filler flap ⇒page 223) to
ensure that the spare wheel is always ready to use.
Temporary spare wheel
A warning label displayed on the rim of the temporary spare wheel indicates that
your vehicle is equipped with a temporary spare wheel.
Please observe the following notes when driving with a temporary spare wheel:
•After fitting on the wheel, the warning st icker must not be concealed (e.g. by the
wheel trim).
•D o n o t d r i v e w i t h th i s s p a re w h e e l a t m o re th a n 8 0 k m / h - ri s k o f a c c i d e n t. Av o i d
accelerating at full throttle, sharp braking and fast cornering.
•The inflation pressure for this spare wheel is identical to the inflation pressure
of the standard tyres. The temporary spar e wheel R 18 must have an inflation pres-
sure of 420 kPa (4.2 bar)!
•Use this spare wheel only to reach the nearest specialist garage as it is not
intended for continuous use.
•No other summer or winter tyres must be mounted on the rim of the spare
wheel R 18.
Changing a wheel
Preliminary work
The following steps should be carried out before actually changing the
wheel.
– If it is necessary to change a wheel, park the vehicle as far away as possible from the traffic flow. The place you choose should be level.
–Have all the occupants get out. While changing a wheel, the occu-
pants of the vehicle should not stan d on the road (e.g. behind a crash
barrier).
– Apply the handbrake firmly.
–Engage 1st gear or if your vehicle is fitted with an automatic gearbox,
position the selector lever into position P.
– If a trailer is coupled, uncouple it.
– Take the vehicle tool kit ⇒ page 232 and the spare wheel
⇒ page 233 out of the luggage compartment.Fig. 210 Luggage
compartment: Spare
wheel
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Index
284
The roof luggage rack system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Thickness of brake pads
Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Tilting roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Tiptronic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 automatic gearbox DSG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Top Tether . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Towing a trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Towing device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Towing protection monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
towing vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Tow-starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Tow-starting and towing vehicle Automatic gearbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131, 137
Traction Control System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Traction control system (TCS) Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 General Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Transporting children safely . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Tread depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Turn signal lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Two-way radio systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Tyre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Tyre inflation pressure Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Tyres Winter tyres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227U
Underbody protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Unlocking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Remote control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Uphill-Start off-Assist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
V
Vanity mirror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Vehicle tool kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Ventilation Auxiliary ventilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Visors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
W
Warning lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Warning symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Warning triangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Washing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 with a high-pressure cleaner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Washing the vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Washing vehicle by hand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Wax treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Wheel Changing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Spare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Wheel bolts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Wheel trim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223, 235
Wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Windows
de-icing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Windscreen washer nozzles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Windscreen washer system Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Windscreen Wiper and Washer System Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Windshield washer fluid reservoir . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Windshield washer system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Windshield wiper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Winter tyres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Wiper blades Replacing the wiper blades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
X
Xenon headlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
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