2008 MERCEDES-BENZ ML SUV air condition

Driving sys
tems 149under braking or acceleration. The vehi-
cle could start to skid.
R if the sensors are dirty or there is poor
visibility, e.g. due to snow, rain or fog.
Distance control may be impaired.
Always pay attention to traffic conditions
even when Distronic is activated. Other-
wise, you may fail to recognise danger in
time, could cause an accident and injure
yourself and others.
If there is no vehicle in front, Distronic oper-
ates in the same way as cruise control. Dis-
tronic functions in the 30 km/h to
180 km/h range. G
Risk of accident
Distronic brakes your vehicle at a maximum
of 2 m/s 2
, depending on its speed. This
corresponds to approximately 20% of your
vehicle's maximum braking power. You
must also apply the brakes yourself if this
braking power is not sufficient.
If Distronic detects a risk of collision with a
vehicle in front, an intermittent warning
tone sounds. In addition, the ldistance
warning lamp in the instrument cluster
lights up. Brake to avoid a collision. Cruise control lever You can operate Distronic and variable
Speedtronic with the cruise control lever.
The LIM indicator lamp on the cruise control
lever indicates which system you have selec-
ted:
R LIM indicator lamp off:
Distronic is selected.
R LIM indicator lamp lit:
Variable Speedtronic is selected. 1
To store the current speed or a higher
speed
2 To adjust the set distance
3 LIM indicator lamp
4 To store the current speed or call up the
last stored speed 5
To store the current speed or a lower
speed
6 To switch between Distronic and variable
Speedtronic
7 To deactivate Distronic
Selecting Distronic X
Check whether LIM indicator lamp 3is off.
If it is off, Distronic is already selected.
If it is not, press the cruise control lever in
the direction of arrow 6.
LIM indicator lamp 3in the cruise control
lever goes off. Distronic is selected.
Switching on Distronic, storing and
maintaining the current speed If Distronic is not activated after the cruise
control lever is pressed, you will see the mes-
sage
DISTRONIC - - - km/h in the multi-
function display.
You cannot activate Distronic in the following
circumstances:
R for two minutes after the engine is started
R if you are driving slower than 30 km/h or
faster than 180 km/h
R when braking Controls
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Driving sys
tems 157
ML 63 AMG The AIRMATIC package is part of the standard
equipment. Due to the sportier suspension
tuning when compared to standard vehicles,
the level positions in the ADS settings and the
speed thresholds for raising and lowering the
vehicle are different.
The vehicle is lowered from highway/high-
speed to ADS Sport level around 20 seconds
after locking. The vehicle is not lowered from
the raised level after locking. When starting
the engine, the previous setting, e.g. ADS
COMF, is restored.
!
Always keep in mind the differences in
ground clearance and vehicle height when
compared to standard vehicles. You could
otherwise damage the vehicle.
You will find different values for ground clear-
ance and vehicle height with regard to:
R off-road driving (Y page 235)
R the general vehicle settings in the "Techni-
cal Data" section (Y page 361) ADS* (Adaptive Damping System)
ADS adapts the damping characteristics to
the current operating and driving situation.
How this is adjusted depends on:
R your driving style
R the road surface conditions
R the ADS setting
R the vehicle level setting
Your selection remains stored even if you
remove the key from the ignition lock. Vehicle with AIRMATIC package*
1
ADS button
2 SPORT indicator lamp
3 COMF indicator lamp You can choose between the following ADS
settings:
R
AUTO for normal driving situations; indica-
tor lamps 2and 3are off.
R SPORT for sporty driving; indicator lamp
2 is on. In comparison to AUTOor
COMF, the vehicle is 15 mm lower.
The ML 63 AMG is 8 mm lower than with
AUTO.
R COMF for a more comfortable ride; indica-
tor lamp 3is on.
The ML 63 AMG is 7 mm higher than with
AUTO.
X Start the engine.
X Press button 1repeatedly until the
desired setting is selected. Controls
* optional
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Driving sys
tems 158 Level control*
The level control adapts the vehicle level
automatically to the current operating and
driving situation. This results in reduced fuel
consumption and improved handling.
When you are driving in ADS* COMFor
AUTO (Ypage 157), the vehicle is lowered to
the high-speed level as the speed increases.
As the vehicle decelerates, the vehicle is
raised back up to highway level.
In ADS* SPORT(Ypage 157), the vehicle
skips highway level and lowers directly to the
high-speed level depending on the basic set-
ting (Y page 158) or (Y page 160).
Make changes to the vehicle level while the
vehicle is in motion. This enables the vehicle
to adjust to the new level as quickly as pos-
sible.
The vehicle level may change visibly when you
park the vehicle and the outside temperature
changes. When the temperature drops, the
vehicle level is lower; with an increase in tem-
perature, the vehicle level rises.
When you unlock the vehicle or open a door,
the vehicle begins to balance the load dis-
crepancies while still parked. However, for
significant level changes, e.g. after the vehi-
cle has been stationary for a long period, the engine must be on. For safety reasons, the
vehicle is only lowered when the doors are
closed. Lowering is interrupted if a door is
opened and continues when the door has
been closed. G
Risk of injury
Make sure that nobody is in the vicinity of
the wheel arch or the underbody when you
begin a level change. You could otherwise
trap yourself or others. G
Risk of accident
Always select as low a vehicle level as pos-
sible. If the vehicle level is high, the vehicle
centre of gravity shifts upwards. This
increases the risk of the vehicle tipping
over.
Adapt your driving style to suit the vehicle
level. ESP ®
cannot reduce the risk of an
accident if you drive too fast. ESP ®
cannot
override the laws of physics.
! When driving on extremely rough terrain,
select a high vehicle level in good time.
Make sure there is always sufficient ground
clearance to prevent damage to the vehi-
cle. You will find information about driving off-
road in the "Operation" section
(Y
page 235).
Vehicles with AIRMATIC package* Basic settings, excluding ML 63 AMG
The extent to which the vehicle is raised or
lowered depends on the basic setting selec-
ted. Select raised level for off-road driving or
highway/high-speed level for normal roads.
The individual vehicle levels are:
R
Raised level: 60 mm above highway level
R Highway level: +/- 0 mm
R High-speed level: 15 mm below highway
level
Basic settings for the ML 63 AMG
The extent to which the vehicle is raised or
lowered depends on the ADS setting selec-
ted. Select raised level for off-road driving or
highway/high-speed level for normal roads.
With AUTO ADS, the vehicle is 73 mm higher
when in raised level than it is in highway level.
Raised level
Only select the raised level when this is appro-
priate for the road conditions. Otherwise, fuel Controls
* optional
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Air conditioning
169Air conditioning
Overview of air-conditioning systems
The vehicle is equipped with one of the following air-conditioning systems: 2-zone Thermatic
Multi-zone Thermotronic* Rear-compartment air conditioning*
212-zone Thermatic is an automatic air-condi-
tioning system combining an automatic heat-
ing and ventilation system with a cooling
system. You can control the air conditioning
separately for the driver's and front-
passenger sides. Multi-zone Thermotronic is a luxury automatic
air-conditioning system combining an auto-
matic heating and ventilation system with a
cooling system. You can control the air con-
ditioning separately for each zone in the vehi-
cle. The rear-compartment air conditioning
allows separate settings for the rear com-
partment.
21
Rear-compartment air conditioning* is only available in conjunction with multi-zone Thermotronic*. Cont
rols
* optional
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Air conditioning
170 General notes
2-zone Thermatic/multi-zone Thermotronic*
controls the temperature and the humidity of
the vehicle interior and filters out undesirable
substances from the air.
2-zone Thermatic/multi-zone Thermotronic*
is only operational when the engine is run-
ning. Optimum operation is only achieved
when you drive with the side windows and
sliding/tilting sunroof* closed. i
Ventilate the vehicle for a brief period
during warm weather, e.g. using the sum-
mer opening feature (Y page 101). This will
speed up the cooling process and the
desired interior temperature will be
reached more quickly.
i The integrated filter filters out most par-
ticles of dust and completely filters out
pollen. A clogged filter reduces the amount
of air supplied to the vehicle interior. For
this reason, you should always observe the interval for replacing the filter, which is
specified in the Service Booklet. As it
depends on environmental conditions, e.g.
heavy air pollution, the interval may be
shorter than stated in the Service Booklet. G
Risk of accident
Observe the settings recommended on the
following pages. The windows could other-
wise mist up. This may obstruct your view
of the traffic situation, thereby causing an
accident. Cont
rols
* optional
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Air conditioning
171Overview of air-conditioning system functions
2-zone Thermatic Function Recommendation/Notes
1 Sets the temperature, left i
Set the temperature to 22 †. (Y
page 178) 2 U
Controls the air conditioning automatically i
Activate automatic air conditioning. The indicator
lamp in the Ubutton comes on. (Y
page 177) 3 |
Demists the windscreen i
Only use the "demisting" function until the wind-
screen is clear again. (Y
page 181) 4 Q
Increases the airflow (Y
page 181) Cont
rols
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Air conditioning
172 Function Recommendation/Notes
5 {
Directs the airflow through the demister vents (Y
page 181) 6 9
Activates/deactivates cooling with air dehumidifi-
cation i
Switch on the air conditioning with air-dehumidifica-
tion function. The indicator lamp in the 9button
lights up. (Y
page 177) 9
Switches the residual heat function on/off i
You can use the residual heat to heat or ventilate the
vehicle interior after you have switched off the ignition. (Y
page 183) 7 Sets the temperature, right i
Set the temperature to 22 †. (Y
page 178) 8 <
Switches the rear-compartment air-conditioning
on/off (Y
page 176) 9 a
Directs the airflow through the centre and side air
vents (Y
page 181) a Y
Directs the airflow to the footwells and side air
vents (Y
page 181) b Displays the airflow level
c ·
Reduces the airflow (Y
page 181) d 1
Switches the rear window heating on/off i
At very low temperatures, the rear window heating is
only switched on once the vehicle interior has warmed
up. (Y
page 182) e :
Activates/deactivates air-recirculation mode i
Only use this operating mode for a short time, e.g. in
a tunnel. Otherwise, the windows could mist up due to
lack of fresh air. (Y
page 182) Cont
rols
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Air conditioning
173Function Recommendation/Notes
f Interior temperature sensor
g ´
Activates/deactivates Thermatic i
Activate Thermatic. The indicator lamp in the ´
button goes out. (Y
page 176) Multi-zone Thermotronic*
Function Recommendation/Notes
1 Sets the temperature, left i
Set the temperature to 22 †. (Y
page 178) 2 U
Controls the air conditioning automatically i
Activate automatic air conditioning. The indicator
lamp in the Ubutton comes on. (Y
page 177) Cont
rols
* optional
164_AKB; 5; 5, en-GB
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