
Driving
164•
Adjust the driver seat or steering wheel so that there is a distance of at
least 25 cm between the steering wheel and your chest ⇒ page 163,
fig. 136. If you fail to observe the minimum distance, the airbag will not
protect you. Risk of fatal injury.
•
If your physical constitution do es not allow you to mantain the
minimum distance of 25 cm, contact an Authorised Service Centre. The
Authorised Service Centre will help you to decide if special specific modifi-
cations are necessary.
•
If you adjust the steering wheel so tha t it points towards your face, the
driver airbag will not protect you properly in the event of an accident. Make
sure that the steering wheel points towards your chest.
•
When driving, always hold the steer ing wheel with both hands on the
outside of the ring at the 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions. Never hold the
steering wheel at the 12 o'clock positi on, or in any other manner (e.g. in
the centre of the steering wheel, or on the inside of the rim). In such cases,
you could receive severe injuries to the arms, hands and head.
SafetyElectronic stabilisation programme (ESP)*
ESP helps make driving safer in certain situations.The Electronic Stabilisation Program (ESP ) contains the electronic differential
lock (EDL) and the traction control sy stem (TCS). The ESP function works
together with the ABS. Both warning lamps will light up if the ESP or ABS
systems are faulty.
The ESP is started automatically when the engine is started.
The ESP is always active, and cannot be switched off. With the ESP switch it is
only possible to switch TCS off.
The TCS can be deactivated when in cases where wheel sliding is desirable.
For example:•
When driving with snow chains,
WARNING (continued)
Fig. 137 Detail of the
centre console: ESP
button
AlteaXL_EN.book Seite 164 M ontag, 2. Februar 2009 12:26 12

Checking and refilling levels
210Checking and refilling levelsRefuellingThe tank flap is released manually. The tank holds approxi-
mately 55 litres. For four-wheel drive vehicles, the tank
capacity is approximately 60 litres.Unscrewing the tank cap
–Lift the lid.
– Grip the cap and then insert the key into the lock and rotate 180°
to the left.
– Unscrew the cap, turning it anti-clockwise. Closing the tank cap
– Screw the tank cap to the right, until the point of feeling a “click”.
– Turn the key in the lock, without unscrewing the cap, clockwise
through 180°.
– Remove the key and close the flap until it clicks into place. The tank cap is secured with an anti-loss attachment
The tank flap is at the rear of the vehicle on the right.
If the automatic filler nozzle is operated correctly, it will switch itself off as
soon as the tank is “full”. Never attempt to fill beyond this point, as this will
fill the expansion chamber. Fuel may leak out if ambient conditions are warm.
The correct fuel grade for your vehicle is given on a sticker on the inside of the
fuel tank flap. Further notes on fuel can be found.
WARNING
•
Fuel is highly inflammable and can cause serious burns and other inju-
ries.
−Never smoke or use any naked flame when filling the fuel tank of the
vehicle, or a spare fuel canister, with fuel. This is an explosion hazard.
− Follow legal requirements for the use of spare fuel canisters.
− For safety reasons we do not recommend carrying a spare fuel
canister in the vehicle. The canister could be damaged in an accident
and leak.
•
If, in exceptional circumstances, you have to carry a spare fuel canister,
please observe the following points:
Fig. 155 Tank flap open
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If and when267
Safety First
Operating instructions
Practical tips
Te c h n i c a l D a t a
To w i n g r i n g sFitting the towing eye
– Take the towing ring from the onboard tool set. – Pull the lower front cover down and leave the cover hanging on
the vehicle.
– Remove the cover of the screw hole, insert a screwdriver into the lower slot and lever gently.
– Screw the towing eye as shown by the arrow anti-clockwise to the
limit position in the front ⇒fig. 200 or rear ⇒fig. 201 threaded
hole.
Fig. 200 The front right
section of the vehicle:
Fitting the front towing
eyeFig. 201 Fitting the
towing eye to the rear of
the vehicle
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Index
288CCatalytic converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
CD changer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Central locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Automatic speed dependent locking and un-locking system* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Emergency unlocking system . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Locking system for invo luntary unlocking . . 93
Selective unlocking system* . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Unlocking system* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Central locking button Central locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
unlocking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Centre arm rest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Cetane number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Changing gear See Manual gearbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Changing the lamps Main headlight lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
rear lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Changing the main headlight lamps
dipped beam lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
main beam lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Side lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
turn signal lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Changing the r ear light lamps
Position light, fog light and rear light on the tailgate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 Changing the rear lights
Indicator, side and brake lights on the bodywork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
luggage compartment lights . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Changing windscreen wiper blades . . . . . . . . . 223
Chassis number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Checking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Checking battery electrolyte level . . . . . . . . . . 228
Checking engine oil level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Child safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Child seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Categorisation in groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Group 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Group 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Group 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Groups 0 and 0+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
ISOFIX system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Safety notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Securing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Child seats on the front passenger seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Cigarette lighter* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Cleaning alloy wheel rims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Cleaning and caring for your vehicle . . . . . . . . 199
Cleaning chrome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Cleaning engine compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Cleaning steel wheel rims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Cleaning windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Climatic* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Climatronic General notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Cloth seat covers cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Clothes hook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Cockpit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Control lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Control lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Controls
Electric windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Light switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Convenience closing Sliding/tilting roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Convenience opening Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Coolant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220, 221 Coolant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Coolant Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Coolant level warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Coolant Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Coolant temperature Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Safety instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Cruise control system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Cruise control* Turning off the cruise control system . . . . 182
Curtain airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Safety notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
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Index289
DDanger of fitting a child seat on the front passenger
seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Dash panel cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Daytime lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 activating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
deactivating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Diesel engine Winter driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Diesel engine particulate filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Differential lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Differential lock fault (EDL) warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Digital clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Dipped headlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Disabling front passenger airbag Safety notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Disabling the airbag Disabling front passenger airbag . . . . . . . . . 43
Display (without warning or information texts) . 58
Displays in the Multi-function display Memory displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Disposal Airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Door lock cylinders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Door release lever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Doors Childproof locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Drawer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Drinks holders at the front . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Drive wheels traction control system . . . . . . . . 184
Driveshaft differential
XDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Driving Driving abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Economical/ Environtmental . . . . . . . . . . . 192
With a trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Driving abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 Headlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Driving programmes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Driving safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Driving with an automati c gearbox / DSG automatic
gearbox* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Duplicate keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Dust filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Dynamic curve lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Dynamic headlight range control . . . . . . . . . . . 113
EEcological driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Economical driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
EDL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
EDS Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Electric steering system warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Electrical sockets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Electronic differential lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Electronic immobiliser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82, 166
Electronic stabilisation program . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Electronic stabilisation programme . . . . . . . . . . 81 Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Electronic stabilisation programme (ESP) warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Emergency braking function . . . . . . . . . . 115, 183
emergency manual locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Emergency opening Doors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Emission control system warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Engine Running in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Engine compartment Working in the engine compartment . . . . . 213
Engine coolant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Engine fault Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Engine management Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Engine oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 Changing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Checking level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Oil properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Topping up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Engine oil dipstick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
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