2011 MERCEDES-BENZ M-CLASS SUV Owners Manual

ded. Fillin
gavehicle standing on an uneven
surface is not permitted. There is adanger
of overfilling, which can cause damage to
BlueTEC exhaust gas aftertreatment com-
ponents.
Have the AdBlue ®
tank refilled at aqualified
specialist workshop. However ,you can also
top up the AdBlue ®
tan k:
R at afilling station with an AdBlue ®
filling
pump
R with AdBlue ®
refill bottles
R with an AdBlue ®
refill canister
If the outside temperature is lower than
Ò 11 †, it may be difficult to top up. If
AdBlue ®
is frozen and ther eisanactive warn-
ing indicator, topping up may not be possible.
Park the vehicle in awarmer place, e.g. in a
garage, until AdBlue ®
has become fluid again.
Topping up is then possible again. Alterna-
tively, have the AdBlue ®
tank refilled at a
qualified specialis tworkshop.
When the pum pnozzle switches off automat-
ically during filling at afilling pump, the
AdBlue ®
tank has been completely filled. Do
not fill the the AdBlue ®
tank any fur ther.
AdBlue ®
may possibly leak.
! Surfaces which have com eintoc ontact
with AdBlue ®
while refillin gshould be
rinsed immediately with water, or remove
AdBlue ®
with amoist clot hand cold water.
If AdBlue ®
has alread ycrystallised, us ea
sponge and cold water to clean the area.
AdBlue ®
residue crystallises after acertain
amount of tim eand soils the affected sur-
faces.
! AdBlue ®
is not afuel additive and must
not be added to the fuel tank .IfAdBlue ®
is
added to the fuel tank ,this can lead to
engin edamage.
Further information on
AdBlue ®
(Y page 374). Opening the AdBlue
®
filler cap The filler nec
kfor AdBlue ®
is located behind
the fuel filler flap.
The fuel filler fla pisunlocked or locked auto-
matically whe nyou open or close the vehicle
with the key or using KEYLESS-GO. X
Swit choff the ignition.
X Press the fuel filler fla pinthe direction of
arrow :.
The fuel filler fla pswings up.
X Turn blue AdBlue ®
filler cap ;anti-clock-
wise and remov eit.
AdBlue ®
filler cap ;is secured with aplas-
tic strip.
AdBlue ®
refill canisters AdBlue
®
refill canisters can be obtained at
many filling stations or at aMercedes-Benz
Ser vice Centre. AdBlue ®
refill canis ters are
often sold with afiller hose. Afiller hose that
does not exactly fit the vehicle's AdBlue ®
tan koffers no pro tection agains toverfilling.
AdBlue ®
could leak ou tasar esult of overfill-
ing. Mercedes-Ben zoffers aspecial disposa-
ble hose with overfill protection. You can
obtain this from any Mercedes-Benz Service
Centre. AdBlue ®
is available in avariety of
containers and receptacles. Only use the dis-
posable hos ewith the Mercedes-Benz
AdBlue ®
refill canister s.158
RefuellingDriving and parking

X
Unscre wthe cap from the opening on top
of AdBlue ®
refill canister ;.
X Plac edisposable hose :on the opening
of AdBlue ®
refill canister ;and screw it
on clockwise until hand-tight.
i Disposable hose :remains closed until
you fasten disposable hose :to the
AdBlue ®
filler neck of the vehicle. X
Place disposable hose :on the filler neck
on the vehicle and screw it on clockwise
until hand-tight. When you feel resistance,
disposable hose :is sufficiently secured.
! Do not tighten disposable hose :with
too muc hforce. Disposabl ehose :may
otherwise be destroyed.
X Lif tu pa nd tip AdBlue ®
refill canister ;.
i Filling stops whe nthe AdBlue ®
tan kis
completely fille d.Do no tfill the AdBlue ®
tank any further. AdBlue ®
refill canis-
ter ;can be removed when it has been
only partially emptied. X
Turn disposable hose :on the filler neck
of the vehicle anti-clockwise and remov eit.
X Turn disposable hose :on the opening of
AdBlue ®
refill canister ;anti-clockwise
and remove it.
X Reseal AdBlue ®
refill canister ;with the
cap.
AdBlue ®
refill bottle AdBlue
®
refill bottle scan be obtained at many
filling stations or at aMercedes-Benz Service
Cent re.R efill bottles without athreaded seal
offer no protection against overfilling.
AdBlue ®
could leak out as aresult of overfill-
ing. Mercedes-Ben zoffers special refi llbot-
tles with athrea deds eal. You can obtain
these from any Mercedes-Ben zService
Centre. X
Unscrew the protectiv ecap from AdBlue ®
refill bottle :.
X Place AdBlue ®
refill bottle :on the filler
neck as sho wn andscre witonh and-tight.
! Screw on the AdBlue ®
refill bottle only
hand-t ight.Itm ay other wise be destroyed.
X Press AdBlue ®
refil lbottle : toward sthe
fille rneck.
The AdBlue ®
tank is filled. Thi scould last
up to one min ute.
i Whe nAdBlue ®
refill bottle :is no longer
pressed, filling stops and the bottle may be
taken off again after being only partially
emptied. Refuelling
159Drivingand parking Z

X
Release AdBlue ®
refill bottle :.
X Turn AdBlue ®
refill bottle :anti-clockwise
and remove it.
X Screw the protective cap onto AdBlue ®
refill bottle :again.
Closing th eAdBlue ®
filler cap and fuel
filler flap X
Fit AdBlue ®
filler cap ;on the filler neck
and tur nitclockwise.
X To close th efuel filler flap ,press it in the
di rectio nofarrow:.
X Drive faster than 15 km/h.
The Refill AdBlue See Owner' sMan‐ ual messag
egoeso ut after approximately
on em inute.
i If the Refill AdBlue See Owner's Manual messag
eremain sinthe mu ltifunc-
tion display, you mus ttop up with more
AdBlue ®
. Parking
Important safety notes
G
WARNING
Only remove the key from the ignition lock
when the vehicle is stationary, as you can not
steer the vehicle when the key is removed.
Never leav echildren unsupervised in the vehi-
cle. They might release the electric parking
brake. This coul dlead to aserious or fatal
accident. G
WAR
NING
Under no circumstances should the exhaust
system come into contact with flammable
materials such as dry grass or petrol ,for
example. Do not par kthe vehicle on dry grass-
lan dorh arvested grain fields. The hot exhaust
system could otherwise ignite the flammable
material and set the vehicle on fire.
To ensure that the vehicle is secured against
rolling away unintentionally:
R the electric parking brake must be applied.
R the transmission must be in position Pand
the key must be removed from the ignition
lock.
R on steep uphill or downhill gradients, turn
the fron twheels towards the kerb. Switching of
fthe engine
Important safety notes G
WARNING
Neve rswitch off the engine while the vehicle
is in motion.
There is no brake boost for the service brake
if the engine is not running. If the ignition is
switched off, there is also no power assis-
tance for the steering.
You will require considerably more effort to
steer and brake and you could therefore lose
control of the vehicle and cause an accident.
X Apply the electric parking brake.
X Shift the transmission to position P.
Using the key X
Turn the key to position 0in the ignition
lock and remove it.
The immobiliser is activated.
i If you switch the engine off with the trans-
mission in position Ror D,t he automatic
transmission shift stoNautomatically. 160
ParkingDriving and parking

If yo
uthen open one of the front doors or
remove the key from the ignition ,the auto-
matic transmission shift stoP.
If yo ushift the automatic transmission to
N before switching off the engine, the auto-
matic transmission remains in Neven when
ad oor is opened.
Using KEYLESS-GO X
Press the Start/Stop button (Y page 139).
The engin estops and all the indicator
lamp sint he instrumen tcluster go out.
i If you use the Start/Stop button to switch
off the engine, the automatic transmission
shifts to Nautomatically. If you then open
one of the front doors, the automatic trans-
missio nshift stoP .
i The engin ecan be turned off while the
vehicle is in motion by pressing and holding
the Start/Stop button for three seconds.
This function operates independently of the
ECO start/stop automatic engine switch-
off function. Electric parking brake
General notes i
The electric parking brake carries out a
function check at regular intervals when
the engine is switched off. Noises that
occur are normal. Engaging/releasing manually
X
To engage: push handle :.
The red !indicator lamp in the instru-
ment cluster lights up.
i The electric parking brake can also be
applied when the key is removed.
X To release: pull handle:.
The red !indicator lamp in the instru-
ment cluster goes out.
i The electric parking brake can only be
released when the key in the ignition lock
is in position 1or the ignition is switched
on using the Start/Stop button.
To ensure that you don't roll backwards when
pulling away on an uphill slope, engage the
electric parking brake (Y page 141).
Engaging automatically Your vehicle's electric parking brake is auto-
matically applied if DISTRONIC PLUS or the
HOLD function bring the vehicle to
astand-
still ,ora re engaged to kee pthe vehicle sta-
tionary. In addition, at least one of the follow-
ing condition smust be fulfilled:
R the engine is switched off.
R the driver' sdoor is open and the seat belt
is not fastened.
R the vehicle is stationar yfor alengthy
period.
The red !indicator lam pint he instrument
cluster lights up.
i The electric parkin gbrake is not automat-
icall yengaged if the engine is switched off
by the ECO start/stop function.
Releasing automatically The electric parking brake of your vehicl
eis
release dautomatically when all of the follow-
ing conditions are fulfilled:
R the engine is running.
R the transmission is in position Dor R. Parking
161Drivingand park ing Z

R
the seat belt is fastened.
R yo ud epress th eaccelerator pedal.
If the transmiss ioni sinp osition R,the boot
lid must be closed.
If your seat belt is not fastened ,the following
con ditions mus tbefulfilled to automatically
release the electri cparking brake:
R the driver's door is closed.
R yo uh aves hifted out of transmissio nposi-
tion Por you have previousl ydrive nfaster
than 3km/h.
Emergency braking The vehicle can also be braked durin
gan
emergenc yusingthe electric parking brake.
X While driving ,push handle :of the electric
parking brak e(Ypage 161).
i The vehicle is braked as lon gasyou keep
th eh andle of the elect ricp arking brake
pressed. The longer the elect ricp arking
brak ehandle is depressed, the greater the
brakin gforce.
During braking:
R aw arning tone sounds.
R the Releas eparking brake message
ap pe ars.
R the red !indicator lamp in the instru-
ment cluster flashes.
When the vehicl ehas been braked to astand-
still ,the electric parkin gbrake is engaged. Parkin
gupthe vehicle
If you le avet he vehicle parked up for longer
than fou rweeks, the batter ymay be damaged
by exhaustive discharge.
X Disconnect the battery ( Ypag e346) or
connect it to atrickl echarger.
i You can obtain information about trickle
chargers from aqualified specialist work-
shop, e.g. aMercedes-Ben zService
Centre. If you leave the vehic
leparked up for longer
than six weeks, the vehic lemay sufferd am-
age as aresult of lack of use.
X Visi taq ualifieds pecialist workshop and
seek advice. Driving tips
General driving tips
Coasting with the engine switched off G
WAR
NING
Never switch the engine off whil ethe vehicle
is in motion.
There is no power assista ncef or the service
brake when the engin eisnot run ning.
You will require considerably more effort to
brake and you could therefore los econtrol of
the vehicle and cause an accident. Engine oil
! Vehicles with adiesel particle filter:
If the vehicle is mostly driven for short dis-
tances, it is possible that malfunctions may
occur durin gthe automa ticc leaning of the
diesel particle filter. This can lead to engine
damage. Therefore, if you frequently drive
short distances, make sure to drive on
motorways or countr yroads for 20 minutes
at least ever y500 km. Brakes
Important safe tynotes G
WARNING
Do not change down for additional engine
brakin gonas lippery road surface. This could
cause the drive wheels to lose their grip and
the vehicle could skid. 162
Drivin
gtipsDriving and parking

G
WARNING
Make sure tha tother road user sare not
endang ered by your braking.
Downhill gradients On long and steep downhill gradients, espe-
cially if the vehicle is laden or towing
atrailer,
yo um ust select shift range 1,2or 3in good
time.
i This als oapplies if you have activated
cruise control, SPEEDTRONIC or DIS-
TRONIC PLUS.
This will use the braking effect of the engine,
so less braking will be required to maintain
the speed. This relieves the load on the brake
system and prevents the brakes from over-
heating and wearing too quickly.
Heavy and light loads G
WARNING
Never depress the brak epeda lconti nuously
while the vehicle is in motion, e.g. never cause
the brakes to rub by apply ingc onstant slight
pedal pressure. This causes the brake system
to overheat, increases the brakin gdistance
and can lead to the brakes failing completely.
If the brakes have been subjected to aheavy
load, do not stop the vehicle immediately ,but
drive on for ashort while. This allow sthe air-
flo wtoc ool the brakes mor equickly.
If the brakes have been used only moderately,
you should occasionally test their effective-
ness. To do this, brake more firmly from a
higher speed. This improves the grip of the
brakes.
Wet road surface If driving in heavy rain for
aprolonged period
of time without braking, there may be a
delayed reaction from th ebrake swhen brak-
ing for the first time. This ma yalso occur after
the vehicle has been washed. You have to depress the brake pedal more
firmly. Maintain
agreater distance from the
vehicl einfront.
After driving on awet road or havin gthe vehi-
cle washed, brake firml ywhile paying atten-
tion to the traffic conditions. This will warm
up the brake discs, thereby drying them more
quickly and protectin gthem against corro-
sion.
Limited braking perfo rmance on salt-
treated roads G
WARNING
The layer of salt on the brake discs and the
brake pads/linings may cause adelay in the
braking effect ,resultin ginas ignifican tlyl on-
ger brakin gdistance, which could lead to an
accident.
To avoid this danger, you should:
R occasionally brake carefully, without put-
ting other road users at risk, when you are
drivin gons alted roads. This helps to
remove any salt that may have started to
build up on the brake discs and the brake
pads/linings.
R maintain agreater distance to th evehicle
ahead and driv ewith particular care.
R carefully apply the brakes at the end of a
trip and immediately after commencing a
new trip, so that salt residues are removed
from the brake discs.
New brake pads/linin gs G
WARNING
New brak epads/linings only reach their opti-
mum braking effect after several hundred kil-
ometres of driving. Before this optimum brak-
ing effect is reached, you shoul dcompensate
for the reduced brakin geffect by applying
greate rpressure when braking .This also
applies after the brake discs or the brake
pads/linings hav ebeen replaced.
For safety reasons, Mercedes-Benz recom-
mends that you only have brak epads/linings Driving tips
163Drivingand parking Z

fitted to you
rvehicle which have been
approved for Mercedes-Benz vehicles or
which cor respond to an equivalen tquality
standard. Brak epads/linings which have not
been approved for Mercedes -Ben zvehicles or
which are not of an equivalent qualit ycould
affect your vehicle' soperatin gsafety. Tyr
etrac tion G
WARNING
Whereas the vehicle can be fully controlle dat
ac ertain speed on dry roads, you must reduce
your speed on wet or icy roads to achiev ethe
sam eroad safety. You coul dotherwise cause
an accident.
Pay particular attention to the road conditions
at temperatures around freezing point.
If ice has formed on the road surface (e.g.
from fog), athin fil mofw ater rapidly forms on
the ice when you brake, considerably reduc-
ing tyre traction. Driv ewith particular care in
such weather conditions. Driving on wet roads
Aqua planing If water ha
saccumulate dtoacertain depth
on the road surface, ther eisadanger of aqua-
planing occurring, even if:
R you are driving at low speeds.
R the tyres have adequate tread depth.
For this reason, do not drive in tyre ruts, and
brake carefully.
Driving on flooded roads If you have to drive on stretches of road on
which water has collected, please bear in
mind that:
R the maximum permissible still water depth
depends on the vehicle equipment.
R you should drive no faster than at walking
pace. !
Bear in mind that vehicles travellin gin
front or in th eopposite direc tion create
waves. This ma ycause the maximum per-
missible water depth to be exceeded.
Thes enotes must be observed under all
cir cums tances. You could othe rwise dam-
age the engine, the electronics or the trans-
mission.
Off- road fording Th
et able shows fordin gdepth :when the
vehicle is loaded and ready to drive.
Loaded and ready to driv emeans: afull tank,
all fluids topped up and the driver is in the
vehicle.
On vehicles with the AIRMATIC package or
the ON&OFFROAD package, loads up to the
maximum permissible load have no influence
on the fordin gcapability. Fording
depth Steel-sprung vehicles
50 cm
Vehicles with the AIRMATIC
pack
age Raised level 50 cm
Vehicles with the ON&OFF-
ROAD package
Off-road level 3 60 cm
Off-road level 2 50 cm
Off-road level 1 50 cm164
Driving tipsDrivin
gand parking

!
The depth of water must not exceed the
value specified in the table. Not ethat the
possible fording depth is less in flowing
water.
R Establish how deep the water is and the
characteristic softhe body of water before
fording.
R Select the highest possible vehicle level.
R Restrict the shift range to 1or 2.
R Avoid high engin espeeds.
R Enter and exit the water at aflat place and
at as teady walking pace.
! Under no circumstances should you
accelerate before entering the water. The
bow wave could cause water to enter and
damage the engine and neighbouring
assemblies.
R Drive slowl yand at aconstant speed
through the water.
R Do not stop.
! Do not open any of the vehicle' sdoors
while fording. Otherwise, wate rcould get
int ot he vehicle interior and damage the
vehicle' selectronics and interior equip-
ment.
R Water offer sahigh degree of resistance,
and the ground is slippery and in some
cases unstable. Therefore, it is difficult and
dangerous to pull away in the water.
R Ensure that abow wav edoes not for mas
you drive.
R Clea nany mud from the tyre tread after
fording.
R Appl ythe brakes to dry them after fording. Winter driving
Genera lnotes G
WARNING
If the vehicle becomes trapped in snow,
ensure that snow is kept away from the
exhaust pipe and from around the vehicle as long as the engine is running. Otherwise, poi-
sonous carbon monoxide (CO) may enter the
vehicle, resulting in loss of consciousness and
even death.
To assure sufficient fresh air ventilation, open
aw indow slightly on the side of the vehicle
not facin gthe wind.
At the onset of winter, have your vehicle win-
terproofed at aqualified special istworkshop,
e.g. at aMercedes-Ben zService Centre.
Vehicles with the ON&OFFROAD package: if
driving in snow or with snow chains, select
the snow program (Y page 219) with the off-
road program selector wheel in the centre
console.
Driving with summer tyres Observ
ethe notes in the "Winter operation"
section (Y page 357).
Slippery roa dsurfaces G
WARNING
Do not shift down for additiona lengine brak-
ing on aslippery road surface. This could
cause the drive wheels to lose their grip and
the vehicle could skid.
You should drive particularly carefully on slip-
pery road surfaces. Avoid sudden accelera-
tion, steering and braking manoeuvres.
If the vehicle threatens to skid or cannot be
stopped when moving at low speed:
X Shift the transmission to position N.
X Try to bring the vehicle under control by
using corrective steering.
i For more information on drivin gwith
snow chains, see (Y page 358). Drivin
gtips
165Driving and park ing Z