2011 MERCEDES-BENZ M-CLASS SUV Owners Manual

from th
eside .W hen you overtak eavehicle,
the warning only occurs if the difference in
speed is less than 12 km/h.
The yellow indicator lam pgoes out if reverse
gear is engaged. Active Blin dSpot Assist is
then no longer active.
The brightness of the indicator/warning
lamps is adjusted automatically accordin gto
the ambient light. G
WARNING
Active Blind Spot Assis tisn ot active at speeds
below 30 km/h. The indicator lamps in the
exterior mirror sare yello w.Vehicle sinthe
monitorin grange are then not indicated.
Always pay attention to traffic conditions and
your surroundings. Otherwise, you may fail to
recognise dangers in time, cause an accident
and injure yourself and others.
Visua land acoustic collision warning
If you switc honthe appropriate tur nsignals
and avehicle is detected in the side monitor-
ing range, you will receive avisual and acous-
tic collision warning. You will hear adouble
warnin gtonea nd red warning lamp :
flashes. If the turn signal remains on, dete c-
ted vehicle sare indicated by th eflashing of
red warnin glamp :.T here ar enofurther
warning tones.
Course-correcting brak eapplication
If Active Blind Spo tAssist detects arisk of a
lateral collision in the monitoring range, a
course-correcting brake application is carried
out. This is designed to help you avoid acol-
lision.
The course-cor recting brake application is
availabl eint he range between 30 km /hand
200 km/h.
If ac ourse-correcting brake application
occ urs, red warnin glamp :flash esin the
exterio rmirror and th efollowing is shown in
the multifuncti on display,for example: G
WAR
NING
Activ eBlindS pot Assist is only an aid
designed to assist driving. It is not asubstitute
for attentive driving. Automatic braking by the
system may not always be sufficien ttoavoid
ac ollision .Insuch cases, you need to steer,
brake or accelerate yourself.
In very rare cases, the system may detect a
risk of collision where there is none and brake
in error near crash barriers or similar road
boundaries .Active Blind Spot Assist cannot
detect all traffic situations and road users.
Ensure at all times that there is sufficient lat-
eral distance betwee nyou and other road
users or obstacles. You can ,for example,
coun tersteer gently or depres sthe accelera-
tor pedal at any tim etocancel inappropriate
braking action.
You are responsible for the vehicle's speed,
correc tsteering and for braking in good time.
Alway sadapt your drivin gstyle to suit the
prevailing road and weather conditions.
Always pay attention to traffic conditions and
your surroundings. Otherwise, you may fail to
recognise dangers in time, cause an accident
and injure yoursel fand others.
Eithe ravery slight course-correcting brake
application, or non eatall, may occur if:
R there are vehicles or obstacles, e.g. crash
barriers, on both sides of your vehicle.
R av ehicle approaches too closely on the
side.
R you have adopted asporty driving style with
high cor nering speeds.
R you brake or accelerate decisively.
R ad riving safety system intervenes, such as
ESP ®
or PRE-SAFE ®
Brake.
R ESP ®
is deactivated. 214
Dri
ving systemsDriving and parking

R
the Off-roa dprogra misa ctivate d(vehicles
without th eON&OFFROAD package).
R Off-road progra m1or2isactivated(vehi-
cle sw ith the ON&OFFROAD package).
R the LOW RANGE off-road gear is activated
(vehicles with the ON&OFFROAD package).
R al oss of tyr epressure or adefectiv etyre is
detected.
Activating Active Blind Spot Assist
X On vehicles without anavigation system,
make sure that the Becker ®
MAP PILOT is
connected; see the separate operating
instructions for Audio 20.
X Make sure that the radar senso rsystem
(Y page 249) and Active Blind Spot Assist
(Y page 245) are activated in the on-board
computer.
X Turn the key to position 2in the ignition
lock.
Warning lamps :ligh tupr ed in the exte-
rior mirror sfor approximately 1. 5seconds
and then tur nyellow.
Trailer towing
If you attach atrailer, make sure that yo uhave
correctly established the electrical connec-
tion. This can be accomplished by checking
the trailer lighting .Active Blind Spo tAssist is
then deactivated. The indicator lam plights up
yellow in the exterior mirrors and the ActiveBlind Spot Assist currently unavail‐
able Se
eOwner's Manual message
appe arsint he multifunction display.
Active Lan eKeeping Assist Import
ants afety notes
Active Lane Keeping Assis tmonitors the area
in front of your vehicle by means of acamera
at the top of the windscreen. Active Lane
Keeping Assis tdetect slane markings on the
road and warns you before you leave your
lane unintentionally .Ifyou do not react to the
warning, alane-correcting application of the
brakes can bring the vehicle back into the
original lane. :
Active Lane Keeping Assis tcamera
If you have selected the Displayunit Speed-/odometer (Y
page 246) function in
th eo n-board compute rand select km as the
unit of measurement, Active Lane Keeping
Assist is active from speeds of 60 km/h. If
the miles display unit is selected
,the assis-
tan ce ra nge begins at 40 mph. G
WARNING
Active Lane Keeping Assist doe snot keep
your vehicle in its lane. It is only an aid and
may detec tthe lan emarkings on the road
incorrectly or not at all.
The system may be impaired or may not func-
tion if:
R several or no lane markings for asingle lane
are present.
R there is poor visibility, e.g. due to insuffi-
cient illumination of the road, or due to
snow, rain, fog or spray.
R there is glare, e.g. from oncoming traffic,
the sun, or reflec tion from other vehicles.
R the windscreen is dirty, misted up or cov-
ered, for insta ncebyasticker, in the vicinity
of the camera.
R the lane markings are worn away ,dark or
covered up, e.g. by dirt or snow.
R the distance to the vehicle in front is too
small and the lane markings thus cannot be
detected.
R the lane markings on the road are unclear,
e.g. near roadworks. Driving systems
215Drivingand park ing
Z

R
the lane markings change quickly, e.g.
lanes branch off, cros sone anothe ror
merge.
R ther oad is narrow and winding.
Active Lane Keeping Assist cannot detect
road and traffic conditions. It is not asubsti-
tute for attentive driving.Y ou are responsible
for the vehicle's speed ,braking in good time,
and steering correctly .Always adapt your
driving style to sui tthe prevailing roa dand
weather conditions. Alway spay attention to
traffic condition sand your surroundings. Oth-
erwise, you may fail to recognise dange rsin
time, cause an accident and injure yourself
and others.
Warning vibra tion in th esteering wheel
Aw arnin gmay be given if afront wheel
passes ove ralane mar king. You will then be
warned by means of an intermittent vibration
in the steering wheel for up to 1. 5seconds.
In order that you are warned only when nec-
essary and in good tim eifyou cross the lane
marking, the system recognises cer tain con-
ditions and warns you accordingly.
The warnin gvibration occur searlier if:
R you approach the outer lane markin gona
bend.
R the road has ver ywide lanes, e.g. amotor-
way.
R the system recognises solid lane markings.
The warnin gvibration occur slater if:
R the road has narrow lanes.
R you cut the corner on abend.
Lane-correcting brak eapplication
If you leave your lane unde rcertain cir cum-
stances, the vehicle will brake briefl yonone
side. Thi sisdesigned to help you brin gthe
vehicle bac kinto the original lane.
Thi sfunction is available in the range between
60 km/ hand 200 km/h.
Al ane-correctin gbrake applicatio ncan only
be made after driving over asolid, recognis-
able lane marking. Befor ethis, awarning must be emitted by means of intermittent
vibration in the steering wheel. In addition, a
lane with lane markings on both sides must
be recognised. The brake application also
slightly reduces driving speed.
If al ane-correcting brake application occurs,
the following appears in the multifunction dis-
play: i
Afurther lane-correcting brake applica-
tion can only occur after your vehicle has
returned to the original lane. G
WARNING
Active Lane Keeping Assis tdoes not keep
your vehicle in its lane. It is only an aid
designed to assist driving. It is not asubstitute
for attentive driving. Corrective braking may
not always be sufficient to return your vehicle
to its original lane. In such cases, you must
steer the vehicle yourself to ensure that it
does not leave the lane.
Active Lane Keeping Assis tcannot detect the
current traffic situation or other road users.
Ensure at all times that there is sufficient lat-
eral distance between you and other road
users or obstacles .Inrare cases, broken lines
or certain structures on the road surface may
be detected by the system as solid lane mark-
ings. You can, for example, countersteer gen-
tly at any time to cancel inappropriate braking
action, e.g. if you intentionally drive across a
solid lane marking.
Active Lane Keeping Assis tcannot take
weather conditions into account.
You are responsible for the vehicle's speed,
correct steering and for braking in good time.
Always adapt your driving style to suit the
prevailing road and weather conditions.
Always pay attention to traffic conditions and 216
Driving systemsDrivin
gand parking

your surroundings. Otherwise, you may fail to
recognise danger
sintime,cause an accident
and injur eyourself and others.
No lane-correcting brak eapplication occurs
if:
R you clearly and acti vely steer ,brake ,or
accelerate.
R you cut the corner on ashar pbend.
R you have switched on the tur nsignals.
R ad riving safet ysystem intervenes, such as
ESP ®
,P RE-SAFE ®
Brak eorA ctive Blind
Spot Assist.
R you have adopted asport ydriving style with
high cornerin gspeeds or high rates of
acceleration.
R on vehicles with atrailer to whitch, the
electrical connection to the trailer has been
correctly established.
R ESP ®
is deactivated.
R the transmission is not in position D.
R the Off-road program is activated (vehicles
without the ON&OFFROA Dpackage).
R Off-road program 1or2isactivated (vehi-
cles with the ON&OFFROAD package).
R the LOW RANGE off-road gear is activated
(vehicles with the ON&OFFROAD package).
R al oss of tyr epressure or adefective tyre
has been detected and displayed.
Activ eLaneK eeping Assist does no tdetect
road and traffic conditions .Aninappropriate
brake applicatio nmay be interrupted at any
time if:
R you steer slightly in the opposite direction.
R you use aturn signal.
R you clearly brake or accelerate.
Al ane- correcting bra keapplication is inter-
rupted automatically if:
R ad riving safet ysystem intervenes, such as
ESP ®
,P RE-SAFE ®
Brake or Active Blind
Spot Assist.
R lane markings can no longe rberecognised. Activating Active Lane Keeping Assist
X
Switch on Active Lan eKeeping Assist using
the on-boar dcomputer ;todoso, select
Standard or
Adaptive (Y
page 245).
Symbol :appears in the multifunction
display.
If Standard is selected, no warnin
gvibra-
tion occur sif:
R you have switched on th eturn signals .In
this event, the warnings are suppressed
for acertain period of time.
R ad riving safety system intervenes, such
as ABS, BAS or ESP ®
.
If Adaptive is selected, no warning vibra-
tio no ccurs if:
R you have switche donthe tur nsignals. In
this event, the warnings are suppressed
for acertain period of time.
R ad riving safety system intervenes, such
as ABS, BAS or ESP ®
.
R yo ua ccelerate hard ,e.g. kickdown.
R you brake hard.
R you steer actively, e.g. swerve to avoid
an obstacle or chang elane quickly.
R you cut the corner on ashar pbend.
Trailer towing
If you attach atrailer, make sure that yo uhave
correctly established the electrical connec-
tion. This can be accomplished by checking
the trailer lighting. Driving systems
217Drivingand parking Z

On-roa
dprogram (vehicle swith the
ON&OFFROAD package)
Genera lnotes The on-road program
ssupport you when driv-
ing on roads and the off-road programs sup-
port you when driving off-road (Y page 222).
The following program messages remain in
the multifunction display until the corre-
spondin gvehicle level has been set. Up to off-
road level 2, you can hide the program mes-
sages using the %ora button on the
multifunction steering wheel.
AUTO program Selec
tthe AUTO program for amore com-
for table ride under all normal driving condi-
tions.
Your selection remains stored even if you
remove the key from the ignition lock. X
Selecto rwheel : engaged:
brieflypress
selector wheel :.
Selector wheel :extends.
X To select: turn selector wheel :unti lindi-
cator lamp ;comes on.
AUTO indicator =appears in the multi-
function display. R
Highway level is set.
R AD S(Adaptive Damp ingS ystem) adjusts
the comfort damping characteristics to
the current operating and driving condi-
tions.
R The automatic transmission selects the
automatic drive progra mforac omforta-
ble and efficien tdriving style.
SPORT program Select th
eSPORT program for sport ydriving
dynamics.
Your selection remains store deven if you
remove th ekey from the ignition lock. X
Selector wheel : engaged:
briefly press
selector wheel :.
Selec torw heel :extends.
X To select: turnthe selector wheel :until
indicator lamp ;goes on.
SPOR Tindicator =appears in the multi-
function display.
R High-speed level ,-15 mm compared to
highway level ,isset.
R AD S(Adaptive Damp ingS ystem) adjusts
the sporty damping characteristics to the
current operating and driving conditions. 218
Driving systemsDriving and
parking

R
The automatic transmission select sthe
automatic drive program for asporty
driving style.
R The sporty accelerator pedal curve is
selected. This mean sthat the accelera-
tor pedal does not need to be depressed
as fa rwhen accelerati ng.
R The sport ysteering curve is selected.
Thi sm eans that mor eeffort is required
when steering.
i Youc annot select the SPORT program if
LOW RANGE has been selected .The
Driv eprogram SPORT Not in LOW RANGE message appears in th
emultifunc-
tion display.
Snow program Select the snow program when driving in
snow or with snow chains. X
Selector wheel : engaged:
briefly press
selector wheel :.
Selector wheel :extends.
X To select: turn selector wheel :until indi-
cator lamp ;comes on.
Snow indicator =appears in the multi-
function display. R
Highway level is set.
R AD S(Adaptive Damp ingS ystem) adjusts
the comfort damping characteristics to
the current operating and driving condi-
tions.
R 4ETS and the differential lock are adap-
ted for driving on snow-covered roads.
R The automatic transmission selects the
automatic drive progra mforac omforta-
ble and efficien tdriving style.
R Th es mooth accelerato rpedal curve is
selected. This mean sthat the accelera-
tor pedal needs to be depressed much
further when accelerating.
R The optimal gear for pulling away is
engaged.
Trailer program Select the trailer program when towing a
trailer. X
Selector wheel : engaged:
brieflypress
selecto rwheel :.
Selector wheel :extends.
X To select: turnselector wheel :until indi-
cator lamp ;comes on.
Trailer indicator =appear sint he multi-
func tion display. Driving systems
219Drivingand parking Z

R
Hig hway level is set.
R ADS (Adaptive Damping System) adjusts
the comfort damping characteristics to
the current operating and driving condi-
tions.
R The automatic transmission selects the
automatic drive progra mforac omforta-
ble and efficien tdriving style ,and the
shift points are optimally adjusted.
R The differential lock is engaged when
pulling away. Off-road driving systems
4MATIC (permanent all-wheel drive)
4MATIC ensures that all four wheels are per-
manently driven. Togethe rwith ESP ®
and
4ETS, it improves the trac tion of your vehicle
whenever adrive whee lspins due to insuffi-
cient grip. G
WARNING
4MATI Ccannot reduce the risk of an accident
if you drive too fast.
If ad rive whee lspins due to insufficien tgrip:
R onl ydepress the accelerator peda lasfar as
necessary when pulling away.
R accelerate less when driving.
R adapt you rdriving style to su itroa dand
traffic conditions.
! Never tow the vehicle with one axle
raised. Thi smay damage the transfer case.
Damage of this sort is not covered by the
Mercedes-Benz implied warranty. All
wheels must remain either on the ground
or be fully raised. Observe the instructions
for towing the vehicle with all wheels in full
contact with the ground.
i In wintry driving conditions, the maximum
effect of 4MATIC can only be achieved if
you use winter tyres (M+S tyres), with snow
chains if necessary. !
Functio norperformanc etests ma yonly
be performed on a2-axle dynamometer. If
you wis htooperatethe vehicle on such a
dynamometer, pleas econsult aMercedes-
Benz Service Centr ebeforehand. You could
otherwise damage th edrive train or the
bra kesystem.
Fo rinformation abou tdriving off-roa d, see
( Y page 166). DSR (Downhill Speed Regulation)
Important safety notes DSR assists you when driv
ingd ownhill .It
keeps the spee doftravel at th espeed set on
the on-board comp uter. Th esteeper the
downhil lgradient ,the greate rthe DS Rbrak-
ing effect on th evehicle. When driving on flat
stretches of road or on an uphill gradient, the
DSR braking effect is minima lornon-existent. G
WARNING
DSR is only an aid designe dtoassist you when
driving downhill. You ar eresponsible for keep-
ing control of the vehicle and for assessing
whether the downhill gradien tcan be man-
aged.
When activating DSR the vehicle may brake
suddenly due to DSR intervening. This is
dependent on the downhill gradient and the
difference between the current spee dand the
speed set. DSR may not always be able to
keep to the set speed, depending on road sur-
face and tyre conditions .You coul dlose con-
trol of the vehicle and cause an accident.
Selec taset speed suitable for the prevailing
conditions and when necessary, apply the
brakes manually.
DSR con trols the set speed when it is active
and the automatic transmission is in the D,
R or Nposition. By accelerating or braking,
you can always drive at ahigher or alower
speed than that set on the on-boar dcom-
puter. 220
Off-road driving systemsDriving and parking

G
WARNING
If you depress the accelerato rpeda lwith DSR
activated, then the set spee dcan be excee-
ded. Drive downhill with special care and
alway skeep in min dthat DSR brakes the vehi-
cle as soon as you remove your foot from the
accelerator pedal. The vehicle may brake sud-
denly due to DSR intervening, depending on
the downhill gradient and the difference
between the current speed and the set speed.
You could lose control of the vehicle and
cause an accident.
For information about driving off-road, see
(Y page 166).
Activating/deactivating DSR Activating
You can only activate DSR when driving at
speeds below 40 km/h. Example: vehicles with the ON&OFFROAD package
X Press button :.
Indicator lamp ;lights up.
The following messages appear in the multi-
func tion display and in the status indicator,
for example: If the curren
tvehicle speed is too high, the
DSR symbol appear sint he multifunc tion dis-
play with the Max. speed 40 km/h message.
i You can notactivate DSR if the SPORT on-
road program is activated. Th eDSR symbol
and the Not in drive progra mSPORT message then appear in th
emultifunction
display.
Deactivating
X Press button :.
Indicator lamp ;goes out.
The DSR symbol appears in the multifunc-
tion display with the off message.
DSR switches off automatically if you drive
faster than 45 km/h. The DSR symbol
appears in the multifunction display with the
off message. Status indicator
=goes out.
You also hear awarning tone. On vehicles
with the ON&OFFROAD package, if you select
ad ifferent on-road/off- road program, DSR is
also deactivated. Status indicator =goes
out.
Changing the set speed When DSR is activated, you can change the
set spee dtoavalue between 2km/h and
18 km/h. X
To in crease or reduce the set speed in
1k m/h increments: briefly press the
cruise control lever to the pressure point, Off-road drivin
gsystems
221Drivingand park ing Z