2011 MERCEDES-BENZ M-CLASS SUV towing

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

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

R
cond ition of the LOW RAN GEoff-r oad
gear
R the on-roa dtraile rprogram is selected Tow
inga trailer Note
sont owingatrailer
Important safety notes G
WARNING
When reversing the vehicl etowards the
trailer, make sure there is nobod ybetween
the trailer and the vehicle.
Couple and uncoupl ethe trailer carefully .If
you do not couple the trailer to the towing
vehicle correctly, the trailer coul dbecome
detached.
Make sure that the following values are not
exceeded:
R the permissible trailer drawbar noseweight
R the permissible trailer load
R the permissible rear axle load of the towing
vehicle
R the maximu mpermissible gross vehicle
weight of both the towing vehicle and the
trailer
You will fin dthe applicable permissible val-
ues, whic hmust not be exceeded ,inthe vehi-
cle documen ts.
You will find the values approved by the man-
ufacturer on the vehicle identification plates
and those for the towing vehicle in the "Tech-
nical data" section. G
WARNING
If the Checktrailer hitch locking mechanism message appears in th
emulti-
function display while the vehicle is in motion,
pull over immediately and check whethe rthe
ball coupling is correctly engaged. G
WARNING
When towin gatrailer, you rvehicle' shandling
characteristics will be different in comparison
to when driving without atrailer.
Th ev ehicle/ trailer combination:
R is heavier
R is restricted in its acceleration and gradi-
ent-climbin gcapability
R has an increased braking distance
R is affected more by stron gcrosswinds
R demand smore sensitive steering
R has alarger turnin gcircle
As aresult, the handlin gcharacteristic smay
be impaired and you may lose control of the
vehicle. This could lead to an accident with
serious or even fatal injuries.
When towing atrailer, alway sadjust your
speed to the current road and weather con-
ditions. Do not exceed the maximum permis-
sible speed for your vehicle/trailer combina-
tion. G
WARNING
Never depress the brak epedal continuously
while the vehicle is in motion ,e.g. never cause
the brakes to rub by applying cons tant slight
pedal pressure. Thi scauses the brake system
to overheat, increases the braking distance
and can lead to the brakes failing completely. G
WARNING
On no account shoul dyou attempt to dra wthe
vehicle/ trailer combination out by increasing
speed. G
WARNING
If you exceed the maximum noseweight when
using acarrier system on the ball coupling:
R the carrier system may be thrown around.
R the ball coupling and the carrier system
may become detached from the vehicle.
As aresult, you may injure others or cause an
accident. 226
Towing
atrailerDriving and parking

Do not exceed the maximum noseweight.
When driving with aloaded carriersystem,
always adjust your drivin gstyle to th eprevail-
ing road, traffic and weather conditions and
drive par ticularly carefully.
You can use carrier sys tems, e.g. bi cycle
racks or load-bea ringimplements on th eball
coupling. The maximum noseweight of 75 kg
applies when usin gcarrier system sontheball
coupling.
General information i
Chec kthe tyr epressure when towin ga
trailer. You will find the values in the tyre
pressure table in the fuel filler flap of the
vehicle (Y page 359).
You will find installation dimensions and loads
in the "Technical data" section
(Y page 378).
The maximum noseweight of the trailer draw-
bar on the ball coupling is 18
.H owever, the
actual noseweight must not exceed the value
given on the trailer tow hitc hortrailer identi-
ficatio nplates. The lowest weight applies.
! Use anoseweight as close as possible to
the maximum permissible noseweight .Do
not use anoseweight of less than 50 kg,
otherwise the trailer ma ycome loose.
Bear in min dthat the payload and the rear
axl eload ar ereduced by the actual nose-
weight.
Please note that when towing atrailer, PARK-
TRONIC (Y page 191) and Blind Spo tAssist
(Y page 208) ar eonly available with limita-
tions ,orn ot at all.
i On vehicles withou tlevel control, the
height of the ball couplin gwill alter accord-
ing to the load placed on the vehicle. If nec-
essary, use atrailer wit haheight-adjusta-
ble drawbar. Driving tips i
Observ ethe information on ESP ®
trailer
stabilisation (Y page 65)and on pull ing
away with atrailer. (Y page 141).
Vehicles wit hthe ON&OFFROAD package:
selec tthe trailer program (Y page 219) with
the off-road program selector wheel in the
cen treconsole.
Th em aximum permissible spee dfor vehicle/
trailer combination sdepends on the type of
trailer .Befor ebeginning the journey, check
the trailer's documents to see what the max-
imu mpermitted speed is. Observ ethe legally
prescribed maximum speed in the relevant
country.
For certai nMercedes-Ben zvehicles, the max-
imu mp ermissible rear axle load is inc reased
when towing atrailer. Refer to th e"Techni cal
data" section to fin dout whether this applies
to your vehicle. If you utilise any of the added
maximum rear axle load when towing atrailer,
th ev ehicle/trailer combination may not
exceed amaximum spee dof100 km/ hfor
reasons concer ning the operating permit.
Thi salso applies in countries in which the
permissible maximum speed for vehicle/
trailer combinations is above 100 km/h.
When towing atrailer, your vehicle's handling
characteristics will be differe ntin comparison
to when drivin gwithout atrailer and it will
consume more fuel.
On long and stee pdownhil lgradients ,you
must select shift range 1,2or 3in good time.
i This also applies if you have activated
cruise con trol, SPEEDTRONIC or DI S-
TRONIC PLUS.
This will use the brakin geffect of th eengine,
so les sbraking wil lberequired to maintain
the speed. This relieves the load on the brake
system and prevent sthe brakes from over-
heating and wearing too quickly .Ifyou need
additional braking, depress the brake pedal
repeatedly rather than con tinuously.
18 Data unavailable at time of going to print. Towing
atrailer
227Driving andparki ng Z

Driving tips
R
Maintain agreater distanc efrom th evehi-
cle in front than when driv ingw ithou ta
trailer.
R Avoid braking abruptly .Ifpossible, brake
gentl yatfirst to allow the trailer to run on.
Then, increase the brakin gforc erapidly.
R The values given for gradient-climbing
capabilities from astandstill refer to sea
level. Whe ndriving in mountainou sareas,
note that th epower outpu tofthe engine,
and consequen tlyt he vehicle' sgradient-
climbing capability ,decrease with increas-
ing altitude.
If the trailer swings from side to side:
X Do not accelerate.
X Do not coun ter-steer.
X Brake if necessary. Folding ou
tthe bal lcoupling G
WARNING
Make sure that no persons or animals are in
the pivoting range of the ball coupling. Other-
wise, they could be injured.
Before you can tow atrailer wit hyour vehicle,
you must fold out the ball coupling.
X Make sure that the vehicle is stationary.
X Open the tailgate. G
WARNING
Make sur ethat the ball coupling is engaged,
either in its folded-ou torfolded-i nposition.
The indicator lam ponthe release knob is off.
Do not pull the ball coupling release switch
when atrailer is coupled or abicycle rack is
fitted.
X Pull the release knob :until the ball cou-
pling unlocks.
The ball coupling folds out from under the
rear bumper.
The indicator lamp on the release knob
flashes. The trailer socket folds away auto-
matically. X
Press the ball coupling in the direction of
the arrow until it engages in avertical posi-
tion.
The indicator lam ponthe release knob
goes off.
The multifunc tion display shows the
Chec ktrailer hitch lock message
until th eball coupling is engaged.
X Remove the protective cap from the ball
coupling and store it in asafe place. Coupling up
atrai ler
Impor tant safety notes G
WARNI
NG
Neve rlock, unlock, open or close avehicle
door or tailgat ewhen coupling up or decou- 228
Towing
atrailerDriving and parking

pling
atrailer. Th evehicle level could change
and you could endanger yourself or others.
Never press the ADS button or operate the
leve lcontrol while you are coupling up or
decoupling atrailer.
Steel-spring vehicles X
Make sure that th etransmission is in posi-
tion P.
X Engag ethe electric parkin gbrake.
X Positio nthe trailer level behind the vehicle.
X Coupl eupthe trailer.
X Establish the electrical con nection
betwee nthe vehicle and the trailer.
X Chec kthat the trailer lighting system is
working.
Vehicles wit hthe AIRMATIC package X
Make sure that th etransmission is in posi-
tion P.
X Engag ethe electric parkin gbrake.
X Start th eengine.
X Set the vehicl etohighway level
(Y page 189).
X Set the Adaptive Dampin gSystem (ADS )to
AUTO orCOMF(Y page 188).
X Switch off the engine.
X Close the doors and tailgate.
X Position the trailer level behind the vehicle.
X Couple up the trailer.
X Establish the electrical connection
betwee nthe vehicle and the trailer.
X Chec kthat the trailer lighting system is
working.
i If you hav ecoupled atrailer, th evehicle
will remain at highway level.
The vehicle automatically lowers to high-
way level if you driv efaster than 30 km/h
with atrailer. Th evehicle is not lowered to
high-speed level even if you are travelling
at higher speeds. This also applies when using accessories
that are plugged into the socket of the
trailer tow hitch (e.g. abicycle rack). Decoupling
atrailer
Important safety notes G
WARNING
Do not disconnect atrailer with an engaged
overru nbrake .Otherwise, you rhand could
becom etrapped between th ebumpe rand
drawbar. G
WARNING
As soo nasyou raise the trailer drawbar, the
unladen vehicle rises slightly .The vehicle then
lower stod riving level.
Make sure that nobod yisinthe vicinit yofthe
wheel arch or the underbody. You coul doth-
erwise trap yoursel forothers. G
WARNING
Th ev ehicle is lowered as soo nasyou discon-
nec tthe trailer cable. Make sur ethat nobody
is in the vicinit yofthe wheel arch or the
underbody. You coul dotherwis etrap yourse lf
or othe rs.
As soon as you decoupl ethe trailer ,the unla-
den vehicle rise sslightly. Make sure that you
or others are not injured in the process.
! Do not disconnect atrailer wit han
engaged overrun brake. Otherwise, your
vehicle could be damage dbythe rebound-
ing of the overru nbrake.
Steel-spring vehic les X
Ma ke sure that the transmission is in posi-
tion P.
X Engag ethe electric parkin gbrake.
X Secure th etrailer agains trollin gaway.
X Remove the trailer cable and decouple the
trailer. Towing
atrailer
229Driving andparki ng Z

Vehicles with the AIRMATIC package
X
Make sure tha tthe transmission is in posi-
tion P.
X Engage the electric parkin gbrake.
X Start th eengine.
X Clos ethe doors and tailgate.
X Secur ethe trailer against rolling away.
X Remove the trailer cable and decouple the
trailer.
X Switc hoff th eengine. Folding in the ball coupling
i Fold the ball coupling back in if you are
not using the trailer tow hitch.
X Make sure that the vehicl eisstationary and
the trailer cables are disconnected.
X Place the protective cap on the ball cou-
pling.
X Ope nthe tailgate. X
Pull the release knob :until the ball cou-
plin gunlocks.
The ball coupling folds dow nfrom under the
rea rbumper. The indicator lamp on the
release knob flashes. X
Press the ball coupling in the direction of
the arrow until it engage saudibly behind
the bumper.
The indicator lamp on the release knob
goes out and the messag einthe multifunc-
tion display disappears. Trailer power supply
When it leaves the factory ,your vehicle's
trailer socket is equipped with apermanent
power supply and apower supply that is
switched on via the ignition lock.
The permanen tpower supply is supplied via
trailer socket pin 9.
The power supply that is switched on via the
ignition lock is supplied via trailer socket pin
10.
! You can con nect consumers with apower
ratin gofupto2 40Wtot he permanent
power supply and up to 18 0Wto the power
supply that is switched on via the ignition
lock.
You must not charge atrailer battery using
th ep ower supply.
The trailer's permanen tpower supply is
switched off in the even toflow vehicle supply
voltage and after six hour satthe latest.
You can obtai nfurther information about
installing the trailer electrics from aqualified
specialist workshop, e.g. aMercedes-Benz
Ser vice Centre. 230
Towing
atrailerDriving and parking