2011 MERCEDES-BENZ M-CLASS SUV steering

ATTENTIO
NASSIST asse sses your level of
fatigue or lapses in conc entrati on by taki ng
the following criteri aintoa ccount:
R your personal drivin gstyle, e.g. steering
characteristics
R drivin gconditions, e.g. time, drivin gtime
The functionalit yofATTENTION ASSIST is
restricted, and warnings may be delaye dor
not occur at all:
R if the road condition is poor, e.g. if the sur-
fac eisu neven or if there are potholes
R if there is astron gside wind
R if you hav eadopt edasport ydrivin gstyle
wit hh igh corn eringspeeds or hig hrates of
acceleration
R if you are predominantly drivin gslower
than 80 km/h or faste rtha n1 80 km/h
R if you are currently using COM ANDO nline
or makin gatelephon ecall wit hit
R if th etime has been set incorrectly
R in active drivin gsituations, suc haswhen
you chang elanes or chang eyour speed
Warning an ddispla ymessages in the
multifunction display X
Activa teATTENTION ASSIST using the on-
board computer (Y page 245).
Symbol :appear sinthe mu ltifunction
display.
If ATTENTION ASSIST is active ,you will be
war nednos oonerthan 20 minutes after your
journey has begun .You will then hear an
intermittent warnin gtone twice, and the
Attentio nAssist: Drowsiness detec‐ ted message appe
arsint he multifunction
display. X
If necessary, tak eabreak.
X Press the aor% buttontoc onfirm
the message.
On long journeys, tak eregular break singood
tim etoa llow yourself to rest properly. If you
do not take abrea kand ATTENT IONA SSIST
still detects typica lindicators of fatigue or
increasing lapses in concentration, you will be
warned agai nafter 15 minutes at th eearliest.
ATTENTION ASSIST is reset and starts
assessing your tiredness again when you con-
tinue your journey if:
R you switch off the engine.
R you take off your seat belt and open the
driver' sdoor, e.g. for achange of driver sor
to take abreak. Speed Limit Assist
Important safety notes Speed Limit Assist show
syou detec teds peed
limit sint he multifunction display. Dat afrom
th en avigation system is also used for this
purpose. The displ ayappears if atraffi csign
indicatin gaspeed limit or the end of aspeed
limit is detected. If Speed Limit Assist does
not detect any traffic signs, the speed limit
from the digital road map is taken and shown
in the display.
Speed Limit Assist detect sthe traffic signs
with acamera attached behind the top of the
windscreen. :
Speed Limit Assis tcamera Driving systems
203Drivingand parking Z

G
WARNING
Lane Keeping Assis tdoes not keep your vehi-
cle in its lane. It is only an aid and may detect
the lane markings on the road incorrectly or
not at all.
The system may be impaired or may not func-
tion if:
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 reflection from other vehicles.
R the windscreen is dirty, misted up or cov-
ered, for instance by asticker, in the vicinity
of the camera
R several or no lane markings for asingle lane
are present.
R the lane markings are worn away, dark or
covered up, e.g. by dirt or snow.
R the distanc etothe vehicle in fron tistoo
smal land the lane markings thus cannot be
detected.
R the lane markings on the road are unclear,
e.g. near roadworks.
R the lane markings change quickly ,e.g.
lanes branch off, cross one another or
merge.
R the road is narrow and winding.
Lane Keeping Assist cannot detect road and
traffic conditions. It is not asubstitute for
attentive driving. You are responsible for the
vehicle's speed, braking in good time, and
steering correctly. Always adapt your driving
style 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 yourself and oth-
er s.
Aw arning may be given if afront wheel
pass esover alane marking. It will warn you
by mean sofintermitten tvibration in the
steerin gwheel for up to 1. 5seconds. Activating Lane Keeping Assist
X
Swit chon Activ eLane Keeping Assis tusing
the on-boar dcompu ter;to do so, select
Standa rd or
Adapti ve (
Y page 24 5).
Symbol :appears in the multifunction
display.
If you drive at speed sabove 60 km/ hand
lane markings are dete cted, symbol :is
highlighted. Lan eKeeping Assist is ready
for use.
Standard
If Standa rd is selected, no warnin
gvibration
occur sif:
R you have switche donthe tur nsignals. In
this event ,the warnings ar esuppressed for
ac ertain period of time.
R ad riving safety system intervenes, such as
ABS, BAS or ESP ®
.
Adaptive
If Adaptive is selected, no warning vibration
occurs if:
R yo uh ave switched on the turn signals .In
this event ,the warnings ar esuppressed for
ac ertain 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.
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. Drivin
gsystems
211Drivingand park ing Z

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. Active Driving Assistance package
General notes The Active Drivin
gAssistanc epackage con-
sists of DISTRONIC PLUS (Y page 174), Active
Blind Spot Assis t(Ypage 212) and Active
Lan eKeeping Assist (Y page 215).
Active Blind Spot Assist Important safety notes
Active Blin dSpot Assist uses aradar sensor
system to monitor the side areas of your vehi-
cle which are in back of the driver. Awarning
display in the exter iormirror sdraws your
attention to vehicles detected in the moni-
tored area. If you then switch on the corre-
sponding turn signal to change lane, you will
also receive an optical and audible collision
warning. If arisk of lateral collision is detec-
ted, corrective brakin gmay help you avoid a
collision. To support the course-correcting
brake application, Active Blind Spot Assist
also uses the forward-facin gradar senso rsys-
tem. Active Blind Spot Assist supports you
from aspeed of approximately 30 km/h. G
WARNING
Active Blin dSpot Assist is only an aid and may
detect vehicles/obstacles incor rectly or not
at all. Th
es ystem may be impaired or may not func-
tion if:
R there is poo rvisibility, e.g. due to snow,
rain, fog or spray.
R the rear and/or fron tsensors are dirty.
Active Blin dSpot Assist may not detect nar-
row vehicles, such as motor cycles or bicycles,
or only detect the mtoo late. It can notd etect
vehicles which are overtaken at asmall dis-
tance and then enter th eblind spot area.
Active Blind Spot Assist cannot detect road
and traffic conditions. It is not asubstitute for
attentive driving. You are responsible for the
vehicle's speed, braking in good time, and
steering correctly. Always adapt your driving
style 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 yourself and oth-
ers.
The radar sensor syste misautomatically
deactivated near radio telescope facilities
(Y page 380).
For Active Blind Spot Assis ttoassist you
when driving, the radar sensor syste mmust
be activated (Y page 249)and operational.
Monitoring range
Active Blind Spot Assist monitors the area up
to three metres behind your vehicl eand
directl ynext to your vehicle as shown in the
diagram. For this purpose, Active Blin dSpot
Assist uses rada rsensors in the rear bumper. 212
Driving systemsDriving and parking

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 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

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

up
: for ahigher set speed or down ;for
al ower set speed.
The set spee dappear sinm ultifunction dis-
play ?and is shown in status indicator
=.
i If you press the cruise con trol lever
beyon dthe pressur epoint, th eset speed
also changes in 1km/ hincrements. Off-road program (ve
hicles without
th eO N&O FFROAD package)
The off-road program assists you in driving
off-road. The engine’s performance charac-
teristics and th egearshifting chara cteristics
of th eautomatic transmission are adapted for
this purpose. ABS, ESP ®
and 4ETS programs
especially adapted to off-road driving are acti-
vated. Agentle accelera torp edal curve is also
selected, i.e. the accelera torp edal must be
depressed muc hfurther in order to acceler-
ate.
Do not use the off-road program on roads that
are snow-covered or icy or if you have fitted
your vehicle with snow chains.
For information about driving off-road, see
(Y page 166). X
To engage: press button :.
Indicator lamp ;lights up. The Çoff-
road indicator appears in the multifunction
display. X
To deactivate: press button:.
Indicator lamp ;and the Çoff-road
indicator go out in the multifunction dis-
play. Off-road program (vehicles with the
ON&OFFROAD package)
General notes The off-road programs assis
tyou in driving
off -road. The engine’s performanc echarac-
teristics and the gearshifting characteristics
of the automatic transmission ar eadapted for
this purpose. ABS, ESP ®
and 4ETS programs
especially adapted to off -road drivin gare acti-
vated. An accelerator peda lcurve suitable for
the terrain is selected, i.e. the accelerator
pedal must be depressed further to acceler-
ate.
Do not use the off-road programs on roads
that are snow-covered or icy or if you have
fitted your vehicle with snow chains.
For information about driving off-road, see
(Y page 166).
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.
Off-road progra m1 Select off-road program
1for gentle off -road
ter rain, e.g. for gravel or sand surfaces or
tracks. The engine's torque is restricted to a
limited degree and the drive wheels can spin,
i.e. the spinning of the wheels results in a
cutting action ,for better traction.
You can only activate off -road program 1
when driving at speeds below 100 km/ h.The
Driv eprogram OFFROAD 1Max. speed 100 km/h message appears in th
emultifunc-
tion display. 222
Off-road driving systemsDrivin
gand parking