
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 table shows approach and departure
angles :and ;when the vehicle is loaded
and ready to drive.
For vehicles with steel springs, loaded and
ready to driv emeans: afull tank, all fluids
topped up and the driver is in the vehicle.
On vehicles with the AIRMATI Cpackag eor
the ON&OFFROAD package, load suptothe
maximu mpermissible load have no influence
on approach/departur eangles. :
: 13
;
Steel-sp
rung
vehicles 26
°14 25
°15 25
°16 Vehicles with
th
eA IRMATIC
package Highway level
23° 22°
22°
17 Raised level
28° 27° 27°
Vehicles with
th
eO N&O FF-
ROA Dpackage Highway level
23° 22°
22°
17 Off-roa
dleve l1 26° 25° 25°
Off-road level 2
28° 27° 27°
Off-road level 3
31° 29° 29°
R
Follo wthe lineoff all when driving on slopes
and steep inclines.
R Before driving on extreme uphill and down-
hill gradients ,select th eoff-roa dprogram
(Y page 222) or the LOW RANGE off-road
gear (Y page 223).
R Observ ethe warnings fo roff-roa ddriving
(Y page 166).
R Drive slowly. R
Accelerat egentl yand mak esure that the
wheels are gripping.
R Avoid high engin espeeds, excep twhen
drivin gons andy and muddy routes with
high driving resistance.
R Select ashift range appropriate to the gra-
dient.
R Before tacklin gsteep downhill gradients,
select shift range 1.
Maximum gradient-climbin gcapability On good road surfaces and wit
hthe LOW
RANGE off-road gear selected, the full gradi-
ent -climbing capability is available.
i If the load on the front axle is reduced
when pulling away on asteep uphill slope,
the front wheels have atendency to spin.
4ETS recognises this and brakes the
wheels accordingly. The rear wheel torque
is increased and it is easier to pull away.
Brow of hill When driving up an uphill gradient, slightly
reduc epressure on th eaccelerator immedi-
atel ybefor ereachin gthe brow of the hill.
Make use of the vehicle' sown impetus to
travel over the brow.
This style of driving prevents:
R the vehicle from lifting off the ground on the
brow of ahill
R the vehicle from travelling too quickly down
the other side
Driving downhill R
Driv eslowly.
R Do not drive at an angle down steep
inclines. Steer into the line of fall and drive
with the front wheels aligned straight. Oth-
13
14
15
16
17 Drivin
gtips
169Driving and park ing Z
The ML 25
0BlueTEC 4MATIC model has an approach angle of 25°.
The ML 250 BlueTEC 4MATIC model with AMG bodystyling has an approach angle of 24°.
The ML 250 BlueTEC 4MATIC model has adeparture angle of 24°.
With AMG bodystyling.
The ML 35 04MATI Cmodel has adeparture angle of 23°.

Coolant
Important safety notes The coolan
tisamixture of water and anti-
freeze/corrosio ninhibitor. It performs the
following tasks:
R anti-corrosio nprotection
R antifreeze protection
R raising th eboiling point
i When the vehicle is first delivered, it is fil-
led with acoolant mixtur ethat ensures
adequate antifreeze and corrosion protec-
tion.
! Only add coolant that has been premixed
with the desired antifreeze protection. The
engin ecould otherwise be damaged.
Further information on coolants and on fill-
ing can be found in the Mercedes-Benz
Specifications for Servic eProducts ,MB
Approval 310.1 ,e.g. on the Internet at
http ://bevo.mercedes-benz.com .You can
also consult aMercedes-Benz Service
Centre.
! Alway suseasuitable coolant mixture,
even in countries where high temperatures
prevail.
Otherwise, the engine cooling system is not
sufficiently protected from corrosion and
overheating.
If antifreeze/corrosio ninhibitor is present in
the correc tconcentration, the boilin gpoint of
the coolant during operation will be around
13 0†.
The antifreeze/ corrosion inhibitor con centra-
tion in the engine cooling system should:
R be at leas t50%. This wil lprotect the engine
coolin gsystem agains tfreezin gdown to
around -3 7†.
R not excee d55% (antifreeze protection
down to -45 †);otherwise, heat will not be
dissipated as effectively.
If the vehicle has los tcoolant, top it up with
equal amount sofwater and antifreeze/cor- rosion inhibitor. Mercedes-Benz recom-
mends an antifreeze/corrosion inhibitor
which has been approved for Mercedes-Benz.
! The engin ecoolin gsystem is filled with
coolant that must be renewed after 15
years, or after 250,000 km at the lates t. Vehicl
edata
Pleas enotet hat for the speci fied vehicle
data:
R the height sspecified may var yasaresult
of:
- tyres
- load
- conditio nofthe suspen sion
- optional equipment
R item sofo ptional equipmen tincrease the
unlade nweight and reduc ethe maximum
payload. The unladen weight is speci fied in
accordanc ewith EC directive and includes:
- driver (68 kg)
- luggage (7 kg)
- all fluids (fuel tan k90% full)
R veh icle-specific weigh tinformation can be
found on the vehicl eidentification plate
(Y page 37 2).
R only for cer tain countries: you can find vehi-
cle-specific vehicle data in the COC docu-
ment s(CERTIFICATE OF CONFORMITY).
Thes edocuments ar edelivered with your
vehicle.
Missing values were not available at tim eof
going to print. All models
Vehicle lengt
h(ECE) 480
4mm Vehicle width
including exterior
mirrors
214
1mm Vehicle width with-
out exterior mirrors 192
6mm Vehicl
edata
377Techni caldata Z