
Starting-off and Driving
76
ShiftingShift into reverse only when the vehicle is stationary. Depress the clutch pedal and
hold it fully depressed. Wait a moment be fore engaging reverse gear in order to
avoid any shift noises.
The reversing lights will come on once reverse gear is engaged, provided the igni-
tion is on.
WARNING
Never engage the reverse gear when driving - risk of accident!
Note
•
One should not lay the hand on the shift lever while driving the vehicle. The
pressure of the hand will be transferred to the gearshift forks in the gearbox. This
can, over a period of time, lead to early wear of the gearshift forks.
•
Depress the clutch pedal fully when changing gears, in order to avoid unneces-
sary wear and damage.
HandbrakeApplying the handbrake– Pull the handbrake lever up fully.Releasing the handbrake– Pull the handbrake lever up slightly and at the same time press in the locking
button fig. 86.
– Hold the button pressed and push the handbrake lever down fully .
The handbrake warning light
lights up when the handbrake is applied, provided
the ignition is on.
A warning signal sounds if you have inadvertently driven off with the handbrake
applied.
The handbrake warning is activated if you drive at a speed of more than 6 km/h for
more than 3 seconds.
WARNING
•
Please note that the hand brake must be fully released. A handbrake which
is only partially released can result in the rear brakes overheating which will
have a negative effect on the operation of the brake system - risk of accident! In
addition this can result in premat ure wear of the rear brake pads.
•
Never leave children unattended in the vehicle. Children might, for example,
release the handbrake or take the vehicl e out of gear. The vehicle might then
move off - risk of accident!
Fig. 85 The shift pattern: 5-speed
manual gearbox
Fig. 86 Centre console: Handbrake
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Intelligent Technology
106
•
Changes to vehicle (e.g. on engine, on the brakes, on chassis or another combi-
nation of tyres and wheels) can influence the function of the ESP page 146,
“Accessories, changing and replacing parts”.
Electronic Differential Lock (EDL)*
The electronic differential lock prevents an individual wheel from
slipping.Models fitted with ESP are equipped with electronic differential lock (EDL).
General
The EDL makes it much easier, and sometimes at all possible, to start off, accelerate
and climb a steep hill when the conditions of the road surface are unfavourable.
Operating principle
The EDL is activated automatically, that is without any action on the part of the
driver. It monitors the speeds of the driven wheels with the aid of the ABS sensors.
Should only one drive wheel begin spinning on a slippery surface there will be an
appreciable difference in the speed of the driven wheels. The EDL function brakes
the slipping wheel and the differential transmits a greater driving force to the other
driven wheel. This control process is also accompanied by noises.
Overheating of the brakes
The EDL switches off automatically if unusually severe stresses exist in order to
avoid excessive heat genera tion in the disc brake on the wheel which is being
braked. The vehicle can continue to be driven and has the same characteristics as a
vehicle not fitted with EDL.
The EDL switches on again automatically as soon as the brake has cooled down.
WARNING
•
Carefully depress the accelerator when accelerating on uniformly slippery
road surfaces, such as ice and snow. The driven wheels might still spin despite
the EDL and affect the stability of the vehicle - risk of an accident!
•
You should always adapt your style of dr iving to the condition of road surface
and to the traffic situation even when your vehicle is fitted with EDL. The
increased safety offered must not temp t you to take greater risks than other-
wise - risk of an accident!
Note
•
If the ABS or ESP warning light comes on, this may also indicate a fault in the
EDL. Please have the vehicle inspected as soon as possible by a specialist garage.
•
Changes to vehicle (e.g. on engine, on the brakes, on chassis or another combi-
nation of tyres and wheels) can in fluence the function of the EDL page 146,
“Accessories, changing and replacing parts”.
Traction control system (TCS)
The traction control system prevents the driven wheels from spin-
ning when accelerating.General
The TCS makes it much easier, and sometimes at all possible, to start off, accelerate
and climb a steep hill when the conditions of the road surface are unfavourable.
Operating principle
The TCS switches on automatically when the engine is started and then conducts a
self-test. The system monitors the speeds of the driven wheels with the aid of the
ABS sensors. If the wheels are spinning, th e force transmitted to the road surface is
automatically adapted by reducing the engi ne speed. The system operates at all
speeds.
The TCS operates in combination with the ABS page 108, “Antilock brake system
(ABS)”. The TCS will not function if a fault exists in the ABS system.
The TCS warning light lights up in the instrument cluster when there is a fault on
the TCS
page 25.
During an intervention of th e system, the TCS warning light
flashes in the instru-
ment cluster page 25.
Fig. 112 TCS switch
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Towing a trailer119
Using the system
Safety
Driving Tips
General Maintenance
Breakdown assistance
Technical Data
Driving Tips
Particular caution is required when towing a trailer.– Do not, as far as possible, drive with your vehicle unladen and the trailer laden.
– Do not make full use of the legal maximum speeds. This applies in particular to downhill sections.
– Apply the brakes in good time.
– Keep a check on the coolant temperatur e gauge if the outside temperature is
high.
Distribution of weight
The distribution of the weight is very poor if your vehicle is unladen and the trailer
is laden. Maintain a particularly low speed if you cannot avoid driving with this
combination.
Driving speed
Do not drive faster than 80 km/hour for sa fety reasons. This also applies for coun-
tries in which higher speeds are allowed.
The fact that the driving stability of the vehicle + trailer combination reduces with
increasing speed means that the legally allowed speed should not be used when
there are unfavourable road, weather or wind conditions, particularly near accident
black spots.
You must always reduce your speed immedi ately as soon as you detect even just
the slightest swaying of the trailer. On no account attempt to stop the trailer from
“swaying” by accelerating.
Apply the brakes in good time! If the trailer is fitted with a trailer brake, apply the
brakes gently at first and then brake firmly . This will avoid brake jolts resulting from
the trailer wheels locking. Shift down gears in good time before negotiating a
downhill section to allow the engine to also act as a brake.
Engine overheating
Please keep a check on the coolant temper ature gauge if you have to negotiate a
lengthy slope in a low gear at a high engine speed when the outside temperature is
very high page 16, “Engine coolant temperature Display”.
If the needle of the coolant temperature gauge moves into the right-hand area or
even the red area of the scale, reduce yo ur speed immediately. Stop and switch off
the engine if the warning light
in the instrument cluster begins flashing. Wait a
few minutes and check the level of coolant in the coolant expansion bottle
page 134, “Inspecting the coolant level”. Please refer to the following guidelines
page 25, “Coolant temperature/coolant
level ”.
The coolant temperature can be reduced by switching on the heating.
Any increase in the cooling effect of the coolant fan through shifting down a gear
and increasing the engine speed is not possible since the fan speed is independent
of the engine speed. One should also not drop a gear for this reason when towing a
trailer as long as the engine can manage the slope without any drop in speed.
Detachable towing device*The ball head of the towing device is stow ed together with separate fitting instruc-
tions in the spare wheel well in the luggage compartment of the vehicle.
Inspect the ball head to ensure that it is properly locked each time before setting
off. The inspection is performed by turning the closed locking lever downwards. If
the locking lever can only be turned around a small angle (approx. 5°), the locking
mechanism is O.K. After the inspection pull the locking lever back again to its stop.
The towing device must not be used, if it does not wish to close or the locking lever
turns slightly in the closed position.
WARNING
Do not use any aids or tools for installing or removing the ball head. This might
result in damage to the locking mechanism to the extent that the safety of the
towing device is no longer assured - risk of an accident.
Note
•
Do not carry out any modifications or re pairs to the ball head or to any other
components on the towing device.
Fig. 118 Detachable ball head
s2lk.2.book Page 119 Monday, April 18, 2011 7:41 AM

Fuel129
Using the system
Safety
Driving Tips
General Maintenance
Breakdown assistance
Technical Data
Caution
•
Remove any fuel which has spilled onto the paintwork of your vehicle immedi-
ately - risk of paint damage!
•
Vehicles fitted with catalytic converter should never be allowed to let the fuel
tank to run completely empty. An irregular supply of fuel to the engine can result in
misfiring and unburnt fuel may get into the exhaust system, which may result in
overheating and damage to the catalytic converter.
•
Make sure that the valve is not pressed into the filler tube when inserting the
pump nozzle into the filler tube. Otherwis e you are unintentionally filling up the
volume, which in case of heat can cause an expansion of the fuel. This can lead to
an overflow of fuel or damage to parts of the fuel reservoir.
•
The fuel tank is full just as soon as the pump nozzle switches off for the first
time, provided the nozzle has been operated properly. Do not continue refuelling -
otherwise the expansion volume is filled up.
s2lk.2.book Page 129 Monday, April 18, 2011 7:41 AM