2012 MERCEDES-BENZ M-Class 4 way

may
detect thelane markings onthe road
incorrectly ornot atall.
The system maybeimpa iredormay not
function if:
R severa lor no lane markings forasingle lane
are present.
R there ispoor visibility, e.g. due to
insuffi cientillumina tionofthe road, ordue
to snow, rain,fogorspray .
R there isgla re, e.g. from oncoming traffic,
the sun, orreflection fromother vehicles.
R the winds hieldis dirty, fogged upor
covered, forinstance byasticker, inthe
vicinity ofthe camera .
R the lane markings areworn away,dark or
covered up,e.g. bydirt orsnow.
R the dista ncetothe vehicl ein front istoo
smal land thelane markings thuscannot be
detected.
R the lane markings onthe road areunclea r,
e.g. near roadw orks.
R the lane markings changequickly, e.g.
lanes branch off,cross oneanother or
merge.
R the road isnarrow andwindi ng.
Active LaneKeepi ngAssist cannot detect
road andtraffic conditions. Itis not a
subs titute forattentive driving.You are
responsi bleforthe vehicl e'sspeed ,braking in
good time, andsteering correctly. Always
ada ptyou rdriving styletosui tthe prevailing
road andweather conditions .Always pay
att ent ion totraffic condition sand your
surro undin gs.Oth erwise, youmay failto
rec ogn izedanger sin tim e,cause anacc ident
and injure yourself andothers.
War ning vibration inthesteer ingwheel
A warnin gcan begiven when afro ntwheel
passes overalane mark ing.You willbe
warned bymean sof intermit tentvibrat ionin
the steerin gwheel forupto1.5s econ ds.
In order thatyouarewarned onlywhen
nec essary andingood timeifyou cross the lane
markin g,the system recognizescertain
con ditions andwarns youaccor dingly.
The warning vibration occursearlier if:
R you approach theouter lanemarkin gon a
bend.
R the road hasvery wide lanes, e.g.a
freeway.
R the system recognizessolid lanemarkin gs.
The warning vibration occurslater if:
R the road hasnarrow lanes.
R you cutthe corn eron abend.
Lane-corr ectingbrakeapp lication
If you leave yourlaneunder certain
circ umstan cesthevehicle willbrake briefly
on one side. Thisismeant toassist youin
bringin gthe vehicle backtothe original lane.
This functionisavailable inthe range between
40 mph and120 mph (60km/ hto
200 km/h).
A lane-c orrectingbrake application canonly
be made afterdriving overasolid,
recogn izablelanemarkin g.Befor ethis, a
warning mustbegiven bymeans of
int ermit tentvibrat ioninthe steerin gwheel.
In additio n,alane with lanemark ingsonbot h
sides mustberec ogn ized. Thebrak e
applicat ionalso slight lyreduc esvehic le
speed.
If alane- correctingbrak eapplicat ionoccurs,
the followin g,for exam ple,appears inthe
mult ifunc tiondisplay: i
A
furt her lane- correctingbrak e
applicat ioncan only occurafteryour
vehic lehas returne dto the origin allane. 206
Driving
systemsDriving and parking

G
WARNING Active
LaneKeepi ngAssist doesnotkeep
you rvehicle inits lane. Itis only anaid
designed toassist driving. Itis not asubstit ute
for atten tivedriving. Insome cases, thelane-
corr ecting brake application isnot sufficien t
to bring yourvehicle backtothe original lane.
In such cases, youmust steer thevehicle
yourself toensure thatitdoes notleave the
lane.
Act ive Lane Keeping Assistdoesnotdetect
road andtraff iccon ditions .Always makesure
that thereissuffic ientdistanceto the side for
oth ertraffic orobst acles. Inrare cases ,
unc lear mark ingsorpart icular struct ures on
the roadway canberec ogn ized assolid lane
mark ings.Aninap propriate brakeapplica tion,
e.g .after intentional lydrivi ngover asoli dlane
marking, maybeinterrup tedatany time by
steering slightly inthe oppo sitedirection.
Active LaneKeepingAssist cannot take
wea ther conditio nsinto accou nt.
You arerespo nsiblefor the drivi ngat
app ropri atespee ds,braki ngingood time, and
steering correctly .Always adapt yourdrivin g
style tosuit theprev ailing roadandweathe r
con dition s.Always payattent ion totraffic
con dition sand your surro undin gs.Oth erwise,
you may failtorec ogn izedanger sin tim e,
cause anacc ident andinjure yourself and
oth ers.
No lane- correctingbrak eapplication occurs
if:
R you clearly andactiv elysteer ,brake or
acceler ate.
R you cutthe corn eron asharp bend.
R you switc hon the turn signals.
R adrivin gsafety system interven es,e.g.
ES P®
,PRE-S AFE®
Brak eor Active Blind
Spot Assist .
R you have adopted asport ydrivin gstyle with
high cornering speeds orhigh rates of
acceler ation. R
on vehicles withatrailer towhitch,the
elect ricalconnection tothe trailer hasbeen
corr ectlyestablished.
R ES P®
is switc hedoff.
R the tran smission isnot inposition D.
R the off-road program isswitc hedon.
R aloss oftire pressure oradefect ivetire has
been detec tedand displayed.
Ac tive Lane Keeping Assistdoesnotdetec t
traf ficsituation sor road users. An
inappropriat ebrake application maybe
int errupt edatany time ifyou:
R steer slightly inthe opposite direction.
R use aturn signal.
R clearly brakeoracceler ate.
Al ane -corr ect ing brak eapplic ationis
int errupt edautom atically if:
R adrivin gsafet ysyst eminterve nes,e.g.
ES P®
,PRE- SAFE®
Br ake orActiveBlin d
Spot Assist.
R lane mark ingscannolong erbe rec ogn ized.
Switch ingonActive LaneKeeping Assist X
Swit chon ActiveLane Keepin gAss istusing
the on-board computer ;to do so, selec t Stan
dard or Adap
tive (Y
page 233).
Symbo l: appears inthe mult ifunc tion
display.
If Stan
dard is
selec ted,nowarnin g
vibrat ionoccurs if:
R you switc hon the turns ignals .Int his
event, thewarnings aresuppressed fora
certain periodoftime.
R adriving safetysystem interven es,such
as ABS ,BAS orESP ®
.
If Adaptive is
selected, nowarning
vibration occursif: Driving
systems
207Driving and parking Z

Please
notethat when towing atrailer,
PARKTRONIC (Ypage 183)andBlind Spot
Assist (Ypage 198)areonly availabl ewith
limitations ,or not atall. i
On
vehicles withoutlevelcontrol,the
height ofthe ball coupling willalter
accordin gto the load placed onthe vehicle.
If necess ary,useatrailer withaheight-
adjustable drawbar.
Driving tips i
Observe
theinform ationonESP®
trailer
stabilization (Ypage 64)and onpulling
away withatrailer. (Ypage 141).
The maximum permissible speedforvehicle/
trailer combinat ionsdepends onthe type of
trailer. Before beginnin gthe journ ey,check
the trailer's document sto see what the
maximum permittedspeed is.Observe the
legally prescribed maximumspeedinthe
relevant country.
For cert ainMercedes- Benzvehicles, the
maximum permissible rearaxle load is
incr eased whentowing atrailer. Refertothe
"Technical data"sectiontofind outwhether
this applies toyour vehicle. Ifyou utilize any
of the added maximum rearaxle load when
towing atrailer, thevehicle/t railer
combinat ionmay notexceed amaximum
speed of60 mph(100 km/h)for reasons
conc ernin gthe operating permit.Thisalso
applies incount riesinwhich thepermissible
maximum speedforvehicle/t railer
combinat ionsisabove 60mph(100 km/h).
When towing atrailer, yourvehicle's handling
charact eristics willbedifferen tinc omparison
with when driving without atrail er.
On long andsteep downhill gradients, you
must selectshift range 1,2or 3in good time. i
This
alsoapp liesif you have activated
cruise control orDISTRONIC PLUS.
This willuse thebraking effectofthe engine,
so that lessbraking willbe requ iredto
maintai nthe speed. Thisrelieves theload on
the brake system andprevents thebrakes from
overheating andwearing tooquickly. If
you need additional braking,depressthe
brake pedalrepeatedly ratherthan
cont inuously .
Driving tips R
Maintain agreater distance fromthe
vehicle infront thanwhen driving without a
trailer.
R Avoid braking abruptly. Ifpossible, brake
gently atfirst toallow thetrailer torun on.
Then, increase thebraking forcerapidly .
R The values givenforgradient-c limbing
capabil itiesfrom astandst illrefer tosea
level. When driving inmountainous areas,
note thatthepower output ofthe engine,
and consequent lythe vehicle's gradient-
climbing capability,decrease with
increasing altitude.
If the trailer swings fromsidetoside:
X Do not accelerate.
X Do not counter- steer.
X Brake ifnecessary. Assemblin
gthe ball coupling
! Mercedes-Ben zrecomm endsthatyou
have theball coupling assembled ata
qualified specialist workshop.Only a
qualified specialist workshophas the
nec essary specialist knowledge andtools
to carry outthework required. Youcould
other wiseincorrectlyassemble theball
coupling ortight enthe nut with the
incor recttorque. Thiscould leadtothe ball
coupling andtheball coupling carrier
becomin gdetached whiletowing atrailer.
As aresult, youcould cause anacciden t.
Therefor e,have theball coupling
assembled ataqualified specialist
worksho p.
If the assembled ballcoupling hasbeen
permanen tlymount edon the vehicle, have
the ball coupling regularly checkedfor 212
Tr
ailer towingDriving and parking

corre
ctinsta llati on and torqu eat aqu alifi ed
spe cialist wo rksho p. G
WARNI
NG The
ballcou pling can bedamag edifthe nut is
tigh tened onthe ballcou pling with the
incor recttorqu e.Thi scou ldcau sethe trailer
to deta chwhi ledri ving andanacci dent could
occu rasa result.
Therefore, pleaseobserve thefollowi ng:
R do not exceed themaximum permitted
noseweight ofthe ball coupling, thetrailer
coupling andthetrailer towhitch.
R when installing, alwaysuse aretainin gring
between thenut and themount ingsurface
of the ball coupling carrier.
R ifthe assembled ballcoupling hasbeen
permanen tlymount edon the vehicle, have
the ball coupling regularly checkedfor
corr ectinst allation andtorque ataqualified
specialist workshop.
R check thatthethread underthenut isof
the corr ectlengt h.
! Mercedes- Benzrecom mends thatyou
only useball couplings testedand
approved foruse onMercedes- Benz
vehicles. Thishelps toavoid damage tothe
vehicle.
Observe themanufact urer'sinstallation
inst ruct ions ifyou useaball coupling other
than theone supplied. i
Also
observe theheight ofthe trailer
coupling andthetrailer manufact urer's
inst ruct ions. i
Depen
dingonthe height ofthe trailer
coupling, itis possible thattheball coupling
will have tobe rotat edby180° onthe ball
coupling carrierforcorr ectinst allation. The
assembly isother wiseidentic al. X
Inser tball couplin g: throug hth ehole in
ball couplin gcar rier ;asfar asitwill go. X
Slid eret aini ngring? onto theth read of
ball couplin g= asfar asitwill go.
X Sc rew onnut Aastightly as poss ible. X
Wit hato rque wrench,tig hten nut Btoa
to rque of516 lb-ft(700 Nm).
X Check thatproje cting thread Chas the
requisite lengthof 0.32 in(8 mm )beneath
nut B.
X Check theassembled ballcoupling for
corr ectinstallation. Tr
ailer towing
213Driving and parking Z

Inst
alling thebal lcoup ling G
WAR
NING If
th eveh icle/t raile rco mbin ation isno t
sec ured ,th etrailer maycome loos e.As a
res ult,you could caus ean acc iden t.
Ther efore, mak esur eth at theball couplin gis
sec ured withth ebolt suppl iedand the
co rrespo nding spring cotter. G
WAR
NING The
ballcouplin gcan bedamag edifth enut is
ti ght ened on theball couplin gwiththe
inc orre cttor que. Thiscould cause thetrailer
to detac hwhile drivingand anacc ident could
occ uras aresult .
There fore,please observethe followin g:
R do not exceed themaxim umperm itted
nos eweight ofthe ball couplin g,the trailer
couplin gand thetrailer towhitch.
R when installing, always usearetainin gring
between thenut and themount ingsurface
of the ball coupling carrier.
R ifthe assembled ballcoupling hasbeen
permanen tlymount edon the vehicle, have
the ball coupling regularly checkedfor
corr ectinst allation andtorque ataqualified
specialist workshop.
R check thatthethread underthenut isof
the corr ectlengt h.
The detachable ballcoupling islocated inthe
stowage wellunder thecargo compart ment
floor (Ypage 292).
X Open thecargo compart mentfloor
(Y page 292). Ball
coupling andballcoupling stowagewell
(example)
X Remove ballcoupling :with thebolt and
spring cotter from ballcoupling stowage
well ;. Protec
tivecap
X Pull protec tivecap=inthe direct ionofthe
arrow, outofthe ball coupling recess.
X Place protec tivecap=into theball
coupling stowagewell. Ball
coupling recess 214
Tr
ailer towingDriving and parking

Hole
inthe ballcoup lingand ballcoup lingreces s
X Insert theballcoup ling hori zontall yinto ball
coup ling reces s? inthe direction ofthe
arro w,until theholein ba llcoup ling A and
the holein ba llcoup ling reces sB align. Bolt
X
Slid ebol tC allthe wayinto theholein the
ba llcoup ling reces sand theballcoup ling. Bolt
andspringcotter
X Secure theboltusing spring cotterD. Correctly
installedandsecured ballcoupling
X Check theball coupling, boltandspring
cott erfor correct installation. G
WARNING If
the ball coupling isnot correct lyinstalled
and secured, theball coupling andthetrailer
could come loose. Asaresult, youcould
cause anaccident.
Therefore, pleaseobserve thefollowi ng:
R Make surethattheball coupling issecured
with thebolt suppli edand the
corresponding springcotter.
R Ifthe ball coupling cannotbecorrect ly
mounted, removetheball coupling. Under
these circumstanc es,the ball coupling
must notbeused fortrailer towing.
Have theentire trailer towhitch checked ata
qual ified speciali stworkshop. Coupling
upatra iler G
WARNING Vehicles
withairsuspension program:While
you arecoupling ordecoupli ngatrailer, make
sure nobody locksorunlocks thevehicle and/
or opens orcloses doorsorthe tailgate.
The vehicle's levelcould change andyou
could endanger yourselfand/o rothe rsas a
res ult.
Ma kesure tha tyou do not operate theADS
switch orthe vehicle levelcontrolsystem
when coupling/decoupling thetrailer. Tr
ailer towing
215Driving and parking Z

G
WARNING Do
not disconnect atrail erwith anengag ed
overru nbrake. Otherwi se,you rhand could
bec ome trapped between thebumpe rand
trai lerd rawb ar.
Observe themaximu mpermissible trailer
dimension s(width andlengt h).
Most federal statesand allCanadian
provin cesrequire bylaw:
R safety chains between thetowing vehicle
and thetrailer. Thechains should becross -
wound underthetrailer drawbar. Theymust
be fasten edtothe vehicle's trailer
coupling, nottothe bumper orthe axle.
Allow forenough playinthe chains to
facilitat eturn ingtight corners.
R aseparate brakesystem forcert aintypes
of trailer.
R asafety switch forbraked trailers. Check
the specific legalrequirement sapplicable
to your federal state.
If the trailer detaches fromthetowing
vehicle, thesafety switch applies the
trailer's brakes.
! Donot connectthe trailer's brakesystem
(if featured) tothe hydrau licbrake system
of the towing vehicle, asthe latter is
equipp edwith ananti-lock brakesystem.
Doing sowill result inaloss offunct ionof
the brake systems ofboth thevehicle and
the trailer.
X Make surethattheautomatic transmission
is set toposition P.
X Apply thevehicle's electricparking brake.
X Start theengine.
X Vehicles withtheAIRMATIC package:
select highway level.
X Vehicles withtheadaptive damping
system: setADS toAUTO orCOMF.
X Switch offthe engine.
X Close alldoors andthetailgate.
X Coupl eup the trailer.
X Est ablish allelectrical connections. i
Vehicles
withtheAIRMATIC package:
if you couple upatrailer, thevehicle always
remains athighway level.When coupling up
a trailer, please observe thefollowing:
R ifhighway levelhasnotbeen set
manually ,the vehicle willautomatically
sink tohighway levelassoon asit
reaches aspeed of5m ph(8km/ h).
R high-spe edlevel isnot available.
These restrictions apply toall access ories
powered through acon nection tothe trailer
power socketofyour vehicle, e.g.abicycle
carrier . Towing
atrail er
Th ere arenum erouslega lreq uirem ents
conce rning the towingofatra iler, e.g.speed
rest rictions. Make surethatyour vehicle/
trailer combin ationcomplies withthelocal
requiremen tsnot only inyour areaof
residen cebut also atany location towhich
you aretrav eling. Thepolice andlocal
authorit iescan provide reliableinformation .
Please observe thefollowing whentowinga
trailer:
R To acquaint yourselfwithdrivin gwith a
trailer andwith theresultin gchang esto
handling, youshould practicecorn ering,
stoppin gand backin gup inatraf fic-free
location .
R Befor edrivin g,chec k:
- the trailer towhitch
- the safety switchfor braked trailers
- the safety chains
- the elect ricalconnection s
- the lights
- the wheels
R Adj ust the exterior mirror sto provide an
unobst ructedview ofthe rear sectionofthe
trailer.
R Ifthe trailer features electronic ally
con trolled brakes, pullaway thevehicle/
trailer combin ationcarefully, manually 216
Tr
ailer towingDriving and parking

When
youdecouple thetrailer, thevehicle is
tempor arilyraised because thesprings are
relieved ofload. Beespecially carefulduring
this process, asyou could otherwise injure
yourself and/orothers.Make sure that any
pers onsrem ainin gin theveh icle donotp ress
the switches forvehicl elevel control orthe
ADS.
X Remo vethe trail ercabl eand decou plethe
trail er.
X Switch offthe engine. Permissi
bletrailer loadsanddrawbar
nos eweig hts
Weig htspec ifications The
gross trailerwei ght iscalcu lated by
add ingthe weight ofthe trail erto the weight
of the loadand equipme nton the trail er.
Maximu mgross vehicl ewei ght: 17
.
The maximu mpermissible trailerdrawbar
noseweight isthe maximum weightwith
which thetrailer drawbar canbeloaded: 17
Threshold forMercedes- Benzapproved
trailer towhitches.
Loading atrail er R
Wh enload ing the trailer, makesure tha t
nei the rthe permissible grossweight ofthe
trailer northegross vehicle weightare
exceeded. Thepermissible grossvehicle
weight isindicated onthe identification
plate onthe B-pillar onthe driver's sideof
the vehicle.
You canfind themaximum permissible
values onthe type plates ofyour vehicle
and thetrailer. Always observe thelowest
respective valuewhen determining the
maximum weightwithwhich youcan load
the vehicle andthetrailer.
R The trailer drawba rload onthe ball coupling
must beadded tothe rear axle load toavoid exceeding
thepermissible grossaxle
weight. Thepermissible grossvehicle
weight isindicated onthe identificat ion
plate onthe B-pillar onthe driver's sideof
the vehicle. i
Mercedes-B
enzrecomm endsloading the
trailer sothat thedrawbar noseweight
remains between 8%and 15% ofthe
permissible grosstrailer weight. i
The
weight ofadditional accessories,
passengers, andcargo reduces the
permissible trailerloadanddrawbar
noseweight foryour vehicle.
Checking thevehicle andtrailer weight R
To check thattheweights ofthe towing
vehicle andthetrailer comply withthe
maximum permissible values,havethe
vehicle/t railercombinat ion(including the
driver, passengers, andcargo withafully
laden trailer) weighed onacalibrated
weighbridge.
R Check thegross axleweight ratingofthe
front andrear axles, thegross weight ofthe
trailer andtrailer drawbar noseweight. Removing
theball coupling
X Remove thespring cotter.
X Remove thebolt from theball coupling
recess.
X Remove theball coupling fromtheball
coupling recess.
X Clean theball coupling ifit is dirty.
Infor mation oncleaning andcare ofthe trailer
tow hitch canbefound at(Y page 322). Storing
theball coupling G
WARNIN
G Do
not carry theball coupling inthe vehicle
interior ifit is not secured.
17 Missing valueswerenotavailabl eattime ofgoing toprin t. 218
Tr
ailer towingDriving and parking