2012 MERCEDES-BENZ M-Class 4 way

Useful
information
i This
Operat or'sManual describesall
models andallstan dard andoption al
equipment ofyour vehicle available atthe
time ofpublication ofthe Operat or's
Manual. Country-specificdiffer encesare
possible. Pleasenotethat your vehicle may
not beequipped withallfeature s
descr ibed. Thisalso applies tosafet y-
related systemsand func tions. i
Please
readtheinfor mation onqualified
specialist workshops(Ypage 25). Impor
tant safet ynotes You
willfind anillustrat ionofthe instrumen t
clust erinthe "Ataglance" section
(Y page 29). G
WARN
ING A
driver' satt ent ion tothe road andtraffic
con dition smust always behis/her primary
focus whendriving.
For your safetyand thesafet yof other s,
select ingfeature sthr ough themultifun ction
steer ingwheel should onlybedone bythe
driver whentrafficand road condition spermit
it to be done safely.
Bear inmind thatataspeed ofjust 30mph
(approxim ately50km/ h),your vehic leis
cove ringadistan ceof44 feet (approxim ately
14 m)every second. G
WARN
ING No
messages willbedisplayed ifeither the
inst rumen tclust eror the multif unction
display isinoper ative.
As aresult, youwillnotbeable tosee
info rmat ionabout yourdrivin gcon dition s,
such as
R speed
R outside temperatur e
R warnin g/indicato rlamps R
malf unction/ warn ingmes sages
R failur eof any systems
Dr ivin gch arac terist ics may beimpair ed.
If you must continue todriv e,do sowith added
caut ion.Contac tana uth oriz edMer cedes-
Ben zCent eras soon aspossible. G
WARN
ING Malfunct
ionand warning messages areonly
indicat edfor cert ainsystems andare
inten tionally notvery detailed. The
malfunct ionand warning messages are
simply areminder withrespect tothe
operation ofcert ainsystems. Theydonot
replace theowner's and/ordriver's
respons ibilitytomaint ainthe vehicle's
operatin gsafety. Haveallrequired
maint enanc eand safety checksperform edon
the vehicle. Bringthe vehicle toan authorized
Mercedes- BenzCenter toaddress the
malfunct ionand warning messages. Displays
andopera tion Coolant
temperaturedispla y G
WARN
ING Drivin
gwhen yourengine isoverheat edcan
cause somefluidswhich mayhave leaked into
the engine compart menttocatc hfire. You
could beseriously burned.
St eam from anoverheat edengine cancause
serious burnswhich canoccur justbyopening
the engine hood.Stay away fromtheengine
if you seeorhear steam comingfrom it.
St op the vehicle inasafe location awayfrom
other traffic.Turn offthe engine, getout ofthe
vehicle anddonot stand nearthevehicle until
the engine hascooled down.
The coolant temperaturegauge isin the
inst rument clusteronthe right- hand side.
Under normaloperatin gcon ditions andwith
the specified coolantlevel,thecoolant
temper aturemayriseto248 ‡(120 †). 222
Displays
andopera tionOn-board computer and displays

X
Press the: or9 button toselect the Display
UnitSpeed-/Od ometer funct
ion.
You willsee theselected setting: km or
miles .
X Press thea button tosave thesetting.
Selecting theperm anent display function
The Permanent
Display: funct
ionallows
you tochoose whether themultifunc tion
display alwaysshows theoutside
temperat ureorthe speed inkm/ h(USA) or
mph (Canada).
X Press the= or; button onthe
steerin gwheel toselect the Settings
menu.
X Press the: or9 button toselect the Instr.
cluster submenu.
X Press thea button toconf irm.
X Press the: or9 button toselect the Permanent
display funct
ion.
You willsee theselected setting Outside
Temperatu
re or Speedomet
er[km/h]: .
X Press thea button tosave thesetting.
Lights Switching
thedayt imerunning lampson/
off
This funct ionisnot availabl ein Canada.
If you have activat edthe Daytime Running
Lights: funct
ionand thelight switch isin the
c orà position, thedaytime running
lamps areswitched onautomatically during
the day when theengine isrunnin g.
In the dark, thefollowing alsolight up:
R the low-beam headlamps
R the parking lamps
R the taillamps
R the license platelamp
R the side marker lamps X
Press the= or; button onthe
steerin gwheel toselect the Sett. menu.
X Press the: or9 button toselect the Lights submenu.
X Press thea button toconf irm.
X Press the: or9 button toselect the Daytime
RunningLights: funct
ion.
You willsee theselected setting: Enabled
or Disabled .
X Press thea button tosave thesetting.
Switching AdaptiveHighbeam Assiston/
off
X Press the= or; button onthe
steerin gwheel toselect the Sett. menu.
X Press the: or9 button toselect the Lights submenu.
X Press thea button toconf irm.
X Press :or9 toselect the Adaptive
HighbeamAssist: funct
ion.
You willsee theselected setting: Enabled
or Disabled .
X Press thea button tosave thesetting.
Setting thebright nessofthe ambient
lighting
X Press the= or; button onthe
steerin gwheel toselect the Settings
menu.
X Press the: or9 button toselect the Lights submenu.
X Press the: or9 button toselect Ambient
light .
You willsee theselected setting.
X Press thea button toconf irm.
X Press the: or9 button toadjust the
brightn esstoany level from Off to Level
5 (bright).
X Press thea or% button tosave the
sett ing. 234
Menus
andsubmenusOn-board computer and displays

i
For
furth erinfor mationonthe automa tic
locki ngfea ture ,see (Ypage 79).
X Pres sthe = or; button onthe
stee ring wheelto sel ect the Sett
ings menu
.
X Pres sthe : or9 button tosel ect the Vehi
cle su
bme nu.
X Pres sthe a button toconfir m.
X Pres sthe : or9 button tosel ect the Auto
maticDoor Lock functi
on.
You willsee theselected setting : Enab
led or Disa
bled .
X Pres sthe a button tosav ethe setting .
Ac tivati ng/deac tivati ngthe acoustic
lo cki ng veri ficatio nsig nal
If yo uswi tch onthe Acou
stic Lock feed
back functi
on,anaco ustic signal sou nds
whe nyou lock thevehicle.
X Press the= or; button onthe
steerin gwheel toselect the Settings
menu.
X Press the: or9 button toselect the Vehicle submenu.
X Press thea button toconf irm.
X Press the: or9 button toselect the Acoustic
Lockfeedback: funct
ion.
You willsee theselected setting: On or
Off .
X Press thea button tosave thesetting.
Activating/deactivat ingthe radarsensor
system
The following systemsareswitched offwhen
the radar sensor system isdeactivated:
R DIS TRONIC PLUS(Ypage 169)
R BAS PLUS (Ypage 62)
R PRE-S AFE®
Brake (Ypage 65)
R Blind SpotAssist (Ypage 198)
R Act ive Blind SpotAssist (Ypage 202) i
USA
only: Thisdevice hasbeen approved
by the FCC asa"Vehicular RadarSyst em".
The rada rsensor isint ended foruse inan automot
iveradar system only.Removal,
tamperin g,or altering ofthe device willvoid
any warrant ies,and isnot permit tedbythe
FCC. Donot tamper with,alter, oruse in
any non-approved way.
An yunauthoriz edmodificat iontothis
device couldvoidtheuser's authorit yto
operate theequipment. i
Canada
only:
This device complies withRSS-210of
Indust ryCanada. Operation issubject to
the following twoconditions :
1. This device maynotcause harmful
int erferen ce,and
2. this device mustaccept anyinterferen ce
received, includinginterferen cethat may
cause undesired operation.
An yunauthoriz edmodificat iontothis
device couldvoidtheuser's authorit yto
operate theequipment.
X Press the= or; button onthe
steer ingwheel toselect the Setting
s menu.
X Press the: or9 button toselect the Vehicle submenu.
X Press thea button tocon firm.
X Press the9 or: button toselect Radar
Sensor (SeeOper. Manual) : .
You willsee theselect edsett ing: Enabled
or Disable
d .
X Press thea button tosave thesetting.
Convenienc e Activating/d
eactivatingthe EASY-
ENTR Y/EXIT feature
You canusethe Easy Entry/E
xit: func
tion
to activat eor deactivat ethe EASY ENTRY/
EXIT feature (Ypage 102). G
WARN
ING You
must make surenoone canbecome
trapped orinjur edbythe movin gsteer ing 236
Menus
andsubm enusOn-board computer and displays

Disp
laymessa ges Poss
iblecauses/c onseq uences and M Solu
tions F(U
SA
on ly)!(Can ada
on ly) Par
kingBra keSee Ope
rator'sMan ual The
yello w! warning lamp lightsup.
The electric park ing brak eis malf unction ing.
To apply:
X Swi tchof fth eign ition .
X Pre sstheelec tric park ingb rake handl efor atlea st10 seconds.
X Shift thetransmissi ontoP.
X Consu ltaqua lified speci alist workshop . The
yellow ! warning lampandthered F (USA
only )/! (Canada only)indica torlamp light up.
The electric parking brakeismalfu nctioning.
To rele ase:
X Switch offthe ignitio nand turn itback on.
X Rel ease theelectric parking brakemanua lly.
or
X Rel ease theelectric parking brakeautomatical ly(Y pag e156).
If the yellow ! warning lampremai nslitor continues toflas h:
X Do not drive on.
X Consu ltaqua lified speci alist workshop . The
redF (USAonly)/! (Canada only)indica torlamp
flas hes and theyellow ! warning lamplights up.
The electric parking brakeismalfu nctioning.
To rele ase:
X Switch offthe ignitio nand turn itback on.
X Rel ease theelectric parking brakemanua lly.
To apply:
X Switch offthe ignitio nand turn itback on.
X Apply theelectric parking brakemanua lly.
If the red
F (USA
only)/
! (Ca
nada only)indica torlamp
continues toflas h:
X Do not drive on.
X Secure thevehicl eaga inst rolling away (Ypag e334).
X Shift thetransmissi ontoP.
X Turn thefront wheelstoward sthe curb.
X Consu ltaqua lified speci alist workshop . 242
Di
splay messag esOn-board computer and displays

Disp
laymessa ges Poss
iblecauses/c onseq uences and M Solu
tions G
Tel
eAid Ino
perative US
Ao nly:one ormor eof the mainfunctio nsinthe mbr ace system
ar ema lfunctio ning.
Ca nad aonl y:one ormor eof the mainfunctio nsofthe TELEAI D
sy stem arema lfunctio ning.
X USA only:ha ve the mbr ace system checked ataq ualifi ed
spec ialist workshop.
X Canad aon ly: have theTE LE AIDs ystem checke dat aqualif ied
spe cialist wor kshop . PRE
-SAFE Ino
perative See Ope
rator'sMan ual G
Ri
sk ofinjury Im
por tant fun ction sofPRE-SAFE ®
have failed .Alloth erocc upant
safet ysyst ems, e.g.airbags, remain available.
X Visit aqualified specialist workshop immed iately. PRE-
SAFE Func
tion Curr
ently Limi
tedSee Oper. Manu
al G
Risk
ofacciden t PRE-
SAFE®
Br ake istem porar ilyinope rative if:
R the DISTRON ICPLUS coverinthe radiat orgrill isdirt y.
R the sensors inthe bumper sare dirty.
R its func tion isimpaired duetoheavy rainorsno w.
R the radar sensor syst emistem porar ilyinope rative, e.g. due to
elect romagnet icradiat ionemit tedbynear byTV orradio
st ation sor oth ersourc esofelect romagnet icradiat ion.
R the syst emisouts idethe operat ingtem perat urerang e.
R the on-board voltage istoo low.
PRE- SAFE®
Br ake isoperat ionalagain andthedisplay message
disappears if:
R the dirt (e.g.slush) drops awaywhile thevehic leisin mot ion.
R the syst emdete ctsthat thesensors arefully available again.
R the syst emiswithin theoperat ingtem perat urerang e.
If the display messagecontinues tobe displayed:
X Clean theDISTRON ICPLUS coverinthe radiat orgrill
(Y page 322).
X Clean thebumper s(Y page 322).
X Restar tthe engine.
X Wait untilthebattery issufficiently charged. Display
messages
245On-board computer and displays Z

Disp
laymessa ges Poss
iblecauses/c onseq uences and M Solu
tions ?
Coo
lantLev elLow Sto
pVeh icl eTur n Eng
ine Off The
coolan tistoo hot.
X Pull over andstop thevehicle safelyandswitch offthe engine,
pay ing attent iontoroad andtraffic conditions.
X Make surethattheairsuppl yto the engine radiatorisnot
blocked, e.g.bysnow, slushorice.
X Wait untilthedispla ymessage disappearsbefore restarting the
engine. Otherwise, thereisarisk ofengine damage .
X Pay attent iontothe coolant temperature display.
X Ifthe temperature increasesagain,visit aqual ified speciali st
workshop immediately . The
poly-V-belt mayhave torn.
X Pull over andstop thevehicle safelyandswitch offthe engine,
pay ing attent iontoroad andtraffic conditions.
X Open thehood.
X Check whether thepoly-V-belt istorn.
If the poly-V-belt istorn:
! Donot cont inue driving. Theengine couldotherwise overheat.
X Consult aqual ified speciali stworkshop.
If the poly-V-belt isnot dam aged:
X Wait untilthedispla ymessage disappearsbefore restarting the
engine. Otherwise, thereisarisk ofengine damage .
X Pay attent iontothe coolant temperature display.
X Visit aqual ified speciali stworkshop. G
WARNING Driving
whenyourengine isoverheated cancause somefluidswhich mayhave leaked intothe
engine compartment tocatch fire.Youcould beseriously burned.
Steam fromanoverheated enginecancause serious burnswhich canoccur justbyopening the
engine hood.Stayawayfrom theengine ifyou seeorhear steam coming fromit.
Stop thevehicle inasafe location awayfrom other traffic. Turnoffthe engine, getout ofthe
vehicle anddonot stand nearthevehicle untiltheengine hascooled down.
! Ifthe coolant temperature exceeds248‡(120 †)donot cont inue driving. Theengine will
otherwise bedamage d. Dis
play messages
255On-board computer and displays Z

Disp
laymessa ges Poss
iblecauses/c onseq uences and M Solu
tions 8
Fue
lLev el Low The
fuellev elhas dropped into theres erveran ge.
X Refu elat thene ares tgas statio n. C Ther
eis on lyaver ysmal lamoun toffuel inthef uel tank.
X Refue lat thene ares tgas statio nwitho utfail. 8
Gas
CapLoos e The
fuel systempress ureistoo low. Thefuel filler capisnot clos ed
cor rectlyorthe fuel systemisleakin g.
X Check thatthefuel filler capiscor rectlyclos ed.
If th efuel filler capisnot corr ectly closed:
X Close thefuel filler cap.
If th efuel filler capiscorr ectly closed:
X Visit aqualified specialist workshop. 8
Ultr
aLow- sulfur Dies
elFuel Only Vehic
leswith adiesel engine: thefuel level hasfallen below the
reser verang e.
X Refuel atthe near estgas station .
X Only usecom merc iallyavailable vehicularULTRA -LOW SUL FUR
HIGH WAYDIES EL FUE L(ULS D,15 ppm SULFUR MAXIMUM ). ¸
Repl
aceAir Filter Vehic
leswith adiesel engine: theengineairfilterisdirt yand must
be replac ed.
X Visit aqualified specialist workshop. !
Chec
kFuel Filter Vehic
leswith adiesel engine: thereiswater inthe fuel filter. The
water mustbedrain edoff.
X Visit aqualified specialist workshop. Ø
Chec
k Addi
tive See
Oper
ator'sManu al The
DEFtan kis empt y.
X Have theDEFtank filledas soon asposs ibleataq ualifi ed
spec ialist workshop(Y page 152). Ø
Rem
aining Starts: 16 The
DEFlevel hasfallen toaminimum.
X Have theDEFtank filledimm ediat elyataqualifi edspec ialist
work shop.(Y page 152) Displ
aymes sages
257On-board computer and displays Z

Problem Possible
causes/co nsequences andM Solutions
!
The
yello wABS warning
lamp islit while the
engine isrunning. A
warning tonealso
sounds. G
Risk
ofaccident EBD
isfaulty. Therefore, BAS,BAS PLU S,ESP ®
,PR E-SAFE ®
,PR E-
SAFE ®
Bra ke, the HOLD functio n,hillsta rtas sist and ESP®
tra iler
sta bilizati onarealso una vailab le,for exa mpl e.
The brakesystem continuestofunct ionnormally, butwithout the
funct ionslisted above. Thewheels couldtherefor elock ifyou
brake hard,forexample.
ATTE NTION ASSISTisdeactivated.
X Observe theadditional displaymessages inthe multifunct ion
display .
X Drive oncarefully.
X Visit aquali fiedspecialist workshop. $
(USAonly)
J (Canada only)
֌!
The redbrake warning
lamp, theyellow ESP®
and ESP®
OFF warning
lamps andtheyellow
ABS warning lampare
lit while theengine is
runnin g. G
Risk
ofaccident ABS
andESP®
are faulty. Therefore, BAS,BAS PLUS, EBD,PRE-
SAF E®
,PRE-S AFE®
Brake, theHOLD function,hillstart assist and
ESP ®
trailer stabilization arealso unavailab ledue toa
malfunct ion,forexample.
The brake system continues tofunct ionnormally, butwithout the
funct ionslisted above. Thewheels couldtherefor elock ifyou
brake hard,forexample.
ATTE NTION ASSISTisdeactivated.
X Observe theadditional displaymessages inthe multifunct ion
display .
X Drive oncarefully.
X Visit aquali fiedspecialist workshop. ÷
The
yellow ESP®
warning lampflashes
while thevehicle isin
motion . G
Risk
ofaccident ESP
®
or tract ioncont rolhas interv enedbecause thereisarisk of
skidding oratleast onewheel hasstart edtospin.
Cruise controlorDIS TRONIC PLUSisdeactivated.
X Only depress theaccelerator pedalasfar asnecessary when
pulling away.
X Ease offthe accelerator pedalwhilethevehicle isin motion .
X Adapt yourdriving styletosuit theroad andweather conditions.
X Do not deactivate ESP®
.
Ex ception s:(Y page 63). War
ning andindicator lampsin the instru mentcluster
273On-board computer and displays Z