2012 MERCEDES-BENZ M-Class change wheel

This
style ofdriving prevent s:
R the vehicle fromlifting offthe ground onthe
brow ofahill
R the vehicle fromtraveling tooquickly down
the other side
Driving downhill R
Drive slowly.
R Do not drive atan angle down steep
inclines. Steer into theline offall and drive
with thefron twheels aligned straight.
Otherwise, thevehicle couldslipsidewa ys,
tip and rollover.
R Before tackling steepdownhill gradients,
select shiftrange 1.
R Act ivate DSR. Ifthis isnot sufficient, brake
gently. Whendoingso,make surethatthe
vehicle isfacing inthe direction ofthe line
of fall.
R Check thatthebrakes areworking normally
after along downhill stretch. i
The
special off-road ABS settin genables
a precise, briefandrepeated lockingofthe
front wheels, causing themtodig into the
loose earth. Beaware thatthefront wheels
easily skidacross theground surface if
completely brakedandtherefore losetheir
abili tyto steer. Driving
systems Cruise
control
Import antsafety notes G
WARNING The
cruise controlisaconven iencesystem
designed toassist thedriver during vehicle
operation. Thedriver isand must always
remain responsible forthe vehicle's speed
and forsafe brake operation.
Only usethecruise controlifthe road, traffic,
and weather condition smake itadvisabl eto
travel ataconst antspeed. R
The useofthe cruise controlcan be
dangerous onwinding roadsorinheavy
traffic because condition sdo not allow safe
driving ataconst antspeed.
R The useofthe cruise controlcan be
dangerous onslippery roads.Rapid
changes intire tract ioncan result inwheel
spin andloss ofcont rol.
R Deactivate thecruise controlwhen driving
in fog.
The "Resu me"funct ionshould onlybe
operated ifthe driver isfully aware ofthe
previously setspeed andwishes toresume
this particular presetspeed. G
WARNING The
cruise controlbrakes automatically so
that thesetspeed isnot exceeded.
General notes Cruise
controlmaintains aconst antroad
speed foryou. Itbrakes automatically inorder
to avoid exceeding thesetspeed. Onlong and
steep downhill gradients, especiallyif the
vehicle isladen ortowing atrailer, youmust
select shiftrange 1,2or 3in good time. By
doing so,you willmake useofthe braking
effect ofthe engine, whichrelieves theload
on the brake system andprevents thebrakes
from overheating andwearing tooquickly.
Use cruise controlonly ifroad andtraffic
condition smake itappropriate tomaintain a
steady speedforaprolonged period.Youcan
set any road speed above20mph
(30 km/h). i
Cruise
controlshould notbeactivated
during off-road driving. Driving
systems
167Driving and parking Z

X
Start theengi ne.
Spo rtstuni ng
The firmer suspe nsio ntunin ginS port mode
ensures evenbettercon tact with theroad.
Select thismode whenemploying asport y
drivin gstyle, e.g.onwinding countryroads.
X Press button:.
Indic atorlamp ;lights up.Sport s
suspension tuningis select ed.The vehicle
is lowered by0.6 in(15 mm).
Comfor ttuning
In Comfort mode,thedrivin gcharac teristics
of your vehicle aremore comfortable. Select
this mode ifyou favor amore comfor table
driving style,butalso when driving faston
straight roads,e.g.freeways.
X Press button :.
Indicat orlamp =lights up.Comfort tuning
is selected. Thevehicle israised by
0.6 in(15 mm).
Active CurveSystem The
Active Curve System usesactive
stabilizers tooptimize bothdriving comfort
and vehicle agility.Dependin gon the ADS
mode selected (Ypage 180), theActiveCurve
System alsochanges thesetting.
If you select ADScomfor tmode:
R rolling movemen tisreduced inthe event of
changing surfaceundulations
R the rollangle whencornering isreduced
R the driving styleisagile If
you select ADSsport mode:
R the rollangle isreduced significantly
R the driving styleiseven more agile
Leve lcontrol Importa
ntsafety notes
Level controladap tsthe vehicle level
automaticall yto the current operating and
driving situation. Thisresults inreduced fuel
consumption andimproved handling.
If you select ADScomfort mode
(Y page 180), thevehicle islowered tohigh-
speed levelasthe speed increases. Asthe
vehicle decelerates, thevehicle israised back
up tohighwa ylevel.
If you select ADSsport mode (Ypage 180),
the vehicle skipshighwa ylevel andlowers
directly tohigh-speed leveldepending onthe
basic setting (Ypage 182).
Make changes tothe vehicle levelwhile the
vehicle isin motion. Thisenables thevehicle
to adjust tothe new level asquickly as
possible .
The vehicle levelmaychange visiblyifyou
park thevehicle andtheoutside temperature
changes. Ifthe temperature drops,the
vehicle levelislower; withanincrease in
temperature, thevehicle levelrises.
If you unlock thevehicle oropen adoor, the
vehicle beginstocompensate forload
discrepancies whilestillparked. However, for
significant levelchanges, suchasafter the
vehicle hasbeen stationary foralong period,
the engine mustbeon. For safety reasons,
the vehicle isonly lowered whenthedoors are
closed. Lowering isinterrupted ifadoor is
opened, anditcont inues oncethedoor has
been closed. G
WARNING Make
surenoone isnear thewheel housing
or under thevehicle whenyoulower the
vehicle whileitis standing still.Limbs could
become wedgedintoorunder thevehicle. Driving
systems
181Driving and parking
Z

G
WARNING Objects
locatedabovethe heig htrange of
Active Parking Assistwillnot bedetected
when theparki ngspace ismeasu red.These
are not taken intoaccount whentheparki ng
proced ureiscalcu lated,e.g. overha nging
loa ds, tail sections orloa ding ramps ofgood s
vehicl es.Insome circumsta nces,Active
Parking Assistmaytherefore guide you into
the parki ngspace tooearly.This may leadto
a colli sion. Forthis reaso n,you shou ldavoi d
usi ng Active Parking Assistinsuch situations. G
WARNING The
front ofthe vehicl ewil lveer outinthe
dire ction ofthe oncoming trafficduringthe
parki ngopera tion.Insome cases, thevehicl e
wil lals otake youonto sections ofthe
oncoming laneduringthe parki ngproced ure.
You arerespo nsiblefor safety atall times and
must payattention toany road users
app roachi ngorpass ing.Stop thevehicl eif
necessa ryor cancel theActive Parking Assist
parki ngproced ure. G
WARNING Make
surenoperso nsoranima lsare inor
near thearea inwhi chyou areparki ng/
maneu vering. Otherwi se,they couldbe
injured .
Use Active Parking Assistforparki ngspa ces:
R that arepara llelto the direction oftravel
R that areonstraig htroad s,not bends
R that areonthe same levelas the road ,e.g.
not onthe pave ment
Parking tips:
R on narrow roads,drive pastthe parking
space asclose aspossible.
R parking spacesthatarelittered, overgrown
or partially occupied bytrailer drawba rs
might beidentified incorrectlyornot atall.
R snowfall orheavy rainmay lead toaparking
space beingmeasured inaccurately. R
pay attent iontothe PARKTRONIC
(Y page 184)warning messages duringthe
parking procedure.
R you can interven ein the steering procedure
to correct itat any time. Active Parking
Assist willthen becanceled.
R when transport ingaload which protrudes
from yourvehicle, youshould notuse
Act ive Parking Assist.
R never useActiveParking Assistwhensnow
chains oran emergency sparewheel are
mounted.
R make surethatthetire pressures are
alwa yscorrect .This has adirec tinflu ence
on the parking characteri stics ofthe
veh icle.
R the wayyo ur veh icleis po sitio ned inthe
pa rking spaceafter parking isde pende nt
on vario us factors .These include the
position andshape ofthe vehicles parked
in front andbehind itand thecondition sof
the location. Insome cases, Active Parking
Assist mayguide youtoofarinto aparking
space, ornot farenough intoit.Insome
cases, itmay alsolead youacross oronto
the curb. Ifnecessary, youshould abortthe
parking procedure withActive Parking
Assist.
R you can also engage forward gear
prematurely. Thevehicle redirects and
does notdrive asfar into theparking space.
Should thegear change occurtoosoon to
achieve asensible parkingposition, the
parking procedure willbeaborted.
! Ifunavoidabl e,you should driveover
obstacles suchascurbs slowly andnotat
a sharp angle. Otherwise, youmay damage
the wheels ortires.
Detecting aparking space Active
ParkingAssist isswi tched on
au tomatica llywhe ndriving forwards.The
system isopera tional atspee dsofup to
app roximatel y22 mph (35km/h). Whilein
opera tion,thesystem independently locates Drivi
ngsystems
187Driving and parking Z

Acti
vating/d eactivating therea rview
cam era X
To activ ate: make surethattheSmar tKey
is in posit ion2in the ignit ionlock .
X Make surethatthe"rear viewcamer a"
func tion isselec tedinCOMAN D(see the
separate operating instructionsfor
COMAND).
X Engage reverse gear.
The area behind thevehicle isshown inthe
COMAND displaywith guide lines. X
To change thefunction mode:usingthe
COMAND controller, select symbol :for
the "Reverse parking"functionor
symbol ;for the "Cou pling upatrailer"
function .See the separate COMAND
operatin ginst ruct ions.
The symbol ofthe select edfunc tion is
highlighted.
To deactiva te:the rear view camera is
deactivat edwhen you:
R shift thetran smission toposition P
R drive forward tenmeter s
R shift thetran smission fromposition Rto
anoth erposition (after15secon ds)
R drive forward fasterthan5mph
(10 km/ h) Displays
inthe COMAND display G
WARN
ING Use
ofrear view camera canbedangerous if
you arecolor- blindorhave impaired color
vision.
Only userear view camera ifyou can seeand
distin guish allcolored guidelines shownby
rear view camera onthe COMAND system
display. G
WARN
ING Please
notethat objec tsthat donot touch the
ground mayappear tobe furth eraway than
they actually are,forexample:
R the bumper ofavehicle parkedbehindyou
R the trailer drawbar
R the ball coupling ofatrailer towhitch
R the rear endofatruc k
R aslanted post
In such cases, youshould notuse theguide
lines tojudge thedistanc e.You may misjudge
the distanc e,which increases therisk of
impactin gthe objec ts.
Even ifthe objec tyou approach isdirectly on
the ground, donot approach theobject any
closer thanthered guide line. :
Vehicle widthincluding exteriormirrors
; Vehicle widthincluding wheelextremities
= Yellow guidelineapproximately 13ft
(4 m) away fromtherear area
? Red lane ofvehicle widthatcurrent
steering wheelangle(dynamic) Driving
systems
191Driving and parking Z

:
Lane Keepi ngAssist camera
If you have chosen the Display
Unit Speed-/Odom
eter (Y
page 233)function in
the on-board computer andselect km as
the
unit ofmeasu rement, ActiveLaneKeepi ng
Assist isactive fromspeed sof 60 km/h. If
the miles disp
layunit isselected, the
assi stance rangebeginsat40 mph. G
WARNING Lane
Keepi ngAssist doesnotkeep your
vehicle inits lane. Itis only anaid and may
detect thelane markings onthe road
incorrectly ornot atall.
The system maybeimpa iredormay not
function if:
R there ispoor visibility, e.g. due to
insuffici entillumina tionofthe road, ordue
to snow, rain,fogorspray .
R there isgla re, e.g. from oncoming traffic,
the sun, orreflection fromother vehicle s.
R the windshi eldisdirty, fogged upor
covered, forinstance byasticker, inthe
vicinity ofthe camera.
R several orno lane markings forasingle lane
are present.
R the lane markings areworn away,dark or
covered up,e.g. bydirt orsnow.
R the distance tothe vehicle infront istoo
small andthelane 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.
Lane Keepi ngAssist cannot detectroadand
traffic conditions. Itis not asubstitu tefor
attentive driving.Youareresponsib lefor the
vehicle 'sspeed ,braking ingood time, and
steering correctly. Alwaysada ptyou rdriving
style tosui tthe prevailing roadandweather
conditions .Always payattent iontotraffic
conditions andyour surroundings. Otherwise,
you may failtorecognize dangersintime,
cause anaccident andinjure yourself and
others.
A warning canbegiven when afront wheel
passes overalane marking. Itwill warn you
by means ofintermit tentvibration inthe
steering wheelforupto1.5 seconds.
Switching onLane Keeping Assist X
Switch onAct iveLane Keeping Assistusing
the on-board computer; todo so, select Standard or Adaptive (Y
page 233).
Symbol :appea rsinthe multifunction
displa y.
If your speed exceeds 40mph (60km/h)
and lane markings aredetected,
symbol :ishighlighted. LaneKeeping
Assist isready foruse.
Standa rd
If Standard is
selected, nowarning vibration
occurs if: Driving
systems
201Driving and parking Z

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

R
you switchon thetur ns ignals .Int his
event, thewarnings aresuppressed fora
certain periodoftime.
R adriving safetysystem interven es,e.g.
ABS ,BAS orESP ®
.
R you accelerate hard,e.g.kickdown.
R you brake hard.
R you steer actively, e.g.swerve toavoid
an obstacle orchange lanequickly.
R you cutthe corner onasharp bend.
Tra iler towing
When youattach atrailer, makesureyouhave
correct lyestablished theelectrical
conn ection. Thiscanbeaccomplished by
check ingthe trailer lighting. Off-r
oaddriving systems 4MATIC
(permanentfour-wheel drive)
4MATIC ensuresthatallfour wheels are
permanent lydriven. Together withESP®
and
4ETS, itimproves thetract ionofyour vehicle
whenever adrive wheel spinsdueto
insufficient grip. G
WARNING If
adrive wheel isspinning duetoinsufficient
tract ion:
R While driving off,apply aslittle throttleas
possible.
R While driving, easeupon the accelerator
pedal.
R Adapt yourspeed anddriving styletothe
prevailing roadcondition s.
Failure toobserve theseguidelinescould
cause thevehicle toskid.
The 4MATIC cannotprevent accidents
resulting fromexcessive speed.
! Never towthevehicle withoneaxle
raised. Thismay damage thetransf ercase.
Damage ofthis sort isnot covered bythe
Mercedes-Ben zLimited Warranty. All
wheels mustremain eitheronthe ground or
be fully raised. Observe theinstruct ions
for towing thevehicle withallwheels infull
cont actwith theground. i
In
wintry driving condition s,the maximum
effect of4MATIC canonly beachieved if
you usewinter tires(M+S tires ),wi th snow
chai nsifnecessa ry.
! Function orperfo rmance testsmayonly
be perfo rmed ona2-axle dynamome ter.If
you wish tooper atethe vehi cleonsuch a
dy namome ter,please consul tan
auth orizedMer cedes-Ben zCent er
beforehan d.You could otherwisedamage
the drive trainorthe brake system.
For infor mation aboutdriving off-road, see
(Y page 162). DSR
(Dow nhillSpeed Regulat ion)
Impor tantsafet ynotes DS
Rassists youwhen driving downhill. It
keeps thespeed oftravel atthe speed seton
the on-board comput er.The steeper the
downhill gradient,the greater theDSR
brakin geffec tonthe vehicle. Whendriving on
flat stret ches ofroad oron anuphill gradient,
the DSR braking effectisminimal ornon-
existent . G
WARNING Downhill
SpeedRegulation (DSR) isa
conven iencesystem designed toassist the
driver during vehicle operation. Thesystem
settin gmust beappropriate tothe
topographical andweather condition s
encount ered,which canchange quickly. The
driver isresponsible forthe vehicle speedand
for safe brake operation atall times.
Depending onthe programmed speed,actual
vehicle speedandgradient, switching onDSR
while driving cancause thevehicle toslow
down rapidly ,and youmay hear asound,
caused bythe activation ofthe vehicle's brake
system through DSR.Sudden andunexpected
deceleration canresult inloss ofvehicle 208
Off-r
oaddriving systemsDriving and parking

brake
usingthebrake controller, andchec k
the brakes forcorr ectfunc tion.
R Sec ureany objec tson the trailer topreven t
the cargo fromslipping whenthevehicle is
in mot ion.
R Ifyou couple upatrailer, regularly check
the cargo forsecure fasteningand make
sure thatthetrailer lamps and(if
applicable) thetrailer brakes are
func tioningcorr ectly.
R Bear inmind thatthehandling willbeless
stable whentowingatrailer thanwhen
drivin gwithout one.Avoid sudden steering
movem ents.
R The vehicle/ trailercombin ationisheavier,
acceler atesmore slowly, hasadecreased
gradient climbingcapability andalonger
brakin gdistan ce.
It is more suscept ibletoside winds and
requires morecareful steering.
R Ifpossible, avoidabrupt braking.Depres s
the brake pedalmoderat elyatfirst ,so that
the trailer canactiv ateitsown brakes. Then
incr ease thepressure onthe brake pedal.
R Ifthe automatic transmission continues to
shift back andforthbetween twogears
when drivingup ordownhill, restrict the
shift range. Selectshiftrange 4,3,2,or 1.
Al ower gearandlower speed reduce the
risk ofengine failure.
R On long andsteep gradients thatare
difficult todrive down inshift range 1,
switch tothe off-road program orengage
the LOW GEAR off-road gear.
R When driving downhill, shifttoalower gear
to utilize theengine's brakingeffect.
Avoid continuous brakeapplication asthis
may overheat thevehicle brakesand,if
installed, thetrailer brakes.
R Ifthe coolant temperat ureincreases
dramatically whiletheair-con ditioning
system isswitched on,switch offthe air-
condit ioning system.
Coolant heatcanadditionally bedissipated
by opening thewindows andbysett ingthe blower
fanand theinterior temperat ureto
maximum.
R When overtak ing,payparticular attention
to the exten dedlength ofyour vehicle/
trailer combinat ion.
Due tothe length ofyour vehicle/t railer
combinat ion,youwillhave totravel an
additional distancebeyondthevehicle you
are overtak ingbefore returningtothe
previous lane. Deco
upling atrail er G
WA
RNI NG Ve
hicle swi th airs uspen sionprogram :While
you arecoupling ordecoupling atrailer, make
sure nobody locksorunlocks thevehicle and/
or opens orcloses doorsorthe tailgate.
The vehicle's levelcould change andyou
could endanger yourselfand/orothersasa
result.
Make surethatyoudonot operate theADS
switch orthe vehicle levelcontrolsystem
when coupling/decoupling thetrailer.
! Donot disconnec ta trailer withan
engaged overrunbrake.Otherwise, your
vehicle couldbedamaged bythe
rebounding ofthe overrun brake.
X Make surethattheautomatic transmission
is set toposition P.
X Apply thevehicle's electricparking brake.
X Start theengine.
X Close alldoors andthetailgate.
X Apply thetrailer's parkingbrake. G
WARNING Vehicles
withairsuspension program:As
soon asyou disconnec tthe electrical
conn ection between thetrailer andthe
vehicle, thevehicle willlower. Tohelp avoid
personal injury,makesurenoone isnear the
wheel housing orunderneath thevehicle
before theelectrical connection is
disconnec ted. Tr
ailer towing
217Driving and parking
Z