2012 MERCEDES-BENZ M-Class vehicle not in position p

properly
restrained. Youandyour passenger s
should always wearseatbelts.
Failure towear andproperly fastenand
position yourseatbeltgreatly increases your
risk ofinjuries andtheir likely severit yin an
acciden t.
If you areever inan acciden t,your injuries can
be con siderably moresevere without your
seat beltproperly buckled. Withoutyourseat
belt buckled, youaremuch morelikelytohit
the interior ofthe vehicle orbe ejec tedfrom
it. You canbeseriously injured orkilled.
In the same crash, thepossibility ofinjury or
death islessened ifyou areproperly wearing
your seatbelt. Theairbags canonly prote ct
as intended ifthe occupants areproperly
wearing theirseatbelts. G
WARN
ING Never
rideinamovin gvehicle withtheseat
backr estinan exc essively reclinedposition as
this canbedangerous. Youcould slideunder
the seat beltinacollision. Ifyou slide under
it, the seat beltwould applyforceat the
abdomen ornec k.That could cause serious
or even fatalinjuries. Theseat backr estand
seat beltprovide thebest restraint when the
wearer isin aposition thatisas upright as
possible andtheseat beltisproperly
position edon the body. G
WARN
ING Never
letmore people rideinthe vehicle than
ther eare seat belts available. Makesure
everyon eriding inthe vehicle iscorr ectly
rest rained withaseparate seatbelt. Never
use aseat beltformore thanoneperson ata
time. G
WARN
ING Damaged
seatbelts orseat belts thathave
been subjec tedtostr ess inan acciden tmust
be rep lace dand their anc horing poin tsmust
also becheck ed.
On lyuse seat beltswhic hhave been approved
by Mer cedes-Ben z. Do
notmak eany mod ificatio nstotheseat
belt s.This canlead tounin tend ed act ivat ion
of theET Ds ortotheir failur eto act ivat ewhen
ne ces sary.
Do notb leach ordye seat belts asthis may
sever elyweaken them.Inacras hthe ymay
not beable toprov ideadequate protection.
Have allwork carriedout only byqualified
tec hnic ians. Contactanauthor ized
Merc edes- BenzCent er.
Corr ectuse oftheseat belts G
WARN
ING USE
SEAT BELTS PROPE RLY
R Seat belts canonly work when used
proper ly.Never wearseatbelts inany other
way than asdesc ribed inthis section, as
that could result inserious injuries inthe
even tof an acc ident .
R Eac hocc upant should weartheirseat belt
at all tim es, because seatbelts helpreduc e
the likelih oodofand pote ntial sever ityof
inj uries inacc ident s,inc luding rollovers.
The integrat edrest raint systemincludes
SRS (drive rfront airbag ,driver' sside knee
bag ,front-passenge rfront airbag ,side
impa ctair bag s,windo wcurtain airbag sfor
the side windo ws),Emergency Tensioning
Devices, seatbeltforce limiters, andfront
seat knee bolsters.
The system isdesi gned toenhance the
protection offeredtoprope rlybelted
occupa ntsincertain frontal(frontairbag s,
driver' sside knee bagand ETDs) andside
(sid eimpa ctair bag s,windo wcurtain air
bags, andETDs )impac tswhic hex cee d
pre set deplo ymentthresholds andin
certain rollovers (windowcurtainairbags
and ETDs).
R Never weartheshoulder beltunder your
arm, across yourneck oroff your shoulder.
In afront alcrash, yourbody would move
too farforward. Thatwould increase the
chance ofhead andneck injuries. Theseat
belt would alsoapply toomuch forcetothe 50
Occ
upant safetySafety

ribs
orabd omen, whichcould severel y
injure internal organssuchasyou rliver or
spleen .
Adj ust the seat beltsothat theshoulder
sect ionislocat edasclos eas possible to
the middle ofthe shoulder .Its hould not
touch theneck .Never pass theshoulder
portion ofthe seat beltunder yourarm. For
this purpose, youcan adjust theheight of
the seat beltoutlet.
R Position thelapbelt aslow aspossible on
your hipsandnotacross theabdomen. If
the lapbelt isposition edacross your
abdomen, itcould cause serious injuries in
a crash.
R Never wearseatbelts overrigid or
breakable objectsinor on your clothing,
such aseyeglasses, pens,keysetc.,as
these might cause injuries.
R Make suretheseat beltisalway sfitt ed
snugly. Takespecial careofthis when
wearing looseclothing.
R Never useaseat beltformore thanone
person atatime. Donot fasten aseat belt
around aperson andanoth erperson or
other objectsat the same time.
R Seat belts should notbeworn twisted. Ina
crash, youwould nothave thefullwidth of
the seat belttodistribut eimpact forces.
The twisted seatbeltagainst yourbody
could cause injuries.
R Pregnant womenshouldalsoalway suse a
lap-shoulder belt.Thelapbelt portion
should bepositioned aslow aspossible on
the hips toavoid anypossible pressure on
the abdomen.
R Place theseat backrest inaposition thatis
as upright aspossible.
R Check yourseatbeltduring traveltomake
sure itis properly positioned.
R Never placeyourfeetonthe instr ument
panel, dashboard, oron the seat. Always keep
bothfeetonthe floor infront ofthe
seat.
R When usingaseat belttosecure infant
restraint s,toddler restraint s,or children in
booster seats,alwaysfollow thechild seat
manufacturer' sinstr uctions. G
WARNING Do
not pass seatbelts oversharp edges. They
could tear.
Do not allow theseat belttoget caught inthe
door orinthe seat adjustmen tmechanism.
This could damage theseat belt.
Never attempt tomake modifications toseat
belts. Thiscould impair theeffect iveness of
the seat belts.
Fastening seatbelts G
WARNING Acc
ording toaccident statistics,children are
safer when properly restrained onthe rear
seats thanonthe front -passenger seat.Thus,
we stron glyrecommen dthat children be
placed inthe rear seat whenever possible.
Regardless ofseating position, children12
years oldand under mustbeseated and
properly securedinan appropriately sized
child restraint systemorbooster seat
recommen dedforthe size andweight ofthe
child. Foradditional information,seethe
"Child reninthe vehicle" section.
Ac hild's riskofserious orfatal injuries is
significantly increasedifthe child restraint s
are not properly securedinthe vehicle and/
or the child isnot properly securedinthe child
restraint . Occ
upant safety
51Safety Z

X
Adju stthe seatand movethe backres tto
an almos tvertic alposition (Ypage 94).
X Pull theseat beltsmoot hlythrough belt
sash guide :.
X Without twistingit,guide theshoulder
sect ionofthe seat beltacross themiddle
of your shoulder andthelapsect ionacross
your hips.
X En gage belttongue ;inbuckle =.
Seat- beltadjustm ent:ifn ecessary, the
driver's andfront-passenger seatbelts
automatic allyadjust tothe upper body
(Y page 52).
X Ifnec essary, adjusttheseat belttothe
appropriate height(Ypage 52).
X Ifnec essary, pullupwards onthe shoulder
sect ionofthe seat belttotight enthe belt
across yourbody.
All seat belts except thedriver's seatbeltare
equipped withaspecial seatbeltretractor to
securely fastenchildrestraint systems inthe
vehicle. Forfurth erinfor mation onspecial
seat beltretractor s,see (Ypage 56).
For more information aboutreleasing theseat
belt with release button?,see "Releasing
seat belts" (Ypage 53). Seat
beltadjustm ent The
seat- beltadjustm entfunc tionadjusts the
driver's andfront-passenger seatbelttothe
upper bodyofthe occupants.
The belt strap istight ened slightly when:
R you engage thebelt tongue inthe belt
buckle andyouthen turntheSmart Keyto
position 2in the ignition lock.
R the Smart Keyisin position 2in the ignition
lock andyouthen engage thebelt tongue
in the buckle.
The seat- beltadjustm entwill apply a
retr action forceif any slack isdetec ted
between theoccupant andtheseat belt. Do
not hold ontothe seat belttight lywhile itis
adjustin g.You canswitch theseat- belt
adjustm entonand offinthe on-board
comput er(Y page 237).
The seat- beltadjustm entisan integral partof
the PRE-S AFE®
con venien cefunc tion.More
infor mation aboutPRE-SAFE®
can befound
in the "PRE-S AFE®
(preven tativeocc upant
protec tion)"sect ion(Ypage 49).
Belt height adjustm ent You
canadjust theseat beltheight onthe
driver's seatandthefron t-passenger seat. Adj
ust the height sothat theupper partofthe
seat beltisrouted across thecenterofyour
shoulder. 52
Occupant
safetySafety

tens
ioners andbeltanc horfitting tension ers
that aretriggere dtog eth er. The belt buck le
ten sion erismoun tedonthe B-pillar andthe
belt anchor fittin gis moun tedonthe side of
the seat .Always havebothtension ers
replaced aftertheyhave been trigger ed.
The ETDstight enthe seat belts inan acciden t,
pulling themclose against thebody.
The ETDsdo not corr ectincor rectseat
position sor incor rectlyfasten edseat belts.
The ETDsdo not pull vehicle occupan tsback
towards thebackr est.
Seat beltforcelimiters, whentrigger ed,help
to reduce thepeak forceexerte dby the seat
be lton the vehicleoccu pant.
The seatbelt forc elimiters forthe fron tseats
are synchr onizedwith thefron tairbags.
These takeon apart ofthe decele ration force.
Thus, theforce exer tedonthe occupant is
dist ribut edover agreat erarea.
The ETDscan only beact ivat edwhen:
R the ignit ionisswitc hedon.
R the rest raint systems areoperat ional;see
"SRS warnin glamp" (Ypage 38).
R the belt tongue iseng aged inthe buck leon
each ofthe lap-sh oulder beltsinthe front.
R the front-pass engerseat isocc upied and
the belt tongue iseng aged inthe buck leon
the front-pass engerside.
The ETDson the outs ideseat sin the rear
com partmen tare triggere dindep endently of
the lock status ofthe seat belts.
The ETDs aretriggere ddepe nding onthe type
and severi tyof an accide nt:
R if, inthe event ofahea d-on orrear-end
colli sion, thevehicl edecel erates or
accele ratesrapidlyinalongi tudina l
dire ction duringthe initia lstag esofthe
im pact
R if,in the eventofaside impact, onthe side
op posite the impact the vehicle de
cel era tes oracc elera tes rapidlyin a
la tera ldi rec tion
R if,in cer tains ituat ions where thevehic le
over turns, the syst emdete rmin esthat it
can prov ideadditio nalprot ection
If the airbags aredeployed, youwillhear a
bang, andasmall amoun tofpowder mayalso
be released. Onlyinrare cases willthebang
affect yourhearing. Thepowder thatis
released generally doesnotconst itutea
health hazard. The6 SRSwarning lamp
lights up. G
WARNIN
G Pyrotechn
icEmergen cyTensionin gDevices
that have been deployed mustberenewed.
For your safety, whendisposing ofEmergen cy
Tensionin gDevices, alwaysobserve the
safety instructions. Theseareavailab lefrom
any authorized Mercedes-B enzCenter.
The PRE-S AFE®
system haselectric ally
operated reversible pre-tensioners thatdo
not require replacement afteractivation .
! Ifthe front -passenger seatisnot
occupied, donot engage theseat belt
ton gue inthe buckle onthe front -
passenger seat.Otherwise, theEmergen cy
Tensionin gDevice couldbetriggered inthe
event ofan accident . Children
inthe vehicle Child
restraintsystems
Import antsafety notes We
recomm endthat allinfant sand children
be properly securedinan infant orchild
restr aintsystem atall times whilethevehicle
is in motion .
The useofseat belts andinfant andchild
restr aintsystems isrequired bylaw inall 50
states, theDistr ictofColumbia ,the U.S.
territ ories andallCanadia nprovinces.
Infants andchild renmust alwaysbe seated in
an app ropria teinfant orchild restrai ntsystem 54
Chil
dren inthe vehi cleSafety

recommende
dfor the size andweight ofthe
child .The infant orchild restraint system
must beproperly securedinaccordance with
the manufacturer's instructions.Allinfant or
child restraint systemsmustmeet U.S.
Federal MotorVehicle SafetyStandards 213
and 225 andCanadia nMotor Vehicle Safety
Stan dards 213and210. 2.
An inform ationlabelonthe child restraint
system indicates whetheritmeets these
standards. Thisinform ationisalso provided
in the installation instructions supplied with
the child restraintsystem.
Always readandfollow themanufacturer 's
instr uctions whenusinganinfant orchild
restr aintsystem orbooster seat.
Observe allwarning signsinthe vehicle
inter iorand onthe infant orchild restraint. G
WARNIN
G Acc
ording toaccident statistics,children are
safer when properly restrained inthe rear
seating positions thaninthe front seating
position. Thus,westron glyrecommen dthat
children beplaced inthe rear seats whenever
possible. Regardless ofseating position,
children 12years oldand under mustbe
seated andproperly securedinan appropriate
infant restraint ,toddler restraint ,or booster
seat recommen dedforthe size andweight of
the child.
The infant orchild restraint mustbeproperly
secured withthevehicle's seatbelt, theseat
belt andtopteth erstrap, orlower anchors and
top teth erstrap, fullyinaccordanc ewith the
child seatmanufacturer 'sinstr uctions.
Occupant s,especially children,shouldalways
sit asupright aspossible, weartheseat belt
properly anduseanappropriately sizedinfant
restraint ,toddler restraint ,or booster seat
recommen dedforthe size andweight ofthe
child. Children
canbekilled orseriously injuredby
an inflating airbag. Note thefollowing
important informationwhen circumst ances
require youtoplace achild inthe front
passenger seat:
R Your vehicle isequipped withairbag
techn ology designed todeactivate thefront
passenger frontairbag inyour vehicle
when thesystem sensestheweight ofa
typical 12-mont h-old childorless along
with theweight ofastandard appropriate
child restraint onthe front passenger seat.
R For children largerthanthetypical
12- mont h-old child, thefront passenger
front airbag may ormay notbeactivated.
Always makesurethe45indicat or
lamp isilluminat ed,indic atingthat thefront
passen gerfrontair bag isdeact ivated.
R Ac hild inarear-facing childrestraint onthe
front passenger seatwillbeseriously
injured oreven killed ifthe front passenger
front airbag inflates inacollision which
could occur under somecircumstan ces,
even withtheairbag techn ology installed
in your vehicle. Theonly means to
completely eliminatethisriskisto never
place achild inarear-facing childrestraint
in the front seat. Wetherefore strongly
recommen dthat youalwa ysplace achild
in arear-facing childrestraint inabackseat.
R Ifyou must install arear-facing child
restraint onthe front passenger seat
because circumstan cesrequire youtodo
so, make surethe45indic ator
lamp isilluminat ed,indic atingthat thefront
passen gerfrontair bag isdeact ivated.
Should the45indic atorlamp not
illuminat eor go out while therest raint is
inst alled, please checkinsta llati on.
Pe rio dical lyche ckthe 45indicat or
lamp while drivingto make surethe4
5 indicatorlamp isilluminat ed.Ifthe
45indic atorlamp goesoutor
remain sout, donot transpo rtachild onthe
fro ntpassen gerseat untilthe syst emhas
been repaire d. Childr
eninthevehicle
55Safety
Z

Ac
hild inarear-facing childrestraint onthe
front passenger seatwillbeseriously
injured oreven killed ifthe front passenger
front airbag inflates.
R Ifyou have toplace achild inaforward-
facing childrestraint onthe front passenger
seat, move theseat asfar back aspossible,
use theproper childrestraint
recommen dedforthe age, sizeandweight
of the child, andsecure childrestraint with
the vehicle's seatbeltaccording tothe
child seatmanufacturer's instructions. G
WARNING Infant
sand small children shouldnevershare
a seat beltwith another occupant. Duringan
accident, theycould becrushed between the
occupant andseat belt.
Ac hild's riskofserious orfatal injuries is
significantly increasedifthe child restraint s
are not properly securedinthe vehicle and/
or the child isnot properly securedinthe child
restraint .
Children toobigforatoddler restraint must
ride inseats usingregular seatbelts. Position
the shoulder beltacross thechest and
shoulder, notface orneck .Abooster seat
may benecessary toachieve properseatbelt
positioning forchildren over41lb(18 kg)until
they reach aheight wherealap/shoulder belt
fits properly withoutabooster.
When thechild restraint isnot inuse, remove
it from thevehicle orsecure itwith theseat
belt toprevent thechild restraint from
becoming aproject ileinthe event ofan
accident .
If an infant orchild istraveling inthe vehicle:
X Secure theinfant orchild withan
appropriate infantorchild restraint
recommen dedforthe child's ageand
weight.
X Make surethattheinfant orchild is
properly securedatall times whilethe
vehicle isin motion . G
WARNING When
leaving thevehicle, alwaysremove the
Smart Keyfrom theignition lock.Always take
the Smart Keywith youand lock thevehicle.
Do not leave children unattendedinthe
vehicle, evenifthey aresecured inachild
restraint system,orwith access toan
unlocked vehicle.Achild's unsupervised
access toavehicle couldresult inan accident
and/or serious personal injury.Thechildren
could:
R injure themselves onparts ofthe vehicle
R be seriously orfatally injured through
excessive exposuretoextrem eheat orcold
R injure themselves orcause anaccident with
vehicle equipment thatcanbeoperated
even ifthe SmartKey isremoved fromthe
ignition lockorremoved fromthevehicle,
such asseat adjustment ,steering wheel
adjustment ,or the memory function
If children openadoor, theycould injure other
persons orget out ofthe vehicle andinjure
themselves orbe injured byfollowing traffic.
Do not expose thechild restraint systemto
direct sunlight. Thechild restraint system's
metal parts, forexample, couldbecome very
hot, andthechild could beburned onthese
parts. G
WARNING Do
not carry heavy orhard object sin the
passenger compartmen tortrunk unles sthey
are firmly secure din pla ce.
Unsecured orimprop erlypositioned cargo
increase sa child 'srisk ofinjury inthe event
of
R strong braking maneuvers
R sudd enchanges ofdirectio n
R an accide nt
Spec ialseat beltretr act or All
seat beltsexc ept thed river's seatbeltare
equ ipped with aspeci alseat beltretrac tor.
When activated, thespecial seatbelt 56
Childr
eninthevehicleSafety

retractor
ensuresthe seat beltw illnot
slack enonc ethe child restraint systemhas
been secured.
In st alling achild restraint system:
X Always complywith themanuf acturer' s
inst allation instruct ions .
X Pull theseat beltsmoo thlyfromt heinertia
reel.
X Engage theseat belttongue inthe belt
buckle.
Act ivating thespecial seatbeltretract or:
X Pull theseat beltoutfully andletthe inertia
reel retract itagain.
While theseat beltisretract ing,youshould
hear aratchet ingsound. Thespecial seat
belt retract orisenabled.
X Push down onthe child restraint systemto
take upany slack.
Removing achild restraint system/
deactivating thespecial seatbeltretract or:
X Always comply withthemanufacturer's
installation instructions.
X Press theseat beltrelease buttonand
guide thebelt tongue tothe belt outlet.
The special seatbeltretract oris
deactivated. G
WARNING Never
release theseat beltbuckle whilethe
vehicle isin motion, sincethespecial seatbelt
retract orwill bedeactivated.
LATCH-type (ISOFIX)child seatanchors
in the rear G
WARNING Children
thataretoo large forachild restraint
must travel inseats usingnormal seatbelts.
Position shoulder beltacross thechest and
shoulder, notface orneck .
In order toattain thecorrect seating position
for children weighing over41lb(18 kg), itmay
be necessary touse abooster seatuntil they
reach aheight whereanormal lap/should er seat
beltliesproperly acrosstheirbodies
without theneed forabooster seat.
Inst allthe child restraint systemaccording to
the manufacturer's instructions.
The child restraint systemmustbeinstalled
firmly onboth brackets.
An incorrec tlyinstalled childrestraint system
can come looseinthe event ofan accident,
causing thechild tobe severely orfatally
injured.
Child restraint systems/child restraint
retaining bracketsthataredamaged orhave
suffered damageduetoan impact mustbe
replaced.
LATCH-t ype(ISOFIX) isastandardized
securing systemforspecially designed child
restraint systemsonthe rear seats. Securing
rings fortwo LATCH-t ype(ISOFIX) child
restraint systemsareinstalled onthe left and
right ofthe rear seats.
Secure nonLATCH-t ype(ISOFIX) child
restraint systemsusingthevehicle's seatbelt
system. Alwaysinstallchildrestraint systems
according tothe manufacturer's instructions.
! When installing thechild restraint system,
make surethattheseat beltforthe cent er
seat does notgettrapped. Otherwise, the
seat beltcould bedamaged. :
Securing rings
X Inst allthe LATCH-t ype(ISOFIX) child
restraint system.Complywiththe
manufacturer's instructionswhen doing
so. Children
inthe vehicl e
57Safety Z

G
WARNING PRE-SAFE
®
Brake cannot alwaysdetect
comple xtraffic situations prope rly.
In these cases, PRE-SAFE(R) Brakemay:
R give anunnecessa rywarni ngand then
brake thevehicl e
R neither giveawarni ngnor intervene
There isarisk ofan accide nt.Alwa yspay
particu larattention tothe traffic situationand
be read yto brake, especiallyif PRE-SAFE(R)
Brake warns you.Termina tethe intervention
in anon-critical drivingsitua tion.
In particu lar,the detection ofobstacl escan
be impa iredifthere is:
R dirt onthe sensors oranythi ngelse
covering thesensors
R snow orheavy rain
R interference byother radarsources
R the possibility ofstron gradar reflect ions,
for example inparking garages
R anarrow vehicle traveling infront ,e.g. a
motorbik e
R avehicle traveling infront onadifferent line G
WARNIN
G PRE-S
AFE®
Brake doesnotreact:
R to people oranimals
R to oncom ingvehicles
R to crossin gtraffic
R in curves
As aresult, PRE-SAFE®
Brake cannot
interv eneincritic alsituations. Thereisarisk
of an accident .Always paycaref ulatt ent ion
to the traffic situat ionand beready tobrak e.
In order tomaint ainthe appropr iatedistance
to the vehic lein fro ntand thus preventa
collisio n,you must apply thebrak esyourself .X
To act ivat e/deact ivate:act ivate or
deact ivatePRE-SAFE®
Brak ein the on-
board computer (Ypage 232).
The Ä symbol appears inthe
multif unction display aslong asthe HOL D
func tion isnot activate d(Ypage 179).
On vehicles withActive Parkin gAssist ,the
Ä symbol isdisplayed when
tran smission positionPis select edorifyou
drive faster than22mph(35 km/h).
For PRE-S AFE®
Brak eto assist youwhen
drivin g,the radar senso rsyst em mus tbe
switched on(Ypage 236)andoperational.
Following damagetothe front endofthe
vehicle, havetheconfiguration andoperation
of the radar sensors checked ataqual ified
speciali stworkshop. Thisalso appli esto
collisions atlow speeds wherethereisno
visible damage tothe front ofthe vehicle. STEER
CONTROL
The steering assistant STEERCONTROL helps
you bytransmitt inganoticeable steering
force tothe steering wheelinthe direction
required forvehicle stabilization.
This steering assistance isprovided in
particular if:
R both right wheels orboth leftwheels areon
a wet orslippe ryroad surface whenyou
brake
R the vehicle startstoskid
You have controlover thesteering atall
times. G
WARNING If
the ESP ®
is malfunctioning, youwillnot
receive steering assistance fromtheSTEE R
CONTROL. Thepower steering function,
however, remainsavailable. Driving
safetysystems
67Safety Z