2012 MERCEDES-BENZ M-Class Owner's Manual

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

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

control
,cau sing anacci dent and/or serious
per sona linju ryto youand othe rs.Do not
swi tch onDSR inasitu ation whe rerap id
dece lerati oncou ldresu ltin alos sof vehi cle
control .
DSR control sthe setspeedwhe nitisactive
and theautomatic transmission isin the D,
R or Nposition. Youcandrive atahigher or
a lower speed thanthatsetonthe on-board
computer atany time byaccelerating or
braking. G
WARNING If
you depress theaccelerator pedalwithDSR
activated, thevehicle candrive faster thanthe
programmed setspeed. Youshould therefore
drive downhill withparticular cautionasit
could leadtoan accident and/orserious
injury toyou orothers. Keepinmind thatas
soon asyou remove yourfootfrom the
accelerator pedalwithDSR switched on,DSR
will start regula tingthevehicle's speed
including useofbrakes ifrequired. Depending
on the programmed setspeed, actualvehicle
speed andgradient, DSRcancause the
vehicle toslow down rapidly.Sudden and
unexpected deceleration canresult inloss of
vehicle control,causing anaccident and/or
serious personal injurytoyou and others.
For information ondriving off-road, see
(Y page 162).
Activating/deac tivatingDSR Activating
You
canonly activate DSRifyou aredriving
at 25 mph (40km/h) orslower. X
Press button :.
Indicator lamp;lights up.
The followi ngmessages appearint he
multifunction displayand inthe status
indicator, forexample: If
the driving speedistoo fast, theDSR
symbol andthe Max.
Speed 25mph (Canada
: 40
km/h )
message appearint he
multifunction display. i
You
cannot activate DSRifthe SPORT on-
road program isactivated. TheDSR symbol
and the Not
inDrive Program SPORT message
thenappea rint he multifunction
displa y.
Deactivating
X Press button :.
Indicator lamp;goes out.
The DSR symbol appearsinthe
multifunction displaywith the Off
message.
DSR isdeactivated automatically ifyou are
driving fasterthan30mph (Canada :
45 km/h). TheDSR symbol appearsinthe
multifunction displaywith the Off message.
Stat usindicator =goes out.Youalso hear a
warning. Off-r
oaddriving systems
209Driving and parking Z

Cha
nging theset speed When
DSRis act ivat ed, theset spee dcan be
ch ang edtoavalue between 1mphand
10 mph (Canada: between2km/ hand
18 km/ h)during thejourn ey. X
To increase ordecreas ethe setspeed
in 1mp h(Canada :1k m/h )
in cre men ts:pre ssthe cruise contr ollever
to the point ofres istanc ebri efly
up wa rds :for ahi gh er sets peed orbriefly
downwards ;for alower setspeed.
The setspeed appears inmultifun ction
display ?and isshown instat usindicat or
=. i
The
setspeed alsochang esin1m ph
(Canada: 1km/ h)incr ement sif you press
the controllever beyond thepoint of
resist ance. Tr
ailer towing Not
eson towing atrail er
Imp orta ntsaf ety notes G
WA
RNI NG Wh
entow ingatra iler, inco rrectequipme nt
and driving stylecou ldcauseyo uto lose
contr olof the vehicle.
To wing inco rrectly ornot observi ng this
Op era tor' sMa nua lcou ldlead todama geto
the vehicleand /or seriou sinju ries .O bserve
the following guidelines toensure safetrailer
towing . Contac
ta Mercedes -BenzCenter ifyou need
furt her explanat ionofthe infor mation
con tained inthis Operator 'sManual. G
WARN
ING Using
aball coupling otherthantheone
delivered withthevehicle mayplace toomuch
str ain onthe trailer towhitch.This applies
especially ifthe ball coupling inquestion is
longer orangled differen tly.Asaresult, the
vehicle maybedamaged andthetrailer may
come loosewhiledriving .Handl ing
ch arac terist ics may beimpair edand therear
axle may beove rload ed.This couldlead toan
acc iden twith serious oreven fatalinj uries.
There fore,please observethe followin g:
R only installthe ball couplin gdelivered with
the vehicle.
R make surethattheball coupling iscorr ectly
inst alled andsecured beforedriving.
R do not make anymodificat ionstothe ball
coupling orthe trailer towhitch . G
WARN
ING When
backin gup the vehicle towards the
trailer, makesurethere isnobody between
the trailer andthevehicle.
Couple anduncouple thetrailer carefully. If
you donot couple thetrailer tothe towing
vehicle correctly,the trailer couldbecome
detached.
Make surethatthefollowing valuesarenot
exceeded:
R the permissible trailerdrawbar noseweight
R the permissible trailerload
R the permissible rearaxle load ofthe towing
vehicle
R the maximum permissible grossvehicle
weight ofboth thetowing vehicle andthe
trailer
You willfind theapplicable permissible
values, whichmustnotbeexceeded, inthe
vehicle documen ts. 210
Tr
ailer towingDriving and parking

You
willfindthe values approve dby the
manuf acturer onthe vehic leident ification
plates andthosefor the towin gvehic lein the
"Techn icaldata" section. G
WARN
ING When
towingatrailer, yourvehic le'shandlin g
char acterist icswill bediffe rentinc omparison
with when driving without atrail er.
The vehicl e/trail ercombina tion:
R isheavi er
R isrestricted inits accele rationand
grad ient-climbi ngcapa bility
R has anincrease dbraking distance
R isaffected morebystrong crosswi nds
R dema ndsmore sensitive steering
R has alarg erturning circle
As aresul t,the handl ingchara cteristics may
be impa iredandyoumay losecontrol ofthe
vehicl e.This could leadto an accide ntwith
serio usoreven fatalinjurie s.
When towing atrail er,alw aysadju styou r
speed tothe current roadandweather
conditions. Donot exceed themaximu m
permis siblespeed foryou rvehicle/t railer
combin ation. G
WARN
ING Never
depress thebrake pedalcontinuously
while thevehicle isin motion ,e.g. never cause
the brakes torub byapplying constant slight
pedal pressure. Thiscauses thebrake system
to overheat ,incr eases thebraking distance
and canlead tothe brakes failingcomplet ely. G
WARN
ING Under
nocirc umstan cestrytostraight enthe
vehicle/ trailercombin ationbyincr easing the
speed. General
information R
Do not exceed thelegally prescribed
maximum speedforvehicle/t railer
combin ationsinthe relevant country.
This lowers therisk ofan acciden t.
R Only installan approved trailercoupling on
your vehicle.
Furt herinfor mation onavailabil ityand on
inst allation isavailable fromanyauthorized
Mercedes- BenzCenter .
R The bumpers ofyour vehicle arenot
suitable forinst alling detachable trailer
couplings.
R Do not installhired trailer couplings or
other detachable trailercouplings onthe
bumpers ofyour vehicle.
R To reduce therisk ofdamage tothe ball
coupling, removeitfrom theball coupling
recess whennotinuse. i
When
towing atrailer, setthe tire
pressure onthe rear axle ofthe towing
vehicle foramaximum load;seethetire
pressure tableinthe fuel filler flap
(Y page 371).
You willfind installation dimension sand loads
in the "Technic aldata" section
(Y page 391).
The maximum noseweight ofthe trailer
drawbar onthe ball coupling is16
.However,
the actual noseweight mustnotexceed the
value given onthe trailer towhitchor trailer
identif ication plates.Thelowest weight
applies.
! Use adrawbar noseweight asclose as
possible tothe maximum permissible
noseweight .Donot use anoseweight of
less than theminimum permissible
noseweight, asthe trailer mayotherwise
come loose. Missing valueswerenot
availa bleattime ofgoing toprint.
Note thatthepayloa dand therear axle load
are reduced bythe actual payload.
16 Missing valuesunavailable attime ofgoing toprint. Tr
ailer towing
211Driving 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