2012 MERCEDES-BENZ M-Class belt

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

Top
Teth er G
WA
RNING Alw
ayslo ck the rearseat backr estsintheir
upright position whentherear seats are
occupied bypassengers .Lock therear seat
backrest sin their upright position before
installing theTop Tether strapsorwhen the
cargo compartm entisnot inuse. Make sure
that rear seat backrest saresecure dprope rly
by push ingand pulling onthe seat backrests.
If the seat backrest isnot locked properly,the
seat backrest couldfoldforwa rd.The child
restrai ntsystem isno longer supported
prope rlyorheld inposi tion andcannolonger
fulfi llits function. Thiscould causeserio usor
even fatalinjurie s.
Top Tether providesan add itiona lconnection
betwe enthe child restrai ntsystem secured
with ISOFIX andtherear seat. Ithelp sredu ce
the risk ofinjury evenfurther.
The Top Tether anchora gesarelocated onthe
rear side ofthe rear seat backrests. X
Move headrestrai nt= upw ards.
X Install theLATCH-type (ISOFIX)child
restrai ntsystem withTopTether. Comply
with themanufa cturer's installation
instructions whendoing so.
X Rou teTop Tether beltB under head
restrai nt= betwe enthe two head restrai nt
bars.
X Rou teTop Tether beltB dow nward
betwe encargo compartment cover:and
rear seat backrest ;.
X Hook TopTether hookAofTop Tether belt
B into TopTether anchora ge?.
Ensure that:
R Top Tether hookAishooked intoTop
Tether anchora ge? asshow n.
R Top Tether beltB isnot twisted.
R Top Tether beltB isrouted betweenrear
seat backrest ;and cargo 58
Chil
dren inthe vehi cleSafety

comp
artme ntcove r: ifcarg o
comp artme ntcove r: isinsta lled.
R Top Teth erbel tB isrou ted betw eenrear
sea tback rest; and thecar gonetift he
cargo netisinstalled.
X Tension TopTether beltB.C omply with
the manufacturer 'sinstallation
instr uctions whendoing so.
X Move headrestraint=back down again
slightly ifnecessary (Ypage 97).Make
sure thatyoudonot inter ferewith the
correc trouting ofTop Tether beltB. Child-pr
ooflocks
Import antsafety notes G
WARNIN
G 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. Child-proof
locksforthe rear doors G
WARNING Children
couldopenarear door from inside
the vehicle. Thiscould result inserious
injuries oran accident. Therefore, when
children rideinthe rear alwa yssecure therear
doors withthechild-proof locks.
You secure eachdoorindividua llywith the
child-proof locksonthe rear doors. Adoor
secured withachild-proof lockcann otbe
opened frominside thevehicle. Whenthe
vehicle isunlocked, thedoor canbeopened
from theoutside. X
To activat e:press thechild-proof lock
lever upinthe direction ofarrow :.
X Make surethatthechild-proof locksare
working properly.
X To deactivat e:press thechild-proof lock
lever down inthe direction ofarrow ;.
Overrid efeatu refor the rear side
windows G
WARNIN
G When
children rideonthe vehicle's rearseats,
activate theoverride switch.Otherwise, the
children couldbeinjured, e.g.bytrapping
themselves inthe rear side window. Children
inthe vehicle
59Safety Z

At
spee ds ofabove appro xima tely
20 mph (30km/h) ,if the driver and front
pa sse nge rhave fastened their seat belts,
PRE -SAF E®
Br ake can:
R brak eth eveh icle auto maticall yat spee ds
up toappro ximately12 4mph (200km /h)
R trigger preventat ive occupan tpro tection
meas ures(PRE-SAF E®
)(Y page 49)
Due tothenat ure ofthesyst em, particular ly
co mplic ateddriv ingcond ition sm aycaus e
unn ecessar ywarn ingsor theu nnece ssary
inte rventio nof PR E-SAFE ®
Bra ke. Tostop the
bra king action, youcan either depre ssthe
acce lera tor pedalfu rthe r,acti vate kickd own
or release the brakepedal.
The braking actionofPR E-SAFE ®
Bra keis
end edautoma tically if:
R yo ur spe eddro psbelow ap pro xima tely
9 mph (15km/h) .
R yo uma neu ver toavoid the obsta cle.
R ther eis no longe rany dange rofarea r-end
colli sion.
R there isno longer anobstacl edetected in
front ofyou rvehicl e.
If you have activa tedDSR (Ypag e208), PRE-
SAFE ®
Brake isdea ctivated. i
USA
only:this device hasbeen approved
by the FCC asa"Vehicula rRadar System".
The radar sensor syst emisint ended foruse
in an auto motiveradar systemonly.
Remo ving,alte ringor tam peringwithth e
devi cewill void anywarr anties, and isno t
perm itted bytheFCC. Donottamper with,
alte r,or use inany non-appro vedway.
An yunaut horizedmod ificatio ntothis
device couldvoidtheuser's authority to
operate theequipment. i
Canada
only:thisdevice complies with
RSS-2 10ofIndustr yCanada. Operation is
subject tothe following twocondit ions:
1. This device maynotcause interferenc e,
and 2.
this device mustaccept anyinterf erence
received, includinginterference thatmay
cause undesired operationofthe device.
Removal, tampering, oraltering ofthe
device willvoid anywarranties, andisnot
permitt ed.Donot tamper with,alter, oruse
in any non- approved way.
Any unauthorized modificationtothis
device couldvoidtheuser's authority to
operate theequipment.
With thehelp ofthe radar sensor system,
PRE-S AFE®
Brake candetect obstacles that
are infront ofyour vehicle foranexten ded
period oftime.
At speeds uptoapproximately 40mph
(70 km/ h),PRE-S AFE®
Brake canalso react
to station aryobstacles, forexample stopped
or parked vehicles.
If you approach anobstacle andPRE-S AFE®
Brake detect sa risk ofcollision, thesystem
will initially alertyouboth visually and
acoustically. Ifyou donot brake ortake
evasive action,thesystem willwarn youby
automatically brakingthevehicle gently.If
there isan increased riskofcollision,
prevent ativepassenger protectionmeasures
(PRE-SA FE®
)are activated (Ypage 49).Ifthe
risk ofcollision remainsandyoudonot brake,
take evasive actionoraccelerate
significant ly,the vehicle mayperform
automatic emergencybraking. Automatic
emergenc ybraking isnot performed until
immediately priortoan accident thatcanno
longer beavoided. G
WARNIN
G Even
ifPRE-S AFE®
Brake slowsthevehicle
before animminent rear-endcollision, the
system cannotavert acollision withoutthe
interv ention ofthe driver. Thereisarisk ofan
accident .Brake according tothe situation or
take evasive action.Delayed intervention by
the driver canlead toan accident . 66
Driving
safetysystemsSafety

G
WARNING Clo
sing theside windo wswith increas edforce
or witho utthe anti-entrapme ntfeatu recoul d
lea dto serio usoreven fatalinjury .Make sure
th at nobody canbecome trapped when
clo singth eside windows.
If aside windowisobst ructeddurin gclo sing
and reopen sagain slightly:
X Imm ediat elyafterthewind owbloc ks,pull
th ecor respon dingswit chagain untilth e
side windowhas closed.
The side windowisclo sed with increas ed
for ce.
If aside windowisobst ructedagain during
clo singand reopen sagain slightly:
X Imm ediat elyafterthewind owbloc ks,pull
th ecor respon dingswit chagain untilth e
side windowhas closed.
The side wind owisclo sed with outtheant i-
ent rapm entfeat ure. G
WAR
NING Pullin
gand holdi ngtheswit chtoclo sethe
wind owimm ediat elyafterithad been blocked
two timeswill caus eth ewind owtoclo se
with outtheant i-entrapm entfeat ure foras
lon gas you hold theswit ch. Slid
ingsunroof Imp
ortant safety notes
Your vehicle may beequippe dwith aslidin g
sun rooforapanorama roofwith power tilt/
sliding panel.Inthe following section, the
term "sliding sunroof"refer sto both types of
sliding sunroof . G
WARN
ING When
openin gor closin gthe sliding sunroof ,
make surethatthereis no danger ofanyone
being harmed bythe openin g/closing
procedur e.
The sliding sunroof isequipped with
automatic operationandtheanti- entrapmen t feature.
Ifthe movem entofthe sliding sunroof
is block edduring theclosin gprocedu re,the
slid ing sunroof willstop andopen slightly.
The sliding sunroof operatesdiffere ntlywhen
the slidingsunroof switch ispresse dand held .
See the"Prob lemswiththesliding sunroof"
section formore details.
The opening/cl osingprocedu reofthe sliding
sunroof canbeimmed iatelyhal ted by
relea singthesliding sunroof switch or,ifthe
slid ing sunroof switch was moved pastthe
resista ncepoint andrelea sed,bymoving the
slid ing sunroof switch inany directio n. G
WARNING The
slidingsunroof ismade outofgla ss. Inthe
event ofan accide nt,the glassmay shatter.
This may resul tina no penin gin the roof.
In avehicle rollover, occupants notwearing
their seatbelts ornot wearing themproperly
may bethrown outofthe openin g.Such an
openin galso presen tsapoten tialforinjury for
occ upants wearing theirseatbelts properly,
as ent irebody parts orportion sof them may
protr udefrom thepassenger compartment.
! Only open thesliding sunroof ifit is free
of snow andice.Other wise, malfunc tions
may occur.
Do not allow anythin gto protr udefrom the
sliding sunroof .Othe rwise, the sealscou ld
be dama ged.
! Thewe ath ercan change abruptl y.Itcou ld
sta rtto rain or sno w.Ma kesure tha tthe
sl id ing sunroo fisclosed whenyouleave the
vehicle. Thevehicle electronics canbe
damage difwater enters thevehicle
interior. i
Resonance
noisescanoccur inaddition
to the usua lairflow noiseswhenthesliding
sunroof isopen. Theyarecaused byminor
pressure fluctuations inthe vehicle interior.
Change theposition ofthe sliding sunroof
or open aside window slightlytoreduce or
eliminate thesenoises. 88
Sliding
sunroofOpening/closing

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). Correct
driver's seatposition Observ
ethe safet yguidelines onseat
adjust ment(Ypage 95).
X Check whether youhave adjust edseat =
properly.
Elec tricalseat adjust ment(Ypage 96)
When adjustingthe seat, make sure:
R you areasfar away fromthedriver' sair
bag aspossible.
R you aresitting inanor mal upright
position .
R you can faste nthe seat beltproperly. R
you have moved thebackrest toan
almost vertical position.
R you have setthe seat cushion angleso
that your thighs aregently supported.
R you can depress thepedals properly.
X Check whether thehead restraint is
adjusted properly(Ypage 97).
When doingso,make surethatyouhave
adjusted thehead restraint sothat theback
of your head issupported ateye level by
the cent erofthe head restraint .Also mak e
sure thatthehead restraint 'sfor e/af t
posit ionisadjust edsothat thehead
rest raint isnot too farfromt heback ofyour
head.
Observe thesafety guidelinesonsteering
wheel adjustment (Ypage 100).
X Check whether steeringwheel:is
adjusted properly.
Adjustin gthe steering wheelmanually
(Y page 101)
Adjustin gthe steering wheelelectrically
(Y page 101)
When adjusting thesteering wheel,make
sure:
R you can hold thesteering wheelwithyour
arms slightly bent.
R you can move yourlegsfreely.
R you can seeallthe displa ysinthe
instrumen tcluste rclearly.
Obser vethe safet yguideline sfor seat belts
(Y page 49).
X Check whetheryou have fastened seat
belt ;proper ly(Y page 51).
The seat beltshould:
R fit snug lyacro ssyour body
R be rout edacro ssthe middle ofyour
shoulder
R be rout edinyour pelvic areaacrossthe
hip joints
X Bef ore start ing off,adjust therear- view
mirr orand theexterior mirrors 94
Corr
ectdriver' sseat posit ionSeats, steering wheel and mirrors

(
Y page 103)in such away that youhave
a good viewofroad andtrafficcon dition s.
X Vehicles withamem oryfunct ion:save
the seat, steeringwheel andexterior mirror
sett ings (Ypage 105). Seats
Impor
tantsafet ynotes G
WARN
ING In
order toavoid possible lossofvehicle
con trol,all seat, head restraint ,steer ing
wheel andrear view mirror adjustm ents,as
well asfasten ingofseat belts, mustbedone
before settingthe vehicle inmot ion. G
WARN
ING Do
not adjust thedriver' sseat while driving.
Adj ustin gthe seat while drivingcould cause
the driver tolose controlof the vehicle.
Never travelin amovin gvehicle withtheseat
backr estinan exc essively reclinedposition as
this canbedangerous. Youcould slideunder
the seat beltinacollision .Ify ou slide under
it, the seat beltwould applyforceatthe
abdomen orneck .This could cause serious or
fatal injuries. Theseat backrest andseat belts
provide thebest restraint whenthewearer is
in aposition thatisas upright aspossible and
seat belts areproperly positioned onthe
body. G
WARNING Your
seatbeltmust beadjusted sothat you
can correct lyfasten yourseatbelt.
Observe thefollowing points:
R adjust theseat backrest untilyour arms are
slightly angledwhenholding thesteering
wheel.
R adjust theseat toacomfort ableseating
position thatstillallow syou toreach the
accelerator/brake pedalsafely. The
position shouldbeasfar back aspossible with
thedriver stillable tooperate the
cont rolsproperly.
R adjust thehead restraint sothat itis as
close tothe head aspossible andthecent er
of the head restraint supports theback of
the head ateye level.
R never placehands undertheseat ornear
any moving partswhile aseat isbeing
adjusted.
Failure todo socould result inan accident
and/or serious personal injury. G
WARNING The
electrically adjustableseatscanbe
operated atany time. Therefore, donot leave
children unattended inthe vehicle, orwith
access toan unlocked vehicle.Achild's
unsupervised accesstoavehicle couldresult
in an accident and/orserious personal injury. G
WARNING 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. Regardlessofseating position,
children 12years oldand under mustbe
seated andproperly securedinan
appropriately sizedinfant restraint ,toddler
restraint ,or booster seatrecommen dedfor
the size andweight ofthe child. Foradditional
information, see"Chil dren inthe vehicle".
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 . G
WARNING For
your protect ion,drive onlywith properly
positioned headrestraint s.
Adjust thehead restraint sothat itis as close
to the head aspossible andthecent erofthe
head restraint supports theback ofthe head
at eye level. Thiswillreduce thepotent ialfor Seats
95Seats, steering wheel and mirrors
Z

R
the engineissw itch edoff.
R the driver 'sdo or isop en and theseat belt
is not faste ned .
R the vehicleis sta tionar yfor alength y
pe riod .
Th ered F (USA only)or ! (Cana da
onl y)ind icator lamp inthe instrument cluste r
li gh ts up .
Rel easing auto matic ally Yo
ur veh icle'sel ectr icpa rki ng bra keis
au toma tically rel easedifallof the followi ng
cond itions aremet:
R the engineisrunning .
R the transmi ssion isin po sitio nD or R.
R the seat beltha sbe en faste ned .
R yo ude pre ssthe accelera tor pedal.
If the transmi ssion isin po sitio nR, the trunk
li d mu stbe closed.
If yo ur seat beltis not faste ned ,the followi ng
cond itions mustbe fulfille d to automa tically
rel ease the electr icpa rki ng bra ke:
R the driver 'sdo or isclo sed.
R yo uha ve shifted outo ftransmis sion
posi tion Por you have previouslydrive n
faster than2mph (3km/h) .
Emerge ncybraking The
vehicl ecan alsobe braked duringan
emerge ncyusing the electric parking brake.
X Whil edrivi ng,pus hhandl e: ofthe electric
parking brake(Ypag e156). i
The
vehicl eis braked aslong asyou keep
the handl eof the electric parking brake
presse d.The longer theelectric parking
brake handleis depre ssed, thegrea terthe
braking force. During
braking:
R awa rning tonesound s.
R the Release
parkingbrake messa
ge
app ears.
R the red F (USAonly)or ! (Canada
only )indica torlamp inthe instrument
cluster flashes.
When thevehicl ehas been braked toa
standstil l,the electric parking brakeis
engag ed. Parking
thevehi cleforalong period
If you leave theveh icle park edfor longer than
four week s,thebatt erymay bedamage dby
exh aust ivedisc harg e.
X Conn ectatrick lechar ger. i
You
canobtain inform ationabout trick le
char gers from aqualifie dspec ialist
work shop,e.g .ana uth orizedMer cedes-
Ben zCen ter.
If you leave theveh iclep ark edfor longer than
six week s,theveh icle may sufferdamag eas
a res ult oflack ofuse.
X Visi taqu alified specialist workshopand
seek advice. Driving
tips General
driving tips
Impor tantsafet ynotes G
WARN
ING Always
remembe rthat you must concentrat e
primarily ondriving thevehicle. Thedriver's
conc entrat ionmust alwaysbe directed
primarily atroad traffic. Foryour ownsafety
and that ofothers, werecommen dthat you
stop thevehicle atasafe place andin
accordance withthetraffic conditions before
making oraccepting aphone call.
Comply withalllegal requirements ifyou use
the telephone whiledriving. Usethehands-
free system andonly usethetelephone when Driving
tips
157Driving and parking
Z