2012 MERCEDES-BENZ M-Class Owner's Manual

Keep
service fluidsout ofthe reach of
childre n.
For heal threasons, youshoul dprevent
service fluidsfrom coming intodirect contact
with yourskin orclo thing.
If aser viceflu idissw allo we d,conta cta
ph ysici an imm ediatel y. Se
rvic eproduc tsand capac ities
383Technical data Z

Cap
acities
Miss ingvalues werenota vail ablea ttime ofgoin gto prin t. Model Capa
city Fuel,
coolant ,
lubr icant s,etc. Engine
oiland
filt er 4MA
TIC 8.
5US qt(8.0l) Appr
oved engine
oils 7.
4US qt(7.0l) Cooling
system All
models MB
325 .0or
MB 326 .0
ant icor rosio n/
ant ifre eze Ta
nk capa city All
models Gasoline
engines :
prem ium-g rade
unleaded gasoline
(at least 91octane,
average value
betwe en96 RON/
86 MON)
Dies eleng ines :
ULTRA -LOW
SUL FUR HIGH WAY
DI ES EL FUE L(ULS D,
maxim umsulfur
con tent15 ppm) Reser
ve All
models DEF
tank 4MA
TIC 7.
3US gal (27.5l) DE
Fin acc ordan ce
with ISO22241 Wind
shield /
head lamp
cleaning
syst em All
models MB
winds hield
washer
con centrate 33
(Y page 390)
Mixin grat iofor
washer fluid
(Y page 390) 33
Mixe dwith water orprem ixedwasher fluidwithantifre eze prot ection. 384
Serv
iceprodu ctsand capacit iesTechnical data

ML 350 BlueTEC
ML 350 4MATIC
ML 350 BlueTEC

Fuel
Imp ortant safety notes G
WAR
NING Gasoli
neand dies elfuel sare high lyflam mabl e
and poisonous. They burnviolen tly and can
caus eser ious injury.
Nev erallow sparks,flam esorsmo king
mat erialsne ar gaso lineor dies elfuel !
Turn offtheen gin ebef ore refuelin g.
When everyou are around gasoline ordiesel
fuel, avoid inhaling fumesandanyskin or
clothin gcont act.Extinguish allsmokin g
materials.
Direct skincontactwith fuels andthe
inhalation offuel vapors aredamaging your
health.
Premium -gradeunleaded gasoline !
Toensure thelongevity andfull
performanc eof the engine, onlypremium-
grade unleaded gasolinemaybeused.
If there isno premium-grade unleaded
gasoline availableand regular-grade
unleaded gasolinemaybeused; please
observe thefollowing precautions:
R only fillthe fuel tank tohalf fullwith
regular-grade unleadedgasolineandfill
the rest with premium-grade unleaded
gasoline assoon aspossible.
R do not drive atthe maximum speed.
R avoid sudden acceleration.
R ifthe vehicle iscarrying alight load, e.g.
two passengers withoutluggage, donot
allow theengine torev above
3,000 rpm.
R ifthe vehicle isfully loaded orisbeing
operated inmountainous terrain,donot
depress theaccelerator pedalfurther
than Ôofthe pedal travel. Flexibl
efuel vehicles Import
antsafety notes
Flexible fuelvehicles canberecogn izedby
the stick eron the inside ofthe filler flap.
Flexible fuelvehicles canbeoperated with
premium-grade unleadedgasolineand
ethanol (E85)oramixt ureofboth. Ethanol
fuel (E85) isam ixture ofapprox imately85%
eth anol and15% unleaded gasoline. G
WARN
ING Et
hanol fuel(E85)and itsvapor sare highly
flamm able,poison ousand highly
com bustib le.Ethanol fuelcauses serious
inj ury ifit ignit es,ifit com esintocon tactwith
your skinorifyou inhale thevapors .Avoid
inhal ingethanol vaporsand ethanol coming
into contact withyourskin. Before refueling,
extingui shallnaked flames.Never allow
sparks orsmoking materialsnear ethanol .
Chang ingthe fuel type
For best performa nceand driva bility, itis
recommended thatyouuseeither oneorthe
other fuel.Avoid alterna tingregu larly
betwe enthe two differe nttypes offuel .
When changing betweenthe fuel types ,
ensure thatthefollowi ngconditions aremet:
R the fuel levelis bel ow halffull.
R thefuel levelis abov eth eres erveleve l.This
is iden tifiabl eby thefuel tankreserve
warning lampnotbeing lit.
R you add more than5gallon s(20 liters )of
fuel.
R you switchoff theen gin eb efore refueling.
R the engin eis start edand runs foratleast
five minut esimmediately afterrefueling.
These precaution sshould preventthe
possibili tyof engine difficulties arisingfrom
changing toadifferent fueltype.
If the engine stilldoesn't runcorrect ly,refuel
with atleast 3USgal(12 l)of prem ium-grad e
unle aded gasoline.This may improve the
running ofthe engine. Service
products andcapacities
385Technical data Z

Fuel
consu mption
Et han ol(E85 )co ntains lessenerg yper gallon
th an gaso line. To ensure that theen gin e
per forman cewithet han ol(E85 )is sim ilar to
th at when usinggaso line, thee ngine mu st
bu rn mor eetha nol.Asar esult, itis to be
expect edthat fuelconsumption willincrease
when usingethanolfuel (E85 ),compared to
gasoline.
Maint enance
Inf orm your authoriz edMercedes- Benz
Center thatyouareoperatin gor have
operated thevehicle withethan ol(E85 ).
Low outsid etemp eratures
St artin gtimes maysignific antlyincrease at
temper aturesbelow32‡(0 † ).At low
outside temperatures, Mercedes- Benz
recom mends theuse ofan auxiliary heater.
For furth erinfor mation ,con sult anauthoriz ed
Mercedes- BenzCent er.
Rough idlingmayalsobeexperien cedatlow
outside temperaturesuntiltheengin eis fully
warmed up.
Et hanol (E85)is unsuitable foruse ifoutside
temper aturesfallbelow 14‡(-10 †).
High outside temperatures
At outsi detempera turesabove95 ‡(35 †) ,
the timereq uired forthe starting pro ced ure
ma yincr ease and beacc omp anied byrou gh
id ling followi ng the start.
Fu elrequ iremen ts Gas
olin een gine s
Use onlypre mium -gra deunleade dga soline.
Th eocta nenum bers hould beatleast 91.
Details canbefound onthe gas pump. The
octane number isthe average valueofthe
Research OctaneNumber (RON)andthe
Motor Octane Number (MON):(RON+
MON) /2, also known asknoc kresistance. Reformulated
gasoline(RFG)and/or
unleaded gasolinewithadditives canbeused.
However, theconc entration ofadditives in
the fuel must beless than 10%, e.g.
R Ethan ol
R TAME
R ETBE
R IPA
R TBA
For MTBE, theconc entration should not
exceed 15%.
The conc entration ofmethanol ingasoline
including otheradditives mustnotexceed 3%.
Using mixtures ofmethanol andethanol isnot
permitted. Gasohol,amixture of10% ethanol
and 90% unleaded gasoline,canbeused.
All ofthese mixfuels must fulfillthefuel
requirements, e.g.:
R knoc kresistance
R boiling point
R vapor pressure
Diese lengine s–i mporta ntsaf ety notes
! Onlyus ecomm ercially av ailabl e ULT RA-
LOW SULF URDIESEL FUEL(ULSD, 15ppm
MAX IMUMSULF UR)tha tmee tsthe
ASTM D975standa rd.Failure to use
ULT RA-L OWSULF URDIESEL FUEL(ULSD)
can sever elyda ma gethe vehicle'sexh aust
ga saf tertr eatment syste m.
! Donot fill the tank with gasol ine .Do not
bl end dies elfuel with gasol ine orkero sene.
Othe rwise, the fuel syste ma ndthe engine
cou ldbe dama ged.
To pre vent malfunctio ns,diese lfu el with
imp rove dflo wcha racteri stics isavailabl e in
the winter month s.Ch eck with your gas
sta tion.
Info rma tiono nthe fuel grade canusua llybe
found onthe gas pump. Ifthe information
cannot befound onthe gas pump, askthegas
station personnel. Forfurther information ,
consult anauthorized Mercedes-Ben zCent er 386
Service
products andcapa citiesTechnical data

or
go tothe Internet site
htt p:// www.mbusa.com (USAonly).
Diese lengines –fuels containi ngbio -
dies el(FAME [fatty acidmethyl ester])
Merced es-Benz USAapproves theuse ofB5
for alldie sel engines withcommon raildire ct
injection (CDI)andBlue TEC. The
concentration ofbio -dies elin ULSD maybea
maximu mof up to5% byvolu me.
Pure bio-dies eland diesel fuel sthat have a
high erconcentration ofbio -dies el,e.g. B20,
can dama gethe fuel system andtheengine.
They aretherefore notapproved.
For further informa tion,please askthegas
station personnel.Thelabel onthe gas pump
must indicate clearlythat theB5bio-dies el
ble nd fulfillsthe ULSD standa rd.Ifthe label
is not clea r,do not refue lthe vehi cle.
Do not refue lyou rvehicle withfuels unless
they have been approved byMercedes- Benz.
Addit ivesingasoline One
ofthe main problems ofpoor fuelquality
is the formin gof deposits thatarecreat ed
during thegasoline combustionprocess .
Mercedes- Benzrecom mends thatyouuse
fuel brands thathave theadditives.
Deposit smay form ifyou usefuels without
additives overalonger period oftime. These
deposits aremost likely toform onthe inlet
valves andinthe combust ionchamber.
This could leadtoengin eproblems, e.g.:
R longer enginewarm-up phase
R uneven idle
R engin enoise
R misfirin g
R loss ofpower
Carbon deposits mayform ifthe availabili ty
of gasoline withrelevant additives is
insuffic ient(incert ainregions). Inthis case,
Mercedes- Benzrecom mends theuse of
additives thathave been approved for
Mercedes- Benzvehicles. Consult
anauthoriz edMercedes- BenzCent er
or go tothe Internet site
htt p:// www.mbusa.com (USAonly)foralist
of approved products.Comply withthe
inst ruct ions foruse onthe product label.
Do not mix other fueladditives withfuel. This
causes unnecessary costsand could damage
the engin e.
! Donot refuel withlow-grade fuelanddo
not use fuel additives thatarenot tested
and approved forMercedes- Benzvehicles.
Damage toor malfunct ionsofthe fuel
system mayother wiseoccur. DEF
Impor tantsafet ynotes i
For
BlueTEC vehiclesonly.
DE Fisa non- flammable ,non- toxic, colorless,
odorless andwater-solubl efluid.
! Rinse surfaces thathave come into
cont actwith DEFimmediately withwater or
remove DEFusing adamp clothandcold
water. Ifthe DEF hasalrea dycrystallized,
use asponge andcold water toclean it.DEF
residues crystallize aftertimeand
cont aminate theaffected surfaces.
High outside temperatures If
DEF heats uptoover 122‡(50 †)for
extended periods,e.g.asaresult ofdirect
sunlight onthe DEF reservoir, DEFcan
decompose. Ammoniavapors develop asa
result. G
WARNING When
opening thefiller capofthe DEF tank
ammonia gasvapors mayescape. RefillDEF
in awell ventilated areaonly. Ammonia gas
vapors haveapungent odorandare
particularly irritatingforyour skin, mucous
membranes, andeyes. Inhaling ammonia gas
vapors willcause burning eyes,nose, and
throat, aswell ascoughing andwatering eyes. Service
productsand capacities
387Technical data Z

Low
outsidetem peratur es DE
Ffreez esatate mper atureof
appro ximatel y12 ‡(–1 1†). The vehicle is
equipped withaDE Fp rehea tingsystem when
it lea ves thefactory. Winteroperationis
therefore alsogua ranteed attempera tures
Additive s !
Only useDEF inaccorda ncewith ISO
22241. Donot use additives withDEFand
do not dilute DEF with water. This may
destroy theBlue TEC exhau stgas
aftertrea tmentsystem.
Purity Assuri
ngthe puri tyof DEF isparticu larly
importa ntwith respe ctto avoi ding
malfu nctions inthe exhau stgas
aftertrea tmentsystem.
If DEF ispump edout ofthe DEF tank, e.g.
duri ngrepa irwork, itmust notbereturned to
the tank. Thepurityof the fluidcan nolonger
be gua ranteed.
! Impuri tiesinDEF (e.g. duetoother
service products,cleaning agents ordus t)
lea dto:
R increase demiss ionvalu es
R dama getothe catal yticconverter
R engine damage
R malfu nctions inthe Blue TEC exhau stgas
aftertrea tmentsystem Eng
ineoil
Ple ase bear thefollowing inmind The
engine oilsare matched tothe
performa nceofMercede s-Benzengines and
service intervals.You shou ldtherefore only
use engine oilsand oilfilters thatare
app roved forvehicl eswith maintenance
systems . For
alist ofapp roved engine oilsand oilfilters,
consult anauthorized Mercede s-BenzCenter
or go tothe Internet site
http://www.mbu sa.com(USAonly).
! Never useengine oiloran oilfilter ofa
speci ficatio nothe rthan isnecessary to
fulfill theprescribed serviceintervals. Do
not change theengine oiloroil filter in
order toachieve longerreplacement
intervals thanthose prescribed. Youcould
otherwise causeengine damage ordamage
to the exhaust gasaftertr eatment .
Follow theinstruct ionsinthe service
interval displayregarding theoilchange.
the exhaust gasaftertr eatment .
The table shows whichengine oilshave been
approved foryour vehicle. Model Engine
model MB
Approval
642 228
.51,
229 .31,
229 .51 276 229
.5 i
MB
approval isindicat edon the oil
con tainer s.
Addit ives !
This could damage theengin e.
Engine oilviscosity Viscosit
ydescribes theflow charact eristics
of afluid. Ifan engin eoil has ahigh viscos ity,
this means thatitis thic k;alow viscos ity
means thatitis thin .
Select anengin eoil with anSAE(viscosi ty)
class ification suitable forthe preva iling
outsi detempera tures.Thefollowi ngtable
show sthe correct SAEclass ification tobe
use d.The low-temperatu rechara cteristics of
engine oilscan deteri orate signifi cantly, e.g. 388
Servic
eproducts andcapaci tiesTechnical data

4MATIC
ML 350 4MATIC
ML3 50 BlueTEC
Otherwise,youmaydamagetheengineand
Donotuseanyadditivesintheengineoil.
below12 ‡ (–11 †).

as
ares ult ofagin g,soot andfuel depos its.It
is the refore stron gly recomm endedthat you
carr yout regular oilchan gesusing an
approv edeng ineoilwith theappropr iateSAE
class ification . Refr
igera ntoftheair -cond itioning
syst em
The air-c ondit ioningsyst emisfilled with
R134 aref riger antand aspec ialPAG
lubrican t.
! Neve ruse refriger antR12 (CFC) or
min eral lubrican ts.O the rwise, youcou ld
da ma gethe air-co nditioning syste m. Brake
fluid G
WA
RNI NG Ove
raperiod oftime, thebrake fluidabsorbs
moist urefrom theair;this lowers itsboiling
point .
If the boiling pointofthe brake fluidistoo low,
vapor pocketsmay form inthe brake system
when thebrakes areapplied hard(e.g.when
driving downhill). Thiswould impair braking
effic iency.
You should havethebrake fluidrenewed at
regular intervals. Thebrake fluidchang e
int ervals canbefound inthe Serv iceBook let.
Only usebrake fluidapproved byMercedes -
Ben z.Inf ormat ionabout approved brake
fluids canbeobtained fromanyauthoriz edMercedes
-Benz Center oron the Internet at
htt p:// bevo.m ercedes- benz.com . Coolant
Impor tantsafet ynotes The
coolant isamixt ureofwater and
antif reeze/ corrosion inhibito r.Itperfor ms
the following tasks:
R corr osion protection
R antif reeze protection
R raising theboiling point
The engin ecooling systemisfilled atthe
fact orywith coolant thatcontains an
antif reeze/ corrosion inhibito rthat ensures
protect iondown toapproximately -35‡
(-37 †).
! Only addcoolant thathasbeen premixed
with thedesired antifreez eprotect ion.
Otherwise, theengine couldbedamaged.
Further information oncoolants andon
filling canbefound inthe Mercedes-Ben z
Specifications forService Products, MB
Approval 310.1,e.g. onthe Internet at
http: //bevo.m ercedes-benz .com.You can
also consult anauthorized Mercedes-B enz
Center.
! Always useasuitable coolantmixture,
even incount rieswhere hightemperat ures
prevail.
Otherwise, theengine cooling systemisnot
sufficient lyprotec tedfrom corrosion and
overheating.
If the coolant hasantifr eezeprotec tiondown
to -35 ‡(-37 †),theboiling pointofthe
coolant underoperating conditionsis
approximately 266‡(130 †).
Your vehicle hasarange ofaluminum
compon ents.Aluminum componentsinthe
engine makeitnecessary touse antifr eeze/
corrosion inhibitorcoolantthathasbeen
specifically formulatedtoprotec tthe
alumi numparts. Usingotherantifreez e/ Service
products andcapacities
389Technical data Z

corro
sioninhi bitors withou tthese
characterist icsaffects theservice life.
The coolant mustbeused throughout theyear
in order tomaintain thenecessary corrosion
protect ionand toprovide protectionfrom
overheating. Inthe Service Booklet, youcan
find information onthe intervals forrenewal.
The renewal intervalisdetermined bythe
coolant typeandtheengine cooling system
design. Therenewal intervalinthe Service
Booklet isonly valid ifthe coolant isrenewed
or filled upwith Mercedes-Ben zapproved
product s.Therefo re,only useMB325 .0or
326 .0antic orrosion /antifreez eor anot her
Mercede s-Benz approved productofthe
same specific ation.
Inf ormat iononother product swith thesame
specific ationsthatareapproved by
Mercede s-Benz can beobtaine dat an
authoriz edMercede s-Benz Cente roro nthe
Int ernet athttp: //bevo.m ercedes-benz .com.
The coolant ischeck edatevery maintenanc e
interval atan authorized Mercedes-Ben z
Center.
The antifreez e/corrosion inhibitor
conc entration inthe engine cooling system
should:
R be atleast 50%.Thiswillprotect theengine
cooling systemagainst freezing downto
approximately -35‡(-37 †).
R not exceed 55%(antifreeze protectionto
-49 ‡[-45 †]);othe rwise, heatwillnot
dissipate aseffec tively.
If the coolan tlevel istoo low, MB325 .0or
326 .0ant icorr osion /antifreez eshould be
added. Havetheengin ecoolin gsystem
chec kedforpossible leaks. Wind
shield/h eadlampcleaning
syst em G
WARN
ING Washer
solvent/ant ifreez eis highly
flammable. Donot spill washer solvent/
ant ifreez eon hot engin eparts,bec ause itmay ign
ite and burn .You could beseriously
burned.
Use MBSummerF itwindshield washer
conc entrateattemperatures abovefreezin g:
X Mix 1part MBSummerF itwith 100parts
water.
Use MBWinterF itwindshield washer
conc entrateattemperatures belowfreezin g:
X At temperatures downto14 ‡(Ò10 †):
mix 1part MB WinterF itwit h2p artswate r.
X At temper aturesdown toÒ4 ‡ (Ò20 †):
mix 1part MBWinterF itwit h1 part wate r.
X At temper aturesdown toÒ20 .2‡
(Ò 29 †): mix2part sMB WinterF itwit h1
part wate r.
! OnlySum merFitand WinterF itcan be
mix ed. Other wise, theje ts could become
bloc ked. Veh
icle data Pleas
eno te that for thespec ifiedveh icle
dat a:
R theheig htsspec ifiedmay varyas ares ult
of:
- tires
- load
- co nd ition ofthesuspe nsion
- opt ionalequipm ent All
mod els Veh
icle lengt h 18
9.1in (48 04mm ) Veh
icle widt h
inclu dingext erior
mir rors 84
.3in(21 41mm ) Veh
icle heigh t 70
.7in(17 96mm ) Wh
eelba se 11
4.8in (29 15mm ) Fron
ttr ack 64
.7in(16 42mm ) Rea
rtr ack 65
.2in(16 57mm ) 390
Veh
icle dataTechnical data