2012 MERCEDES-BENZ M-Class park assist

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

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

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

=
Des cripti on field
? Menubar
A Transmi ssion positio n
For furthe rinform ation on displ aying the
trans mission positio n,see (Ypage 145) .
The followi ng mes sage sma yap pe ar inthe
mu ltifu nctio ndisplay:
XjY ActivePark ingAssist
(Y page 186) CRUI
SE Cruise
control (Y page 167)
à DSR DS
R(Y page 208)
è Rearwindow wiper(Ypage 118)
À ATTENTION ASSIS T(Ypage 194)
à LaneKeeping Assist(Ypage 200)
or Active Lane Keeping Assist
(Y page 205) HOLD HOLD
function (Ypage 179)
Ä PRE-SAFE®
Brak e(Y page 65) Displays
andopera tion
225On-board computer and displays Z

Assis
tance men u
Int rod uction In
the Dri
veAssist. men
uyou can:
R sho wthedist ancedisp lay
R act ivat e/deac tivat ePRE -SAF E®
Br ake
R act ivat e/deac tivat eAT TENTI ON ASSIST
R act ivat e/deac tivat eBli nd Spot Assis tor
Activ eBli nd Spo tAssi st
R acti vate/d eactiv ate Lane Kee ping Assi stor
Activ eLa ne Kee ping Assi st
Sho wing the distanc edis play Thi
sfu nctio nisonly available with
DISTRONIC PLUS.
X Press the= or; button onthe
steering wheeltoselect the DriveAssist
menu.
X Press the9 or: button toselect Distance
Display .
X Press a.
The DISTRONIC PLUSdistance display
(Y page 173)appea rsinthe multifunction
displa y.
Activating/deac tivatingPRE-SAFE ®
Bra ke PRE-SA
FE®
Brake isonly available invehicles
with DISTRONIC PLUS.
X Press the= or; button onthe
steering wheeltoselect the DriveAssist
menu.
X Press 9or: toselect PRE-SAFE
Brake . X
Press a.
The current selection isdispla yed.
X To activate/deactivate: pressa
agai n.
When PRE-SA FE®
Brake (Ypage 65)is
activated, themultifunction displayshows
the Ä symbol aslong asthe HOLD
function isnot activated (Ypage 179).
Vehicles withActive Parking Assist:if
PARKTRONIC isactivated andyouaredriving
at aspeed under22mph (35km/h), thej
Act iveParking Assistsymbol willbedispla yed
instead ofthe Ä symbol.
Activating/deac tivatingATTENTION
ASSIST X
Press the= or; button onthe
steering wheeltoselect the DriveAssist
menu.
X Press the9 or: button toselect Attention
Asst. .
X Press a.
The current selection isdispla yed.
X To activate/deactivate: pressa
agai n.
When ATTENTION ASSIST(Ypage 194)is
activated, theÀ symbol appearsinthe
multifunction displaywhen theignition ison.
Activating/deac tivatingBlindSpot
Assis t You
canusethe Blind Spot Asst. function
to activate ordeactivate BlindSpotAssist
(Y page 198)orAct ive Blind SpotAssist
(Y page 202).
X Press =or; onthe steering wheel
to select the DriveAssist menu.
X Press 9or: toselect Blind Spot
Asst. .
X Press a.
The current selection isdispla yed.
X To activate/deactivate: pressa
agai n. 232
Menus
andsubmenusOn-board computer and displays

X
Press the: or9 button toselect the Display
UnitSpeed-/Od ometer funct
ion.
You willsee theselected setting: km or
miles .
X Press thea button tosave thesetting.
Selecting theperm anent display function
The Permanent
Display: funct
ionallows
you tochoose whether themultifunc tion
display alwaysshows theoutside
temperat ureorthe speed inkm/ h(USA) or
mph (Canada).
X Press the= or; button onthe
steerin gwheel toselect the Settings
menu.
X Press the: or9 button toselect the Instr.
cluster submenu.
X Press thea button toconf irm.
X Press the: or9 button toselect the Permanent
display funct
ion.
You willsee theselected setting Outside
Temperatu
re or Speedomet
er[km/h]: .
X Press thea button tosave thesetting.
Lights Switching
thedayt imerunning lampson/
off
This funct ionisnot availabl ein Canada.
If you have activat edthe Daytime Running
Lights: funct
ionand thelight switch isin the
c orà position, thedaytime running
lamps areswitched onautomatically during
the day when theengine isrunnin g.
In the dark, thefollowing alsolight up:
R the low-beam headlamps
R the parking lamps
R the taillamps
R the license platelamp
R the side marker lamps X
Press the= or; button onthe
steerin gwheel toselect the Sett. menu.
X Press the: or9 button toselect the Lights submenu.
X Press thea button toconf irm.
X Press the: or9 button toselect the Daytime
RunningLights: funct
ion.
You willsee theselected setting: Enabled
or Disabled .
X Press thea button tosave thesetting.
Switching AdaptiveHighbeam Assiston/
off
X Press the= or; button onthe
steerin gwheel toselect the Sett. menu.
X Press the: or9 button toselect the Lights submenu.
X Press thea button toconf irm.
X Press :or9 toselect the Adaptive
HighbeamAssist: funct
ion.
You willsee theselected setting: Enabled
or Disabled .
X Press thea button tosave thesetting.
Setting thebright nessofthe ambient
lighting
X Press the= or; button onthe
steerin gwheel toselect the Settings
menu.
X Press the: or9 button toselect the Lights submenu.
X Press the: or9 button toselect Ambient
light .
You willsee theselected setting.
X Press thea button toconf irm.
X Press the: or9 button toadjust the
brightn esstoany level from Off to Level
5 (bright).
X Press thea or% button tosave the
sett ing. 234
Menus
andsubmenusOn-board computer and displays

Disp
laymessa ges Poss
iblecauses/c onseq uences and M Solu
tions ÷
Ino
perative See Ope
rator'sMan ual G
Ri
sk ofacci dent ES
P®
,BA S,PRE -SAF E®
,th eHO LD function ,hill start assi stand
ES P®
trailer stabiliz ation are unav ailable duetoamalf unction .
BA SPLU Sand PRE-SAF E®
Br ake may alsohavefail ed.
In addit ion,th e÷ andå warning lamp sligh tupin the
inst rument cluster.
ATTE NTION ASSIS Tis deactiv ated.
The brake system continues tofunc tion norm ally,butwithout the
func tionslisted above.
X Driv eon carefully.
X Visit aqualified specialist workshop. T!
÷
Inoper
ative See Operat
or'sManual G
Risk
ofaccident EB
D(elect ronic brake forcedistr ibution), ABS,ES P®
,BA S,PRE-
SA FE®
,the HOLD function,hill start assist andESP®
trailer
stabilizat ionare unavailable duetoamalfunc tion.
BA SPLUS andPRE-S AFE®
Brak emay alsohave failed.
In addition, the÷, åand! warning lampslightupin
the instrument clusterandawarning tonesounds.
ATTE NTION ASSIS Tis deactiv ated.
The brake system continues tofunc tion norm ally,butwithout the
func tionslisted above. Thewheels couldtherefore lockifyou
brake hard,forexample.
X Driv eon carefully.
X Visit aqualified specialist workshopimmediately. #
Check
Brake Pad Wear The
brake pads/linin gshave reached theirwear limit.
X Visit aqualified specialist workshop. F(USA
only)!
(Canada
only) Please
Release Parkin
gBrake The
redF (USAonly)/ !(Canada only)indicat orlamp
flashes andawarning tonesounds. Acondition forautomatic
release ofthe electric parking brakeisnot fulfilled (Ypage 156).
You aredriving withtheelectric parking brakeapplied .
X Release theelectric parking brakemanually . The
redF (USAonly)/ !(Canada only)indicator lamp
flashes andawarning tonesounds.
You aremaking anemergenc ystop using theelectric parking
brake (Ypage 156). Display
messages
241On-board computer and displays Z