2012 MERCEDES-BENZ M-Class trailer

Exam
ple: veh icles with AIR MATI Cand trailer tow
hi tch
: Folding wheelcho ck
; Lugwre nch
= Alignme ntbolt
? Ballcou pling ofthe trailert ow hitch
A Towing eye
B Jack
C Ratchet wrench "Minispar
e"emergency sparewheel
The "Minispare" emergencyspare wheel can
be found inthe stowage wellunder thetrunk
floor.
X Lift the trunk floorup(Ypage 292). Example:
vehicleswithoutlockable trunkfloor X
Vehicles withtrailer towhitch: remove
the ball coupling stowagetray.
X Turn emergenc yspare wheel retainer ;
count erclock wiseandremove it.
X Remove "Minispare" emergencyspare
wheel :. Vehicles
withlockable trunkfloor
X Remove thecontentsof sto wage tray ;.
X Turn thecentral ret ainin gscr ew insto wage
tr ay ; and "Minispar e"emerg encyspare
wheel :count ercloc kwise andremov eit.
X Remove stowage well;.
X Vehicles withtrailer towhitch: remove
the ball coupling stowagetray.
X Remove "Minispare" emergencyspare
wheel :.
For further infor mation onchang ingawheel
and mount ingthe spare wheel, see
(Y page 329). Flat
tire Prep
aring the vehicle
Your vehicle maybeequipped with:
R TIREF ITkit 24
R a"Minispare" emergencyspare wheel
R MOEx tended tires (tires withrun-flat
propert ies)(Ypage 338) i
Vehicle
preparation isnot necessary on
vehicles withMOEx tended tires .
24 Canada only. Flat
tire
329Breakdown assistance

X
Prepare thevehicle asdescribed
(Y page 329).
X Ifatrailer iscoupled tothe vehicle,
uncouple it.
X Remove thefollowing items(depending on
the vehicle's equipment) fromthestowage
well under thetrun kfloor:
R the emer gencyspare wheel26
R the lugwren ch
R the foldin gwheel chock
R the jack
R the ratchet wrench
R the alignm entbolt
X Sec ure thevehic leto prev entitfro mr olling
away .
Securing thevehicle toprevent itfrom
rolling away G
WARNIN
G Only
jackupthe vehicle onlevel ground oron
slight inclines/ declines. Thevehicle could
otherwise falloffthe jack andinjure youor
others.
If your vehicle isequipped withawheel chock,
it can befound inthe vehicle toolkit
(Y page 328).
The folding wheelchock isan additional
securing measure toprevent thevehicle from
rolling away,for example whenchanging a
wheel. X
Fold both plates upwards :.
X Fold outlower plate;.
X Guide thelugs onthe lower platefullyinto
the openings inbase plate =. Securing
thevehicle onlevel ground
X On level ground: placechock sor other
suitable itemsunder thefront andrear of
the wheel thatisdiagonally oppositethe
wheel youwish tochange. Securing
thevehicle onslight downhill gradients
X On downhill gradients: placechock sor
other suitable itemsinfront ofthe wheels
of the front andrear axle.
Raising thevehicle G
WARNIN
G When
jackingupthe vehicle, onlyusethejack
which hasbeen specifically approvedby
Mercedes-B enzforyour vehicle.
The jack isdesigned exclusively forjack ingup
the vehicle atthe jack ingpoints builtintoboth
26 Vehicles withanemergenc yspare wheel. 334
Flat
tireBreakdown assistance

Tow
ingand tow-starti ng Impo
rtant safety notes G
WA
RNING If
yo utow thevehicle, youmu stusearig id
tow ingbarif:
R the engine isnot running.
R there isabrake system malfunction.
R there isamal function inthe pow ersup ply
or the vehicl e'selectrical system .
The pow erassi stance forthe steering andthe
brake forcebooste rdo not work when the
engine isnot running. Youwillneed more
force tosteer andbrake, youmay have to
depre ssthe brake pedalwith maximu mforce.
Before towing away,make surethatthe
steering canbemoved andisnot locked.
If you tow ortow-st artanother vehicle,its
weight mustnotexceed themaximum
permissible grossvehicle weightofyour
vehicle. G
WARNING The
vehicle isbraked whentheHOLD function
or DIS TRONIC PLUSisactivated. Therefore,
deactivate HOLDandDISTRONIC PLUSifthe
vehicle isto be towed.
It is better tohave thevehicle transported
than tohave ittowed.
! You may onlytowthevehicle amaximum
distance of30 miles (50km). Atowing
speed of30 mph (50km/ h)must notbe
exceeded.
For towing distances over30miles
(50 km), thevehicle mustloaded ontoa
trans porter.
! Make surethattheelectric parking brake
is released. Ifthe electric parking brakeis
faulty, visitaquali fiedspecialist workshop.
! Only secure thetow rope ortow baratthe
towing eyes.Otherwise, thevehicle could
be damaged. !
Donot use thetowing eyeforrecovery,
as this could damage thevehicle. Ifin
doubt, recover thevehicle withacrane.
! When towing, pullaway slowly and
smoothly. Ifthe tract ivepower istoo high,
the vehicles couldbedamaged.
! Donot tow with sling-t ypeequipment.
This could damage thevehicle.
! When towing vehicles withKEYLE SS-GO,
use thekey instead ofthe Start /Stop
button .Othe rwise, the automa tic
tra nsmi ssion mayshi ftto positio nP wh en
the driver 'sor fro nt-pa ssenge rdo or are
op ene d,wh ich cou ldlead todama getothe
tra nsmi ssion.
! Vehicle swi th diffe renti allocks: make
su re tha tthe differential locksarein
automatic mode.Whentowing, the
differential locksmustnotbeswitched on
by hand. Thiscould otherwise damagethe
transmission.
If the vehicle hassuffered transmission
damage, haveittransport edon atransport er
or trailer.
The automatic transmission mustbein
position Nwhen thevehicle isbeing towed.
The battery mustbeconn ected andcharged.
Otherwise, you:
R cannot turntheSmartK eytoposition 2in
the ignition lock
R cannot shifttheautomatic transmission to
position N i
Before
thevehicle istowed, switchoffthe
automatic lockingfeature(Ypage 235).
You could otherwise belocked outwhen
pushing ortowing thevehicle. Installing/
removingthetowing eye
Installing thetowing eye Vehicles
withatrailer towhitch: ifpossible,
secure thetowing deviceonthe trailer tow
hitch (Ypage 210). Towing
andtow-star ting
343Breakdown assistance Z

Trans
portingthe vehic le
The towingeyes ortra iler tow hitch can be
us ed topullthe vehicleonto atra iler or
tra nsp orte rif yo uwi sh totra nsp ortit.
X Tu rn the Sma rtKeyto positio n2 in the
ig niti onlock.
X Shi ftthe automa tictransmi ssion to
po sitio nN.
As soon asthe vehic leisloade d:
X Pre vent thevehiclefro mr olling awayby
apply ingthe electric parking brake.
X Shift theautomatic transmission to
position P.
X Turn theSmart Keytoposition 0in the
ignition lockandremove theSmart Key
from theignition lock.
X Secure thevehicle.
! Only lashthevehicle downbythe wheels
or wheel rims,notbyparts ofthe vehicle
such asaxle orsteerin gcompon ents.
Otherwise, thevehicle couldbedamaged. Notes
for4MATIC vehicles
! Vehicles with4MATIC mustnotbetowed
with either thefront orthe rear axle raised,
as doing sowill damage thetrans mission.
If the vehicle hastrans mission damage or
damage tothe front orrear axle, have it
trans ported onatrans porter ortrailer.
In the event ofdam agetothe electrical
system
If the battery isdefectiv e,the automatic
trans mission willbelocked inposition P.To
shift theautomatic transmission toposition
N, you must provide powertothe vehicle's
electric alsystem inthe same wayaswhen
jump-st arting(Ypage 341).
Have thevehicle transported onatrans porter
or trailer. Recovering
avehicle that ha sbecome
stu ck
! Pull away smoothly, slowly, andina
st raigh tline when pulling outavehic lethat
has beco mestuck .Ex cess ivetract ive
power coulddamage thevehic les.
If the drive wheels havebecomestuck in
loose ormuddy ground,pull thevehic leout
with extreme caution,particularly ifit is
laden.
Neve rattemp ttorecover astuck vehicle with
a trailer attached.
Pull outthevehicle backwards, ifpossible
using thetrack sit made whenitbecame
stuck . Tow-star
ting(emergency starting)
! Vehicles withautomatic transmission
must notbestart edbytow-st arting. This
could otherwise damagethetrans mission. Fuses
Import
antsafety notes G
WARNIN
G Only
usefuses thathave been approved for
Mercedes-B enzvehicles andthat have the
correc tfuse rating forthe systems
conc erned. Donot attempt torepair orbridge
faulty fuses. Usingfusesthathave notbeen
approved orattempt ingtorepair orbridge
faulty fusescould cause thefuse tobe
overloaded andresult inaf ire. Have thecause
tr aced andrectified ataqualified specialist
work shop.
The fuses inyour vehic leserv eto clos edown
faulty circuits. Ifaf use blows ,all the
co mpo nentson thecir cuit andtheir fun ction s
st op oper ating.
Blo wn fuse smust berep lace dwithfuses of
the same rating, which youcan recogn izeby Fuses
345Breakdown assistance Z

If
the tire pressu reshave been settothe
lowe rvalues forlight erloads and/or lower
road speeds,thepres suressho uld beres et
to thehigh ervalues :
R ifyou want todriv ewit han increas edload
and /or
R ifyou want todriv eat high erroad speeds. i
The
tirepres suresfor increas edloads
and /or high erroad speeds,sho wninthe
tir epres sure table,may have ane gat ive
eff ect ondriv ingcomf ort . i
For
trailer towing ,adj ust thetir epres sure
of therear tires tothemax imum tire
pres sure value state don thet able inside
th efuel fillerflap.
Opt ion 3)The tirepr essur efor the
emer gency/collap siblesparewheel
(depen dingonvehic leequipmen t)can be
foun d:
R prin tedinyellow onthe rim ofthe
emer gency/c ollapsible sparewheel
R in the "Wheel andtirecom binat ions"
sect ion(Ypage 375)in this manual
R on the Tire andLoadin gIn for mat ionplacard
on the B-pillar onthe drive r'sside.
If the tirepress ureisnot setcorrectly, this
can lead toan exc essiv ebuild upofheat and
a sudde nloss ofpressure.
For further information,consult aquali fied
specialist workshop, e.g.anauthorized
Mercedes-B enzCenter. Import
antnotes ontire pressur e G
WARNIN
G Should
thetire pressure droprepeatedly:
R check thetire forforeign bodies.
R check whether thewheel islosing airorthe
valve isleaking.
R make surethatonly avalve capapproved
by Mercedes-B enzisused onthe tire valve.
Tire pressures thataretoo low have a
negative effectonvehicle safety,whichcould
lead youtocause anaccident .
To test tirepressure, useasuitable tire
pressure gauge.Theouter appearance ofa
tire does notpermit anyreliable conclusion
about thetire pressure. Onvehicles equipped
with theelectron ictire pressure monitoring
system, thetire pressure canbecheck ed
using theon-board computer.
The tiretemperat ureand pressure increase
when thevehicle isin motion .This is
dependent onthe driving speedandtheload.
Therefore, youshould onlycorrect tire
pressures whenthetires arecold.
The tires arecold:
R ifthe vehicle hasbeen parked without
direct sunlight onthe tires foratleast three
hours and
R ifthe vehicle hasnotbeen driven morethan
1 mile (1.6km).
The tiretemperature changesdepending on
the outside temperature, thevehicle speed
and thetire load. Ifthe tire temperature
changes by18 ‡(10 †),the tire pressure
changes byapproximately 10kPa (0.1 bar/
1.5 psi). Take thisinto account when
check ingthe pressure ofwarm tiresandonly
correct thetire pressure ifit is too low forthe
current operating conditions.Ifyou check the
tire pressure whenthetires arewarm, the
resulting valuewillbehigher thanifthe tires
were cold.Thisisnormal. Donot reduce the
tire pressure tothe value specified forcold
tires. Thetirepressure wouldotherwise be
too low. Tire
pressure
355Wheels and tires Z

G
WARNING The
tirepressu reloss warni ngsystem does
not provid eawar ning forwrongl ysele cted tire
infla tion pressu res.Alwa ysadju sttire
infla tion pressu reaccordi ngtothe Tire and
Load ingInformation placard onthe drive r's
door B-pillaror on the tire infla tion pressu re
lab elloca tedonthe insid eof the fuel filler flap .
The tirepressu reloss warni ngsystem does
not repl ace regu larchecks ofthe tire infla tion
pressu ressince agrad ualpressu reloss in
more thanonetirecannot bedetected bythe
tire pressu reloss warning system.
The tirepressu reloss warni ngsystem isnot
abl eto issu eawar ning duetoasud den
drama ticloss oftire infla tion pressu re(e.g.
tire blow outcaus edbyaforeig nobjec t).In
this case bring thevehicle toahalt bycarefully
applying thebrakes andavoiding abrupt
steer ingmaneuver s.
The func tionofthe tire pressure losswarning
system islimited ordelayed if:
R snow chains aremount edtoyour vehicle's
tires.
R road condition sare wintr y.
R you aredriving onsand orgravel.
R you adopt avery sport ydriving style
(corn ering athigh speeds ordriving with
high rates ofaccelerat ion).
R you aretowing avery heavy orlarge trailer.
R you aredriving withaheavy load(inthe
vehicle oron the roof).
Resta rting the tirepr essure loss
warning system Restart
thetire pressure losswarning system
if you have:
R chang edthe tire pressure
R chang edthe wheels ortires
R mount newwheels ortires
X Befor erest artin g,con sult theTire and
Loading Informat ionplacard onthe
B- pillar onthe driver's sideorthe tire pressure
tableonthe inside ofthe fuel filler
flap toensure thetire pressure inall four
tires isset corr ectlyfor the curren t
operatin gcon dition s.
X Observe thenotesinthe sect ionontire
pressures (Ypage 353). G
WARN
ING The
tirepressure losswarning systemcan
only givereliable warning sif you have setthe
corr ecttire pressure.
If an incor recttirepressure isset, these
incor rectvalues willbemonit ored.
At ire with insufficientpress ureresult sin
vehic leinst ability whendriving,thus
inc reasin gthe risk ofan acc ident .
X Make surethattheSmartKey isin
posit ion2(Y page 139)int he ignition lock.
X Press the= or; button toselect the Serv. menu.
X Press the9 or: button toselect Tire
Pressure .
X Press thea button.
The Run
Flat Indicator Active Press
'OK'toRestart message
appea rsinthe multifunction display.
If you wish toconfirm therestar t:
X Press thea button.
The Tire
Pressure NowOK? message
appea rsinthe multifunction display.
X Press 9or: toselect Yes .
X Press thea button.
The Run
Flat Indicator Restarted message
appearsinthe multifunction
displa y.
Aft erateach-in period,thetire pressure
loss warning systemwillmonitor theset
tire pressures ofall four tires. 358
Tire
pressureWheels and tires

The
gross weight ofall vehicle occupant s,
cargo, luggage andtrailer load/noseweight (if
applicable) mustnotexceed thespecified
value. Num
berofseats i
The
specification sshown onthe Tire and
Loading Information placard inthe
illustration areexamples. Thenumber of
seats isvehicle-spec ificand candiffer from
the details shown. Thenumber ofseats in
your vehicle canbefound onthe Tire and
Loading Information placard. Maximum
numberofseats :determin esthe
maximum numberofoccupant sallowed to
travel inthe vehicle. Thisinform ationcanbe
found onthe Tire andLoading Information
placard. Determining
thecorrect loadlimit
Step- by-step instructions The
following stepshavebeen developed as
required ofall manufact urersunder Title49,
Code ofU.S .Federal Regulations, Part575
pursuant tothe "National TrafficandMotor
Vehicle SafetyAc tof 196 6".
X Step 1:Locat ethe statement "The
combin edweight ofoccupan tsand cargo
should neverexceed XXX kgorXXX lbs." on your
vehicle’s TireandLoading Informat ion
placard.
X Step 2:Det ermine thecombin edweight of
the driver andpassengers thatwillberiding
in your vehicle.
X Step 3:Subtr actthe combin edweight of
the driver andpassengers fromXXX
kilograms orXXX lbs.
X Step 4:The resultin gfigure equals the
available amountofcargo andluggage load
capacity. Forexample, ifthe "XXX" amount
equals 1400lbs and therewill befive
150 lbspassenger sin your vehicle, the
amount ofavailable cargoandluggage load
capacit yis6 50 lbs (1400 -750 (5x150) =
650 lbs).
X Step 5:Determine thecombi nedweight of
lu gga geand cargo being loaded onthe
vehi cle. Thatweight maynotsafely exceed
the available cargoandluggage load
capacity calculated instep 4.
X Step 6(if app licable): Ifyour vehicle will
be towing atrailer, loadfrom yourtrailer
will betran sferr edtoyour vehicle. Consult
this manual todeterm inehow thisreduces
the available cargoandluggage load
capacity ofyour vehicle (Y page 365). Loading
thevehicle
363Wheels and tires Z

Exam
ple1 Exam
ple2 Exam
ple3 St
ep 3 Per
mis sible cargo
and trailer load/
noseweigh t
(ma ximum gros s
vehi cleweight ratin g
fr om theTir eand
Load ingInfor mation
pla car dmin usthe
gros sweight ofall
occup ants) 15
00 lbs
(68 0kg )-
75 0lbs (340kg )
= 75 0lbs
(34 0kg ) 15
00 lbs
(68 0kg )-
54 0lbs (245kg )
= 96 0lbs
(43 5kg ) 15
00 lbs
(68 0kg )-
15 0lbs (68 kg)=
135 0lbs
(612 kg) The
higher theweight ofall the occupants, thesmaller themaximum loadforluggage.
Furt herinfor mation canbefound under "Towing atrail er" (Ypag e365). Vehic
leidenti ficationplate
Even ifyou have calculated thetotal load
carefu lly,you shou ldstill make surethatthe
gross vehiclewei ght rating andthegross axle
wei ght rating arenot exceede d.Detail scan
be found onthe vehicl eide ntification plateon
the B-pill aron the drive r'sside (Ypag e362).
Gross vehiclewe ight: thegross weight of
the vehicl e,all pas sengers, cargoandtrailer
loa d/nosew eight(ifapplicable) mustnot
exc eed theperm issible grossvehic leweight .
Gr oss axle weight rating: themaxim um
perm issible loadthatcanbecarr iedbyone
axle (frontor rear axle).
To ens ure that your vehic ledoes notexceed
the maxim umperm issible values (gross
vehic leweight andmaxim umgros saxle
weight rating), have yourloaded vehicle
(inc luding driver,occ upant s,carg o,and full
tr ailer loadifapplicable) weighedona
suitable vehicleweighbr idge. Tr
ailer load/noseweight
The trailer load/n oseweigh taffects thegross
wei ght ofthe vehi cle. Ifatrail erisattached ,
the trail erloa d/nosew eightisinclu dedinthe
loa dalong with occupa ntsand lugga ge. The
trail erloa d/nosew eightisusu ally app
roxima tely8%ofthe gross weight ofthe
trail erand itsload. Maximum
loadrating G
WARNING Do
not overl oadthetires byexceedi ngthe
speci fiedloadlimi tasindicated onthe Tire
and Loading Information placardonthe
driver's doorB-pillar. Overloading thetires
can overheat them,possibly causinga
blowou t.Overloading thetires canalso result
in handling orsteering problems, orbrake
failu re. i
The
actual valuesfor tires arespecific to
each vehicle andmay deviate fromthe
value sin the illustration. Maximum
loadrating
365Wheels and tires Z