2012 MERCEDES-BENZ M-Class steering

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

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

brake
usingthebrake controller, andchec k
the brakes forcorr ectfunc tion.
R Sec ureany objec tson the trailer topreven t
the cargo fromslipping whenthevehicle is
in mot ion.
R Ifyou couple upatrailer, regularly check
the cargo forsecure fasteningand make
sure thatthetrailer lamps and(if
applicable) thetrailer brakes are
func tioningcorr ectly.
R Bear inmind thatthehandling willbeless
stable whentowingatrailer thanwhen
drivin gwithout one.Avoid sudden steering
movem ents.
R The vehicle/ trailercombin ationisheavier,
acceler atesmore slowly, hasadecreased
gradient climbingcapability andalonger
brakin gdistan ce.
It is more suscept ibletoside winds and
requires morecareful steering.
R Ifpossible, avoidabrupt braking.Depres s
the brake pedalmoderat elyatfirst ,so that
the trailer canactiv ateitsown brakes. Then
incr ease thepressure onthe brake pedal.
R Ifthe automatic transmission continues to
shift back andforthbetween twogears
when drivingup ordownhill, restrict the
shift range. Selectshiftrange 4,3,2,or 1.
Al ower gearandlower speed reduce the
risk ofengine failure.
R On long andsteep gradients thatare
difficult todrive down inshift range 1,
switch tothe off-road program orengage
the LOW GEAR off-road gear.
R When driving downhill, shifttoalower gear
to utilize theengine's brakingeffect.
Avoid continuous brakeapplication asthis
may overheat thevehicle brakesand,if
installed, thetrailer brakes.
R Ifthe coolant temperat ureincreases
dramatically whiletheair-con ditioning
system isswitched on,switch offthe air-
condit ioning system.
Coolant heatcanadditionally bedissipated
by opening thewindows andbysett ingthe blower
fanand theinterior temperat ureto
maximum.
R When overtak ing,payparticular attention
to the exten dedlength ofyour vehicle/
trailer combinat ion.
Due tothe length ofyour vehicle/t railer
combinat ion,youwillhave totravel an
additional distancebeyondthevehicle you
are overtak ingbefore returningtothe
previous lane. Deco
upling atrail er G
WA
RNI NG Ve
hicle swi th airs uspen sionprogram :While
you arecoupling ordecoupling atrailer, make
sure nobody locksorunlocks thevehicle and/
or opens orcloses doorsorthe tailgate.
The vehicle's levelcould change andyou
could endanger yourselfand/orothersasa
result.
Make surethatyoudonot operate theADS
switch orthe vehicle levelcontrolsystem
when coupling/decoupling thetrailer.
! Donot disconnec ta trailer withan
engaged overrunbrake.Otherwise, your
vehicle couldbedamaged bythe
rebounding ofthe overrun brake.
X Make surethattheautomatic transmission
is set toposition P.
X Apply thevehicle's electricparking brake.
X Start theengine.
X Close alldoors andthetailgate.
X Apply thetrailer's parkingbrake. G
WARNING Vehicles
withairsuspension program:As
soon asyou disconnec tthe electrical
conn ection between thetrailer andthe
vehicle, thevehicle willlower. Tohelp avoid
personal injury,makesurenoone isnear the
wheel housing orunderneath thevehicle
before theelectrical connection is
disconnec ted. Tr
ailer towing
217Driving and parking
Z

!
Ifthe coolant temperature istoo high a
displa ymessage isshown.
If the coolant temperature risesabove
248 ‡(120 †),donot drive anyfurther as
this could damage theengine. Tachometer
The redband inthe tachometer indicatesthe
engine's overrevving range.
! Donot drive inthe overrevving range,as
this could damage theengine.
The fuel suppl yis interrupted toprotect the
engine whenthered band isreached. Outside
tempera turedisplay
The outside temperature displayis in the
multifunction display(Y page 224). G
WARNING The
outside temperature indicatorisnot
designed toserve asan ice-warning device
and istherefore unsuitablefor that purpose.
Indicated temperatures justabove the
freezing pointdonot guara nteethattheroad
surface isfree ofice. The road maystillbeicy,
especial lyin wooded areasoron bridges.
Changes inthe outside temperature are
displa yedafter ashort delay. Speedometer
withsegments
The segments inthe speedometer indicate
which speed rangeisavail able.
Cruise control(Ypage 167)activated:
The segments lightupfrom thestored speed
to the maximum speed.
DISTRONIC PLUS(Ypage 169)activated:
One ortwo segments inthe setspeed range
light up.
DISTRONIC PLUSdetects avehicle infront :The
segments betweenthespeed ofthe
vehicle infront andthestored speedlightup. Operating
theon-board computer
Overview The
on-board computer isactivated assoon
as you turn theSmartKey toposition 1in the
ignition lock.
You cancont rolthe multifunction displayand
the settings inthe on-board computer using
the buttons onthe multifunction steering
wheel. :
Multifunction display
; Toswitch onthe Voice Control System;
see theseparate operating instructions
= Right controlpanel
? Left controlpanel
A Back button Dis
plays andoperation
223On-board computer and displays Z

Trip
menu
Stan dard display X
Pre ssand holdthe % button onthe
stee ring wheelunti lthe Tri
p menu
with
od ome ter:and tripodome ter;is
sho wn.
Trip compute r"F rom start" or"From
res et" The
values inthe Fro
mSta rt su
bme nuare
cal cul ate dfro mt hestart ofajourney, while
the values inthe From
Reset submenu
are
calculated fromthelast time thesubmenu
was reset (Ypage 228).
X Press the= or; button onthe
steering wheeltoselect the Trip menu.
X Press the9 or: button toselect From
Start or From
Reset .
Trip
computer "Fromstart"(example)
: Distanc e
; Time
= Average speed
? Average fuelconsumption
The From
Start trip
computer isreset
automatically if:
R the ignition hasbeen switched offfor more
than fourhours.
R 999 hours havebeen exceeded.
R 9,999 mileshavebeen exceeded. When
9,999 hoursor99,999 mileshavebeen
exceeded, thetrip computer isautomatically
reset From
Reset .
Displaying therange andcurrent fuel
consumption X
Press the= or; button onthe
steering wheeltoselect the Trip menu.
X Press the9 or: button toselect
current fuelconsumption andapproximate
range. :
Approximate range
; Current fuelconsumption
Approximate range:iscalculated
according tocurrent drivingstyleandthe
amount offuel inthe tank .If there isonly a
small amount offuel leftinthe fuel tank ,the
displa yshows avehicle beingrefueled C
instead ofrange :.
Digi talspeedometer X
Press the= or; button onthe
steering wheeltoselect the Trip menu.
X Press 9or: toselect thedigital
speedometer. :
Digital speedometer Menus
andsubmenus
227On-board computer and displays Z

Opera
tingaudioplayer oraud iomedia Audio
datafrom various audiodevices or
media canbeplayed, depending onthe
equipment installed inthe vehicle.
X Switc hon COMAND andselect theaudio
device ormedium (seetheseparate
operatin ginst ruct ions).
X Press the= or; button onthe
steer ingwheel toselect the Audio menu.
CD
changer display(example)
: Current CDinthe CDchanger
; Current track
X To select thenext/pr evioustrack:
briefly pressthe9 or: button .
X To select atrack from thetrack list
(rap idscrolling): pressandhold the
9 or: button untilthedesired track
has been reached.
If you press andhold the9 or:
button ,the rapid scrollin gspeed isincr eased.
Not allaudio devices ormedia support this
func tion.
If trac kinfor mation isstor edon the audio
device ormedium, themultifun ction display
will show thenumber andname ofthe trac k.
The curren ttrack does notappear inau dio
AUX mode (Auxiliary audio mode: external
au dio source connected).
Operating videoDVD X
Switch onCOMAND andselectvide oDVD
(see thesepa rateopera tinginstructions).
X Press the= or; button onthe
steering wheelto sele ctthe Audio menu. DVD
changer display(examp le)
: Current DVDinthe DVD changer
; Current scene
X To selectthe nex torp rev ious scen e:
bri eflypre ssthe 9 or: button.
X To select as cene from thescene list
(ra pid scrolling) :pre ssand hold the
9 or: buttonu ntil the desired
sce nehasbe en rea che d. Tel
eph onemen u
In troduc tion Yo
ucan esta blish aBlu etoo th®
conne ctionto
CO MAND (see the separate opera ting
ins tructio ns). G
WA
RNING A
dri ver 'satte ntionto the roadmu stalwa ys
be his/he rprimary focuswhendriving.For
you rsafet yand thesafe tyof other s,we
rec omm endthat you pull overtoasafe
location andstop before placing ortaking a
telephone call.Ifyou choose touse the
telephone whiledriving, pleaseusethehands-
free device andonly usethetelephone when
weather, roadandtraffic conditionspermit.
Some jurisdiction sprohibit thedriver from
using amobile phonewhiledriving avehicle.
Bear inmind thatataspeed ofjust 30mph
(approximately 50km/ h),your vehic leis
cove ringadistan ceof44 feet (approxim ately
14 m)every second.
X Swit chon the mobile phoneandCOMAN D
(see theseparate operatinginst ruct ions).
X Press the= or; buttononthe
steer ingwheel toselect the Tel menu.230
Menus
andsubm enusOn-board computer and displays

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

Setting
theambient lightingcolor
X Press the= or; button onthe
steering wheeltoselect the Settings
menu.
X Press the: or9 button toselect the Light submenu.
X Press thea button toconf irm.
X Press the: or9 button toselect the Ambient
lightcolor funct
ion.
X Press thea button toconf irm.
X Press the: or9 button toset the
color to SOLAR , NEUTRAL or POLAR .
X Press thea or% button tosave the
settin g.
Activating/deactivating surround
lighting andexterior lightingdelayed
switch-off
If you have activated the Lighting: funct
ion
and thelight switch isin the c orÃ
position, thefollowing functionsareactive
when itis dark:
R Surr ound lighting: theexterior lighting
remains litfor 40seconds afterunlocking
with thekey. Ifyou start theengine, the
surround lightingisswitched offand the
automatic headlampmode isactivated
(Y page 110).
R Exterior lightingdelayed switch-off: the
exterior lightingremains litfor 60seconds
after theengine hasbeen switched off.If
you close allthe doors, theexterior lighting
goes offafter 15seconds.
If you activate the Lighting: funct
ion,the
following lightupdepending onthe vehicle's
equipment:
R the parking lamps
R the daytime runninglamps
R the side marker lamps
R the surround lightinginthe exterior mirrors
X Press the= or; button onthe
steering wheeltoselect 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 Locator
Lighting: funct
ion.
You willsee theselected setting: Enabled
or Disabled .
X Press thea button tosave thesettin g.
Deactivat ingdelay edswitch-of fofthe
exterior lightingtemporarily:
X Before leaving thevehicle, turnthe
SmartK eytoposition 0in the ignition lock.
X Turn theSmartK eytoposition 2in the
ignition lockandback toposition 0.
The exterior lightingdelayedswitch-off is
deactivated.
Delayed switch-off ofthe exterior lightingis
reactivated thenext time youstart the
engine.
Activating/deactivating theinterior
lighting delayed switch-off
If you activate the Interior
Lighting Delay funct
ion,theinterior lighting remains
on for 20seconds afteryouremove the
SmartK eyfrom theignition lock.
X Press the= or; button onthe
steering wheeltoselect the Settings
menu.
X Press the: or9 button toselect the Lights submenu.
X Press thea button toconfirm .
X Press the: or9 button toselect the Interior
LightingDelay: funct
ion.
You willsee theselected setting: Enabled
or Disabled .
X Press thea button tosave thesettin g.
Vehicle Activating/deactivating
theautom atic
door locking feature
If you select the Automatic
DoorLock: funct
ion,thevehicle iscent rally locked above
a speed ofaround 9mph(15 km/ h). Menus
andsubm enus
235On-board computer and displays Z