2012 MERCEDES-BENZ M-Class Owner's Manual

R
to cros sing traffic
R in cur ves
As ares ult, BAS PLUScann otinte rvenein
cri tica lsi tua tions. The reisaris ko fan
acc iden t.Always paycareful attent ion tothe
tr aff icsit uatio nand berea dytobra ke.
Fol lowi ng dama getothe front endofthe
veh icle, ha ve the confi guratio na nd opera tion
of the rada rs ensor schec kedataqualified
specialist workshop.This also applies to
collisions atlow speeds wherethereis no
visible damage tothe fron tofthe vehicle.
If BAS PLUS isnot availa bledue toa
malfunction inthe radar sensor system, the
brake system remains availablewith full
brake boosting effectandBAS. ESP
®
(Ele ctronic Stability Program)
Import antsafety notes i
See
the"Important safetynotes" section
(Y page 61).
If ESP ®
detect sthat thevehicle isdeviating
from thedirection desiredbythe driver, one
or more wheels arebraked tostabilize the
vehicle. Ifnecessary, theengine outputisalso
modified tokeep thevehicle onthe desired
course withinphysical limits.ESP®
assists
the driver whenpullingaway onwet or
slippery roads.ESP®
can also stabilize the
vehicle duringbraking.
If ESP ®
interven es,the ÷ ESP®
warning
lamp flashes inthe instrumen tcluster . G
WARN
ING Und
erno circums tances should you
deact ivateES P®
when the÷ ESP®
warnin glamp inthe instrumen tclust er
flashe s.Proc eedasfollows :
R when drivingoff ,apply aslittlethr ottleas
possible .
R while driving,ease upon the accelerat or
pedal.
R adapt yourspeed tosuit theprev ailing road
and weathe rconditions .
Failure toobserve theseguidelines could
cause thevehicle toskid. ESP®
cann ot
prevent accident sresulting fromexcessive
speed.
! Only operate thevehicle foramaximum
of ten seconds onabrake test
dynamometer. Switchoffthe ignition.
Application ofthe brakes byESP ®
may
otherwise destroythebrake system.
! Funct ionorperformanc etest smay only
be performed ona2-axle dynamometer. If
you wish tooperate thevehicle onsuch a
dynamometer, pleaseconsult an
authorized Mercedes-B enzCenter
beforehand. Youcould otherwise damage
the drive trainorthe brake system. i
Only
usewheels withtherecommen ded
tire sizes. OnlythenwillESP ®
funct ion
properly.
4ETS (Electronic Traction System) i
Observe
the"Important safetynotes"
section (Ypage 61).
Traction controlispart ofESP ®
.
Traction controlbrakes thedrive wheels
individuall yif they spin. Thisenables youto
pull away andaccelerate onslippery surfaces,
for example ifthe road surface isslippery on
one side. Inaddition, moredrivetorque is
trans ferred tothe wheel orwheels with
tract ion. Driving
safetysystems
63Safety Z

Traction
controlremains activeifyou
deactivate ESP®
. G
WARNIN
G Traction
controlcann otreduce therisk ofan
accident ifyou drive toofast. Traction control
cann otoverride thelaws ofphysics.
Deactivating/activat ingESP ® i
Observe
the"Importan tsafet yno tes"
sec tion(Ypage 61). G
WARN
ING ES
P®
should notbedeactiv atedduring
norm aldrivin gother thaninthe
circ umstan cesdescribed below.Disabling
the system willreduce vehicle stability in
drivin gmaneuver s.
Do not deactiv ateESP®
when theemergen cy
or spare wheel ismount ed.
ES P®
is activ ated automatic allywhen the
engin eis start ed.
It may bebest todeactiv ateESP®
in the
following situations:
R when usingsnowchains
R in deep snow
R on sand orgravel G
WARN
ING Switc
hon ESP®
immediately ifone ofthe
previously statedcon dition sis no longer met.
Other wise, ESP®
cann otstabilize thevehicle
if it begins tolurch orwhen awheel spins.
When youdeactiv ateESP®
:
R ES P®
no longer improves drivingstability.
R the engin e'storque isno longer limited and
the drive wheels canspin. Thespinn ingof
the wheels resultsinacutt ingaction ,which
provides bettergrip.
R trac tion controlis still activ ated.
R ES P®
still provides supportwhenyou
brake. If
ES P®
is deactiv atedandone ormore wheels
start tospin, the÷ ESP®
warning lampin
the instrument clusterflashes. Insuch
situation s,ES P®
will notstabilize thevehicle. X
To deact ivate:press button:.
The å ESP®
OFF warning lampinthe
inst rument clusterlightsup. G
WARN
ING When
theå ESP®
OFF warning lampislit,
ES P®
is deactiv ated.
If the ÷ ESP®
warning lampandthe
å ESP®
OFF warning lampremain lit,
ES P®
is not available duetoam alfun ction .
When ESP®
is deac tivate dor noto peration al,
vehicle stability instan dard driving
maneuver sis reduced.
Adapt yourspeed anddriving tothe prevailing
road condition sand tothe non-operat ing
stat usofthe ESP®
.
! Avoid spinningthe driven wheels foran
ext ended period withESP®
deactiv ated.
You could otherwisedamage thedrivet rain.
X To activa te:press button:.
The å ESP®
OFF warning lampinthe
inst rument clustergoesout.
ESP ®
trailer stabiliz ation If
your vehicle withtrailer (vehicle/ trailer
combin ation)begins tolurch, youcan only
stabilize thevehicle/ trailercombin ationby
depressin gthe brake firmly. 64
Driving
safetysystemsSafety

In
this situa tion, ESP®
assi stsyou and can
detect ifthe vehicle /trailer combination
begi nstolurch. ESP®
slow sthe vehicle down
by braking andlimiting theengine outputuntil
the vehicle/tra iler comb inationh as
st abiliz ed.
Trail erstabiliz ationisactive fromaspeed of
approximately 37mph(60 km/h). G
WARNING The
system willnotbeable toassist whenthe
trailer jackknifes
R ifthe ESP ®
has switched offdue toa
malfunction
R on wet oricy roads
R on roads withslippery surface
R in sand orgravel
Trailers withahigh centerofgravity maytip
over before thesystem recognizes swayingof
the trailer.
Traile rstab iliza tiond oes notwork ifESP ®
is
deactivated ordisabled becauseofa
malfunct ion. EBD
(elec tronic brake force
distr ibution) i
Observe
the"Important safetynotes"
section (Ypage 61).
EBD monit orsand cont rolsthebrake
pressure onthe rear wheels toimprove
driving stability whilebraking. G
WARNIN
G If
EBD hasmalfunct ioned,thebraking system
remains availablewith fullbrake boosting
effect .However, therear wheels canstilllock,
e.g. under fullbraking. Thiscould cause you
to lose controlofyour vehicle andcause an
accident .You should therefor eadapt your
driving styletothe different handling
character istics. X
Observe thenoteson warning andindicator
lamps (Ypage 272)aswell asdisplay
messages (Ypage 241). ADA
PTIVE BRAKE
AD APTIVE BRAKEenhancesbraking safety
and offers increased brakingcomfort.In
addition tothe braking function,ADAPTIVE
BRAKE alsohastheHOLD function
(Y page 179)andhillstart assist
(Y page 142). Forfurther informat ion,see
Drivin gtips (Ypage 159). PRE-SAFE
®
Br ake
PRE-S AFE®
Brake isonly availa bleinvehicles
with DISTRONIC PLUS. i
Observe
the"Important safetynotes"
section (Ypage 61).
PRE-S AFE®
Brake canhelp youtominimize
the risk ofafront alcollision withavehicle
ahead orreduce theeffect sofsuch a
co llisio n.IfPRE -SAF E®
Br ake hasdetecteda
ris ko fcollision, youwillbewarned visually
and acoustically aswell asby automatic
braking. PRE-SAFE®
Brake cannotprevent a
collision withoutyourintervention.
At speeds aboveapproximately
20 mph (30km/ h),this funct ionwarns you
when youarerapidly approaching thevehicle
in front .An interm ittentwarning tonewill
then sound andthe· distance warning
lamp inthe instr ument cluster willlight up.
X Brake immediately inorder toincrease the
distance fromthevehicle infront .
or
X Take evasive actionprovided itis safe todo
so. Driving
safetysystems
65Safety 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 PRE-SAFE
®
Brake cannot alwaysdetect
comple xtraffic situations prope rly.
In these cases, PRE-SAFE(R) Brakemay:
R give anunnecessa rywarni ngand then
brake thevehicl e
R neither giveawarni ngnor intervene
There isarisk ofan accide nt.Alwa yspay
particu larattention tothe traffic situationand
be read yto brake, especiallyif PRE-SAFE(R)
Brake warns you.Termina tethe intervention
in anon-critical drivingsitua tion.
In particu lar,the detection ofobstacl escan
be impa iredifthere is:
R dirt onthe sensors oranythi ngelse
covering thesensors
R snow orheavy rain
R interference byother radarsources
R the possibility ofstron gradar reflect ions,
for example inparking garages
R anarrow vehicle traveling infront ,e.g. a
motorbik e
R avehicle traveling infront onadifferent line G
WARNIN
G PRE-S
AFE®
Brake doesnotreact:
R to people oranimals
R to oncom ingvehicles
R to crossin gtraffic
R in curves
As aresult, PRE-SAFE®
Brake cannot
interv eneincritic alsituations. Thereisarisk
of an accident .Always paycaref ulatt ent ion
to the traffic situat ionand beready tobrak e.
In order tomaint ainthe appropr iatedistance
to the vehic lein fro ntand thus preventa
collisio n,you must apply thebrak esyourself .X
To act ivat e/deact ivate:act ivate or
deact ivatePRE-SAFE®
Brak ein the on-
board computer (Ypage 232).
The Ä symbol appears inthe
multif unction display aslong asthe HOL D
func tion isnot activate d(Ypage 179).
On vehicles withActive Parkin gAssist ,the
Ä symbol isdisplayed when
tran smission positionPis select edorifyou
drive faster than22mph(35 km/h).
For PRE-S AFE®
Brak eto assist youwhen
drivin g,the radar senso rsyst em mus tbe
switched on(Ypage 236)andoperational.
Following damagetothe front endofthe
vehicle, havetheconfiguration andoperation
of the radar sensors checked ataqual ified
speciali stworkshop. Thisalso appli esto
collisions atlow speeds wherethereisno
visible damage tothe front ofthe vehicle. STEER
CONTROL
The steering assistant STEERCONTROL helps
you bytransmitt inganoticeable steering
force tothe steering wheelinthe direction
required forvehicle stabilization.
This steering assistance isprovided in
particular if:
R both right wheels orboth leftwheels areon
a wet orslippe ryroad surface whenyou
brake
R the vehicle startstoskid
You have controlover thesteering atall
times. G
WARNING If
the ESP ®
is malfunctioning, youwillnot
receive steering assistance fromtheSTEE R
CONTROL. Thepower steering function,
however, remainsavailable. Driving
safetysystems
67Safety Z

The
ftdete rrentlo ck ingsys tems Immo
bilizer
The imm obilize rprevents yourvehicle from
being startedwithout thecorr ectSmart Key.
When leaving thevehicle, alwaystake the
Smart Keywith youand lock thevehicle. The
engin ecan bestart edbyanyone withavalid
Smart Keythat isleft inside thevehicle.
X To activa tewith theSma rtKey: remove
the Smart Keyfrom theignition lock.
X To activa tewith KEYLE SS-GO: switchthe
ignition offand open thedriver's door.
X To deactiva te:switch onthe ignition . i
The
immobilizer isalway sdeactivat ed
when youstart theengin e.
In the event thattheengin ecann otbe
start edwhen thestart erbatter yis fully
charged, theimmobilizer maybefaulty.
Contac tana uth orizedMer cedes- Benz
Cen tero rcall 1-80 0-FO R-M ERCed es(in
US A)or1-80 0-38 7-01 00 (inCanada) . ATA
(Anti-Thef tAlar msyst em)
Av isual andaudible alarmistriggere difthe
alarm systemisarmed andyouopen :
R adoor
R the vehic lewith themec hanic alkey
R the tailgat e
R the hood
The alarm isnot switc hedoff,even ifyou
clos ethe open doorthathastriggere dit, for
exam ple. i If
the alarm stays onfor mor ethan 30
seco nds,the emer gencycall system
mbrac e(USA only)orTEL EAI D (Canada
only) initiates acall tothe Custom er
Ass istanc eCent erautom atically. The
emer gencycall systeminitiates thecall
prov ided that:
R you have subsc ribedtothe mbrac e/
TEL EAI D serv ice.
R the mbrac e/TELEAID serv icehas been
act ivat edproper ly.
R the require dmobile phone,power supply
and GPS areavailable. X
To arm: lock thevehic lewith theSmartKey
or KEYLE SS-GO.
In dicat orlamp :flashes .The alarm
system isarmed afterapproximately 15
seconds.
X To deactivate: unlockthevehicle withthe
SmartK eyorKEYLE SS-GO.
X To stop thealarm usingtheSmar tKey:
insert theSmartK eyinto theignition lock.
The alarm isswitched off.
or
X Press the% or& button onthe
SmartK ey.
The alarm isswitched off. 68
Theft
deterr entlocking systemsSafety

X
To sto pthe alarm usingKE YLESS-GO :
gras pthe outsi dedoor handl e.The
SmartKey mustbeoutsi dethe vehi cle.
The alarm isswi tched off.
or
X Press theStart/Stop buttononthe
das hboa rd.The SmartKey mustbeinsid e
the vehi cle.
The alarm isswi tched off. Theft
deterrent locki ng syste ms
69Safety Z

70