2012 MERCEDES-BENZ M-Class raising vehicle

cannot
complete the attem ptedclimb, back it
dow ninr everse gear.
Do not drive along theside ofaslope. The
vehicle mightotherwiserollover. Ifin doing so
the vehicle beginstoshow aten dency toroll,
immediately steerintoaline ofgravity
(straight upordownhill).
Never letthe vehicle rollbackwards inidle.
You may losecontrol ofthe vehicle ifyou use
only theservic ebrake. Forinfor mation on
driving downhill, see"Drivin gdownhill". G
WARN
ING Vehicles
withairsuspension program:Please
be aware thatbyraising thevehicle level,the
cent erofgravity alsorises. Therefor e,alway s
ensure thatthevehicle levelisas low as
possible. Withhigher rideheight theESP®
may activat eearlier incert ainsituation s. G
WARN
ING Do
not reduce thetire inflation pressure
before driving through sand. However, ifyou
do so, remember tocorr ectthe tire inflation
pressure beforecontinuin gyour trip.Drivin g
with reduced tireinflation pressure increases
the risk oflosing control ofthe vehicle and
rolling over.
General notes Read
thissect ioncarefully beforedriving your
vehicle off-road. Practicebydriving overmore
gent leoff- road terrainfirst .
Familiarize yourselfwiththecharact eristics
of your vehicle andthegear shiftoperation
before driving through difficult terrain.
The following drivingsystems arespecially
adapted tooff- road driving:
R Off- road ABS(Ypage 61)
R AIRMA TICpackage (vehiclelevel)
(Y page 180)
R DS R(Downh illSpeed Regulation)
(Y page 208) Observe
thefollowing notes:
R Stop the vehicle beforestartingtodrive
along anoff- road route.
R For vehicles withAIRMA TICpackage:
select avehicle levelthatissuitable forthe
off- road terrain. Make surethere isalway s
sufficien tground clearanc eto preven t
damage tothe vehicle.
R Check thatitems ofluggage andloads are
stowed safelyandarewell secured
(Y page 288).
R Always keeptheengine runningand ingear
when driving onadownhill gradient.
Ac tivat eDS R(Ypage 208).
R Always keepthedoors, tailgate, windows
and sliding sunroof closedwhiledriving.
R Adapt yourspeed tothe terrain. The
rougher, steeperormore rutsonthe
terr ain, theslower yourspeed should be.
R Driv eslowly andatan even speed through
the water. Ensure thatabow wave doesnot
form asyou drive.
R Driv ewith extreme careonunkn ownoff-
road routes wherevisibility ispoor. For
safety reasons ,get out ofthe vehicle first
and survey theoff-road route.
R Look outforobstac lessuch asrock s,holes,
tree stumps andfurrows.
R Check thedepth ofwater before fording
rivers andstreams.
R When fording,do not stop anddonot
switc hoff the engin e.
R On sand, drivequickly tooverc omethe
rolling resistance. Otherwise, thevehicle
could digitself intothe sand.
R Do not jump withthevehicle asthis will
int errupt thevehicle's propulsion.
R Always keeptheengin erunn ingand ingear
when drivingon aslope.
R Do not shift theautomatic transmission to
tran smission positionN. Driving
tips
163Driving and parking Z

For
safety reasons, thevehi clecan only be
low ered with alldoo rsand thetailga teclos ed.
Low ering isinterru ptedifadoo rorthe tailgate
is opened andwillcont inue after thedoor is
closed again.
! When driving onextrem elyrough terrain,
select ahigh vehicle levelingood time.
Make surethatthere isalwa yssufficient
ground clearance toprevent damage tothe
vehicle.
! Remove thekey from theignition before
raising oneormore wheels withthe
appropria teequipment.
For information aboutdriving off-road, see
(Y page 162).
Basic settings
The exten ttowhich thevehicle israised or
lowered depends onthe basic setting
selected. Selectraisedlevelforoff-road
driving orhighway /high-speed levelfor
normal roads.
The individual vehiclelevelsdifferfrom
highway levelasfollows:
R +/- 0in (+/- 0mm) atthe highway level
R –0.6 in(–15 mm)atthe high-speed level
R +2. 3in (+ 60 mm) atthe raised level
Raised level
Only select raised levelwhen thisis
appropriate forthe road condit ions.
Otherwise, fuelconsumpt ionmay increase
and handling maybeaffect ed. X
Start theengine. If
indicator lamp;isnot lit:
X Press button :.
Indicat orlamp ;flashes. Thevehicle rises
to raised level.
While theadjustmen tistaking place,a
message appearsinthe multifunction
displa y,e.g.: If
you press the% ora button onthe
multifunction steeringwheel,themessage
will disapp ear.
Once thevehicle hasreached raisedlevel,
indicator lamp;remains lit.The Vehicle
Rising message
disappearsfrom the
multifunction display.
If you attempt toselect theraised levelata
speed ofover 40mph (64km/h), the Drive
More
Slowly message
appearsinthe
multifunction display.
Highway/high-speed level
! Make surethatthere isenough ground
clearance whenthevehicle isbeing
lowered. Itcould otherwise hitthe ground,
damagi ngthe underbody . X
Start theengine. 182
Driving
systemsDriving and parking

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

sides
ofthe vehicle. Thejack saddle mustbe
placed centrally under thejacking point.The
jack must alwaysbe vertical wheninuse,
especiall yon inclines ordeclines.
The jack isintended onlyforlifting thevehicle
briefly forwheel changes. Itis not suited for
performing maintenance workunder the
vehicle. Tohelp avoid personal injury,usethe
jack onlytolift the vehicle duringawheel
change.
Never getbeneath thevehicle whileitis
supported bythe jack. Keep hands andfeet
awa yfrom thearea under thelifted vehicle.
Always lowerthevehicle ontosufficient
capacity jackstandsbefore working underthe
vehicle.
Always firmlyengage theparking brakeand
block thewheels withwheel chocks orother
sizable objects beforeraising thevehicle with
the jack. Donot disengage theparking brake
while thevehicle israised.
Make surethattheground onwhich the
vehicle isstanding andwhere youplace the
jack issolid, levelandnotslippery .If
nece ssary,us ealarge underlay.O ns lippery
surfac es,such astiled floors,you should use
a non -slip under lay,forexam plearubber mat.
Do not use wooden blocksor similar objects
as ajac ku nde rlay.Othe rwise, the jack may
not beableto ach ieve its load -be aring
cap acityifit is not atits fullhei ght.
Nev ersta rtthe engi newhen the vehicleis
rai sed .
Als oob ser vethe notes onthe jack. X
Usi nglug wre nch :,loose nthe bolts on
the wheel youwish tochange byabout one
full turn. Donot unscrew thebolts
completely.
The jackin gpoints arelocated justbehind the
wheel housings ofthe front wheels andjust
in front ofthe wheel housings ofthe rear
wheels (arrows). G
WARNING The
jack isdesigned exclusively forjackin gup
the vehicle atthe jackin gpoints. Thejack
saddle mustbeplaced centrally under the
jackin gpoint.
If you donot position thejack correct lyin the
jackin gpoint, thevehicle canfalloffthe jack
and seriously orfatally injureyouorothers.
! The jack isdesigned exclusively for
jackin gup the vehicle atthe jackin gpoints.
Otherwise, yourvehicle couldbedamaged.
X Take theratchet wrench outofthe vehicle
tool kitand place iton the hexagon nutof
the jack sothat theletters AUFarevisible. X
Position jack=atjackin gpoint ;. Flat
tire
335Breakdown assistance Z

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