
197
Driving
Start-Stop Function*
Fig. 140  Detailed view of
the centre console: Start-
Stop function button
In Start-Stop mode, the engine is automatically switched off when the vehi-
cle is at a standstill. The engine restarts automatically when required.
The function is enabled automatically whenever the ignition is switched on.
The instrument panel displays information on the current status.
Vehicles with a manual gearbox
● When the vehicle is at a standstill, leave it in neutral and take your foot
off the clutch. The engine switches off.
● Simply depress the clutch pedal to move off again.
Vehicles with an automatic gearbox
● When the vehicle is at a standstill, depress the brake or keep it pressed
down. The engine switches off.
● The engine will start again as soon as you release the brake pedal.
● With the selector lever set to position  P, the engine will not start until a
range of gears is selected or the accelerator pedal is depressed. Important conditions for the engine to automatically switch off
●
The driver seat belt must be buckled.
● The driver door must be closed.
● The bonnet must be closed.
● The factory-fitted towing bracket must not be electrically connected to a
trailer.
● A minimum engine temperature has been reached.
● The steering wheel must not be turned more than 270 degrees.
● The vehicle has moved since the last stop.
● In vehicles with Climatronic: The temperature inside the vehicle is within
the preset temperature range.
● The temperature set is neither very high nor very low.
● The air conditioning defrost function is not switched on.
● In vehicles with Climatronic: the blower has not been manually set to a
high speed.
● The power level of the vehicle's battery is sufficient.
● The vehicle's battery temperature is neither too high nor too low.
● The vehicle is not on a steep gradient or slope.
● The front wheels are not overly turned.
● The heated windscreen is not switched on.
● Reverse gear is not engaged.
● The park assist system is not switched on.
Conditions for automatically restarting the engine
The engine may automatically restart under the following conditions:
● If the vehicle interior is too hot or too cold.
● If the vehicle moves.
● If the vehicle's battery voltage drops.
Conditions requiring the key to restart the engine
The engine must be started using the key under the following conditions: 
Safety FirstOperating instructionsPractical tipsTechnical Specifications 

229
Driving and the environment
Economic driving style
Changing gear early
General instructions: The highest gear is always the most economical gear.
As a guideline, for the majority of vehicles: At a speed of 30  km/h (20 mph),
drive in third gear, at 40 km/h (25 mph) in fourth gear and at 50 km/h
(30 mph) in fifth gear.
In addition, skipping gears when shifting up helps to save fuel, weather and
traffic conditions permitting.
Do not wait until the last moment before changing gear. Only use first gear
when you move off and change to second gear quickly. Avoid the kick-down
function in vehicles with automatic gearbox.
Vehicles with a gear display help to achieve an economical driving style as
the display indicates the best moment to change gear.
Let the vehicle roll
If you take your foot off the accelerator, the fuel supply is stopped and con-
sumption is reduced.
Allow the vehicle to roll without accelerating, for example when approach-
ing a red traffic light. However, if the vehicle is rolling too slowly or the dis-
tance is too long, the clutch pedal should be pressed to declutch. The en-
gine will then operate at idle speed.
If the vehicle is going to be at a standstill for a period of time, switch off the
engine; for example, while waiting at a level crossing. In vehicles which
have the Start-Stop function on, the engine switches off automatically when
the vehicle is not moving.
Think ahead and “flow” with the traffic
Frequent acceleration and braking considerably increase fuel consumption.
If you think ahead as you drive and keep a safe distance from the vehicle in
front, it is possible to slow down by simply lifting your foot off the accelera-
tor. This eliminates the need for constant braking and acceleration. Calm and steady driving
Constancy is more important than speed: The more you drive at a constant
speed, the lower the fuel consumption.
When driving on the motorway, it is more efficient to drive at a constant and
more moderate speed than to be continuously accelerating and braking. As
a general rule, you will reach your destination just as quickly when you drive
at a constant speed.
The cruise control function helps you to achieve a constant style of driving.
Moderate use of additional electrical appliances
It is important to travel in comfort, but convenience systems should be used
in an ecological manner.
Some equipment, when connected, increase fuel consumption considera-
bly, for example:
●
Air conditioning cooling system: If the air conditioning system is re-
quired to cool to significantly lower temperatures than the true outside tem-
perature, it will require a large quantity of energy from the engine. There-
fore, we recommend that the selected temperature for the vehicle is not too
different to the outside temperature. It is a good idea to open all the win-
dows of the car before starting your journey, and to drive a short distance
with all the windows open to allow the vehicle to cool down slightly. Only
then should you close all the windows and switch on the air conditioning.
Keep windows closed when travelling at high speeds. Driving with the win-
dows open increases fuel consumption.
● Switch off the seat heating when the seats have warmed up.
● Switch off the heated rear window and the windscreen heating when the
windows have demisted and are free of ice.
● Do not leave the auxiliary heater switched on when the vehicle is mov-
ing ⇒  page 164. 
Safety FirstOperating instructionsPractical tipsTechnical Specifications 

Index
A
AbroadExtended stay abroad with your vehicle  . . 258
Sale of vehicle  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
ABS See "Brake assist systems"  . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Accessories  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Acoustic warnings Headlights  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Adaptive headlights Dynamic  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
AdBlue Control lamp  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Information  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Minimum quantity for a refill  . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Refilling  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Specifications  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Tank filling capacity  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Warning lamp  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Additional equipment  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Additional heater See "Auxiliary heater"  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Adjusting passenger exterior mirror  . . . . . . . . 112
Adjustment Correct sitting position  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Electric front seat  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Head restraints  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Mechanical front seat  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Rear seats  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Seat with position memory  . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Steering wheel  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Adjustments Folding the seat backrest of the front pas-senger seat  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Headlight range  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Aerial  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Aerial built into the window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
AFS  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Airbag system  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29, 32 Cleaning dash panel  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Control lamp  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Curtain airbags  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Deactivating the front passenger front air-bag  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Deactivating using the key switch . . . . . . . . 36
Description  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Differences between front passenger front airbag systems  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Faults  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
Front airbags  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Function  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Knee airbag  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Locking the vehicle after airbag deploy- ment  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Repairs  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
Side airbags  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Use of child seats  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Vehicle care  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 Air conditioner  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Air recirculation mode  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Air vents  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Climatronic  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Electronic manual air conditioning  . . . . . . 158
Faults  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Indirect ventilation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Things to note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
User instructions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Air conditioning see "Air conditioner"  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Air recirculation mode  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Air vents  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Alarm system  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Alcantara  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
All-wheel drive Snow chains  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
Towing  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
Winter tyres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
Alternator  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
Ambient lighting  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Anodized surfaces  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Anti-lock brake system (ABS)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Anti-theft alarm  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Trailer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Anti-theft alarm system Anti-tow system  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
False alarms  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Interior monitoring  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
367
Index