158Driving and operating
■ the brake vacuum is not sufficient
■ the vehicle is driven at least at walking speed
■ the climate control system requests
an engine start
■ the air conditioning is manually switched on
If the bonnet is not fully closed, a
warning message is displayed in the
Driver Information Centre.
If an electrical accessory, e.g. a
portable CD player, is connected to
the power outlet, a brief power drop
during engine restart may be
noticeable.
Parking ■ Do not park the vehicle on an easily
ignitable surface. The high
temperature of the exhaust system
could ignite the surface.
■ Always apply parking brake. Apply manual parking brake without
pressing release button. Apply as
firmly as possible on downhill or uphill slopes. Depress the footbrake at the same time to reduce
operating force.
Apply electric parking brake by pulling switch m for approx.
one second. Control indicator m
must illuminate.
■ Switch off the engine and ignition. Turn the steering wheel until the
steering wheel lock engages.
■ If the vehicle is on a level surface or
uphill slope, engage first gear or set the selector lever to P before
switching off the ignition. On an
uphill slope, turn the front wheels
away from the kerb.
If the vehicle is on a downhill slope, engage reverse gear or set theselector lever to P before switching
off the ignition. Turn the front
wheels towards the kerb.
■ Lock the vehicle and activate the anti-theft alarm system.Notice
In the event of an accident with
airbag deployment, the engine is
turned off automatically if the vehicle
comes to a standstill within a certain time.
172Driving and operating
In each driving mode Flex Ride
networks the following electronic systems:
■ Continuous Damping Control.
■ Accelerator Pedal Control.
■ Steering Control.
■ Automatic transmission.
SPORT modeThe settings of the systems are
adapted to a sportier driving style:
■ Damping of shock absorbers reacts
more stiffly to provide better contact with the road surface.
■ The engine reacts more quickly to the accelerator pedal.
■ Steering support is reduced.
■ Shift points of automatic transmission occur later.
■ With SPORT mode activated, the illumination of main instruments
changes from white to red.
TOUR modeThe settings of the systems are
adapted to a comfort driving style:
■ Damping of shock absorbers reacts
more softly.
■ Accelerator pedal reacts with standard settings.
■ Steering support is in standard mode.
■ Shift points of automatic transmission occur in a comfort
mode.
■ Illumination of main instruments is white.
Normal mode
All settings of the systems are
adapted to standard values.
Drive mode control Within each manual selected driving
mode SPORT, TOUR or Normal, the
Drive Mode Control (DMC) detects
and analyses continuously the real
driving characteristic, responses by
the driver, and the active dynamic
state of the vehicle. If necessary, the
control unit of DMC automatically
Driving and operating187
The minimum indicated distance is
0.5 s.
If there is no vehicle ahead or the vehicle ahead is out of range, two
dashes will be displayed: -.- s.
Active Emergency Braking
Active emergency braking can help to reduce the damage from crashes with vehicles and obstacles directly
ahead, when a collision can no longer be avoided either by manual braking
or by steering. Before the active
emergency braking applies, the driver
is warned by the forward collision
alert 3 183.
The feature uses various inputs (e.g.
radar sensor, brake pressure, vehicle speed) to calculate the probability of
a frontal collision.
Active emergency braking operates automatically above walking speed,
provided that Auto collision
preparation setting is not deactivated
in the vehicle personalisation menu
3 127.
The system includes: ■ Brake preparation system
■ Emergency automatic braking
■ Forward looking brake assist9 Warning
This system is not intended to
replace the driver responsibility of driving the vehicle and looking
ahead. Its function is limited to
supplemental use only. The driver
shall continue to apply the brake
pedal as the driving situation
dictates.
Brake preparation system
When approaching a vehicle ahead
so quickly that a collision is likely, the brake preparation system slightly
pressurises the brakes. This reduces
the response time, when a manual or automatic braking is requested.
The brake system is prepared so that braking can occur more rapidly.
Emergency automatic braking After the brake preparation and just
before the imminent collision, this
function automatically applies limited
braking to reduce the impact speed of
the collision.
Forward looking brake assist
In addition to brake preparation
system and emergency automatic
braking, the forward looking brake
assist function makes the brake assist more sensitive. In this way,
depressing the brake pedal slightly
Driving and operating193
The parking slot suggestion of the
system is accepted when the vehicle is stopped by the driver within
10 metres after the Stop message is
given. The system calculates the
optimal route into the parking slot.
Then it manoeuvres the driver into the
slot by giving detailed instructions.The instructions show:
■ a hint when driving faster than 18 mph,
■ the demand to stop the vehicle, when a parking slot is detected,
■ the direction of driving during the parking manoeuvre,
■ the steering wheel position during parking,
■ for some of the instructions a progress bar is shown.A successful parking manoeuvre is
indicated by the End position symbol.
Always pay attention to the sound of
the front-rear parking assist.
Continuous sound means that the
distance to an obstacle is less than approx. 30 cm.
Changing the parking side
The system is configured to detect
parking slots on the passenger side.
To detect parking slots on the driver
side, switch turn indicator to the driver
side.
Driving and operating201
FaultThe traffic sign assistant system may
not operate correctly when:
■ the area of the windscreen, where the front camera is located, is not
clean
■ traffic signs are completely or partially covered or difficult to
discern
■ there are adverse environmental conditions, e.g. heavy rain, snow,
direct sunlight or shadows. In this
case No Traffic Sign Detection due
to Weather is indicated on the
display
■ traffic signs are incorrectly mounted
or damaged
■ traffic signs do not comply with the Vienna Convention on traffic signs
(Wiener Übereinkommen über
Straßenverkehrszeichen)Caution
The system is intended to help the driver within a defined speed
range to discern certain traffic
signs. Do not ignore traffic signs
which are not displayed by the
system.
The system does not discern any other than the conventional traffic
signs that might give or end a
speed limit.
Do not let this special feature
tempt you into taking risks when
driving.
Always adapt speed to the road
conditions.
The driver assistance systems do not relieve the driver from full
responsibility for vehicle
operation.
Lane departure warning
The lane departure warning systemobserves the lane markings between
which the vehicle is driving via a front camera. The system detects lane
changes and warns the driver in the
event of an unintended lane change
via visual and acoustic signals.
Criteria for the detection of an
unintended lane change are:
■ no operation of turn signals
■ no brake pedal operation
■ no active accelerator operation or speeding-up
■ no active steering
If the driver is active, no warning will
be issued.
Activation
The lane departure warning system is activated by pressing the ) button.
The illuminated LED in the button
indicates that the system is switched
212Driving and operatingTrailer hitch
General information
Only use towing equipment that has
been approved for your vehicle.
Vehicles with natural gas engines
require special towing equipment.
Entrust retrofitting of towing
equipment to a workshop. It may be
necessary to make changes that
affect the cooling system, heat
shields or other equipment.
The bulb outage detection function for
trailer brake light cannot detect a
partial bulb outage. E.g. in case of
4x 5 Watt bulbs, the function only
detects lamp outage when only a
single 5 Watt lamp remains or none
remain.
Fitting of towing equipment could
cover the opening of the towing eye. If this is the case use the coupling ball bar for towing. Always keep the
coupling ball bar in the vehicle.Driving characteristics and
towing tips Before attaching a trailer, lubricate
the coupling ball. However, do not do
so if a stabiliser, which acts on the coupling ball, is being used to reduce snaking movements.
For trailers with low driving stability
and caravan trailers with a permitted
gross vehicle weight of more than
1300 kg the use of a stabiliser is
strongly recommended when driving
above 50 mph.
If the trailer starts snaking, drive more slowly, do not attempt to correct the
steering and brake sharply if
necessary.
When driving downhill, drive in the
same gear as if driving uphill and
drive at a similar speed.
Adjust tyre pressure to the value
specified for full load 3 279.Trailer towing
Trailer loads
The permissible trailer loads are
vehicle and engine-dependent
maximum values which must not be
exceeded. The actual trailer load is
the difference between the actual
gross weight of the trailer and the
actual coupling socket load with the
trailer coupled.
The permissible trailer loads are
specified in the vehicle documents. In general, they are valid for gradients
up to max. 12 %.
The permitted trailer load applies up to the specified incline and up to an
altitude of 1000 metres above sea
level. Since engine power decreases
as altitude increases due to the air
becoming thinner, therefore reducing
climbing ability, the permissible gross
train weight also decreases by 10 %
for every 1000 metres of additional
altitude. The gross train weight does
not have to be reduced when driving
on roads with slight inclines (less than 8 %, e.g. motorways).
216Driving and operating
Open the protective flap and turn the
key to position c to unlock the
coupling ball bar.
Pull out rotary handle and turn
clockwise as far as it will go. Pull out coupling ball bar downwards.
Insert sealing plug in opening. Fold away socket.
Trailer stability assist If the system detects snaking
movements, engine power is reduced
and the vehicle/trailer combination is
selectively braked until the snaking ceases. While system is working keep steering wheel as still as possible.
Trailer stability assist (TSA) is a
function of the Electronic Stability
Control 3 171.
Vehicle care221Engine coolantThe coolant provides freeze
protection down to approx. -28 °C. In
northern countries with very low
temperatures the factory filled coolant
provides frost protection down to
approx. -37°C.Caution
Only use approved antifreeze.
Coolant level
Caution
Too low a coolant level can cause engine damage.
If the cooling system is cold, the
coolant level should be above the
filling line mark. Top up if the level is
low.
9 Warning
Allow the engine to cool before
opening the cap. Carefully open
the cap, relieving the pressure
slowly.
To top up use a 1:1 mixture of
released coolant concentrate mixed
with clean tap water. If no coolant
concentrate is available, use clean
tap water. Install the cap tightly.
Engine B16DTH: After starting the
engine, set the heating to warmest
temperature and the fan speed to at
least first level for approx. 5 minutes.
This will ensure that the air within the cooling system escapes.
Have the coolant concentration
checked and have the cause of the
coolant loss remedied by a workshop.
Power steering fluidCaution
Extremely small amounts of
contamination can cause steering
system damage and cause it to not work properly. Do not allow
contaminates to contact the fluid
side of the reservoir cap/dipstick or
from entering the reservoir.