154Driving and operatingCaution
The steering assist can be
reduced during an Autostop.
Conditions for an Autostop
The stop-start system checks if each
of the following conditions is fulfilled.
■ The stop-start system is not manually deactivated
■ the bonnet is fully closed
■ the driver's door is closed or the driver's seat belt is fastened
■ the vehicle battery is sufficiently charged and in good condition
■ the engine is warmed up
■ the engine coolant temperature is not too high
■ the engine exhaust temperature is not too high, e.g. after driving with
high engine load
■ the ambient temperature is above -5° C
■ the climate control system allows an Autostop
■ the brake vacuum is sufficient
■ the self-cleaning function of the diesel particle filter is not active
■ the vehicle was driven at least at walking speed since the last
Autostop
Otherwise an Autostop will be
inhibited.
Certain settings of the climate control
system may inhibit an Autostop. See
Climate control chapter for more
details 3 134.
Immediately after motorway driving
an Autostop may be inhibited.
New vehicle running-in 3 149.
Vehicle battery discharge protection
To ensure reliable engine restarts, several battery discharge protection
features are implemented as part of
the stop-start system.
Power saving measures
During an Autostop, several electrical
features such as auxiliary electric
heater or rear window heating are
disabled or switched to a powersaving mode. The fan speed of the
climate control system is reduced to
save power.
Restart of the engine by the
driver Depress the clutch pedal to restart the
engine.
The engine start is indicated by the
needle at the idle speed position in
the tachometer.
If the selector lever is shifted out of
neutral before depressing the clutch
first, control indicator - illuminates
or is shown as a symbol in the Driver
Information Centre.
Control indicator - 3 102.
Restart of the engine by the
stop-start system
The selector lever must be in neutral
to enable an automatic restart.
If one of the following conditions
occurs during an Autostop, the
engine will be restarted automatically
by the stop-start system:
Driving and operating155
■ The stop-start system is manuallydeactivated
■ the bonnet is opened
■ the driver's seat belt is unfastened and the driver's door is opened
■ the engine temperature is too low
■ the charging level of the vehicle battery is below a defined level
■ 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 the restart might 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. Pull electric parking brake switch
m for approx. one second.
Apply manual parking brake
without pressing release button.
Apply as firmly as possible on
downhill or uphill slopes. Depress the foot brake at the same time to
reduce operating force.
■ 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 switchingoff the ignition. Turn the front
wheels towards the kerb.
■ Lock the vehicle and activate the anti-theft alarm system.
Note
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.
Driving and operating157
The control indicator % extinguishes
as soon as the self-cleaning
operation is complete.
Catalytic converter
The catalytic converter reduces the
amount of harmful substances in the
exhaust gases.Caution
Fuel grades other than those listed on pages 3 202, 3 269 could
damage the catalytic converter or
electronic components.
Unburnt petrol will overheat and
damage the catalytic converter.
Therefore avoid excessive use of the starter, running the fuel tank
dry and starting the engine by
pushing or towing.
In the event of misfiring, uneven
engine running, a reduction in engine performance or other unusual
problems, have the cause of the fault
rectified by a workshop as soon as
possible. In an emergency, driving
can be continued for a short period,
keeping vehicle speed and engine
speed low.Automatic transmission
The automatic transmission permits
automatic gearshifting (automatic
mode) or manual gearshifting
(manual mode).
Manual shifting is possible in manual mode by tapping the selector lever or
pulling the steering wheel paddles
3 159.
Transmission display
Driving and operating159
Parking
Apply the parking brake and engage P .
The ignition key can only be removed
when the selector lever is in position
P .
Manual mode
Selector lever
Move selector lever out of position D
towards the left to select manual
mode.
Tap selector leverforwards=shift to a higher gearbackwards=shift to a lower gear.
The selected gear is indicated in the
instrument cluster.
Steering wheel paddles
Move selector lever out of position D
towards the left to select manual
mode.
Pull steering wheel paddles to select
gears manually
right
paddle <=pull briefly to shift
one gear upleft
paddle ]=pull briefly to shift one
gear down, multiple
pulls allows gears to
be skipped.
The selected gear is indicated in the instrument cluster.
Temporary manual mode in drive
mode D
Manual paddle shifting is also
possible in automatic mode D. Upon
completion of manual shifting
operation, transmission changes to
automatic mode D after a defined
time.
To interrupt manual mode: ■ press < paddle for 1 second, or
■ move selector lever towards the left
to manual mode and back to
position D.
If the vehicle is at a standstill and
engine is idling, the transmission will remain in temporary manual mode. It
changes to automatic mode when
accelerator pedal is operated for a
defined time and no paddle shifting at
the steering wheel is performed.
168Driving and operating
Additionally the selected mode is
displayed as status message in the
Driver Information Centre.
If the vehicle comes into threshold
with deactivated ESP, the system will reactivate ESP for the time duration
of the threshold, when the brake pedal is depressed once.
ESC is reactivated by pressing the
b button again. If the TC system was
previously disabled, both TC and
ESC are reactivated.
ESC is also reactivated the next time
the ignition is switched on.Interactive driving system
Flex Ride Flex Ride driving system allows the
driver to select between three driving
modes:
■ SPORT mode: press button SPORT , LED illuminates.
■ TOUR mode: press button TOUR,
LED illuminates.
■ NORMAL mode: neither button SPORT nor TOUR is pressed, no
LED illuminates.
Deactivate SPORT mode and TOUR
mode by pressing corresponding
button once more.
In each driving mode Flex Ride networks the following electronic systems:
■ Continuous Damping Control.
■ Accelerator Pedal Control.
■ Steering Control.
■ All-wheel drive.
■ Electronic Stability Control (ESC).■ Antilock brake system (ABS) with cornering brake control (CBC).
■ Automatic transmission.
SPORT mode
The 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.
■ Engine torque of All-wheel drive is distributed more to the rear axle.
Driving and operating169
■ Shift points of automatictransmission occur later.
■ With SPORT mode activated, the illumination of main instruments
changes from white to red.
TOUR mode
The 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.
■ Engine torque of All-wheel drive isdistributed mainly to the front axle.
■ 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 manually 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 changes the settings
within the selected driving mode or,
when recognising greater variations,
the driving mode is changed for the
length of variation.
If, for example, NORMAL mode is
selected and DMC detects a sporty
driving behaviour, DMC changesseveral settings of the Normal mode
into sporty settings. The DMC
changes to SPORT mode in case of
very sporty driving behaviour.
If, for another example, TOUR mode
is selected and whilst driving on a
winding road a sudden hard brake is
necessary, DMC will detect the
dynamic vehicle condition and
changes the settings for suspension
to SPORT mode to increase vehicle
stability.
When the driving characteristic or the
dynamic vehicle state returns to the
former state, DMC will change the
settings to the preselected driving
mode.
Personalised settings in SPORT
mode
The driver can select the functions of
the SPORT mode when SPORT
button is pressed.
Select the relevant settings in
Settings , I Sport Mode in the Colour-
Info-Display.
Colour-Info-Display 3 114.
Vehicle personalisation 3 118.
170Driving and operating
Flex Ride - OPC VersionThe OPC Version of Flex Ride systemworks in the same way as the
standard Flex Ride system with the
difference that the modes have a
more sporty characteristic.OPC Flex Ride driving system allows
the driver to select between three
driving modes:
■ OPC mode: press button OPC,
LED illuminates.
■ SPORT mode: press button SPORT , LED illuminates.
■ NORMAL mode: neither button SPORT nor OPC is pressed, no
LED illuminates.
Deactivate SPORT mode and OPC mode by pressing corresponding
button once more.
In each driving mode OPC Flex Ride
networks the following electronic systems:
■ Continuous Damping Control.
■ Accelerator Pedal Control.
■ Steering Control.
■ All-wheel drive.
■ Electronic Stability Control (ESC).
■ Antilock brake system (ABS) with cornering brake control (CBC).
■ Automatic transmission.OPC mode
The drive dynamic characteristics are adapted to high performance
settings.
In this mode the illumination of main
instruments is switched to red.
SPORT mode
The settings of the systems are
adapted to a sportier driving style.
NORMAL mode
In NORMAL mode, when neither
SPORT nor OPC button is pressed,
all settings of the systems are
adapted to standard values.
Personalised settings in the OPC
mode
The driver can select the functions of
the OPC mode when OPC button is
pressed.
Select the relevant settings in
Settings , I Sport Mode in the Colour-
Info-Display.
Colour-Info-Display 3 114.
Vehicle personalisation 3 118.
Driving and operating185
If there is no vehicle ahead or the
vehicle ahead is out of range, two
dashes will be displayed: -.- s.
If Adaptive cruise control is active,
this page shows the following
distance setting instead 3 173.
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 3 181.
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
3 118.The system includes:
■ Brake preparation system
■ Emergency automatic braking
■ Forward looking brake assist9 Warning
This system is not intended to
replace the driver responsibility for driving the vehicle and looking
ahead. Its function is limited to
supplemental use only. The driver must 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 the brake preparation
system and emergency automatic
braking, the forward looking brake
assist function makes the brake assist more sensitive. Therefore,
depressing the brake pedal slightly
results in immediate hard braking.
This function helps the driver brake
quicker and harder before the
imminent collision.9 Warning
Active emergency braking is not
designed to apply hard
autonomous braking or to
automatically avoid a collision. It is designed to reduce the vehicle
speed before a collision. It may not
react for stopped vehicles,