You will find the applicable permissible values,
which must not be exceeded, in the vehicle
documents.
You will find the values approved by the manu-
facturer on the vehicle identification plates and
those for the towing vehicle under "Technical
data" (Y page 336).
When towing a trailer, your vehicle's handling
characteristics will be different in comparison to
when driving without a trailer.
The vehicle/trailer combination:
R is heavier
R is restricted in its acceleration and gradient-
climbing capability
R has an increased braking distance
R is affected more by strong crosswinds
R demands more sensitive steering
R has a larger turning circle
This can impair the vehicle's handling charac-
teristics. Adapt your driving style accordingly.
Maintain a safe distance. Drive carefully.
When towing a trailer, always adjust your speed to the current road and weather conditions. Do
not exceed the maximum permissible speed for
your vehicle/trailer combination. Notes on towing a trailer
General notes The E 500 model cannot be used to tow a trailer.
i When towing a trailer, set the tyre pressure
on the rear axle of the towing vehicle for a
maximum load; see the tyre pressure table in
the fuel filler flap (Y page 316).
Please note that when towing a trailer, the fol-
lowing driving systems have limited availability
or are not available at all.
R PARKTRONIC (Y page 172)
R Active Parking Assist (Y page 176)
R Blind Spot Assist (Y page 193)
i The height of the ball coupling changes with
the load of the vehicle. If necessary, use a
trailer with a height-adjustable drawbar.
You will find fitting dimensions and loads under "Technical data" (Y page 335). Driving tips i
Observe the notes on ESP ®
trailer stabilisa-
tion (Y page 68).
The maximum permissible speed for vehicle/
trailer combinations depends on the type of
trailer. Before beginning the journey, check the
trailer's documents to see what the maximum
permitted speed is. Observe the legally prescri-
bed maximum speed in the relevant country.
For certain Mercedes-Benz vehicles, the maxi-
mum permissible rear axle load is increased
when towing a trailer. See the "Technical data"
section to find out whether this applies to your
vehicle (Y page 336). If you utilise any of the
added maximum rear axle load when towing a
trailer, the vehicle/trailer combination may not
exceed a maximum speed of 100 km/h for rea-
sons concerning the operating permit. This also applies in countries in which the permissible
maximum speed for vehicle/trailer combina-
tions is above 100 km/h.
When towing a trailer, your vehicle's handling
characteristics will be different in comparison to
when driving without a trailer and it will con-
sume more fuel.
Change into a lower gear in good time on long
and steep downhill gradients.
i This also applies if you have activated cruise
control, SPEEDTRONIC or DISTRONIC PLUS.
This will use the braking effect of the engine, so
less braking will be required to maintain vehicle speed. This relieves the load on the brake sys-
tem and prevents the brakes from overheating
and wearing too quickly. If you need additional
braking, depress the brake pedal repeatedly
rather than continuously.
Driving tips If the trailer swings from side to side:
X Do not accelerate.
X Do not countersteer.
X Brake if necessary.
R Maintain a greater distance to the vehicle in
front than when driving without a trailer.
R Avoid braking abruptly. If possible, brake gen-
tly at first to allow the trailer to run on. Then,
increase the braking force rapidly.
R The values given for gradient-climbing capa-
bilities from a standstill refer to sea level.
When driving in mountainous areas, note that 202
Towing a trailerDriving and parking
Under normal operating conditions and with the
specified coolant level, the coolant temperature
may rise to 120 †.
At high outside temperatures and when driving
uphill, the coolant temperature may rise to the
end of the scale. Operating the on-board computer
Overview :
Multifunction display
; Switches on voice-operated control for nav-
igation or LINGUATRONIC
= Right control panel
? Left control panel
A Back button
X To activate the on-board computer: turn
the key to position 1in the ignition lock.
You can control the multifunction display and the settings in the on-board computer using
the buttons on the multifunction steering
wheel.
You can find further information on LINGUA-
TRONIC in the separate operating instruc-
tions in vehicles with a COMAND Online mul-
timedia system.
You can find further information on voice-
operated control for navigation in the manu-
facturer's operating instructions in vehicles
with an Audio 20 multimedia system. Left control panel =
; R
Calls up the menu and menu bar 9
: Press briefly:
R Scrolls through lists
R Selects a submenu or function
R In the Audio Audio menu: selects the
previous or next station, when the preset list or station list is active,
or an audio track or video scene
R In the Tel Tel(telephone) menu:
switches to the phone book and
selects a name or telephone num-
ber 9
: Press and hold:
R
In the Audio Audio menu: selects a pre-
set list or a station list in the
desired frequency range, or an
audio track or video scene using
rapid scrolling
R In the Tel Tel(Telephone) menu:
starts rapid scrolling if the phone
book is open a R
Confirms the selection or display
message
R In the Tel Tel(Telephone) menu:
switches to the telephone book
and starts dialling the selected
number Right control panel
~ R
Rejects or ends a call
R Exits the telephone book/redial
memory 6 R
Makes or accepts a call
R Switches to the redial memory W
X R
Adjusts the volume 8 R
Mute Displays and operation
207On-board computer and displays Z
Back button
% Press briefly:
R Back
R Switches off voice-operated con-
trol for navigation or LINGUA-
TRONIC
R Hides display messages or calls up
the last Trip Tripmenu function used
R Exits the telephone book/redial
memory % Press and hold:
R
Calls up the standard display in the
Trip Trip menu Multifunction display
:
Text field
; Menu bar
= Drive program
? Transmission position
A Permanent display: outside temperature or
speed
X To display menu bar ;:press the =
or ; button on the steering wheel.
If you do not press the buttons any longer,
menu bar ;is faded out after a few seconds.
Text field :shows the selected menu or sub-
menu as well as display messages.
Possible displays in the multifunction dis-
play:
R ZGearshift recommendation for manual
transmission (Y page 140) or for automatic
transmission (shifting manually)
(Y page 144)
R j Active Parking Assist (Y page 176)
R ¯ Cruise control (Y page 156) R
È SPEEDTRONIC (Y page 158)
R _ Adaptive Highbeam Assist Plus
(Y page 109)
R ¤ ECO start/stop function (Y page 135)
R ë HOLD function (Y page 170)
R 120 km/h!
120 km/h! Maximum permissible speed
exceeded (only for certain countries) Menus and submenus
Menu overview
Press the =or; button on the steering
wheel to call up the menu bar and select a menu.
Operating the on-board computer (Y page 207).
Depending on the equipment fitted in the vehi-
cle, you can call up the following menus:
R Trip Trip menu (Y page 208)
R Navi
Navi menu (navigation instructions)
(Y page 210)
R Audio
Audio menu (Y page 211)
R Tel
Tel menu (telephone) (Y page 212)
R Assist.
Assist. menu (assistance) (Y page 213)
R Serv.
Serv. menu (Y page 215)
R Settings
Settings menu (settings) (Y page 216)
The displays are dependent on the multimedia
system. This is why the displays for the Audio
Audio,
Navi
Navi andTel
Tel menus may differ slightly to those
in your vehicle. Trip menu
Standard display X
Press and hold the %button on the steer-
ing wheel until the Trip
Tripmenu with trip
meter :and total distance recorder ;
appears. 208
Menus and submenusOn-board computer and displays
Trip computer "From start" or "From
reset" :
Distance
; Driving time
= Average speed
? Average fuel consumption
X Press the =or; button on the steering
wheel to select the Trip
Tripmenu.
X Press the 9or: button to select
From start
From start orFrom reset
From reset.
The values in the From
Fromstart
start submenu are cal-
culated from the start of a journey whilst the
values in the From reset
From reset submenu are calcu-
lated from the last time the submenu was reset
(Y page 209).
In the following cases, the trip computer is auto-
matically reset From start
From start:
R the ignition has been switched off for more
than four hours
R 999 hours have been exceeded
R 9,999 kilometres have been exceeded
When 9,999 hours or 99,999 kilometres have
been exceeded, the trip computer is automati-
cally reset From reset
From reset.
ECO display X
Press the =or; button on the steering
wheel to select the Trip
Tripmenu.
X Press the 9or: button to select ECO
ECO
DISPLAY
DISPLAY.
If the ignition remains switched off for longer
than four hours, the ECO display will be auto-
matically reset.
Further information on the ECO display
(Y page 152). Displaying the range and current fuel
consumption X
Press the =or; button on the steering
wheel to select the Trip Tripmenu.
X Press 9or: to select the display with
approximate range and the current fuel con-
sumption.
The approximate range that can be covered is calculated according to your current driving
style and the amount of fuel in the tank. If
there is only a small amount of fuel left in the
fuel tank, a vehicle being refuelled C
appears instead of approximate range.
Digital speedometer X
Press the =or; button on the steering
wheel to select the Trip Tripmenu.
X Press the 9or: button to select the
digital speedometer.
A gearshift recommendation Zcan also
appear in the display.
Observe the information on gearshift recom-
mendation Zfor manual transmission
(Y page 140) or for automatic transmission
(shifting manually) (Y page 144).
Resetting values X
Press the =or; button on the steering
wheel to select the Trip Tripmenu.
X Press the 9or: button to select the
function that you wish to reset.
X Press ato confirm your selection.
X Press :to select Yes
Yesand press ato
confirm.
You can reset the values of the following func-
tions: R Trip meter
R "From start" trip computer
R "From reset" trip computer
R ECO display Menus and submenus
209On-board computer and displays Z
i
If you reset the values in the "ECO display",
the values in the "From start" trip computer
are also reset. If you reset the values in the
"From start" trip computer, the values in the
"ECO display" are also reset. Navigation menu
Displaying navigation instructions In the
Navi Navimenu, the multifunction display
shows navigation instructions.
Observe the additional information on naviga-
tion in the separate operating instructions for
the multimedia system.
X Switch on the multimedia system (see the
separate operating instructions).
X Press the =or; button on the steering
wheel to select the Navi
Navi menu.
Route guidance not active :
Direction of travel
; Current road
Route guidance active No change of direction announced
:
Distance to the destination
; Distance to the next change of direction
= Current road
? Symbol indicating "follow the road's course" Change of direction announced without a
lane recommendation :
Road to which the change of direction leads
; Distance to change of direction and visual
distance display
= Change-of-direction symbol
When a change of direction is announced, you
will see change-of-direction symbol =and dis-
tance graphic ;. This shortens towards the top
of the display as you approach the point of the
announced change of direction.
Change of direction announced with a
lane recommendation :
Road to which the change of direction leads
; Distance to change of direction and visual
distance display
= Lanes not recommended
? Recommended lane and new lane during a
change of direction
A Change-of-direction symbol
On multilane roads, new lane recommendations
can be displayed for the next change of direction
if the digital map supports this data. During the change of direction, new lanes may be added.
Lane not recommended =: you will not be able
to complete the next change of direction if you
stay in this lane.
Recommended lane and new lane during a
change of direction ?: in this lane you will be
able to complete the next two changes of direc- tion without changing lane. 210
Menus and submenusOn-board computer and displays
Other status indicators of the naviga-
tion system The navigation system displays additional infor-
mation and the vehicle status.
Possible displays
R New route...
New route... orCalculating route Calculating route
A new route is calculated.
R Road not mapped
Road not mapped
The vehicle position is inside the area of the
digital map but the road is not recognised, e.g.
new roads, car parks or private land.
R No route
No route
No route could be calculated to the selected
destination.
R O: you have reached the destination or an
intermediate destination. Audio menu
Selecting a radio station :
Active station list
; Station with preset position
The menu shows station ;with station fre-
quency or station name. The preset position is
only displayed along with station ;if this has
been saved.
X Switch on the multimedia system and select
radio (see the separate operating instruc-
tions).
X Press the =or; button on the steering
wheel to select the Audio
Audio menu.
X To select a preset list or station list: press
and briefly hold the 9or: button until the preset list or station list in the desired
frequency range is shown.
X To select a station: briefly press9
or :.
i DAB radio mode (Digital
AudioBroadcast-
ing) is an optimised digital transmission
standard designed for the mobile reception of
radio transmissions.
Audio player or audio media operation Audio files from various audio players or media
can be played, depending on the equipment fit-
ted in the vehicle.
X Switch on the multimedia system and select
audio CD or MP3 mode (see the separate
operating instructions).
X Press the =or; button on the steering
wheel to select the Audio Audiomenu.
X To select the next/previous track: briefly
press the 9or: button.
X To select a track from the track list (rapid
scrolling): press and hold the 9or:
button until desired track :appears.
If you press and hold the 9or: button,
the rapid scrolling speed is increased. Not all audio players or media support this function. If track information is stored on the audio
player or media, the multifunction display will
show the number and title of the track.
Video DVD operation Only for vehicles with a COMAND Online multi-
media system: you can use the
Audio Audiomenu to
play video DVDs. Menus and submenus
211On-board computer and displays Z
X
Switch on the multimedia system and select
video DVD (see the separate operating
instructions).
X Press the =or; button on the steering
wheel to select the Audio Audiomenu.
X To select the next or previous scene:
briefly press the 9or: button.
X To select a scene from the scene list
(rapid scrolling): press and hold the 9
or : button until desired scene :
appears.
TV operation Only for vehicles with a COMAND Online multi-
media system: you can use the Audio
Audio menu to
select channel :.
The preset position is only displayed along with
channel :if this has been saved. You can save
stations in the multimedia system.
X Switch on the multimedia system and select
TV (see the separate operating instructions).
X Press the =or; button on the steering
wheel to select the Audio
Audio menu.
X To select a stored channel: briefly press the
9 or: button.
X To select a channel from the channel list:
press and briefly hold the
9or: but-
ton.
i Depending on the digital TV broadcaster,
radio stations can also be received. The mul-
tifunction display shows TV (Radio)
TV (Radio). Telephone menu
Introduction G
WARNING
Operating the integrated information systems and communications equipment in the vehicle
while driving will distract you from traffic con- ditions. You could then lose control of the
vehicle. There is a risk of an accident.
Only operate these devices if road traffic con- ditions permit. If you are unsure about the
surrounding conditions, pull over to a safe
location and make entries only while the vehi-
cle is stationary.
When telephoning, you must observe the legal
requirements for the country in which you are
currently driving.
X Switch on the mobile phone (see the manu-
facturer's operating instructions).
X Switch on the multimedia system (see the
separate operating instructions).
X Insert the mobile phone into the bracket
(Y page 275).
or
X Establish a Bluetooth ®
connection to the mul-
timedia system (see the separate operating
instructions).
X Press the =or; button on the steering
wheel to select the Tel
Tel menu.
You will see one of the following display mes-
sages in the multifunction display: R Telephone ready Telephone ready or the name of the net-
work provider: the mobile phone has found a network and is ready to receive.
R Telephone
Telephone No
Noservice
service : there is no network
available or the mobile phone is searching for
a network.
i You can obtain further information about
suitable mobile phones and connecting
mobile phones via Bluetooth ®
:
R at any Mercedes-Benz Service Centre
R on the Internet at http://www.mercedes-
benz.com/connect
Accepting a call If someone calls you when you are in the
Tel Tel
menu, a display message appears in the multi-
function display.
You can accept a call at any time irrespective of
the selected menu.
X Press the 6button on the steering wheel
to accept an incoming call. 212
Menus and submenusOn-board computer and displays
Rejecting or ending a call
X
Press the ~button on the steering wheel
to reject or end an incoming call.
Selecting an entry in the phone book X
Press the =or; button on the steering
wheel to select the Tel
Tel menu.
X Press the 9,:ora button to
switch to the phone book.
X Authorise access to the phone book on the
phone.
X Press the 9or: button to select the
desired name.
or
X To start rapid scrolling: press and hold:
or 9 for longer than one second.
The names in the phone book are displayed
quickly one after the other.
Rapid scrolling stops when you release the
button or reach the end of the list.
X If only one telephone number is stored for
a name: press the 6ora button to
start dialling.
or
X If there is more than one number for a
particular name: press the6ora
button to display the numbers.
X Press the 9or: button to select the
number you want to dial.
X Press the 6ora button to start dial-
ling.
or
X To exit the telephone book: press the~
or % button.
Redialling The on-board computer saves the last names or
numbers dialled in the redial memory.
X Press the =or; button on the steering
wheel to select the Tel
Tel menu.
X Press the 6button to switch to the redial
memory.
X Press the 9or: button to select the
desired name or number. X
Press the 6ora button to start dial-
ling.
or X To exit the redial memory: press the~
or % button. Assistance menu
Introduction Depending on the equipment fitted in the vehi-
cle, you have the following options in the
Assist. Assist. menu:
R Showing the assistance graphic
(Y page 213)
R Activating/deactivating the Traffic Sign
Assist display (Y page 214)
R Deactivating/activating ESP ®
(Y page 214)
R Activating/deactivating Steering Assist and
Stop&Go Pilot of DISTRONIC PLUS
(Y page 215)
R Activating/deactivating PRE-SAFE ®
Brake
(Y page 214)
R Activating/deactivating COLLISION PREVEN-
TION ASSIST PLUS (Y page 214)
R Activating/deactivating ATTENTION ASSIST
(Y page 215)
R Activating/deactivating Blind Spot Assist or
Active Blind Spot Assist (Y page 215)
R Activating/deactivating Lane Keeping Assist
or Active Lane Keeping Assist (Y page 215)
Showing the assistance graphic X
Press the =or; button on the steering
wheel to select the Assist. Assist.menu.
X Press 9or: to select Assist.
Assist.
graphic
graphic.
X Press ato confirm.
The multifunction display shows the
DISTRONIC PLUS distance display in the
assistance graphic. Menus and submenus
213On-board computer and displays Z