of the towing vehicle, as the latter is equip-
ped with an anti-lock brake system. Doing
so will result in a loss of function of the
brake systems of both the vehicle and the
trailer.
X Make sure that the automatic transmission
is set to position P.
X Apply the vehicle's electric parking brake.
X Start the engine.
X Vehicles with the AIRMATIC package:
select highway level.
X Vehicles with ADS: set ADS toAUTOor
COMF.
X Switch off the engine.
X Close all doors and the tailgate.
X Couple up the trailer.
X Establish all electrical connections.
X Check that the trailer lighting system is
working.
i Vehicles with the AIRMATIC package:
with a trailer attached, the vehicle will
always remain at highway level. When cou-
pling up a trailer, please observe the fol-
lowing:
R Unless highway level has been set man-
ually, the vehicle is automatically low-
ered to highway level. This is the case if a
speed of 5 mph (8 km/h) is reached.
R High-speed level is not available.
These restrictions apply to all accessories
powered through a connection to the trailer power socket of your vehicle, e.g. a bicycle
carrier.
Observe the maximum permissible trailer
dimensions (width and length).
Most U.S. states and all Canadian provinces
require by law:
R Safety chains between the towing vehicle
and the trailer. The chains should be cross-
wound under the trailer drawbar. They must be fastened to the vehicle's trailer cou-
pling, not to the bumper or the axle. Leave enough play in the chains to make
tight cornering possible.
R A separate brake system for certain types
of trailer.
R A safety switch for braked trailers. Check
the specific legal requirements applicable
to your state.
If the trailer detaches from the towing vehi- cle, the safety switch applies the trailer's
brakes. Towing a trailer
There are numerous legal requirements con-
cerning the towing of a trailer, e.g. speed
restrictions. Make sure that your car/trailer
combination complies with the local regula-
tions: R in your place of residence
R in the location to which you are driving
The police and local authorities can provide
reliable information.
Observe the following when towing a trailer:
R To gain driving experience and to become
accustomed to the new handling charac-
teristics, you should practice the following
in a traffic-free location:
- cornering
- stopping
- backing up
R Before driving, check:
- trailer tow hitch
- safety switch for braked trailers
- safety chains
- electrical connections
- lights
- wheels
R Adjust the exterior mirrors to provide an
unobstructed view of the rear section of the trailer.
R If the trailer has electronically controlled
brakes, pull away carefully. Brake manually 268
Towing a trailerDriving and parking
using the brake controller and check
whether the brakes function correctly.
R Secure any objects on the trailer to prevent
the cargo from slipping when the vehicle is
in motion.
R When you couple up a trailer, check at reg-
ular intervals that the load is firmly secured.If the trailer is equipped with trailer lights
and brakes, check the trailer to ensure that
these are working.
R Bear in mind that the handling will be less
stable when towing a trailer than when driv- ing without one. Avoid sudden steering
movements.
R The vehicle/trailer combination is heavier,
accelerates more slowly, has a decreased
gradient climbing capability and a longer
braking distance.
It is more susceptible to side winds and
requires more careful steering.
R If possible, do not brake suddenly, but
instead depress the brake pedal moder-
ately at first so that the trailer can activate its brakes. Then increase the pressure on
the brake pedal.
R If the automatic transmission repeatedly
shifts between gears on uphill or downhill
gradients, shift to a lower gear using the
left-hand steering wheel paddle shifter.
A lower gear and lower speed reduce the
risk of engine failure.
R When driving downhill, shift to a lower gear
to utilize the engine's braking effect.
Avoid continuous brake application as this
may overheat the vehicle brakes and, if
installed, the trailer brakes.
R If the coolant temperature increases dra-
matically while the air-conditioning system
is switched on, switch off the air-condition-
ing system.
Coolant heat can also be dissipated by
opening the windows and switching the ventilation blower and the interior temper-
ature to the highest level.
R When overtaking, pay particular attention
to the extended length of your vehicle/
trailer combination.
Due to the length of the vehicle/trailer
combination, you require additional road
space in relation to the vehicle you are
overtaking before you can change back to
the original lane. Decoupling a trailer
G
WARNING
If you uncouple a trailer with the overrun
brake engaged, you could trap your hand
between the vehicle and the trailer drawbar.
There is a risk of injury.
Do not uncouple a trailer if the overrun brake is engaged. G
WARNING
Vehicles with level control:
The vehicle is lowered as soon as you discon-
nect the trailer cable. This could result in your limbs or those of other people that are
between the vehicle body and tires or under-
neath the vehicle being trapped. There is a
risk of injury.
Make sure that nobody is in the immediate
vicinity of the wheel housings or under the
vehicle when you disconnect the trailer cable.
! Do not disconnect a trailer with an
engaged overrun brake. Otherwise, your
vehicle could be damaged by the rebound- ing of the overrun brake.
X Make sure that the automatic transmission
is set to position P.
X Apply the vehicle's electric parking brake.
X Start the engine.
X Close all doors and the tailgate.
X Apply the trailer's parking brake. Towing a trailer
269Driving and parking Z
The coolant temperature gauge is in the
instrument cluster on the right-hand side
(Y page 35).
Under normal operating conditions and with
the specified coolant level, the coolant tem-
perature may rise to 248 ‡ (120 †). Tachometer
! Do not drive in the overrevving range, as
this could damage the engine.
The red band in the tachometer indicates the
engine's overrevving range.
The fuel supply is interrupted to protect the
engine when the red band is reached. Outside temperature display
You should pay special attention to road con-
ditions when temperatures are around freez-
ing point.
Bear in mind that the outside temperature
display indicates the temperature measured
and does not record the road temperature.
The outside temperature display is in the mul- tifunction display (Y page 276).
Changes in the outside temperature are dis-
played after a short delay. Speedometer with segments
The segments in the speedometer indicate
which speed range is available.
R Cruise control activated (Y page 203):
The segments light up from the stored
speed to the maximum speed.
R DISTRONIC PLUS activated (Y page 206):
One or two segments in the set speed
range light up.
R DISTRONIC PLUS detects a vehicle in front:
The segments between the speed of the
vehicle in front and the stored speed light
up. Operating the on-board computer
Overview 0043
Multifunction display
0044 Switches on the Voice Control System;
see the separate operating instructions
0087 Right control panel
0085 Left control panel
0083 Back button
X To activate the on-board computer: turn
the SmartKey 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. Displays and operation
275On-board computer and displays Z
0083
Drive program (Y page 176)
0084 Transmission position (Y page 176)
X To show menu bar 0085:press the 0059
or 0065 button on the steering wheel.
Menu bar 0085disappears after a few seconds.
Text field 0087shows the selected menu or
submenu as well as display messages.
i You can set the time using the audio sys-
tem or COMAND; see the separate operat-
ing instructions.
The following messages may appear in the
multifunction display:
0097 Gearshift recommendation, when
shifting manually (Y page 181)
0095005D0096 Active Parking Assist
(Ypage 228)
CRUISE
CRUISE Cruise control (Y
page 203)
LOW
LOW
RANGE RANGE LOW RANGE off-road gear
(Y
page 261)
00CE Adaptive Highbeam Assist
(Ypage 134)
00A7 ECO start/stop function
(Ypage 171)
00D9 HOLD function (Y page 218) Menus and submenus
Menu overview
Press the 0059or0065 button on the steer-
ing wheel to call up the menu bar and select a
menu.
Operating the on-board computer
(Y page 275).
Depending on the equipment installed in the
vehicle, you can call up the following menus:
R Trip Trip menu (Y page 277)
R Navi
Navi menu (navigation instructions)
(Y page 279)
R Audio
Audio menu (Y page 280)
R Tel
Tel menu (telephone) (Y page 281)R
DriveAssist
DriveAssist menu (assistance)
(Y page 283)
R Serv
Serv menu (Y page 284)
R Sett
Sett menu (settings) (Y page 285)
R ON&OFFROAD
ON&OFFROAD menu (Ypage 289)
R AMG
AMG menu in AMG vehicles (Y page 289) Trip menu
Standard display X
Press and hold the 0038button on the
steering wheel until the Trip
Tripmenu with
trip odometer 0043and odometer 0044is
shown.
Trip computer "From Start" or "From
Reset" Example: trip computer "From Start"
0043
Distance
0044 Time
0087 Average speed
0085 Average fuel consumption
X Press the 0059or0065 button on the steer-
ing wheel to select the Trip Tripmenu.
X Press 0063or0064 to select From Start
From Start
or From Reset
From Reset.
The values in the From Start
From Startsubmenu are
calculated from the start of a journey, while
the values in the From Reset
From Resetsubmenu are Menus and submenus
277On-board computer and displays Z
calculated from the last time the submenu
was reset (Y page 278).
The From Start
From Start trip computer is automati-
cally reset when:
R the ignition has been switched off for more
than four hours.
R 999 hours have been exceeded.
R 9,999 miles have been exceeded.
The From Reset
From Reset trip computer is automati-
cally reset if the value exceeds 9,999 hours or 99,999 miles.
ECO display Example: ECO display
The ECO display is not available for AMG vehi- cles.
X Press the 0059or0065 button on the steer-
ing wheel to select the Trip
Trip menu.
X Select ECO DISPLAY
ECO DISPLAY with0063 or0064.
If the ignition remains switched off for longer than four hours, the ECO display will be auto-
matically reset.
For further information on the ECO display,
see (Y page 195).
Displaying the range and current fuel
consumption X
Press the 0059or0065 button on the steer-
ing wheel to select the Trip Tripmenu.
X Press the 0063or0064 button to select the
approximate range and the current fuel
consumption (not for AMG vehicles).
The approximate range that can be covered
depends on the fuel level and your current
driving style. If there is only a small amount of
fuel left in the fuel tank, the display shows a
vehicle being refueled 00A8instead of the
range.
Digital speedometer 0043
Shift recommendation (Y page 181)
0044 Digital speedometer
Gearshift recommendation 0043is not given on
AMG vehicles.
X Press the 0059or0065 button on the steer-
ing wheel to select the Trip Tripmenu.
X Press the 0063or0064 button to select the
digital speedometer.
Resetting values Example: resetting the trip computer "From Start"
X Press the 0059or0065 button on the steer-
ing wheel to select the Trip
Tripmenu.
X Press the 0063or0064 button to select the
function that you wish to reset. 278
Menus and submenusOn-board computer and displays
X
Press the 0076button.
X Press the 0064button to select Yes
Yesand
press the 0076button to confirm.
You can reset the values of the following func-
tions:
R Trip odometer
R "From Start" trip computer
R "From Reset" trip computer
R ECO display
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 system menu
Displaying navigation instructions In the
Navi
Navimenu, the multifunction display
shows navigation instructions.
For more information, see the separate oper-
ating instructions.
X Switch on the audio system with Becker ®
MAP PILOT or COMAND; see the separate
operating instructions.
X Press the 0059or0065 button on the steer-
ing wheel to select the Navi Navimenu.
Route guidance not active 0043
Direction of travel
0044 Current road Route guidance active No change of direction announced
0043
Distance to the destination
0044 Distance to the next change of direction
0087 Current road
0085 "Follow the road's course" symbol
Change of direction announced without a lane recommendation 0043
Road into which the change of direction
leads
0044 Distance to change of direction and visual
distance display
0087 Change-of-direction symbol
When a change of direction is announced, you
will see symbol 0087for the change of direction
and distance graphic 0044. The distance indi-
cator shortens towards the top of the display
as you approach the point of the announced
change of direction. Menus and submenus
279On-board computer and displays Z
Change of direction announced with a
lane recommendation 0043
Road into which the change of direction
leads
0044 Distance to change of direction and visual
distance display
0087 Recommended lane and new lane during a
change of direction
0085 Lanes not recommended
0083 Recommended lane
0084 Change-of-direction symbol
On multilane roads, new lane recommenda-
tions 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.
Recommended lane and new lane during a
change of direction 0087: in this lane you will be
able to complete the next two changes of
direction without changing lane.
Lane not recommended 0085: you will not be
able to complete the next change of direction
if you stay in this lane.
Recommended lane 0083: in this lane you will
only be able to complete the next change of
direction without changing lane.
Other status indicators of the naviga-
tion system R
004B: you have reached the destination or an
intermediate destination.
R New Route... New Route... orCalculating Route
Calculating Route:
calculating a new route.
R Off Map
Off Map orOff
Off Mapped
Mapped Road
Road: the vehicle
position is outside the area of the digital
map (off-map position).
R No Route
No Route : no route could be calculated to
the selected destination. Audio menu
Selecting a radio station 0043
Waveband
0044 Station frequency with memory position
i Station
0044is displayed with the station
frequency or station name. The memory
position is only displayed along with sta-
tion 0044if this has been stored.
X Switch on COMAND and select Radio; see
the separate operating instructions.
X Press the 0059or0065 button on the steer-
ing wheel to select the Audio
Audio menu.
X To select a stored station: briefly press
the 0063 or0064 button.
X To select a station from the station list:
press and briefly hold the 0063or0064
button.
If no station list is received: X To select a station using the station
search: press and briefly hold the 0063
or 0064 button.
i For information on switching waveband
and storing stations; see the separate oper-
ating instructions.
i SIRIUS XM satellite radio functions like a
normal radio.
For more information on satellite radio
operation, see the separate operating
instructions. 280
Menus and submenusOn-board computer and displays
Operating an audio player or audio
media Audio data from various audio devices or
media can be played, depending on the equip- ment installed in the vehicle.
X Switch on COMAND Online and select
audio CD or MP3 mode, see the separate
operating instructions.
X Press the 0059or0065 button on the steer-
ing wheel to select the Audio
Audio menu.
X To select the next/previous track:
briefly press the 0063or0064 button.
X To select a track from the track list
(rapid scrolling): press and hold the 0063
or 0064 button until the desired track has
been reached 0043.
If you press and hold 0063or0064, the
rapid scrolling speed is increased. Not all
audio drives or data carriers support this
function.
If track information is stored on the audio
device or medium, the multifunction display
will show the number and title of the track.
The current track does not appear in audio
AUX mode (Aux iliary audio mode: external
audio source connected).
Video DVD operation Example: CD/DVD changer display X
Switch on COMAND and select video DVD;
see the separate operating instructions.
X Press the 0059or0065 button on the steer-
ing wheel to select the Audio
Audio menu.
X To select the next/previous scene:
briefly press the 0063or0064 button.
X To select a scene from the scene list
(rapid scrolling): press and hold the 0063
or 0064 button until desired scene 0043has
been reached. Telephone menu
Introduction G
WARNING
If you operate information systems and com-
munication equipment integrated in the vehi- cle while driving, you will be distracted from
traffic conditions. You could also lose control of the vehicle. There is a risk of an accident.
Only operate the equipment when the traffic
situation permits. If you are not sure that this
is possible, park the vehicle paying attention
to traffic conditions and operate the equip-
ment when the vehicle 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 sep-
arate operating instructions).
X Switch on COMAND (see the separate
operating instructions).
X Establish a Bluetooth ®
connection to
COMAND; see the separate operating
instructions.
X Press the 0059or0065 button on the steer-
ing wheel to select the Tel Telmenu. Menus and submenus
281On-board computer and displays Z