
Publication details
Internet
Further information about Mercedes-Benz
vehicles and about Daimler AG can be found
on the following websites:
http://www.mbusa.com (USA only)
http://www.mercedes-benz.ca (Canada
only) Editorial office
© Daimler AG: Not to be reprinted, translated
or otherwise reproduced, in whole or in part,
without written permission from Daimler AG. Vehicle manufacturer
Daimler AG
Mercedesstraße 137
70327 Stuttgart
Germany
Symbols
Registered trademarks:
R Bluetooth ®
is a registered trademark of
Bluetooth SIG Inc.
R DTS is a registered trademark of DTS, Inc.
R Dolby and MLP are registered trademarks
of DOLBY Laboratories.
R BabySmart™, ESP ®
and PRE-SAFE ®
are
registered trademarks of Daimler AG.
R HomeLink ®
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In this Operator's Manual you will find the fol-
lowing symbols: G
WARNING
Warning notes make you aware of dangers
which could pose a threat to your health or
life, or to the health and life of others. H
Environmental note
Environmental notes provide you with infor-
mation on environmentally aware actions or
disposal.
! Notes on material damage alert you to
dangers that could lead to damage to your
vehicle.
i Practical tips or further information that
could be helpful to you. X
This symbol indicates an instruction
that must be followed.
X Several of these symbols in succes-
sion indicate an instruction with sev-
eral steps.
(Y
page) This symbol tells you where you can
find more information about a topic.
YY This symbol indicates a warning or an
instruction that is continued on the
next page.
Dis‐
Dis‐
play play This font indicates a display in the
multifunction display/COMAND dis-
play.
Parts of the software in the vehicle are pro-
tected by copyright ©
2005
The FreeType Project
http://www.freetype.org. All rights
reserved.
As at 04.11.2013

Welcome to the world of Mercedes-Benz
We urge you to read this Operator's Manual
carefully and familiarize yourself with the
vehicle before driving. For your own safety
and a longer vehicle life, follow the instruc-
tions and warning notices in this manual.
Ignoring them could result in damage to the
vehicle or personal injury to you or others.
Vehicle damage caused by failure to follow
instructions is not covered by the Mercedes-
Benz Limited Warranty.
The equipment or product designation of your
vehicle may vary depending on:
R model
R order
R country specification
R availability
Mercedes-Benz therefore reserves the right
to introduce changes in the following areas:
R design
R equipment
R technical features
The equipment in your vehicle may therefore
differ from that shown in the descriptions and illustrations.
The following are integral components of the vehicle:
R Operator's Manual
R Maintenance Booklet
R Equipment-dependent supplements
Keep these documents in the vehicle at all
times. If you sell the vehicle, always pass all
documents on to the new owner.
You can also use the GLA Guide smartphone
app: Apple
®
iOS Android™
Please note that the Mercedes-Benz Guides
App may not yet be available in your country.
The technical documentation team at
Daimler AG wishes you safe and pleasant
motoring.
Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC
Mercedes-Benz Canada, Inc.
A Daimler Company
1565843700 É1565843700IËÍ

Central locking/unlocking
(SmartKey) ......................................
.76
Control panel .................................. .39
Display message ............................ 250
Emergency locking ........................... 83
Emergency unlocking ....................... 83
Important safety note s.................... 81
Opening (from inside) ...................... 81
Drinking and driving ......................... 163
Drive program Automatic ...................................... 153
Display ........................................... 150
Display (DIRECT SELECT lever) ...... 149
Manual ........................................... 154
SETUP (on-board computer) .......... 219
Driver's door
see Doors
Driver's seat
see Seats
Driving abroad
Mercedes-Benz Service ................. 297
Symmetrical low beam .................. 110
Driving in mountainous terrain
Approach/departure angle ............ 170
Driving off-road
see Off-road driving
Driving on flooded roads .................. 167
Driving safety systems ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) ....... 65
ADAPTIVE BRAK E............................. 72
Adaptive Brake Assist ...................... 67
BAS (Brake Assist System) .............. 65
COLLISION PREVENTION ASSIST
PLUS ................................................ 66
Distance warning function ............... 66
EBD (electronic brake force distri- bution) ............................................. 72
ESP ®
(Electronic Stability Pro-
gram) ............................................... 68
Important safety information ........... 64
Overview .......................................... 64
STEER CONTROL ............................. 72
Driving systems
Active Parking Assist ..................... 189
ATTENTION ASSIST ........................ 197
Blind Spot Assist ............................ 198
Cruise control ................................ 172 Display message ............................ 241
DISTRONIC PLUS ........................... 174
HOLD function ............................... 181
Lane Keeping Assist ...................... 200
Lane Tracking package .................. 198
PARKTRONIC ................................. 186
RACE START (AMG vehicles) .......... 183
Rear view camera .......................... 194
Driving tips
Automatic transmission ................. 151
Brakes ........................................... 164
Break-in period .............................. 142
Checking brake lining thickness .... 166
DISTRONIC PLUS ........................... 180
Downhill gradient ........................... 164
Drinking and driving ....................... 163
Driving abroad ............................... 110
Driving in winter ............................. 167
Driving on flooded roads ................ 167
Driving on sand .............................. 170
Driving on wet roads ...................... 167
Exhaust check ............................... 163
Fuel ................................................ 163
General .......................................... 162
Hydroplaning ................................. 167
Icy road surfaces ........................... 167
Limited braking efficiency on sal-
ted roads ....................................... 165
Off-road driving .............................. 168
Snow chains .................................. 327
Symmetrical low beam .................. 110
Tire ruts ......................................... 170
Traveling uphill ............................... 170
Wet road surface ........................... 165
DSR (Downhill Speed Regulation)
Display message ............................ 241
Function/note s............................. 184
DVD video (on-board computer) ...... 211 E
EASY-VARIO-PLUS system Cargo compartment enlargement .. 270
EBD (electronic brake force distri-
bution)
Display message ............................ 224
Function/note s................................ 72 Index
9

You could jeopardize the operating safety of
your vehicle if you use parts, tires and wheels as well as accessories relevant to safety
which have not been approved by Mercedes.
This could lead to malfunctions in safety-rel-
evant systems, e.g. the brake system. Use
only genuine Mercedes-Benz parts or parts of
equal quality. Only use tires, wheels and
accessories that have been specifically
approved for your vehicle.
Genuine Mercedes-Benz parts are subject to
strict quality control. Every part has been spe- cifically developed, manufactured or selected
for and adapted to Mercedes-Benz vehicles.
Only genuine Mercedes-Benz parts should
therefore be used.
More than 300,000 different genuine
Mercedes-Benz parts are available for
Mercedes-Benz models.
All authorized Mercedes-Benz Centers main-
tain a supply of genuine Mercedes-Benz parts for necessary service and repair work. In addi-
tion, strategically located parts delivery cen-
ters provide quick and reliable parts service.
Always specify the vehicle identification num- ber (VIN) when ordering genuine Mercedes-
Benz parts (Y page 360). Operator's Manual
Vehicle equipment
This Operator's Manual describes all models
and all standard and optional equipment of
your vehicle available at the time of going to
print. Country-specific differences are possi-
ble. Bear in mind that your vehicle may not
feature all functions described here. This also applies to safety-relevant systems and func-
tions. The equipment in your vehicle may
therefore differ from that shown in the
descriptions and illustrations.
The original purchase agreement lists all sys- tems installed in your vehicle.
Should you have any questions concerning
equipment and operation, please consult an
authorized Mercedes-Benz Center. The Operator's Manual and Maintenance
Booklet are important documents and should
be kept in the vehicle. Service and vehicle operation
Warranty
The implied warranty for your vehicle applies in accordance with the warranty terms and
conditions in the Service and Warranty Infor-
mation booklet.
Your authorized Mercedes-Benz Center will
replace and repair all factory-installed parts in
accordance with the following warranty terms
and conditions:
R New Vehicle Limited Warranty
R Emission System Warranty
R Emission Performance Warranty
R California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachu-
setts, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode
Island and Vermont Emission Control Sys-
tem Warranty
R State warranty enforcement laws (lemon
laws)
Replacement parts and accessories are cov-
ered by the Mercedes-Benz Parts and Acces- sories warranties. These are available at any
authorized Mercedes-Benz Center.
i Should you lose your Service and War-
ranty Information booklet, have an author-
ized Mercedes-Benz Center arrange for a
replacement. The new Service and War-
ranty Information booklet will be posted to you. 24
Introduction

Information for customers in Califor-
nia
Under California law you may be entitled to a replacement of your vehicle or a refund of thepurchase price or lease price, if after a rea-
sonable number of repair attempts
Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC and/or its author-
ized repair or service facilities fail to fix one or
more substantial defects or malfunctions in
the vehicle that are covered by its express
warranty. During the period of 18 months
from original delivery of the vehicle or the
accumulation of 18,000 miles (approximately 29,000 km) on the odometer of the vehicle,
whichever occurs first, a reasonable number
of repair attempts is presumed for a retail
buyer or lessee if one or more of the following occurs:
(1) the same substantial defect or malfunc- tion results in a condition that is likely to
cause death or serious bodily injury if the
vehicle is driven, that defect or malfunc-
tion has been subject to repair two or
more times, and you have directly noti-
fied Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC in writing
of the need for its repair,
(2) the same substantial defect or malfunc- tion of a less serious nature than cate-
gory (1) has been subject to repair four or
more times and you have directly notified us in writing of the need for its repair, or
(3) the vehicle is out of service by reason of repair of the same or different substantial
defects or malfunctions for a cumulative
total of more than 30 calendar days.
Please send your written notice to:
Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC
Customer Assistance Center
One Mercedes Drive
Montvale, NJ 07645-0350 Maintenance
The Service and Warranty Booklet describes
all the necessary maintenance work which
should be done at regular intervals.
Always have the Service and Warranty Book-
let with you when you bring the vehicle to an authorized Mercedes-Benz Center. The ser-
vice advisor will record every service for you
in the Service and Warranty Booklet. Roadside Assistance
The Mercedes-Benz Roadside Assistance
Program offers technical help in the event of a breakdown. Calls to the toll-free Roadside
Assistance Hotline are answered by our
agents 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
1-800-FOR-MERCedes(1-800-367-6372)
(USA)
1-800-387-0100 (Canada)
For additional information, refer to the
Mercedes-Benz Roadside Assistance Pro-
gram brochure (USA) or the "Roadside Assis-
tance" section in the Service and Warranty
booklet (Canada). You will find both in your
vehicle literature portfolio. Change of address or change of own-
ership
In the event of a change of address, please
send us the "Notification of Address Change" in the Service and Guarantee booklet or sim-
ply call the Mercedes-Benz Customer Assis-
tance Center (USA) at the hotline number
1-800-FOR-MERCedes(1-800-367-6372 )or
Customer Service Center (Canada) at
1-800-387-0100. This will assist us in con-
tacting you in a timely manner should the
need arise.
If you sell your Mercedes, please leave the
entire literature in the vehicle so that it is
available to the next owner.
If you have purchased a used car, please send
us the "Notification of Used Car Purchase" in Introduction
25 Z

belt is incorrectly fastened, it cannot protect
as intended. Furthermore, an incorrectly fas-
tened seat belt can cause additional injury, for example, in an accident, during braking or an
abrupt change of direction. This poses an
increased risk of injury or even fatal injury.
For this reason, always secure persons under
5 ft (1.50 m) in height in suitable restraint
systems.
If a child younger than 12 years and under 5 ft
(1.50 m) in height is traveling in the vehicle:
R always secure the child in a child restraint
system suitable for this Mercedes-Benz
vehicle. The child restraint system must be appropriate to the age, weight and size of
the child
R always observe the instructions and safety
notes in the "Children in the vehicle" sec-
tion of this Operator's Manual
(Y page 58) in addition to the child
restraint system manufacturer's installa-
tion instructions
R be sure to observe the instructions and
safety notes on the "Occupant classifica-
tion system (OCS)" (Y page 51)G
WARNING
The seat belts may not perform their intended protective function if:
R they are damaged, modified, extremely
dirty, bleach or dyed
R the seat belt buckle is damaged or
extremely dirty
R the Emergency Tensioning Devices, belt
anchorages or inertia reels have been modi-
fied
Seat belts may be damaged in an accident,
although the damage may not be visible, e.g.
due to splinters of glass. Modified or damaged
seat belts may tear or fail, e.g. in an accident. Modified Emergency Tensioning Devices
could accidentally trigger or fail to deploy
when necessary. This poses an increased risk
of injury or even fatal injury. Never modify the seat belts, Emergency Ten-
sioning Devices, belt anchorages or inertia
reels. Make sure that the seat belts are
undamaged, not worn out and clean. Follow-
ing an accident, have the seat belts checked
immediately at a qualified specialist work-
shop.
Only use seat belts that have been approved
for your vehicle by Mercedes-Benz. Any such
modifications could invalidate the vehicle's
general operating permit.
Vehicles with a sports seat or AMG Per-
formance seat: these seats are designed for
the standard three-point seat belt. If you
install another multipoint seat belt, e.g. sport
or racing seat belts, the restraint system can- not provide the best level of protection. G
WARNING
If you feed seat belts through the opening in
the seat backrest, the seat backrest may be
damaged or may even break in the event of an accident. This poses an increased risk of
injury or even fatal injury.
Only use the standard three-point seat belt.
Never modify the seat belt system.
Proper use of the seat belts Observe the safety notes on the seat belt
(Y
page 44).
All vehicle occupants must be wearing the
seat belt correctly before beginning the jour- ney. Also make sure that all vehicle occu-
pants are always wearing the seat belt cor-
rectly while the vehicle is in motion.
When fastening the seat belt, always make
sure that:
R the seat belt tongue is only inserted to the
belt buckle belonging to that seat.
R the seat belt is tight across your body.
Avoid wearing bulky clothing, e.g. a winter
coat.
R the seat belt is not twisted. Occupant safety
45Safety Z

Driver's knee bag
0043deploys under the steer-
ing column and front-passenger knee bag 0044
under the glove box. The driver's and front-
passenger knee bags are triggered together
with the front air bags.
The driver's and front-passenger knee bags
offer additional thigh, knee and lower leg pro-
tection for the occupants in the front seats.
Side impact air bags G
WARNING
Unsuitable seat covers could restrict or even
prevent the deployment of the air bags inte-
grated into the seats. Consequently, the air
bags cannot protect vehicle occupants as
they are designed to do. In addition, the func- tion of the Occupant Classification System
(OCS) could be restricted. This poses an
increased risk of injury or even fatal injury.
You should only use seat covers that have
been approved for the respective seat by
Mercedes-Benz. Front side impact air bags
0043and rear side
impact air bags 0044deploy next to the outer
bolster of the seat backrest.
When deployed, the side impact air bag offers additional thorax protection. It also offers
additional pelvis protection for occupants in
the front seats. However, it does not protect
the:
R head
R neck
R arms In the event of a side impact, the side impact
air bag is deployed on the side on which the
impact occurs.
The side impact air bag on the front-
passenger side (front) deploys in the follow-
ing situations:
R the OCS system detects that the front-
passenger seat is occupied or
R the belt tongue is engaged in the belt
buckle of the front-passenger seat
If the belt tongue is engaged in the belt
buckle, the side impact air bag on the front-
passenger side deploys if an appropriate acci- dent situation occurs. In this case, deploy-
ment is independent of whether the front-
passenger seat is occupied or not.
Window curtain air bags Window curtain air bags
0043are integrated
into the side of the roof frame and deployed in the area from the A-pillar to the C-pillar.
When deployed, the window curtain air bag
enhances the level of protection for the head.
However, it does not protect the chest or
arms.
In the event of a side impact, the window cur-
tain air bag is deployed on the side on which
the impact occurs.
If the system determines that they can offer
additional protection to that provided by the
seat belt, a window curtain air bag may be
deployed in other accident situations
(Y page 56). 50
Occupant safetySafety

BAG OFF indicator lamp lights up after the
system self-test and remains lit. This indi-
cates that the front-passenger front air bag
is deactivated.
But in the case of a 12-month-old child in a
standard child restraint system, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG ON can light up per-
manently after the system self-test. This
indicates that the front-passenger front air bag is activated. The result of the classifi-
cation is dependent on, among other fac-
tors, the child restraint system and the
child's stature. It is recommended that you
install the restraint system on a suitable
rear seat.
R the front-passenger seat is occupied by a
person of smaller stature (e.g. a teenager
or small adult), either the PASSENGER AIR
BAG ON or PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF indi-
cator lamp lights up and remains lit after
the system self-test depending on the
result of the classification.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG ON indicator
lamp lights up, move the front-passenger seat as far back as possible. Alterna-
tively, a person of smaller stature can siton a rear seat.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF indicator
lamp is lit, a person of smaller stature
should not use the front-passenger seat.
R the front-passenger seat is occupied by an
adult or a person of a stature correspond-
ing to that of an adult, the PASSENGER AIR BAG ON indicator lamp lights up after the
system self-test and remains lit. This indi-
cates that the front-passenger front air bag
is activated.
If children are traveling in the vehicle, be sure to observe the notes on "Children in the vehi-
cle" (Y page 58).
When OCS is malfunctioning, the red 0075
restraint system warning lamp in the instru-
ment cluster and the PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF indicator lamp light up simultaneously.
The front-passenger front air bag is deactiva-
ted in this case and does not deploy during an accident. Have the system checked by quali-
fied technicians as soon as possible. Consult
an authorized Mercedes-Benz Center. The
front-passenger seat should only be repaired
at an authorized Mercedes-Benz Center.
If the front-passenger seat, the seat cover or the seat cushion is damaged, have the nec-
essary repair work carried out at an author-
ized Mercedes-Benz Center.
For safety reasons, Mercedes-Benz recom-
mends that you only use seat accessories
that have been approved by Mercedes-Benz.
If the driver's air bag deploys, this does not
mean that the front-passenger front air bag
will also deploy. The Occupant Classification
System (OCS) categorizes the occupant in the
front-passenger seat. Depending on that
result, the front-passenger front air bag is
either enabled or deactivated.
System self-test G
DANGER
If both the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF and
PASSENGER AIR BAG ON indicator lamps do
not light up during the system self-test, the
system is malfunctioning. The front-
passenger front air bag might be triggered
unintentionally or might not be triggered at all in the event of an accident with high deceler-
ation. This poses an increased risk of injury or even fatal injury.
In this case the front-passenger seat may notbe used. Do not install a child restraint system
on the front-passenger seat. Have the Occu-
pant Classification System (OCS) checked
and repaired immediately at a qualified spe-
cialist workshop. G
DANGER
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF indicator
lamp remains lit after the system self-test, the front-passenger front air bag is disabled. It willnot be deployed in the event of an accident. In
this case, the front-passenger front air bag
cannot perform its intended protective func- Occupant safety
53Safety
Z