Operation
slow down the vehicle. Otherwise, the brak-
ing system could overheat and fail.
● The vehicle centre of gravity and handling
change because of the trailer load and be-
cause of the increased combined mass of the
vehicle and trailer.
● If the towing vehicle is empty and the trail-
er loaded then the load distribution is incor-
rect. If you must travel in these conditions,
drive carefully and reduce your speed accord-
ingly.
Hill starts with a trailer
Depending on the hill and the gross com-
bined weight, it is possible that the com-
bined vehicle and trailer move backwards
slightly when starting.
For a hill start with a trailer, proceed as fol-
lows:
● Press and hold the brake pedal.
● Press the button once to turn off the
electric parking brake ››› page 137.
● Press and hold the button to hold the
vehicle and trailer combination using the
parking brake.
● With a manual gearbox: press the clutch
pedal to the floor.
● Engage first gear or the gear range D
››› page 143, Changing gear .
● Rel
ease the brake pedal. ●
Move off slowly. To do this, gently release
the clutch pedal (for manual gearbox).
● Release the button only when the en-
gine provides sufficient power to move the
vehicle and trailer combination. WARNING
Jerking the trailer in an unsuitable manner
could cause loss of vehicle control with the
subsequent serious consequences.
● Driving with a trailer and transporting
heavy or a large objects will change the vehi-
cle handling and braking distances.
● Anticipate traffic and be extremely cau-
tious. Brake early.
● Adjust your speed and driving style to visi-
bility, road, traffic and weather conditions.
Reduce your speed, especially on steep hills.
● Accelerate gently and carefully. Avoid brus-
que manoeuvres and sudden braking.
● Always take the following precautions seri-
ously. Reduce your speed immediately if you
observe the trailer rocking from side to side.
● Never try to stop the “snaking” by increas-
ing speed.
● Always take the speed limits for vehicles
with and without trailers in each country into
account. Stabilising the vehicle and trailer
combination
Stabilisation of the vehicle and trailer combi-
nation is an extension of the electronic sta-
bility control (ESC) and helps, with the assis-
tance of the trajectory control, to reduce trail-
er “snaking”.
Stabilisation of the vehicle and trailer combi-
nation is active when the ESC
indicator on
the d a
sh panel remains lit for about two sec-
onds more than the ABS indicator.
Requirements for stabilising the
vehicle/trailer combination
● An original tow hitch is fitted by the manu-
facturer or a compatible model is retrofitted.
● The ECS is switched on. The warning lamp
on the dash panel is not lit.
● The trailer is connected to the vehicle using
the power socket.
● It travels faster than 60 km/h (37 mph).
● The maximum drawbar load is used.
● The trailer must have a fixed drawbar.
● Trailers with brakes must be equipped with
a mechanical inertia brake. WARNING
Do not let the extra safety afforded by the
stabilisation system tempt you into taking
any risks when driving. 186
Index
Cleaning and maintenance of natural leather 203
cleaning the trim fabric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
synthetic leather . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Seat with position memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Selective Catalytic Reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Selector lever locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Service interval display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Service notification: read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Side airbags See "Airbag system" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Side light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Sign Assist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Disconnection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Indication on display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Operation mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Sitting position Incorrect position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Sliding door Manually opening and closing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Sliding doors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Childproof lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Opening and closing electrically . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Snow chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242, 276 All-wheel drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Spanner symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Spare fuel canister . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Spare parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Special features Automatic car wash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Folding exterior mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
High pressure cleaning equipment . . . . . . . . . 197
Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138, 141, 285
Pushing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Radio reception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 Washing the vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Windscreen wipers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Special notes High-pressure cleaning system . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Long parking times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255, 257
Tow starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Specifications Combined weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Drawbar load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Trailer weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Specific notes Electric sliding doors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Spectacle case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Speed rating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Stabilising the vehicle and trailer combination . 186
Start-Stop function Driving with a trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Start-Stop Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Start assist See "Start assist systems" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Starter button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Starting assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Jump leads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Positive pole on the starting assistancepoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Starting using an external battery See Starting assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Steering Control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Counter steering assistance system . . . . . . . . 133
Electromechanical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Power steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Steering column lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Tendency to pull to one side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Steering wheel
Adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Rocker switches (Tiptronic) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Storage compartment on the roof console . . . . . 113
Storage compartments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Glove compartment lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Sudden braking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Sun blind Anti-trap function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Closing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Opening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Sun blinds Rear side windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Sun protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Sun visor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Symbols See "Lamps" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
System Automatic dipped beam control . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Systems ABS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Adaptive headlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Anti-lock brake system (ABS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
ASR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155, 156
Auto Hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
BAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Brake assist system (BAS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Braking assist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Cruise control system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
EDL and XDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Electronic differential lock system (EDL andXDS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Electronic Stability Control (ESC) . . . . . . . . . . . 154
ESC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Lane Assist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Lane Assist system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Launch-Control Programme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Optical parking system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 297