
Important safety notes
GWARNING
Eac htire, includin gth espar e(if provided),
should be checke dat least once every two
week swhen cold and inflated to th epressur e
recommended by th evehicl emanufacturer
on th eTir eand Loading Information placard
on th edriver' sdoor B-pillar or th etire pres-
sur elabel on th einside of th efuel filler flap .If
your vehicl ehas tires of adifferen tsiz ethan
th esiz eindicated on th eTir eand Loading
Information placard or, if available, th etire
pressur elabel, you should determine th e
proper tire pressur efor those tires .
As an added safet yfeature, your vehicl ehas
been equipped wit h atire pressur emonitoring
system (TPMS) that illuminate s alow tire pres-
sur etelltale when on eor mor eof your tires
are significantly underinflated. Accordingly,
when th elow tire pressur etelltale lights up,
you should stop and chec kyour tires as soo n
as possible ,and inflat ethem to th eproper
pressure. Drivin gon asignificantly underin-
flated tire causes th etire to overheat and can
lead to tire failure.
Underinflation also reduce sfuel efficiency
and tire tread life ,and may affec tth evehicle's
handlin gand stopping ability. Pleas enote that
th eTPM Sis no t asubstitut efor proper tire
mainte nance,a
nd it is th edriver' sresponsi-
bilit yto maintai ncorrec ttire pressure, eve nif
underinflation has no treached th elevel to
trigge rillumination of th eTPM Slow tire pres-
sur etelltale.
Your vehicl ehas also been equipped wit h a
TPM Smalfunction indicator to indicat ewhen
th esystem is no toperating properly. The
TPM Smalfunction indicator is combined wit h
th elow tire pressur etelltale. When th esys-
te m detects amalfunction ,th ewarning lamp
will flas hfor approximately aminute and then
remain continuously illuminated. This
sequenc ewill be repeated every time th evehi-
cle is started as lon gas th emalfunction
exists. When th emalfunction indicator is illu-
minated, th esystem may no tbe able to detec t
or signal low tire pressur eas intended.
TPM Smalfunction smay occur for avariet yof
reasons, includin gth einstallation of incom-
patible replacemen tor alternate tires or
wheels on th evehicl ethat preven tth eTPM S
from functioning properly. Always chec kth e
TPM Smalfunction telltale after replacing on e
or mor etires or wheels on your vehicl eto
ensur ethat th ereplacemen tor alternate Tires
and wheels allow th eTPM Sto continue to
function properly.
It is th edriver' sresponsibilit yto set th etire
pressur eto that recommended for cold tires
whic his suitable for th eoperating situation
(
Ypage 285). Not ethat th ecorrec ttire pressur e
for th ecurren toperating situation must first be
taught-in to th etire pressur emonitor. If asub-
stantial loss of pressur eoccurs, th ewarning
threshold for th ewarning message is aligned to
th etaught-in referenc evalues. Restart th etire
pressur emonitor after adjusting th epressur eof
th ecold tires (
Ypage 291). The curren tpres-
sures are saved as ne wreferenc evalues. As a
result , awarning message will appear if th etire
pressur edrops significantly.
The tire pressur emonit or d
oes no
twarn you of
an incorrectl yset tire pressure. Observ eth e
note son th erecommended tire pressur e
(
Ypage 285).
The tire pressur emonitor is no table to warn you
of asudde nloss of pressure, e.g. if th etire is
penetrated by aforeign object. In th eevent of a
sudde nloss of pressure, brin gth evehicl eto a
halt by braking carefully. Avoid abrup tsteering
movements.
The tire pressur emonitor has ayellow warning
lamp in th einstrumen tcluste rfor indicating
pressur eloss or amalfunction .Whether th e
warning lamp flashes or lights up indicates
whether atire pressur eis to olow or th etire
pressur emonitor is malfunctioning :
Rif thewarning lamp is lit continuously, th etire
pressur eon on eor mor etires is significantly
to olow. The tire pressur emonitor is no tmal-
functioning .
Rif thewarning lamp flashes for aroun d a
minute and then remain slit constantly, th e
tire pressur emonitor is malfunctioning .
In addition to th ewarning lamp , amessage
appear sin th emultifunction display. Observ e
290Tire pressure
Wheels and tires

Permissible Gross Vehicle Weight Rating
(GVWR):the gross weight of the vehicle, all pas-
sengers, load and trailer load/noseweight (if
applicable) must not exceed the permissible
gross vehicle weight.
Gross Axle Weight Rating (GAWR): the maxi-
mum permissible weight that can be carried by
one axle (front or rear axle).
To ensure that your vehicle does not exceed the
maximum permissible values (gross vehicle
weight and maximum gross axle weight rating),
have your loaded vehicle (including driver, occu-
pants, cargo, and full trailer load if applicable)
weighed on a suitable vehicle weighbridge.
All about wheels and tires
Uniform Tire Quality Grading Stand-
ards
Overview of Tire Quality Grading Stand-
ards
Uniform Tire Quality Grading Standards are U.S. government specifications. Their purpose is to
provide drivers with uniform reliable information
on tire performance data. Tire manufacturers
have to grade tires using three performance fac-
tors: :tread wear grade, ;traction grade and
= temperature grade. These regulations do not
apply to Canada. Nevertheless, all tires sold in
North America are provided with the corre-
sponding quality grading markings on the side-
wall of the tire.
Quality grades can be found, where applicable,
on the tire sidewall between tread shoulder and
maximum section width. Example:
RTreadwear grade:
200
RTraction grade:AA
RTemperature grade: A
All passenger car tires must conform to the stat-
utory safety requirements in addition to these
grades.
iThe actual values for tires are vehicle-spe-
cific and may deviate from the values in the
illustration.
Treadwear
The treadwear grade is a comparative rating
based on the wear rate of the tire when tested
under controlled conditions on a specified U.S.
government course. For example, a tire graded
150 would wear one and one-half times as well
on the government course as a tire graded 100.
The relative performance of tires depends upon the actual conditions of their use, however, and
may depart significantly from the norm due to
variations in driving habits, service practices
and differences in road characteristics and cli-
mate.
Traction
GWARNING
The traction grade assigned to this tire is
based on straight-ahead braking traction
tests, and does not include acceleration, cor-
nering, hydroplaning, or peak traction char-
acteristics.
!Avoid wheelspin. This can lead to damage to
the drive train.
The traction grades – from highest to lowest –
are AA, A, B and C. Those grades represent the
tire's ability to stop on wet pavement as meas-
ured under controlled conditions on specified
government test surfaces of asphalt and con-
crete. A tire marked C may have poor traction
performance.
The safe speed on a wet, snow covered or icy
road is always lower than on dry road surfaces.
You should pay special attention to road condi-
tions when temperatures are around freezing
point.
Mercedes-Benz recommends a minimum tread
depth of ãin (4 mm) on all four winter tires.
All about wheels and tires295
Wheels and tires
Z

Tire-mounting tools should not be used near
the valve. This could damage the electronic
components.
Only have tires changed at a qualified spe-
cialist workshop.
Observe the instructions and safety notes in the
"Changing a wheel" section (
Ypage 301).
The wear patterns on the front and rear tires
differ, depending on the operating conditions.
Rotate the wheels before a clear wear pattern
has formed on the tires. Front tires typically
wear more on the shoulders and the rear tires in
the center.
On vehicles that have the same size front and
rear wheels, you can rotate the wheels accord-
ing to the intervals in the tire manufacturer's
warranty book in your vehicle documents. If no
warranty book is available, the tires should be
rotated every 3,000 to 6,000 miles (5,000 to
10,000 km). Depending on tire wear, this may
be required earlier. Do not change the direction
of wheel rotation.
Clean the contact surfaces of the wheel and the brake disc thoroughly every time a wheel is rota-
ted. Check the tire pressure and, if necessary,
restart the tire pressure loss warning system
(Canada only) or the tire pressure monitor (USA
only).
Direction of rotation
Tires with a specified direction of rotation have
additional benefits, e.g. if there is a risk of hydro-
planing. These advantages can only be gained if
the tires are installed corresponding to the
direction of rotation.
An arrow on the sidewall of the tire indicates its
correct direction of rotation.
Storing wheels
Store wheels that are not being used in a cool,
dry and preferably dark place. Protect the tires
from oil, grease, gasoline and diesel.
Mounting a wheel
Preparing the vehicle
XStop the vehicle on solid, non-slippery and
level ground.
XApply the electric parking brake manually.
XBring the front wheels into the straight-ahead position.
XShift the transmission to position P.
XSwitch off the engine.
XVehicles without KEYLESS-GO:remove the
SmartKey from the ignition lock.
XVehicles with KEYLESS-GO start-function
or KEYLESS-GO: open the driver's door.
The vehicle electronics now have status 0.
This is the same as the SmartKey having been
removed.
XVehicles with KEYLESS-GO start-function
or KEYLESS-GO: remove the Start/Stop but-
ton from the ignition lock (
Ypage 121).
XMake sure that the engine cannot be started
via your smartphone (Ypage 122).
XIf included in the vehicle equipment, remove
the tire-change tool kit from the vehicle.
XSafeguard the vehicle against rolling away
(Ypage 140).
Securing the vehicle to prevent it from
rolling away
If your vehicle is equipped with a wheel chock, it
can be found in the tire-change tool kit
(
Ypage 266).
The folding wheel chock is an additional safety
measure to prevent the vehicle from rolling
away, for example when changing a wheel.
302Changing a wheel
Wheels and tires