178Driving and operating● Special programmesautomatically adapt the shiftingpoints when driving up inclines or
down hills.
● In snowy or icy conditions or on other slippery surfaces, the
electronic transmission control
enables the driver to manually
select first, second or third gear
for starting off.
Kickdown
Pressing down the accelerator pedal
beyond the kickdown detent will lead
to maximum acceleration even in manual mode. The transmission
shifts to a lower gear depending on
engine speed and shifts to a higher
gear at high engine revolutions.
Overheat protection
In the event of transmission-
overheating due to high outside
temperatures or sporty driving style,
the torque and the maximum speed of the engine can be temporarily
reduced.Fault
In the event of a fault a vehicle
message is displayed in the Driver
Information Centre. Vehicle
messages 3 125.
6-gear automatic transmission:
electronic transmission control
enables only fourth gear; 8-gear
automatic transmission: electronic
transmission control enables only
third gear. The transmission no
longer shifts automatically.
Have the cause of the fault remedied by a workshop.
Interruption of power supply
In the event of an interruption of
power supply, the selector lever
cannot be moved out of the P
position.
If the vehicle battery is discharged,
start the vehicle using jump leads
3 278.
If the vehicle battery is not the cause
of the fault, release the selector lever.
1. Apply parking brake.
2. Release the selector lever trim from the centre console. Poke
with a finger into the leather
socket beside the selector lever
and pull the trim up carefully, there
is a cable attached to it. Slide trim slightly forward as it is hinged on
its rear side. Tilt loose trim to the
left side to aviod tensioning the
cable.
Driving and operating181ABS starts to regulate brake pressure
as soon as a wheel shows a tendency to lock. The vehicle remains
steerable, even during hard braking.
ABS control is made apparent
through a pulse in the brake pedal
and the noise of the regulation
process.
For optimum braking, keep the brake
pedal fully depressed throughout the
braking process, despite the fact that
the pedal is pulsating. Do not reduce
the pressure on the pedal.
After starting off, the system performs a self-test which may be audible.
Control indicator u 3 110.
Adaptive brake light During full braking, all three brake
lights flash for the duration of ABS
control.
Fault9 Warning
If there is a fault in the ABS, the
wheels may be liable to lock due
to braking that is heavier than
normal. The advantages of ABS are no longer available. During
hard braking, the vehicle can no longer be steered and may
swerve.
Have the cause of the fault remedied
by a workshop.
Parking brake
9 Warning
Before leaving the vehicle, check
parking brake status. Control
indicator m must illuminate
constantly.
Electric parking brake
Applying when vehicle is stationary
9 Warning
Pull switch m for a minimum of
one second until control indicator
m illuminates constantly and
electric parking brake is applied
3 109. The electric parking brake
operates automatically with
adequate force.
Before leaving the vehicle, check
the electric parking brake status.
Control indicator m 3 109.
182Driving and operatingThe electric parking brake can always
be activated, even if the ignition is off.
Do not operate electric parking brake
system too often without engine
running as this will discharge the vehicle battery.
Releasing
Switch on ignition. Keep foot brake
pedal depressed and then push
switch m.
Drive away function
Vehicles with manual transmission:
Depressing the clutch pedal and then
slightly releasing the clutch pedal and slightly depressing the accelerator
pedal releases the electric parking
brake automatically. This is not
possible when switch m is pulled at
the same time.
Vehicles with automatic transmission: Engaging D and then depressing the
accelerator pedal releases the
electric parking brake automatically.
This is not possible when switch m is
pulled at the same time.Dynamic braking when vehicle is
moving
When the vehicle is moving and the
switch m is kept pulled, the electric
parking brake system will decelerate
the vehicle, but will not apply
statically.
As soon as the switch m is released,
dynamic braking will be stopped.
Automatic applying
If the vehicle is equipped with
automatic transmission and adaptive
cruise control is active, electric
parking brake is applied automatically
when vehicle is stopped by the
system for more than two minutes.
Parking brake releases automatically
after moving off.
Functionality check
When the vehicle is not moving, the
electric parking brake might be
applied automatically. This is done to
check the system.Fault
Failure mode of electric parking brake is indicated by a control indicator j
and by a vehicle message which is
displayed in the Driver Information
Centre. Vehicle messages 3 125.
Apply electric parking brake: pull and
hold the switch m for more than
five seconds. If control indicator m
illuminates, electric parking brake is
applied.
Release electric parking brake: push and hold the switch m for more than
two seconds. If control indicator m
extinguishes, electric parking brake is
released.
Control indicator m flashes: electric
parking brake is not fully applied or
released. When continuously
flashing, release electric parking
brake and retry applying.
Brake assist If brake pedal is depressed quickly
and forcefully, maximum brake force
is automatically applied.
192Driving and operatingRelease the accelerator pedal and
the speed limiter function is
reactivated once a speed lower than the limit speed is obtained.
Deactivation Press y: speed limiter is deactivated
and the vehicle can be driven without
speed limit.
On Baselevel display the stored
limited speed is indicated in brackets.
On Mid- or Uplevel display L
changes to white.
Additionally, a corresponding
message appears.
Speed limiter is deactivated, but not
switched off. Last stored speed
remains in memory for later speed
resume.
Resume limit speed
Turn thumb wheel to RES/+. The
stored speed limit will be obtained
and is indicated without brackets in
the Driver Information Centre.
Switching off
Press L, the speed limit indication
extinguishes in the Driver Information Centre. The stored speed is deleted.
By pressing m to activate cruise
control or adaptive cruise control, speed limiter is also deactivated and
the stored speed is deleted.
By switching off the ignition, speed
limiter is also deactivated, but the
speed limit will be stored for next
speed limiter activation.
Adaptive cruise control
Adaptive cruise control is an
enhancement to conventional cruise control with the additional feature ofmaintaining a certain distance behind the vehicle ahead.Adaptive cruise control automaticallydecelerates the vehicle when
approaching a slower moving vehicle. It then adjusts the vehicle speed to
follow the vehicle ahead at the
selected following distance. The
vehicle speed increases or decreases
to follow the vehicle in front, but will
not exceed the set speed. It may
apply limited braking with activated
brake lights.
To facilitate overtaking a vehicle on
the motorway, the activation of the
turn signal reduces the following
distance for a short time. This function is implemented only on the respective
driver's side depending on left or right
hand drive vehicle configuration.
The adaptive cruise control can store set speed over 30 km/h for manual
transmission. On vehicles with
automatic transmissions the system
can brake until a full stop and drive off
from a stop.
196Driving and operating9Warning
The Driver accepts full
responsibility to drive with the
appropriate following distance
based on traffic, weather, visibility and regional regulation. Followingdistance must be adjusted or the
system switched off when required by the prevailing conditions.
Adaptive cruise control in Sport
mode
On vehicles with Flex Ride driving
modes, the driver can slightly
increase the Adaptive cruise control
acceleration when Sport mode is
selected. This function can be
deactivated in the Flex Ride
visualisation menu 3 186
Detecting the vehicle ahead
The green illuminated vehicle ahead
control indicator A is displayed when
the system detects a vehicle in the driving path. The range of the sensors
is between 25 and 150 metres
depending on vehicle speed.
Forward collision alert 3 200.
If this symbol does not display, or
displays briefly, adaptive cruise
control will not respond to vehicles ahead.
Deactivation of the functionality
Adaptive cruise control is deactivated by the driver when:
● y is pressed.
● Brake pedal is applied.
● Clutch pedal is depressed for more than four seconds.
● Selector lever of automatic transmission is moved to N.
The system is also automatically
deactivated when:
● Vehicle speed accelerates above
190 km/h or slows down below
25 km/h . Vehicles with automatic
transmission slows down to a
stop without deactivating within
five minutes.
● The Traction Control system is deactivated or operating.
● The Electronic Stability Control is
deactivated or operating.
● There is no traffic and nothing detected on the road sides for
approx. one minute. In this case there are no radar echoes and
the sensor may report that it is blocked.
198Driving and operatingvisibility. In case of sensor
blockage, clean the sensor
cover.
System limits9 Warning
The system's automatic brake
force does not permit hard braking and the braking level may not be
sufficient to avoid a collision.
● After a sudden lane change, the system needs a certain time to
detect the next preceding
vehicle. So if a new vehicle is
detected, the system may
accelerate instead of braking.
● Adaptive cruise control does ignore the oncoming traffic.
● Adaptive cruise control does not consider pedestrians and
animals for braking and driving
off.
● Adaptive cruise control considers
stopped vehicles only at low
speed.
● Do not use adaptive cruise control when towing a trailer.
● Do not use adaptive cruise control on roads with an incline ofmore than 10%.
Bends
The adaptive cruise control calculates
a predicted path based on the
centrifugal force. This predicted path
considers the current bend
characteristic, but cannot consider a
future bend change. The system may lose the current vehicle ahead or
consider a vehicle which is not in the
actual lane. This can happen when
entering or exiting a bend or if the
bend gets stronger or weaker. The
camera applies a certain correction
based on the detectable lane
markings. The control indicator A will
extinguish, if a vehicle ahead is no longer detected.
If the centrifugal force is too high in a
bend, the system slows down the
vehicle slightly. This braking level is
not designed to avoid spinning-off the
bend. The driver is responsible for
reducing the selected speed before
entering a bend and in general to
adapt the speed to the road type and
to existing speed limits.
Motorways
On motorways, adapt the set speed
to the situation and the weather.
Always consider that adaptive cruise
control has a limited visibility range, a
limited braking level and a certain
reaction time to verify if a vehicle is on
the driving path or not. Furthermore,
adaptive cruise control was designed to brake as late as possible to allow
changing the lane before the
automatic braking. Adaptive cruise
control may not be able to brake the
vehicle in time to avoid a collision with
Driving and operating201Caution
The colour lighting of this control
indicator does not correspond to
local traffic laws on following
distance. The driver bears full
responsibility for maintaining safe
following distance according to
applicable traffic rules, weather
and road conditions etc. at all
times.
When the time to a potential collision
with a vehicle in front gets too small
and a collision is imminent, the
collision alert symbol pops-up in the
Driver Information Centre and the
driver gets notified by a flashing red
LED stripe or the pop-up symbol in
the head-up display which is
projected on the windscreen in the
driver's field of view.
Simultaneously a warning chime
sounds. Depress the brake pedal and
steer the vehicle, if it is required by the
situation.
Selecting the alert sensitivity Press K to set the alert sensitivity to
near, medium or far.The first button press shows the
current setting on the Driver
Information Centre. Additional button
presses will change this setting. The
chosen setting will remain until it is
changed. The alert timing will vary
based on vehicle speed. The faster the vehicle speed, the farther awaythe alert will occur. Consider traffic
and weather conditions when
selecting the alert timing.
204Driving and operating9Warning
This system is not intended to
replace the driver responsibility for driving the vehicle and looking
ahead. Its function is limited to
supplemental use only to reduce
the vehicle speed before a
collision.
The system may not react to
animals. After a sudden lane
change, the system needs a
certain time to detect the next
preceding vehicle.
The driver must always be ready
to take action and apply the brakes and steer to avoid collisions.
Functionality
If equipped only with front camera the
active emergency braking operates in forward gear above walking speed up
to 85 km/h.
With radar sensor active emergency
braking operates in forward gear
above walking speed at all speeds.
A precondition is that forward collision
alert with front camera system is not
deactivated in the vehicle
personalisation menu 3 127.
The system includes: ● brake preparation system
● emergency automatic braking ● forward looking brake assist
● intelligent brake assist (only with radar sensor)
● front pedestrian protection system
Brake preparation system
When approaching a vehicle ahead
or a pedestrian so quickly that a
collision is likely, the brake
preparation system slightly
pressurizes the brakes. This reduces
the response time, when a manual or automatic braking is requested.
The brake system is prepared so that braking can occur more rapidly.
If equipped only with front camera the
system operates up to a speed of 80
km/h.Emergency automatic braking
After activation of brake preparation
system and just before the imminent
collision, this function automatically
applies limited braking to reduce the
impact speed of the collision or
prohibit a crash. Depending on the situation, the vehicle may
automatically brake moderately or
hard. This front automatic braking can
only occur if a vehicle ahead is
detected, indicated by the vehicle
ahead indicator A 3 200 . On vehicles
with front pedestrian protection, front
automatic braking can also occur
when a pedestrian ahead is detected,
indicated by the pedestrian ahead
indicator 7.
If equipped only with front camera the system operates up to a speed of 80
km/h.
Below a speed of 40 km/h the system
can apply full braking.
Emergency automatic braking may slow the vehicle to a complete stop to try to avoid a potential crash. If this
happens, emergency automatic
braking may engage the electric