Towin ga nd tow-starting
Important safety notes
G WARNING
When towing or tow-startin ga nothe rv ehicle
and its weight is greate rt ha nt he permissible
gross weight of your vehicle, the: R
the towing ey ec ould detach itselfR
the vehicle/trailer combinatio nc ould roll-
over.
There is ar is kofana ccident.
When towing or tow-startin ga nothe rv ehicle,
its weight shoul dn ot be greate rt ha nt he per-
missibl eg ross weight of your vehicle.
Detail sont he permissibl eg ross vehicl ew eigh t
of your vehicl ec an be found on the vehicl ei de n-
tification plate ( Y
page 289).
! When Activ eB rake Assist, Distance Pilot
DISTRONI Cort he HOLD functio ni sa ctivated,
the vehicl eb rakes automaticall yinc ertain
situations.
To avoi dd amag etot he vehicle, deactivate
these system sint he following or similar sit-
uations: R
when towing the vehicle R
in the car wash
! Onl ys ecur et he tow rop eort ow ba ratt he
towing eyes. Otherwise, the vehicl ec ould be
damaged.
! Do not us et he towing ey ef or recovery, this
could damage the vehicle. If in doubt, recover
the vehicl ew it hac rane.
! When towing ,p ul la wa ys lowly and
smoothly. If the tractiv ep ower is too high, the
vehicles could be damaged.
! Do not tow with sling-typ ee quipment .T h is
could damage the vehicle.
! When towing away vehicles with KEYLESS-
GO ,u se the key instea doft he Start/Stop
button. The automatic transmission ma yo th-
erwis es hift to position ] when yo uo pe nt he
driver's or front-passenge rd oo r, which could
damage the transmission. ! Make sure tha tt he electri cp ar kin gb rake is
released .Ift he electri cp ar kin gb rake is faulty,
visit aq uali fied specialis tw or kshop.
! The vehicl ec an be towed am ax imum of
30 miles (50km). The towing spee dof30m ph
(50 km/h )m us tn ot be exceeded.
If the vehicl eh as to be towed mor et han
30 miles (50km), the entire vehicl em us tb e
raised and transported.
! If yo ut ow or tow-start anothe rv ehicle, its
weight must not exceed the maximum per-
missibl eg ross vehicl ew eigh tofy ou rv ehicle.
It is better to have the vehicl et ransporte dt han
to have it towed away.
The automatic transmission must be in position
\\ when the vehicl eisb ei ng towed away.
The battery must be connected and charged.
Otherwise, you: R
canno tt ur nt he SmartKe ytop osit ion H in
the ignition lock. R
canno ts hift the automatic transmission to
position \\ .
Deactivate the automatic locking featur eb ef o re
th
e vehicl eist owed ( Y
page 173) .Y ou could
otherwis ebel oc ked ou tw he np us hing or towing
the vehicle.
Installing/removin gt he towin ge ye
Installing the towin ge ye
G WARNING
The exhaust tai lp ip em ay be ver yh ot. There is
ar is kofb ur ns when removing the rea rc over.
Do not touch the exhaust pipe .T ak ep ar ticular
car ew he nr emoving the rea rc over.256
Towin ga nd tow-starting
Breakdow na ssistance
The bracket sf or the screw-in towing eye are
located in the bumpers. They are at the front and
at the rear, behind the covers. X
Remove the towing eye from the vehicle tool
kit ( Y
page 245).X
Press the mark on cover C inwards in the
direction of the arrow. X
Take cover C off the opening.X
Screw in the towing eye clockwise as far as it
will go and tighten it.
Removing the towing eye X
Unscrew and remove the towing eye. X
Attach cover C to the bumper and press until
it engages. X
Place the towing eye in the vehicle tool kit.
Towing av ehicle with both axles on
the ground
G WARNING
You can no longer steer the vehicle if the
steerin gw heel lock has been engaged. There
is ar isk of an accident.
Always switch off the ignition when towing the
vehicle with at ow cable or at ow bar.
The automatic transmission shifts to position
] automatically when you open the driver's or
front-passenger door or when you remove the
SmartKey from the ignition lock. In order to ensure that the automatic transmis-
sion stays in position \\ when towing away the
vehicle, you must observe the following points: X
Switch on the hazard warning lamps
( Y
page 97). X
Turn the SmartKey to position H in the igni-
tion lock.
On vehicles with KEYLESS-GO, use the Smart-
Key instead of the Start/Stop button
( Y
page 116). X
Depress and hold the brake pedal. X
Shift the transmission to position \\ .X
Release the brake pedal. X
Release the electric parking brake. X
Leave the SmartKey in position H in the igni-
tion lock.
In order to signal ac hange of direction when
towing the vehicle with the hazard warning
lamps switched on, use the combination switch
as usual. In this case, only the indicator lamps
for the direction of travel flash. When you reset
the combination switch, the hazard warning
flashers start flashing again.
It is important that you observe the safety
instructions when towing away your vehicle
( Y
page 256).
Towing the vehicle with the rear axle
raised
! The ignition must be switched off if you are
towing the vehicle with the rear axle raised.
Intervention by ESP ®
could otherwise dam-
age the brake system.
! Vehicles with automatic transmission must
not be towed with the rear axle raised. The
vehicle/trailer combination may otherwise
swerve or even roll over.Towing and tow-starting 257
Breakdown assistance Z
Example: current tire pressure display
For informatio nont he message display, refer to
the "Checking the tire pressure electronically"
sectio n( Y
page 269).
Important safety notes
G WARNING
Each tire ,i ncluding the spar e( if provided),
shoul dbec hecked at leas to nce am onth
when col da nd inflate dtot he pressure rec-
ommended by the vehicl em an ufacturer on
the Tire and Loading Informatio np la card on
the driver's door B-pillar or the tire pressure
labe lont he insid eoft he fuel fille rf lap. If your
vehicl eh as tire sofad if ferent size tha nt he
size indicated on the Tire and Loading Infor-
matio np la card or the tire pressure label, you
shoul dd et ermine the prope rt ire pressure for
thos et ires.
As an adde ds af ety feature, your vehicl eh as
been equipped with at ire pressure monitoring
system (TPMS )t ha ti llum inate sal ow tire pres-
sure telltale when one or mor eofy ou rt ires
ar es ig nificantl yu nderinflated .A ccordingly,
when the lo wt ire pressure telltale illuminates,
yo us houl ds top and check your tire sass oon
as possible, and inflate the mtot he proper
pressure. Driving on as ig nificantl yu nderin-
flated tire causes the tire to overheat and can
lead to tire failure. Underinflatio na ls o
reduce sf ue le fficiency and tire trea dl if e, and
ma ya ff ect the vehicle's handling and stop-
ping ability.
Please note tha tt he TPMS is not as ubst itute
for prope rt
ire ma intenance ,a nd it is the driv-
er' sr esponsibility to maintain correct tire
pressure, eve nifu nderinflatio nh as not
reache dt he level to trigge ri llum ination of the
TPMS lo wt ire pressure telltale. Your vehicl eh as also been equipped with a
TPMS malfunctio ni ndicator to indicate if the
system is not operating properly .T he TPMS
malfunctio ni ndicator is combine dw it ht he
lo wt ire pressure telltale .W he nt he system
detects am al function, the warning lamp will
flash for approximately am inute and then
remai nc ontinuously illuminated. This
sequence will be repeated every time the vehi-
cle is started as long as the malfunction
exists.
When the malfunctio ni ndicator is illuminated,
the system ma yn ot be able to detect or signal
lo wt ire pressure as intended. TPMS malfunc-
tions ma yo ccu rf or av ar iety of reasons,
including the installatio nofi ncompatible
replacement or alternate tire sorw heel so n
the vehicl et ha tp revent the TPMS fro mf un c-
tioning properly .A lway sc heck the TPMS mal-
functio nt elltale after replacing one or more
tire sorw heel sony ou rv ehicl etoe nsur et hat
the replacement or alternate tire sa nd wheels
allo wt he TPMS to continue to functio np rop-
erly.
It is the driver's responsibility to set the tire
pressure to tha tr ecommende df or col dt ires
which is suitabl ef or the operating situation
( Y
page 263) .N ote tha tt he correct tire pressure
for the curre nt operating situatio nm u s tf irst be
taught-i ntot he tire pressure monitor. If as ub -
stantia ll os sofp ressure occurs, the warning
threshold for the warning message is aligned to
the taught-i nr eference values. Restart the tire
pressure monitor after adjusting the pressure of
the col dt ire s( Y
page 270). The current pres-
sures ar es av ed as new reference values. As a
result, aw ar ning message will appear if the tire
pressure drops significantly.
The tire pressure monitor does not warn yo uo f
an incorrectly set tire pressure. Observe the
note sont he recommende dt ire pressure
( Y
page 263).
The tire pressure monitor is not able to warn you
of as udde nl os sofp ressure, e.g .ift he tire is
penetrated by af oreign object. In the event of a
sudden loss of pressure, bring the vehicl etoa
halt by braking carefully. Avoi da brup ts teering
movements.268
Tire pressure
Wheel sa nd tires
An arrow on the sidewall of the tire indicates its
correct direction of rotation.
Storin gw heelsStore wheels tha ta re not being used in ac ool,
dry and preferably dark place .P rotect the tires
from oil, grease, gasoline and diesel.
Mounting aw heel
Preparin gt he vehicleX
Stop the vehicl eons olid ,n on-slippery and
level ground. X
Apply the electri cp ar king brake manually.X
Bring the front wheels into the straight-ahead
position. X
Shift the transmission to position ] .X
Switch off the engine. X
Vehicles withou tK EYLESS -GO: remove the
SmartKe yf rom the ignition lock.X
Vehicles with KEYLESS-GO: open the driv-
er' sd oo r.
The vehicl ee le ctronics now have status 0 .
Thi sist he same as the SmartKe yh av ing been
removed. X
Vehicles with KEYLESS-GO: remove the
Start/Stop button from the ignition lock
( Y
page 116). X
If included in the vehicl ee quipment ,r emove
the tire-change tool kit from the vehicle. X
Safeguar dt he vehicl ea gain st rolling away.
i Due to difference sinv ehicl ee quipment ,n ot
al lv ehicles ar ee quippe dw it hat ire-change
tool kit. For informatio nonw hi ch tool sa re
required to perfor maw heel change on your
vehicle, consult an authorize dM ercedes-
Benz Center.
Necessary tire-changing tool sc an include, for
example: R
Jack R
Wheel chock R
Lu gw rench Securin gt he vehicle to preven titf rom
rolling away
If your vehicl eise quippe dw it haw heel chock, it
can be found in the tire-change tool kit
( Y
page 245).
The folding whee lc hoc ki sana ddit ional safety
measure to prevent the vehicl ef rom rolling
away ,f or exampl ew he nc hanging aw heel .X
Fol db ot hp la te su pwar ds C .X
Fol do ut lowe rp la te D .X
Guid et he lugs on the lowe rp la te full yi nto the
openings in base plate