Protecting
theenvironment General
notes H
Environmental
note
Daimler's declaredpolicyisone ofcompre-
hensive environm entalprotect ion.
The object ivesareforthe natural resources
that form thebasis ofour existen ceon this
planet tobe used sparingly andinamanner
that takes therequirements ofboth nature
and humanity intoaccount.
You toocan help toprotect theenvironm ent
by operating yourvehicle inan environm en-
tally responsible manner.
Fuel consumpt ionand therate ofengine,
transm ission,brakeandtirewear areaffected
by these factors:
R operating conditionsof your vehicle
R your personal drivingstyle
You caninfluence bothfactors. Youshould
bear thefollowing inmind:
Operating conditions:
R avoid shorttripsasthese increase fuelcon-
sumption.
R alwa ysmake surethatthetire pressures
are correct .
R do not carry anyunnecessary weight.
R remove roofracks onceyounolonger need
them.
R aregularly servicedvehiclewillcont ribute
to environm entalprotect ion.You should
therefore adheretothe service intervals.
R alwa yshave service workcarried outata
quali fiedspecialist workshop.
Personal drivingstyle:
R do not depress theaccelerator pedalwhen
startin gthe engine.
R do not warm upthe engine whenthevehicle
is stationary.
R drive carefully andmaintain asafe distance
from thevehicle infront .
R avoid frequent, suddenacceleration and
braking. R
change gearingood timeanduseeach gear
only upto00C3 ofits maximum enginespeed.
R switch offthe engine instationary traffic.
R keep aneye onthe vehicle's fuelconsump-
tion. Environmental
concerns andrecom-
mendat ions
Wherever theOperator's Manualrequires youto
dispose ofmaterials, firsttrytoregenerate orre-
use them. Observe therelevant environm ental
rules andregulations whendisposing ofmateri-
als. Inthis way youwillhelp toprotect theenvi-
ronmen t. Genuine
Mercedes-Benz parts H
Environmental
note
Daimler AGalso supplie srecondit ionedmajor
assemblies andparts which areofthe same
quali tyas new parts. Theyarecovered bythe
same Limited Warranty entitlements asnew
parts.
! Air
bags andEmergen cyTensioning Devi-
ces, aswell ascont rolunits andsensors for
these restraint systems, maybeinstalled in
the following areasofyour vehicle:
R doors
R door pillars
R door sills
R seats
R cock pit
R instrumen tcluster
R cent erconsole
Do not install accessories suchasaudio sys-
tems inthese areas. Donot carry outrepairs
or welding. Youcould impair theoperating
efficiency ofthe restraint systems.
Have aftermark etaccessories installedata
quali fiedspecialist workshop.
You could jeopardize theoperating safetyof
your vehicle ifyou useparts, tiresandwheels as
well asaccessories relevanttosafety which
have notbeen approved byMercedes-B enz.This
could leadtomalfunction sin safety-relevant 24
Genuine
Mercedes-Benz partsIntrodu ction
Permissible
GrossVehicle WeightRating
(GVWR): thegross weight ofthe vehicle, allpas-
sengers, loadandtrailer load/noseweight (if
applicab le)must notexceed thepermissible
gross vehicle weight.
Gross AxleWeight Rating (GAWR): themaxi-
mum permissible weightthatcanbecarried by
one axle (front orrear axle).
To ensure thatyour vehicle doesnotexceed the
maximum permissible values(grossvehicle
weight andmaximum grossaxleweight rating),
have yourloaded vehicle (including driver,occu-
pants, cargo, andfulltrailer loadifapplicab le)
weighed onasuitable vehicleweighbridge. All
about wheelsand tires Uniform
TireQuality GradingStand -
ard s
Overview ofTire Quality GradingStand -
ard s Uniform
TireQuality Grading Standards areU.S.
governmen tspecifications. Theirpurpose isto
provide driverswithuniform reliableinformation
on tire performance data.Tiremanufacturers
have tograde tiresusing threeperformance fac-
tors: 0043tread weargrade, 0044tract iongrade and
0087 temperature grade.Theseregulations donot
apply toCanada. Nevertheless, alltires soldin
North America areprovided withthecorre-
sponding qualitygrading markings onthe side-
wall ofthe tire.
Quality gradescanbefound, whereapplicab le,
on the tire sidewal lbetween treadshoulder and
maximum sectionwidth. Example:
R Tread weargrade: 200
R Tra ction grade: AA
R Temper aturegrade: A
All passenger cartires must confor mto the stat-
utory safety requirements inaddition tothese
grades.
i The
actual values fortires arevehicle-spe-
cific andmay deviate fromthevalues inthe
illustration.
Tread wear The
treadwear gradeisacomparative rating
based onthe wear rateofthe tire when tested
under controlled condition son aspecified U.S.
governmen tcourse. Forexample, atire graded
150 would wearoneandone-half timesaswell
on the governmen tcourse asatire graded 100.
The relative performance oftires depends upon
the actual condition sof their use,however, and
may depart significantly fromthenorm dueto
variations indriving habits, service practices
and differences inroad characterist icsand cli-
mate.
Tra ction G
WARNING
The tract iongrade assigned tothis tireis
based onstraight- aheadbraking traction
tests, anddoes notinclude acceleration, cor-
nering, hydropla ning,orpeak tractionchar-
acteristic s.
! Avoid
wheelspin. Thiscanlead todamage to
the drive train.
The tract iongrades –from highest tolowest –
are AA, A,Band C.Those grades represent the
tire's abilityto stop onwet pavement asmeas-
ured under controlled condition son specified
governmen ttest surfaces ofasphalt andcon-
crete. Atire marked Cmay have poortraction
performance.
The safe speed onawet, snow covered oricy
road isalwa yslower thanondry road surfaces.
You should payspecial attentiontoroad condi-
tions when temperatures arearound freezing
point.
Mercedes-Ben zrecommen dsaminimum tread
depth of00CF in(4 mm) onallfour winter tires. 304
All
about wheelsand tiresWheels andtires
Maximum
tireload 0043isthe maximum permis-
sible weight forwhich thetire isapproved.
Do not overload thetires byexceeding the
specified loadlimit. Themaximum permissible
load canbefound onthe vehicle's Tireand
Loading Informationplacard onthe B-pillar on
the driver's side(Ypage 301).
i The
actual values fortires arevehicle-spe-
cific andmay deviate fromthevalues inthe
illu stration.
DOT, TireIdentification Number(TIN) US
tire regulations stipulatethatevery tireman-
ufacturer orretreader mustimprint aTIN inor on
the sidewa llof each tireproduced. The
TINisaunique identification number.The
TIN enables thetire manufacturers orretreaders
to inform purchasers ofrecalls andother safety-
relevant matters. Itmakes itpossible forthe
purchaser toeasily identify theaffected tires.
The TINismade upofmanufacturer identifica-
tion code 0044,tire size 0087,tire type code 0085and
manufacturing date0083.
DOT (Departm entofTra nsporta tion):tire
symbol 0043marks thatthetire complies withthe
requirements ofthe U.S. Departmen tof Trans-
portation.
Manufact ureridentification code:manufac-
turer identification code0044provides detailson
the tire manufacturer. Newtireshave acode
with twosymbols. Retreaded tireshave acode
with foursymbols.
For further information aboutretreaded tires,
see (Ypage 315).
Tire size: identifier 0087describes thetire size.
Tire type code: tiretype code 0085can beused by
the manufacturer asacode todescribe specific
characterist icsofthe tire. Date
ofmanufa cture:dateofmanufacture 0083
provides information abouttheage ofatire. The
first andsecond positions represent theweek of
manufacture, startingwith "01" forthe first cal-
endar week. Positions threeandfour represent
the year ofmanufacture. Forexample, atire that
is marked with"3208", wasmanufactured in
week 32in2008.
i Tire
data isvehicle-specific andmay deviate
from thedata inthe example.
Tire character istics This
information describesthetype oftire cord
and thenumber oflaye rsinsidewa ll0043 and
under tiretread 0044.
i Tire
data isvehicle-specific andmay deviate
from thedata inthe example.
Defini tionofterm sfor tires andloading Tire
plycomposition andmaterial used
Describes thenumber ofplies orthe number of
laye rsof rubber-coated fabricinthe tire tread
and sidewa ll.These aremade ofsteel, nylon,
polyester andother materials.
Bar
Metric unitfortire pressure. 14.5038pounds
per square inch(psi) and100 kilopascals (kPa)
are the equival entof1bar.
DOT (Departm entofTra nsporta tion)
DOT-m arkedtiresfulfill therequirements ofthe
U SDepartmen tof Transportation .
Norm aloccupant weight
The number ofoccupants forwhich thevehicle
is designed multiplied by68 kilograms (150lbs). 308
All
about wheelsand tiresWheels andtires