
You can find further information under:
R"M+S tires" (Ypage 281)
R"Snow chains" (Ypage 282)
R"Driving with summer tires" (Ypage 281)
Also observe the notes under "Winter operation"
(
Ypage 281).
Driving off-road
Important safety notes
GWARNING
If you drive on a steep incline at an angle or
turn when driving on an incline, the vehicle
could slip sideways, tip and rollover. There is a risk of an accident.
Always drive on a steep incline in the line of
fall (straight up or down) and do not turn the
vehicle.
GWARNING
When driving off-road, your body is subject to
forces from all directions, due to the uneven
surface. You could be thrown from your seat,
for instance. There is a risk of injury.
Always wear a seat belt, even when driving off-
road.
GWARNING
If you drive over obstacles or in ruts, the steer-
ing wheel may jerk out of your grip, causing
injury to your hands.
Always hold the steering wheel firmly with
both hands. When driving over obstacles, you
must expect steering forces to increase
briefly and suddenly.
GWARNING
Flammable material such as leaves, grass or
twigs may ignite if they come into contact with
hot parts of the exhaust system. There is a risk of fire.
When driving off road or on unpaved roads,
check the vehicle's underside regularly. In
particular, remove parts of plants or other
flammable materials which have become
trapped. In the case of damage, contact a
qualified specialist workshop.
!When driving off-road or on unpaved surfa-
ces, check the underside of the vehicle and
the wheels and tires at regular intervals. In
particular, remove any trapped foreign
objects, e.g. stones and branches.
Such foreign objects may:
Rdamage the chassis, the fuel tank or the
brake system
Rcause imbalances and thus vibrations
Rbe flung out when you continue driving
If there is any damage, inform a qualified spe-
cialist workshop.
When driving off-road and on construction sites,
sand, mud and water mixed with oil, for exam-
ple, may get into the brakes. This may lead to a
reduction in braking performance or total brake
failure, also as a result of increased wear. The
braking characteristics will vary depending on
the material that has got into the system. Clean
the brakes after driving off-road. If you then
notice reduced braking performance or hear
scraping noises, have the brake system checked
at a qualified specialist workshop. Adjust your
driving style to the changed braking character-
istics.
Driving off-road or on construction sites increa-
ses the possibility of vehicle damage which may
in turn lead to the failure of certain assemblies
and systems. Adapt your driving style to the off- road driving conditions. Drive carefully. Have
any vehicle damage rectified at a qualified spe-
cialist workshop as soon as possible.
When loading your vehicle for driving off-road or
on a construction site, keep the vehicle's centerof gravity as low as possible.
Rules for driving off-road
!Always bear the vehicle's ground clearance
in mind and avoid obstacles, e.g. deep ruts.
Obstacles may damage the following parts of the vehicle:
Rthe chassis
Rthe drive train
Rthe fuel and supply tanks
For this reason, you should always drive
slowly when driving off-road. If you have to
142Driving tips
Driving and parking

drive over obstacles, have the front
passenger direct you.
iWe recommend that you additionally carry a
shovel and a recovery rope with shackle in the
vehicle.
REnsure that loads and items of luggage are
securely stowed or lashed down
(
Ypage 244).
RBefore driving off-road, stop the vehicle and
shift to a low gear.
RIf the surface requires, temporarily deactivate
ESP®when pulling away (Ypage 66).
ROnly drive off-road with the engine running
and a gear engaged.
RDrive slowly and smoothly. Walking pace is
necessary in many situations.
RAvoid spinning the drive wheels.
RMake sure that the wheels always remain in
contact with the ground.
RDrive with extreme care over unknown terrain
where you can only see for a short distance.
As a precaution, get out of the vehicle to take
a look at the route to be taken in advance.
RCheck the water depth before fording.
RWatch out for obstacles (e.g. rocks, holes,
tree stumps and ruts).
RAvoid edges where the surface could crumble
or break away.
Checklist after driving off-road
!If you detect damage to the vehicle after
driving off-road, have the vehicle checked
immediately at a qualified specialist work-
shop.
Off-road driving places a higher demand on your
vehicle than normal road operation. Check your
vehicle after driving on rough terrain. By doing
so you will notice any damage in good time and
reduce the risk of an accident for yourself and
other road users. Clean your vehicle thoroughly
before driving on public roads.
Observe the following points after driving off-
road, on construction sites and before driving on
public roads:
XActivate ESP®(Ypage 66).
XClean the headlamps and tail lamps and
check them for damage.
XClean the front and rear license plates.
XClean the windshield, windows and exterior
mirrors.
XClean the steps, door sills and grab handles.
This increases safety of footing.
XClean the wheels/tires, wheel housings and
the underbody of the vehicle with a water jet. This increases road grip, especially on wet
road surfaces.
XCheck the wheels/tires and wheel housings
for trapped foreign objects and remove them.
Trapped foreign objects can damage the
wheels/tires and may be flung out from the
vehicle when you continue driving.
XCheck the underbody for trapped branches or
other parts of plants and remove them.
Trapped branches or other parts of plants
increase the risk of fire and can cause dam-
age to fuel lines, brake hoses and the rubber
bellows of axle joints and drive shafts.
XClean the brake disks, brake pads and axle
joints, particularly after operation in sand,
mud, grit/gravel, water or similarly dirty con-
ditions.
XCheck the entire floor assembly, the tires,
wheels, bodywork structure, brakes, steering,
chassis and exhaust system for any damage.
XCheck the service brake for operating safety,
e.g. carry out a brake test.
XIf you notice strong vibrations after driving off-
road, check the wheels and drive train for for- eign objects again. Remove any foreign
objects which can lead to imbalances and
thus cause vibrations.
Driving in mountainous areas
When driving in mountainous areas, note that
the power output of the engine, and with it its
gradient climbing capability, decrease with
increasing altitude. Please take note of this par-
ticularly when driving with a trailer in mountain-ous areas.
The maximum permissible trailer loads are valid
for journeys at altitudes up to 1100 yds
(1000 m) above sea level with gradients up to
12%.
Information on maximum permissible trailer
loads can be found in your vehicle registration
papers and on the vehicle identification plate
(
Ypage 305) or under "Trailer loads"
(Ypage 316).
Driving tips143
Driving and parking
Z

Rthe maximum permissible gross vehicle
weight of both the towing vehicle and the
trailer
Rthe maximum permissible gross weight of
vehicle/trailer combination
The applicable permissible values that may not
be exceeded can be found:
Rin your vehicle documents
Ron the type plates for the trailer tow hitch
Ron the type plates for the trailer
Ron the vehicle identification plate
(Ypage 305)
Where the values differ, the lowest is valid.
You will find the values approved by the manu-
facturer on the vehicle identification plates and
those for the towing vehicle in the "Technical
data" section (
Ypage 316).
Your vehicle behaves differently with a trailer
than without one.
The vehicle/trailer combination:
Ris heavier
Ris restricted in its acceleration and gradient-
climbing capability
Rhas an increased braking distance
Ris more susceptible to strong crosswinds
Rrequires more sensitive steering
Rhas a larger turning circle
This may impair the handling characteristics.
When towing a trailer, always adjust your speed
to suit the road and weather conditions. Drive
carefully. Maintain a safe dista nce.
If y
ou require any further explanation regarding
the information contained in the Operating
Instructions, please contact a Mercedes-Benz
Commercial Van Center.
General notes
RObserve the legally permitted maximum
speed for vehicle/trailer combinations in the
relevant country, state or Canadian province.
Before beginning the journey, check the trail-
er's documents for the maximum permitted
speed of your trailer.
This reduces the risk of accidents.
RInstall only an approved trailer coupling on
your vehicle. Only use a ball coupling for your Metris trailer tow hitch if it has been approved
for your vehicle. More information on the
availability, mounting and installation of the trailer electrics is available at any qualified
specialist workshop.
RThe trailer coupling is one of the most impor-
tant vehicle parts with regard to road safety.
Observe the notes on operation, care and
maintenance of the trailer tow hitch (see the
manufacturer's operating instructions).
RThe bumpers of your vehicle are not suitable
for installing detachable trailer couplings.
RDo not attach rented trailer tow hitches or
other detachable trailer tow hitches to the
bumper.
RMinimize the risk of damage to the ball cou-
pling. If you do not require the ball coupling,
remove it from the ball coupling recess.
Yo u w
ill find weight information under "Techni-
cal data" (Ypage 316).
The height of the ball neck changes according to
the load on the vehicle. If this is case, use a
trailer with a height-adjustable trailer drawbar.
Driving tips
The maximum permissible speed for vehicle/
trailer combination depends on the type of
trailer. Before beginning the journey, check the
trailer's documents for the maximum permitted
speed of your trailer. Observe the legally per-
mitted maximum speed in the relevant country, state or Canadian province.
When towing a trailer, your vehicle's handling
characteristics will be different in comparison to
when driving without a trailer and it will con-
sume more fuel.
On long and steep downhill gradients, select a
lower gear.
iThis also applies if cruise control is activa-
ted.
This enables you to utilize the engine's braking
effect and you do not need to brake so heavily to keep the correct speed. This relieves the load on
the brake system and prevents the brakes from overheating and wearing too quickly. If you need
to brake additionally, to not depress the brake
pedal constantly, but periodically.
Observe the notes on ESP
®trailer stabilization
(Ypage 67).
166Towing a trailer
Driving an d parking

On vehicles with steering wheel buttons, the
light sensor in the instrument cluster automati-
cally controls the brightness of the display light-
ing.
While the lights are on, the brightness is depend-
ent upon the brightness of the ambient light.
You can also adjust the brightness of the instru-
ment lighting and the display lighting
Rby pressing thefand gbuttons on the
instrument cluster on vehicles without steer-
ing wheel buttons (not in the Settings
menu)
Rby turning brightness control knob :on vehi-
cles with steering wheel buttons
Speedometer
If you change the wheel size on your vehicle,
make sure it is assigned to the correct wheel
size category (
Ypage 279). If you change wheel
size category without recoding the control unit,
the speedometer indication will be inaccurate.
The current vehicle speed may then be higher
than the speed displayed in the speedometer.
The speed can also be shown in the display in
the form of a digital speedometer:
ROn vehicles without steering wheel buttons
(Ypage 175)
ROn vehicles with steering wheel buttons
(Ypage 181)
iIn some countries, a warning sounds and/or
the display shows a message when the vehi-
cle reaches the maximum legally permissible speed limit, e.g. at 75 mph (120 km/h).
Tachometer
!
Do not drive in the overrevving range, as this
could damage the engine.
HEnvironmental note
Avoid driving at high engine speeds. This
unnecessarily increases the fuel consumption
of your vehicle and harms the environment as
a result of increased emissions.
The red band in the tachometer indicates the
engine's overrevving range.
To protect the engine, the fuel supply is inter-
rupted when the red band is reached.
Outside temperature display
You should pay special attention to road condi-
tions when temperatures are around freezing
point.
Please bear in mind that the outside tempera-
ture display shows the air temperature meas-
ured and not the road temperature.
The display shows the outside temperature in
the header:
Ron vehicles without steering wheel buttons
(Ypage 173)
Ron vehicles with steering wheel buttons
(Ypage 179)
Changes in the outside temperature are dis-
played after a short delay.
Coolant temperature gauge
GWARNING
Opening the hood when the engine is over-
heated or when there is a fire in the engine
compartment could expose you to hot gases
or other service products. There is a risk of
injury.
Let an overheated engine cool down before
opening the hood. If there is a fire in the
engine compartment, keep the hood closed
and contact the fire department.
On vehicles without steering wheel buttons, you
can have the coolant temperature shown in the
display (
Ypage 175).
On vehicles with steering wheel buttons, an ana-
log coolant temperature gage is located in the
tachometer in the instrument cluster
(
Ypage 39).
Under normal operating conditions and with the
specified coolant level, the gauge may rise to
248 ‡ (120 †).
172Display and operation
On-board computer and displays

120km/h!(only for certain countries) max-
imum permissible speed exceeded
=Display panel for display messages, menus
and menu bar
?Transmission position (Ypage 129)
AFuel level
Bè ECO start/stop function
(Ypage 125)
Cè Rear window wiper (Ypage 106)
Display panel =shows the selected menu or
submenu and display messages.
Menu overview
The Settingsmenu is only displayed when the
vehicle is stationary. You can think of the order
of the menus and functions as a circle. Press È
on the instrument cluster to scroll through the
menus.
If you scroll forward in the Settings
menu using
3, the setting from the previous submenu or
function is adopted.
If you press Èin a submenu, the submenu or
function is exited without adopting the setting.
The display then shows the start screen of the
Settings
menu.
Operation information can be found under
"Operating the on-board computer"
(
Ypage 173).
Depending on the vehicle equipment, you can
call up the following menus, displays or func-
tions:
Rtrip odometer and odometer display
(Ypage 174)
Rtrip computer display (Ypage 174)
Rcurrent range display (Ypage 175)
Rcurrent fuel consumption display
(Ypage 175)
Rdigital speedometer (Ypage 175)
Rcoolant temperature gage (Ypage 175)
Rdisplay messages in the message memory
(Ypage 191)
The following menus, displays and functions are only displayed when the vehicle is stationary:
Rnext service due date display (Ypage 260)
Rtire pressure monitor restart (Ypage 286)
RSettingsmenu for setting or activating/
deactivating driving and driver assistance systems as well as display options
(
Ypage 176)
Distance menu
Odometer
If the display shows the speed in the header, the
display beside trip odometer
:also shows the
outside temperature.
You can switch the permanent display in the
header (
Ypage 177).
Use the buttons in the instrument cluster.
XTo display: press and hold Èuntil the dis-
play shows trip odometer :and odome-
ter ;.
XTo reset: press and hold 3until the trip
odometer is reset to 0.0
.
You can set the unit of measurement for the trip odometer in the Distance Unit:
submenu
(Ypage 177).
Trip computer menu
Trip computer
:
Distance
;Length of journey
=Average fuel consumption
?Average speed
174On-board computer (vehicles without steering wheel buttons)
On-board computer and displays

Use the buttons in the instrument cluster.
XTo display:pressÈto select the trip com-
puter display.
The values displayed relate to those meas-
ured since the trip computer was last reset.
XTo reset values: press and hold3until all
values are reset.
The trip computer is automatically reset if the
value exceeds 9,999 hours or 99,999 miles.
You can set the unit of measurement for con-
sumption and distance in the Distance Unit:
submenu (Ypage 177).
Range menu
Use the buttons in the instrument cluster.
XPressÈto select the Rangedisplay.
The approximate range that can be covered is calculated according to your current driving
style and the amount of fuel in the tank. If
there is only a small amount of fuel left in the
fuel tank, the display shows a vehicle being
refueled Ïinstead of the approximate
range.
You can set the unit of measurement for dis-
tance in the Distance Unit:
submenu
(Ypage 177).
Current fuel consumption menu
:Recuperation display
;Range Use the buttons in the instrument cluster.
XPress
Èto select the fuel consumption bar
display.
Recuperation display :shows whether, and, if
so, how much kinetic energy is being trans-
formed into electric current whilst the vehicle is
coasting. The recuperated energy is then stored in the starter battery. Recuperation display :is
dependent on the engine installed and is there-
fore not available in all vehicles.
You can set the unit of measurement for con-
sumption in the Distance Unit:
submenu
(Ypage 177).
Digital speedometer menu
Use the buttons in the instrument cluster.
XPress Èto select the speed display.
You can set the unit for the digital speedometer
in the Distance
Unit:submenu (Ypage 177).
Coolant temperature menu
GWARNING
Opening the hood when the engine is over-
heated or when there is a fire in the engine
compartment could expose you to hot gases
or other service products. There is a risk of
injury.
Let an overheated engine cool down before
opening the hood. If there is a fire in the
engine compartment, keep the hood closed
and contact the fire department.
Use the buttons in the instrument cluster.
XPress Èto select the ?coolant temper-
ature bar display.
Under normal operating conditions and with the
specified coolant level, the gauge may rise to
248 ‡ (120 †).
On-board computer (vehicles without steering wheel buttons)175
On-board computer and displays
Z

In status areaD, the display can show the sta-
tus of the following driving systems:
À ATTENTION ASSIST (
Ypage 152)
à Lane Keeping Assist (
Ypage 150)
V Cruise control (
Ypage 144)
è Rear window wiper (
Ypage 106)
è ECO start/stop function (
Ypage 125)
Menu overview
You can think of the order of the menus as a
circle. Use the =or; steering wheel
buttons to show the menu bar and scroll through
the menus. Use the :or9 steering
wheel buttons to scroll through their submenus and functions.
Operation information can be found under
"Operating the on-board computer"
(
Ypage 178).
Depending on the vehicle equipment, you can
call up the following menus:
RTripmenu (Ypage 180)
RNavimenu (navigation instructions)
(Ypage 182)
RAudiomenu (Ypage 183)
RTel(telephone) menu (Ypage 184)
RAssist.(assistance) menu (Ypage 185)
RServicemenu (Ypage 187)
RSettingsmenu (Ypage 188)
Trip menu
Standard display
Odometer
XPress and hold the %steering wheel but-
ton until the Tripmenu with trip odometer :
and odometer ;appears.
If the display shows the speed in the header, the
outside temperature is additionally displayed on
the lower edge of display panel =.
You can switch the permanent display in the
header (
Ypage 188).
Displaying the range and current fuel
consumption
Using the steering wheel buttons
XPress =or; to select the Tripmenu.
XPress:or9 to select range :and
consumption ;.
Approximate range :is calculated on the basis
of your current driving style and the amount of
fuel in the tank. If there is only a small amount of
fuel left in the fuel tank, the display shows a
vehicle being refueled Ïinstead of the
approximate range.
Recuperation display =shows whether, and, if
so, how much kinetic energy is being trans-
formed into electric current whilst the vehicle is
coasting. The recuperated energy is then stored
in the starter battery. Recuperation display =is
dependent on the engine installed and is there-
fore not available in all vehicles.
180On-board computer (vehicles with steering wheel buttons)
On-board computer and displays

Trip computer "From Start" or "From
Reset"
:Distance
;Length of journey
=Average fuel consumption
?Average speed
Using the steering wheel buttons
XPress =or; to select the Tripmenu.
XPress:or9 to select the FromStartorFrom Resetsubmenu.
The values in the From
Startsubmenu are cal-
culated from the start of a journey whilst the
values in the From Reset
submenu are calcu-
lated from the last time the submenu was reset
(
Ypage 181).
The From
Starttrip computer function is auto-
matically reset in the following situations:
Rthe ignition has been switched off for more
than four hours.
R999 hours have been exceeded.
R9,999 miles have been exceeded.
The From Reset
trip computer is automatically
reset if the value exceeds 9,999 hours or
99,999 miles.
Digital speedometer
:Gearshift recommendation
Automatic transmission (
Ypage 133)
;Digital speedometer
Use the steering wheel buttons.
XPress =or; to select the Tripmenu.
XSelect the digital speedometer by press-
ing: or9.
Resetting values
Resetting values (example: "From start" trip com-
puter)
Using the steering wheel buttons
XPress =or; to select the Tripmenu.
XPress:or9 to select the function you
would like to reset.
XPress ato confirm.
XPress :to select Yesand press ato
confirm.
You can reset the values of the following func-
tions:
RTrip odometer
R"From start" trip computer
R"From reset" trip computer
On-board computer (vehicles withsteering whee lbu ttons)181
On-board computer and displays
Z