Page 265 of 306

Tow
ingand tow-starti ng Impo
rtant safety notes G
WA
RNING
Wh entow ingortow -sta rtingano therveh icle
and itsweight isgre atertha nthe permi ssi-
bl e gro sswe ight ofyour veh icle, the :
R the towingeyecou ldde tach itself
R the vehicle/tra iler comb inationcou ldrol l-
ove r.
The reisaris kof an acc ident.
Wh entow ingortow -sta rtingano therveh i-
cle ,its weight sho uld not begre atertha n
the permi ssible gro sswe ight ofyour veh icle.
Deta ils on the permi ssible gro ssveh iclewe ight
of your veh iclecan befou ndonthe vehicle
id enti ficati on plate (Ypage 297 ).
! Wh
enActiv eBra keAssi st,Activ eDis tance
Assi stDISTR ONICor the HOLD functio nis
acti vated ,the vehiclebra kes automa tically
in certa insitua tions.
To avoid da ma getothe vehicle, de acti vate
the sesystem sin the followi ng orsimil arsit-
ua tio ns:
R wh en tow ingthe vehicle
R in the carwash
! Onl
ysec urethe tow ropeor tow barat the
tow ingeyes. Othe rwise, the vehiclecou ldbe
da ma ged.
! Do
not usethe towingeyefor reco very,
thi scou ldda ma gethe vehicle. Ifin do ubt,
reco verthe vehiclewi th acra ne.
! Wh
entow ing,pu llaw ay slow lyand
smo othly.Ifthe tractiv epo we ris too high,
the vehicles cou ldbe dama ged.
! Do
not tow with sling -typ eeq uipme nt.This
cou ldda ma gethe vehicle.
! Wh
entow ingaway veh icles with KEYL ESS-
GO ,us ethe key instea dof the Star t/Stop
bu tton. Theautoma tictransmi ssion may
othe rwise shi ftto positio n005D when you
op en the driver 'sor fro nt-pa ssenge rdo or,
wh ich cou ldda ma gethe transmi ssion. !
Ma
kesure tha tthe electri cpa rkin gbra ke
is rel eased .If the electri cpa rkin gbra keis
fa ulty, visitaqu alifi ed speci alistwo rksh op.
! Yo
uma ytow thevehiclefor ama xim um
di sta nce of30 miles(50 kilome ters).A tow -
ing spee dof 30 mph (50km/h )mu stnot be
exce eded.
For towingdista nces over30 miles
(50 kilome ters),the entireveh iclemu stbe
ra ised and transp orte d.
! Wh
enyouar etow -sta rtingor tow ing
ano therveh icle, its weight mu stnot exce ed
the maxim um permi ssible gro sswe ight of
yo ur veh icle.
It is be tter tohave the vehicletra nsp orte d
tha nto have ittow edaway.
The automa tictransmi ssion mu stbe inpo si-
tio n005C when the vehicleis be ing tow edaway.
The battery mustbe conne ctedandcharged.
Othe rwise, you:
R canno ttur nthe Sma rtKeyto positio n0048 in
the igniti onlock
R canno tshi ftthe automa tictransmi ssion to
po sitio n005C
Dea ctivate the automa ticlocking feature
be for ethe vehicleis tow ed(Ypage 178 ).Yo u
cou ldothe rwise be locked outwh en pushi ng
or tow ingthe vehicle. In
stal ling /re mov ingthe towingey e
In stal ling the towingey e G
WA
RNING
The exhaust tai lpi pe maybe veryhot. There
is aris kof burns when rem oving the rear
cove r.
Do not touchthe exhaust pipe .Ta ke partic u-
la rcar ewh en rem oving the rearcove r. Tow
ingand tow-starti ng
263Break downass istanc e Z
Page 266 of 306

The
bracket sfor the screw-in towingeyeare
located inthe bumpers. Theyareatthe front
and atthe rear, behind thecovers.
X Remove thetowing eyefrom thevehicle tool
kit (Ypage 252).
X Press themark oncover 0043inwards inthe
direction ofthe arrow.
X Take cover 0043offthe opening.
X Scr ew inthe towing eyeclock wiseasfar as
it will goand tighten it.
Removing thetowing eye X
Unsc rewand remove thetowing eye.
X Attach cover 0043tothe bumper andpress
until itengages.
X Place thetowing eyeinthe vehicle toolkit. Towing
avehicle withboth axles on
the ground G
WARNIN
G
You cannolonger steerthevehicle ifthe
steerin gwheel lockhasbeen engaged.
There isarisk ofan accident .
Always switchoffthe ignition whentowing
the vehicle withatow cable oratow bar.
The automatic transmission shiftstoposition
005D automatically whenyouopen thedriver's
or front -passenger doororwhen youremove
the Smart Keyfrom theignition lock. In
order toensure thattheautomatic trans-
mission staysinposition 005Cwhen towing
away thevehicle, youmust observe thefollow-
ing points:
X Switch onthe hazard warning lamps
(Y page 99).
X Turn theSmart Keytoposition 0048inthe igni-
tion lock.
On vehicles withKEYLE SS-GO, usethe
Smart Keyinstead ofthe Start /Stopbutton
(Y page 118).
X Depress andhold thebrake pedal.
X Shift thetrans mission toposition 005C.
X Release thebrake pedal.
X Release theelectric parking brake.
X Leave theSmart Keyinposition 0048inthe
ignition lock.
In order tosignal achange ofdirection when
towing thevehicle withthehazard warning
lamps switched on,use thecombinat ion
switch asusual. Inthis case, onlytheindicator
lamps forthe direction oftravel flash.When
you reset thecombinat ionswitch, thehazard
warning flashersstartflashing again.
It is important thatyouobserve thesafety
instr uctions whentowing awayyourvehicle
(Y page 263). Permit
tedtowing methods
Mercedes- Benzrecomm endstransportin gyour
vehicle inthe case ofabreakdown, ratherthan
towing itaway .
When towing away,use atowing ropeora
towing barwith both axles onthe ground. Do
not use anytow barsystems. Towing
thevehicle withtherear axle
raised
! The
ignition mustbeswitched offifyou
are towing thevehicle withtherear axle
raised. Intervent ionbyESP ®
could other-
wise damage thebrake system.
! Vehicles
withautomatic transmission must
not betowed withtherear axle raised. The
vehicle/t railercombinat ionmay otherwise
swerve oreven rollover. 264
Towing
andtow-sta rtingBr eakdown assistance
Page 267 of 306

Trans
portingthe vehic le
Veh icle swi th auto matic transmission !
Wh
enthe vehicleis load ed for transp ort,
the frontand rearaxl es mu stbe stationar y
and onthe same transp orta tionveh icle.
Po sitio ning overthe conne ctionpo int ofthe
tra nsp ortveh icleis not permi tted .The drive
tra inma yothe rwise be dama ged.
Al lve hic les !
Yo
uma yonl ysec urethe vehicleby the
wh eels,not byparts ofthe vehiclesu ch as
axl eor stee ringcomp onents. Othe rwise, the
veh iclecou ldbe dama ged.
The towingeyecan beused topullthe vehicle
onto atra iler or tra nsp orte rfor transp orting
pu rpo ses .
X Tu rn the Sma rtKeyto positio n0048 inthe igni-
tio nlock.
X Shi ftthe transmi ssion topositio n005C.
As soon asthe vehic lehas been loade d:
X Pre vent thevehiclefro mrol ling away by
ap plying the electri cpa rkin gbra ke.
X Shi ftthe transmi ssion topositio n005D.
X Tu rn the Sma rtKeyto positio n0092 inthe igni-
tio nlock and remove theSma rtKeyfro mthe
ig niti onlock.
X Secu rethe vehicle. Tow
-starti ng(emerg ency engine
starti ng)
! Veh
icles with automa tictransmi ssion mu st
not betow -sta rted .Yo ucou ldothe rwise
da ma gethe automa tictransmi ssion. Yo
ucan find informa tionon "Jum p-starting "at
(Y page 260 ). Fu
ses Impo
rtant safety notes G
WA
RNING
If yo uma nipulate orbridgeafa ulty fuse orif
yo urep lace itwi th afu se with ahighe r
am perage ,the electri ccab lescou ldbe ove r-
lo ad ed .Thi scou ldres ultin afir e. The reisa
ris kof an acc ident and injury.
Alw aysrep lace faulty fuses with the speci -
fie dnew fuses havin gthe corr ectamperage .
Blo wn fuses mustbe rep laced with fuses of
the same rating ,wh ich youcan reco gnizeby
the colorand value. The fuse rating sar elisted
in the fuse allo cati oncha rt.
The fuse allo cati oncha rtis locate din the vehi-
cle tool kitinthe stow agecomp artment under
the trunk floor (Y page 252 ).
If anew lyins erte dfu se also blow s,ha ve the
cau setraced and recti fiedat aqu alifi ed spe-
cia list wo rksh op,e.g .an author izedMe rced es-
Benz Center.
! Onl
yus efu ses thatha ve been appro ved
for Merced es-Benz vehicles and which have
the corr ectfuse rating forthe system con-
cern ed.Othe rwise, comp onents orsystem s
cou ldbe dama ged.
! Ma
kesure tha tno moi sturecan ente rthe
fu se boxwh en the cove ris op en.
! Wh
enclosing the cove r,ma kesure tha tit
is lying corr ectlyon the fuse box.Moi sture
see ping inor dirt cou ldothe rwise imp airthe
op era tionof the fuses .
The fuses inyour veh icleser vetoclo sedown
fa ulty cir cui ts. Ifafu se blow s,allthe comp o-
nents onthe circui tand theirfunctio nsstop
op era ting . Bef
ore chang ingafus e
X Swi tch offthe engine.
X Swi tch offallel ectri calcons umers. Fu
ses
265Break downass istanc e Z
Page 268 of 306

X
Make surethattheignition isswitched off
(Y page 118).
or
X When usingtheSmartK ey,turn theSmart-
Key toposition 0092inthe ignition lockand
remove it(Y page 118).
X Secure thevehicle against rollingaway
(Y page 134).
All indicator lampsinthe instrumen tcluster
must beoff.
The fuses arelocated invarious fuseboxes:
R Fuse boxinthe engine compartmen ton the
left-hand sideofthe vehicle, whenviewed in
the direction oftravel
R Fuse boxinthe trunk Fuse
boxinthe engine compart ment
i Observe
the"Important safetynotes" sec-
tion (Ypage 265). G
WARNING
When thehood isopen andthewindshield
wipers aresetinmotion, youcan beinjured
by the wiper linkage. Thereisarisk ofinjury.
Always switchoffthe windshield wipersand
the ignition beforeopening thehood. X
Make surethatthewindshield wipersare
turned off.
X Open thehood.
X Use adry cloth toremove anymoisture
from thefuse box.
X To open: openclamps 0044.
X Remove fuseboxcover 0043forwards. X
To close :check whether theseal islying
correct lyin cover 0043.
X Insert cover0043atthe rear ofthe fuse box
into theretainer.
X Fold down cover 0043and close clamps 0044.
X Close thehood. Fuse
boxinthe trunk
i Observe
the"Important safetynotes" sec-
tion (Ypage 265). The
fuse boxislocated inthe trunk behind the
partition covering.
X Open thetrunk lid.
X To open: release cover0043onthe right and
left-hand sideswithaflat object .
X Open cover 0043downwards inthe direction
of the arrow. 266
FusesBr
eakdown assistance
Page 269 of 306

Imp
ortant safety notes G
WAR
NING
If you installwhee lsand tires withinc orrect
dime nsion s,theser vicebrak eor whee lsus-
pen sion compo nentsmay bedamag ed.
Ther eis aris kof an acc iden t.
Alw ays replace whee lsand tires withon es
th at comply withth espec ificationsof the
ori gin alpart .
When replaci ngwhee ls,pay attention tothe:
R De sign ation
R Mode l
When replaci ngtires ,pay attention tothe:
R De sign ation
R Man ufacturer
R Mode l G
WAR
NING
A flat tire will severelyaff ectth edriv ing
ch arac teris tics as well asthest eer ing and
brak ingoftheveh icle. Ther eis aris kof an
acc iden t.
Tir es wit hout run-flat charac teris tics :
R Do notdriv eon withaflat tire.
R Chan getheflat tire imm ediat elywithan
eme rgencyspar ewhee lor spar ewhee l.
Alt ern ativel y,co nsult aqualif iedspec ialist
wor kshop.
Tir es wit hrun -flat charac teris tics :
R Obs erveth einf orm ation and warn ing
no teson MOE xten ded tires (run -flat tires ).
Ac cesso ries that are notappr ovedfor your
veh icleby Mer cedes- Benzor are notbein g
used correc tly can impa irth eoper ating safety.
Bef ore purc hasingand usingno n-appr oved
acc essories, visitaqualif iedspec ialist work-
sho pand askabout :
R suit abilit y
R legal stipulat ions
R fac tory rec omm endat ions
Fur ther inform ation reg ardi ngwhee lsand tires
can befoun dund er"Whee l/tire combin ations"
(Y page 292). You
canaskforinform ation reg ardi ngper mit-
te dwhee l/tire combin ationsat an auth orized
Mer cedes- BenzCen ter.
In for mat ionontire pre ssur ecan befoun d:
R on theTir eand Load ingInfor mat ionplac ard
on theB- pillar onthedriv er'sside
(Y page 279)
R in thetire pre ssur etab lein thefuel filler flap
(Y page 133)
R in the"Tir epre ssur e"sec tion Op
era tion Infor
mation ondrivin g
Chec kth etire pre ssur ewhen theveh icleis
heav ilyladen andadjust prio rto atrip.
While driving,pay attention tovibr ations,
no ises andunus ualhan dlingch arac teris tics ,
e. g. pullin gto oneside .This may indicat eth at
th ewhee lsor tires are damag ed.Ifyou sus-
pec tth at atire isdef ective, reduce your speed
imm ediat ely.Stop theveh icleas soo nas pos -
sible tocheckth ewhee lsand tires fordam-
age. Hidden tire damag eco uld also becaus ing
th eunus ualhan dlingch arac teris tics .If you
fin dno sign sof damag e,hav eth etires and
whee lsch ecke dat aqualif iedspec ialist work-
sho p.
When parkingyour vehicle, mak esur eth at the
ti res donotget deform edbythecur bor other
obs tacles. Ifth ey can notbe avoi ded, drive
ove robs tacles suc has cur bsslow lyand atan
obt use angle.Other wise, youmay damag eth e
whee lsor tires . Reg
ularcheck ingofwheels andtires G
WAR
NING
Dam aged tires can caus etire inflat ion pres-
sur eloss .As ares ult,you could lose control
of your vehicle. Ther eis aris kof acc iden t.
Chec kth etires regularly forsign sof dam-
age and replace anydamag edtires imm edi-
ate ly. Op
era tion
267Wheels andtire s Z
Page 270 of 306

Chec
kwheel sand tires for damag eat least
on ce amon th.Chec kwheel sand tires after
driv ingoff-road oron roug hroad s.Dam aged
wheel scan caus ealoss oftirepre ssur e.Pay
part icular attentio nto damag esuc has:
R cut sin thetir es
R punc tures inthetir es
R tears inthetir es
R bulges ontires
R def orm ationor sev ere corrosio non wheel s
Regular lych eck thetir etread dept hand the
co ndi tionof thetread across thewhole width
of all tires (Y page 268). Ifne ces sary, turnth e
fr on twheel sto full lockin ord erto ins pec tth e
inn erside ofthetir esurf ace.
All wheel smust haveavalv ecap topro tect
th evalv eagain stdirt and mois ture.Do not
moun tanyt hingon to thevalv eot her than the
st and ard valvecap orother valvecaps
appro vedbyMer cedes-Ben zfor your vehicle.
Do notuse anyother valvecaps orsyst ems ,
e.g .tir epre ssur emon itorin gsyst ems .
Regular lych eck thepre ssur eof all thetir es
part icular lyprio rto lon gtrips. Adjus tth etir e
pre ssur eas neces sary (Ypage 270).
Obse rveth eno teson theeme rgencyspar e
wheel (Ypage 293).
The servicelife oftires depen ds,amon got her
th ing s,on thefoll owin gfac tors:
R Dr ivin gst yle
R Tire pressur e
R Dis tan cecover ed Not
eson tiretread G
WAR
NING
If th ere isins ufficie nttiretread, thetir etrac-
tio ndec reas es.The tiretread isno longer
able todiss ipatewate r.This increas esthe
ris kof hydr oplan ingwhen theroad surface
is wet ,part icular lywhen theveh icle'sspee d
is no tadapt edtotheroad condi tions.Ther e
is aris kof an acc iden t.
When thetir epre ssur eis toohigh ortoo
low, tires may wear differe ntly at diff ere nt
poin tson thetir etread. Therefore, regularly
ch eck thetir etread dept hand theco ndi tion of
thetread across thewhole widthof all
tir es.
Min imum tiretread dept hon :
R Sum mer tires: 00CEin(3 mm)
R M+S tires: 00CFin(4 mm)
For safe tyreas ons,have thetir es rep lace d
bef ore they reac hth elegally prescribe dmin -
imum tiretread dept h. Mark
ing0043sho wswher eth ebar indicat orfor
tr ead wear (arrow) isint egr atedint oth etir e
tr ead.
Tre adwear indicat ors (TWI )are required by
law. Sixindicat ors are posi tionedon thetir e
tr ead. They arevisible once atread dept hof
appr oximat ely00CD in(1.6 mm)ha sbe en
re ach ed. Ifth is isthecas e,thetir eis so worn
th at itmust berepl aced . Select
ing,mou nting and replacing
tir es
Tire sand wheels
R On lymoun ttir es and wheels ofthesame
type andmake.
Ex cep tion:itis perm issibleto moun ta dif-
fer ent type ormak ein theeven tof aflat
tir e. Obse rveth e"MOE xtend edtires (tires
with run-flat charac terist ics)"sec tion
(Y page 253).
R On lymoun ttir es ofthecor rectsiz eon to the
wheels .
R Break innew tires atmode ratespee dsfor
th efir st 60 miles (100km). Thenew tires
on lyreac hth eir full perf ormanceaft erthis
dist ance. 268
Oper
ationWh eels andtires
Page 271 of 306

R
Do not drive with tire swh ich have too little
trea dde pth .Thi ssigni ficantl yred uce sthe
tra ctio non wetroa ds(hyd rop laning ).
R Re place thetiresaf ter six ye arsat the lat-
est, regardless ofwe ar. MOE
xtende dtire s(ti res with run-f lat
prope rties)
Wi th MOExte ndedtire s(ti res with runfla t
cha racteri stics) ,yo ucan conti nuetodrive your
veh icleeve nif the reisatota llo ss ofpre ssu re
in one ormor etire s.
MOExte ndedtire sma yonl ybe used incon-
juncti onwith an acti vetire pressu reloss wa rn-
ing system orwith an acti vetire pressu remon-
ito rand onwheelssp eci fically teste dby
Me rced es-Benz.
Note son drivin gwi th MOExte ndedtire swi th a
fla ttire (Ypage 253 ).
Veh icles equipp ed with MOExte ndedtire sar e
not equipp ed with aTIR EFIT kitatthe factory .
It is the refore reco mme ndedtha tyo uad ditio n-
al ly eq uip yo ur veh iclewi th aTIR EFIT kitifyo u
mou nttire stha tdo not featureru n-fl atcha rac-
teri stics, e.g.wi nter tires.ATIR EFIT kitcan be
ob tained fromaqu alifi ed speci alistwo rksh op. Win
terope ratio n Ge
neral notes
Hav eyo ur veh iclewi nter-p roofed ataqu alifi ed
sp eci alistwo rksh opatthe onse tof winter.
Ob ser vethe note sin the "Cha ngi ng awh eel"
sec tion(Y page 288 ). Dri
ving with summe rtire s
At temp eratures below 45 ‡(+7 †),su mme r
tire slo se elas tici tyand therefore tractio nand
bra king powe r.Ch ang ethe tireson your veh i-
cle toM+S tires.Us ing su mmer tiresatvery
cold tempera turescould cause cracks toform,
thereby damagingthetires perma nently.
Mercede s-Benzcannot acceptresponsi bility
for this type ofdama ge. G
WARNING
Damage dtires cancause tireinflati onpres-
sure loss. Asaresul t,you could losecontrol
of you rvehicl e.There isarisk ofaccide nt.
Check thetires regularlyforsigns ofdam-
age and repla ceany dama gedtires immedi -
ately . M+S
tires G
WARNING
M+S tireswithatire tread depth ofless than
00CF in(4 mm) arenot suitable foruse inwin-
ter and donot provid esuffici enttraction.
There isarisk ofan accide nt.
M+S tireswithatread depth ofless than 00CF
in (4 mm) must berepla cedimmedi ately.
At temperatu resbelo w45 ‡(+7 †), use win-
ter tires orall-season tires.Bothtypes oftire
are identifi edbythe M+S marking.
Only winter tiresbearing the004D snowfla ke
symbo lin add ition tothe M+S marking provide
the best possi blegrip inwintry roadcondi-
tions.
Only these tireswillall ow drivi ngsafety sys-
tems suchasABS andESP®
to function opti-
mall yin winter. Thesetireshave been devel-
oped specifi callyfor drivi nginsnow.
Use M+S tiresofthe same make andtread on
all whee lsto maintai nsafe handl ingcharacter-
istics.
Alwa ysobserve themaximu mpermis sible
speed specifiedfor the M+S tiresyouhave
mounted.
When youhave mounted theM+S tires:
X Check thetire pressu res(Ypage 273).
X Vehic lesforCanada: restartthetire pres-
sure losswarni ngsystem (Ypage 274).
X Resta rtthe tire pressu remonitor
(Y page 274).
Information aboutdrivi ngwith anemergency
spare wheel(Y page 293). Winter
operation
269Wheelsand tires Z
Page 272 of 306

Snow
chains G
WARNING
If snow chains areinstalled tothe front
wheels, theymaydrag against thevehicle
body orchassis componen ts.This could
cause damage tothe vehicle orthe tires.
There isarisk ofan accident.
To avoid hazardous situations:
R never install snowchains tothe front
wheels
R alwa ysinstall snowchains inpairs tothe
rear wheels.
For safety reasons, Mercedes-B enzrecom-
mends thatyouonly usesnow chains that
have been specially approved foryour vehicle
by Mercedes-B enz,orare ofacorrespondin g
standard ofquali ty.For more information ,
please contactaquali fiedspecialist workshop.
If you inten dto mount snowchains, please
bear thefollowing pointsinmind:
R Snow chains maynotbemounted onall
wheel/tire combinations .Permissible
wheel-tire combinations (Ypage 292).
R Only usesnow chains whendriving onroads
completely coveredbysnow. Remove the
snow chains assoon aspossible whenyou
come toaroad thatisnot snow-cov ered.
R Local regulations mayrestrict theuse of
snow chains. Observe theappropriate regu-
lations ifyou wish tomount snowchains.
R Do not exceed themaximum permissible
speed of30 mph (50km/h).
You may wish todeactivate ESP®
when pulling
away withsnow chains installed (Ypage 61).
You canthereby allowthewheels tospin ina
cont rolled manner, achieving anincreased
driving force(cuttin gaction).
Inform ationabout driving withanemergency
spare wheel (Ypage 293). Tire
pressur e Tire
pressur especifications
Import antsafety notes G
WARNING
Underinflated oroverinflated tirespose the
following risks:
R the tires mayburst, especially asthe load
and vehicle speedincrease.
R the tires maywear excessively and/or
unevenly, whichmaygreatly impairtire
tract ion.
R the driving characterist ics,aswell as
steering andbraking, maybegreatly
impaired.
There isarisk ofan accident.
Follow recommen dedtireinflation pressures
and check thepressure ofall the tires
including thespare wheel:
R mont hly,atleast
R ifthe load changes
R before beginning along journey
R under different operating conditions,e.g.
off-r oad driving
If necessary, correctthetire pressure.
The data onthe Tire andLoading Information
placard andtirepressure tableshown hereare
examples. Tirepressure specifications are
vehicle-specific andmay deviate fromthedata
shown here.Thetirepressure specifications
that arevalid foryour vehicle canbefound on
the Tire andLoading Informationplacard and
tire pressure tableonthe vehicle.
General notes The
recommen dedtirepressures forthe tires
mounted atthe factory canbefound onthe
labels described here.
Operat ionwith anemergency sparewheel:
information onoperation withanemergency
spare wheel canbefound inthe general notes
in the "Emergenc yspare wheel" section
(Y page 294).
Further information ontire pressures canbe
obtained ataquali fiedspecialist workshop. 270
Tire
pressureWheels andtires