Ru
les foro ff-road driving
Alw aysbea wareoftheg round clearance of the
ve hicle and avoid obs tacles suc hasdeept ire
ru ts.
Obs tacles can damag ethe following parts of the
ve hicle, fore xamp le:
R Suspension
R Driv etra in
R Fuel and suppl ytanks
Therefore, alw aysd rive slowl ywhen off-road. If
yo um ustd rive ov er obs tacles ,have thec o-driver
instruct you.
% Mercedes-Ben
zrecommends that youa ddi‐
tionall ycarry as hovela nd areco very rope
wit has hackle in thev ehicle.
R Mak esuret hat loadsa nd items of luggage
ar es ecurel ystore dorl ashed down
(/ page73).
R Before driving off-road, stop thev ehicle and
engag ealowgear.
R Vehicles with DSR: activateDSR when you
ar ed rivin gd ownhill (/ page121).
R All-wheel driv evehicles: activatethe all-
wheel driv e(/pag e120) and, if necessa ry,
activat ethe LOWR ANGE transmission ratio
(/ page 120).
R Ifth es urface requ ires, temp orarily deactivate
ASR when pulling away ( /pag e120).
R Onlydrive off-road wit hthe engine running
and agear engaged.
R Driv eslowl yand smo othly .W alkin gpace is
necessar yinmanys ituations.
R Avoid spinning thed rive nw heels.
R Alwayse nsur ethat thew heels remain in con‐
ta ct wi th theground.
R Exercise theu tmos tcaution when driving
across unfamiliar ,unpre dictable terrain. As a
precaution ,get outoft hevehicle totake a
look at ther out etobet akenfirs t.
R Lookoutforo bstacles (e.g .roc ks,h oles, tree
st umps and tir eruts).
R Avoid edges wher ethe sur face could crumble
or brea kaway.
Ru les forf ording off-road (all-wheel drive
ve hicles)
R Obser vethes afet yn otes and general no tes
on driving off-road. R
Chec kthe dep thand characteristic softhe
body of waterbefor efording. The waterm ust
no tbed eeper than 23.6 in (60 cm).
R The climat econtrol sy stem is switched off
(/ page96).
R The auxiliar yheating is switched off
(/ page101).
R Switc hona ll-whee ldrive ( /pag e119)a nd
engag eitonv ehicles wit hthe LOWR ANGE
transmission ratio (/ page 120).
R Restrict thes hiftrang eto1or 2.
R Avoid high engine speeds.
R Driv eslowl yand smoo thly at no mo rethan a
wa lkin gpace.
R Ensur ethat no bo wwavef orms while driving.
R Afterf ording, dr ythe brakes.
Af terd riving thro ugh abody of waterdeeper than
19 .7 in (50 cm), mak esuretoc heckallve hicle
fl uids fora ny signs of penetration bywater.
Checklis tafter driving off- road
If yo uf ind dama getothev ehicle af tero ff-road
driving, ha vethev ehicle checkedataq ualified
specialis tworks hop immediately.
Driving over rough terrain place sgreater
demands on your vehicle than normal road opera‐
tion. Chec kyour vehicle af terd riving on rough
te rrain. This allo wsyoutod etect damage
prom ptly and reduce ther isk of an accident for
yo urself and other road users. Clean your vehicle
th oroughly befor edriving on public roads.
Obse rvet he following point safter drivin goff-
ro ad, on con stru ction sites and befor edriving on
publi croads:
R Vehicles with DSR: deactivateDSR
(/ page121).
R All-wheel driv evehicles: deactivat ethe all-
wheel driv e(/pag e120).
R Activat eASR (/ page 120).
R Clean thee xterio rlighting, particularly the
headlamp sand tail lamps, and checkt hem
fo rd ama ge.
R Clean thef ront and rear licens eplates.
R Clean thew indshield, windo wsand outside
mir rors.
R Clean thes teps, entra nces and grab handles.
Thi sincreases thes afet yofy ourfoot ing.
R Clean thew heels and tires, wheel wells and
th eu nderbody of thev ehicle wit hawater jet. Driving and parking
11 3
