G
WARNING
Flamma blemateria lsuch aslea ves, grass or
twigs mayignite ifthey come intocontact
with hotparts ofthe exhau stsystem. There
is arisk offire.
When drivingon anunpa vedroad oroff-
road ,check thevehicl eunders ideregu larly.
In particu lar,remove trappedpla ntparts or
other flamma blemateria l.Contact aqua li-
fied speci alist worksho pimmed iatelyif dam-
age isdetected.
! There
isarisk ofdama getothe vehicl eif:
R the vehicl ebecome sstuck, e.g.onahigh
curb oran unpa vedroad
R you drive toofast over anobstacl e,e.g. a
curb, aspee dbump orapothol ein the
road
R ahea vyobject strikes theunderb odyor
parts ofthe chassi s
In situa tions likethis, thebody ,the under-
body ,chassi sparts, wheelsor tires couldbe
dama gedwitho utthe dama gebeing visib le.
Comp onents damagedinthis way canunex-
pectedl yfail or,inthe case ofan accide nt,
no longer withsta ndthe loadsthey are
desi gned to.
If the underb odypanel ingisdama ged,com-
bus tible materia lssuch aslea ves, grass or
twigs cangather betweenthe underb ody
and theunderb odypanel ing.Ifthese materi-
als come incontact withhotparts ofthe
exhau stsystem, theycancatch fire.
In such situations, havethevehicl echecked
and repa iredimmed iatelyat aqua lified spe-
cial istworksho p.Ifon continuing yourjour-
ney you notice thatdrivingsafety is
impa ired,pul lover andstop thevehicl e
immed iately,pay ing attention toroad and
traffic conditions. Insuch cases, consult a
qua lified speci alist worksho p.
The vehicl eis only designed foreasi lynegotia -
ble off-road terrainandpoor roadsurfaces.
When drivingoff-road ,sub stances suchas
sand, mudandwate ror wate rmixed withoil
may getinto thebrakes .This couldresu ltin a
redu cedbraki ngeffect orintotal brake failure
and alsoin increas edwea rand tear. Thebrak-
ing chara cteristics changedepending onthe
materia lentering thebrakes .Cle anthe brakes
after drivingoff-road .If you detect aredu ced braki
ngeffect orgrindi ngnoises ,have the
brake system checked inaqua lified speci alist
worksho pas soon aspossi ble.Adapt your
drivi ngstyle tothe differ entbraki ngchara cter-
istics.
Driving off-road increasesthe likel ihoo dof
dama getothe vehicl e,whi ch, inturn, canlead
to fail ure ofthe mechani calasse mbly orsys-
tems. Adapt yourdrivi ngstyle tosui tthe ter-
rain conditions. Drivecarefu lly.Have damage
to the vehicl erectified immediatelyat aqua li-
fied speci alist worksho p.
Do not shift intotransmissi onposi tion 005C
when drivingoff-road .You couldlose control
of the vehicl eif you attempt tobrake thevehi-
cle using the service brake.Ifthe grad ientis
too steep foryou rvehicl e,drive backdownin
reverse gear.
Gene ralnote s H
Envi
ronmental note
Protection ofthe environment isof prima ry
importa nce.Treatnature withrespe ct.
Observe allprohi biting signs.
Rea dthis section carefullybefore drivingyou r
vehicl eoff-road .
Off-road drivingisonly possi blewith the
ON&OFFROAD package.
The followi ngdrivi ngsystems arespeci ally
ada pted fordrivi ngover easilynegotia bleoff-
road terrain:
R Off-road program(Y pag e170)
R Off-road ABS(Ypag e60)
R Off-road 4ETS(Ypag e64)
R Off-road ESP®
(Y pag e66)
R DSR (Downhi llSpeed Regulation)
(Y pag e169)
Observe thefollowi ngnotes:
R Stop thevehicl ebefore starting todrive
alo ng anoff-road route.Ifnecessa ry,acti-
vate theoff-road program(Y pag e132) .
R To avoi ddama gingthevehicl e,make sure
there isalw ayssuffi cient groundclea rance.
R Che ckthat items oflug gage andloadsare
stowed safelyand arewellsecure d
(Y pag e256).
R Alwa yskeep theengine running andingea r
when drivingon adow nhill gradient. Acti-
vate DSR (Ypag e169) . 154
Drivi
ngtipsDrivi ngand parking
The
wear pattern son the front andrear tires
differ, depending onthe operating conditions.
Rotate thewheels beforeaclear wearpattern
has formed onthe tires. Fronttires typically
wear more onthe shoulders andtherear tires
in the cent er.
On vehicles thathave thesame sizefront and
rear wheels, youcan rotat ethe wheels accord-
ing tothe inter valsinthe tire manufact urer's
warranty bookinyour vehicle document s.Ifno
warranty bookisavailabl e,the tires should be
rotat edevery 3,000 to6,000 miles(5,000 to
10,00 0km). Dependin gon tire wear, thismay
be required earlier.Donot change thedirec-
tion ofwheel rotation.
Clean thecont actsurfaces ofthe wheel and
the brake discthoroughly everytimeawheel
is rotat ed.Check thetire pressure and,ifnec-
essary, restartthetire pressure losswarning
system (Canada only)orthe tire pressure
monit or(USA only). Direction
ofrota tion
Tires withaspecified directionofrotat ionhave
additional benefits,e.g. ifthere isarisk of
hydroplaning. Theseadvantages canonly be
gained ifthe tires areinstalled correspon ding
to the direction ofrotat ion.
An arrow onthe sidewall ofthe tire indicates
its correc tdirection ofrotat ion. Storing
wheels
Stor ewheels thatarenot being usedinacool,
dry and preferably darkplace. Protectthe tires
from oil,grease, gasoline anddiesel. Mounting
awheel
Prepa ringthevehicle X
Stop thevehicle onsolid, non-slippery and
level ground.
X Apply theelectric parking brakemanually.
X Bring thefront wheels intothestraight-
ahead position.
X Shift thetrans mission toposition 005D.
X Switch offthe engine. X
Vehicles withoutKEYLESS-GO: remove
the Smart Keyfrom theignition lock.
X Vehicles
withKEYL ESS-GO start-func-
tion orKEYL ESS-GO: openthedriver's
door.
The vehicle electron icsare now inposition
0092. This isthe same as“key removed”.
X Vehicles
withKEYL ESS-GO start-func-
tion orKEYL ESS-GO: removetheStart /
Stop button fromtheignition lock
(Y page 125).
X Make surethattheengine cannotbe start ed
via your smartphon e(Y page 84).
X Ifincluded inthe vehicle equipment, remove
the tire- change toolkitfrom thevehicle.
X Safeguard thevehicle against rollingaway
(Y page 145).
i Apart
fromcertaincount ry-specific varia-
tions, thevehicles arenot equipped witha
tire- change toolkit.Some toolsforchanging
a wheel arespecific tothe vehicle. Formore
inform ationonwhich toolsarerequired to
perform awheel change onyour vehicle,
consult aqualified specialist workshop.
Necessary tire-changing toolscaninclude,
for example:
R Jack
R Wheel chock
R Lug wrench
Securing thevehicle toprevent itfrom
rolling away If
your vehicle isequipped withawheel chock,
it can befound inthe tire- change toolkit
(Y page 288).
The folding wheelchock isan additional safety
measure toprevent thevehicle fromrolling
away ,for example whenchanging awheel. Changing
awheel
327Wheels andtires Z