2020 MERCEDES-BENZ SL CLASS Owners Manual

X
To clos e:che ckwhethe rthe sealis sea ted
corr ectlyin cove r0043.
X Inse rtbo th openi ngs 0087atthe rearof
cove r0043 into thebrackets onthe fusebo x.
The brackets onthe fusebo xmu stbe com-
pl etel yvis ible in the two openi ngs 0087onthe
fus ebo x.
X Fol ddo wn cove r0043.
X Hoo kcla mps 0044into thefusebo xand
clo se.
X Close thehood. Fus
ebo xin the rear pass engerco m-
partmen t
i Obs
ervethe "Impo rtant safety notes "sec-
tio n(Y page 293 ). The
fusebox inthe rearis locate don the right-
ha nd side when viewe din the directi onoftrav el.
X To ope n:open the seatbe ltgu ide on the
rig ht-ha ndsea tand remove theseatbe lt
(Y page 99).
X Mov ethe right-ha ndsea tas far forw ardas
po ssi ble (Y page 100 ). X
Inse rtyo ur fing ers atthe bottom offront
cove r0044 betwe enthe cove rand floor cove r-
ing .
X Re move frontcover0044 bypulling itforw ard
in the directi onofthe arrow .
X Lif toff top cove r0043 bypulling itin the direc-
tio nof the arrow . Fus
es0087 are acce ssible thro ughthe two open-
ing sin the top ofthe fusebo x.
X To clos e:ins ert the secu ringtagsund er-
nea thtop cove r0043 inthe rece ssesat the
top ofthe fusebo x.
X Fol ddo wn top cove r0043 unti lit enga ges
au dibly.
X Inse rtthe secu ringtagsund erne athtop
cove r0044 inthe rece ssesat the front ofthe
fus ebo x.
X Pu sh front cover0044 tow ardsthe rearunti lit
enga gesaudibly.
X Mov ethe right-ha ndsea tba ckwa rds
(Y page 100 ).
X Hoo kthe seatbe ltinto theseatbe ltgu ide
on the right-ha ndsea t(Y page 99). Fu
ses
295Breakdo wnassis tan ce Z

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 321). 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 306)
R in thetire pre ssur etab lein thefuel filler flap
(Y page 146)
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. 296
Op
era tionWh eels andtire s

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 297). 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 299).
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 281).
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. Oper
ation
297Wheels andtires Z

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 remoni tor
and onlyon wheelssp eci fically teste dby
Me rced es-Benz.
Note son drivin gwi th MOExte ndedtire swi th a
fla ttire (Ypage 281 ).
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 316 ). 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 302).
X Resta rtthe tire pressu remonitor
(Y page 304). Snow
chains G
WARNING
If snow chains areinstall edtothe front
whee ls,they maydrag against thevehicl e
body orchassi scomponents. Thiscould
cause damagetothe vehicl eor the tires.
There isarisk ofan accide nt. 298
Winter
operationWheelsand tires

To
avoid hazardous situations:
R never install snowchains tothe front
wheels
R alway sinstall snowchains inpairs tothe
rear wheels.
For safety reasons, Mercedes- Benzrecom-
mends thatyouonly usesnow chains that
have been specially approved foryour vehicle
by Mercedes- Benz,or are ofacorrespon ding
standard ofquality. Formore inform ation,
please contactaqualified specialist workshop.
If you inten dto mount snowchains, please
bear thefollowing pointsinmind:
R Snow chains maynotbemounted onall
wheel/tire combinations.Permissible
wheel-tire combinations(Ypage 321).
R Only usesnow chains whendriving onroads
completely coveredbysnow. Remove the
snow chains assoon aspossible whenyou
come toaroad thatisnot snow-c overed.
R Local regulations mayrestrictthe use of
snow chains. Observe theappropriate regu-
lations ifyou wish tomount snowchains.
R Do not exceed themaximum permissible
speed of30 mph (50km/ h).
R On vehicles withActive Body Control (ABC),
if snow chains havebeen installed, youmust
drive ataraised vehicle level(Ypage 170).
You may wish todeactivate ESP®
when pulling
away withsnow chains installed (Ypage 66).
You canthereby allowthewheels tospin ina
cont rolled manner ,achieving anincreased
driving force(cuttingaction). Tire
pressur e Tire
pressur especifications
Import antsafety notes G
WARNIN
G
Underinf latedoroverinflat edtires pose the
following risks:
R the tires mayburst, especially asthe load
and vehicle speedincrease.
R the tires maywear excessiv elyand/or
unevenly, whichmaygreatly impairtire
tract ion.
R the driving charact eristics, aswell as
steerin gand braking, maybegreatly
impaired.
There isarisk ofan accident .
Follow recomm endedtireinflation 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- road driving
If necessary, correctthe tire pressure.
The data onthe Tire andLoading Information
placard andtirepressure tableshown hereare
examples. Tirepressure specification sare
vehicle-spec ificand may deviate fromthedata
shown here.Thetirepressure specification s
that arevalid foryour vehicle canbefound on
the Tire andLoading Information placard and
tire pressure tableonthe vehicle.
General notes The
recomm endedtirepressures forthe tires
mounted atthe factor ycan befound onthe
labels described here.
Further informationontire pressures canbe
obtained ataqualified specialist workshop. Tir
epr essure
299Wheelsandtires Z

Tire
andLoadin gIn fo rmatio nplac ard 0043
Recomm endedtire pressu res
The Tire and Loading Info rma tionplaca rdison
the B-pillar on the driver 'sside (Ypage 306 ).
The Tire and Loading Info rma tionplaca rdcon-
tai ns the reco mme ndedtire pressu res forcold
tire s.The reco mme ndedtire pressu res are
va lid for the maxim um permi ssible load and up
to the maxim um permi ssible veh iclesp ee d.
Tire pres sure table The
tirepressu retab leison the inside of the
fu el fillerfla p. Itsho wsthe tire pressu refor all
tire spe rmi tted atthe factory forthisveh icle;
see illu stra tion(e xam ple) . The
tirepressu retab leconta insthe reco m-
mend edpre ssu res forcoldtire sfor vario us
op era ting cond itions, i.e.di ffe ringload and
sp ee dcond itions.
If atire size pre ced esatire pressu re,the fol-
lo wi ng tire pressu reinfo rma tionis onl yva lid
for thattire size; see illu stra tion(e xam ple) . The
load cond itions "partia lly la de n" and "ful ly
la de n" arede fine din the tablefor diffe rent
num bers of occu pants and amounts oflug-
ga ge .The actu alnum berof sea tsma ydi ffe r. Some
tirepressu retab lessho wonl ythe rim
di am ete rsins tea dof the fulltire size, e.g.R18 .
Ri m diam ete ris pa rtof the tire size and canbe
fou ndonthe tire side wa ll(Y page 310 ).
If the tire pressu res have been set tothe lowe r
va lues for lighte rlo ad sand /or lowe rroa d
sp ee ds,the pressu res should be res etto the
hi ghe rva lues:
R ifyo uwa ntto drive with an incr eased load
and /or
R ifyo uwa ntto drive athighe rroa dsp ee ds
The tirepressu res forincr eased load sand /or
hi ghe rroa dsp ee ds,sho wninthe tire pressu re
tab le,ma yha ve aneg ative effect ondrivin g
comf ort.
If the tire pressu reisnot setcorr ectly,thi scan
le ad toan exce ssive build-u pof heat and a
su dd en loss ofpre ssu re.
For mor einfo rma tion,conta ctaqu alifi ed spe-
cia list wo rksh op. 30
0 Tire
pres sureWhe elsand tires

Imp
ortant noteson tire pressu re G
WAR
NING
If th etire pre ssur edro psrep eatedly, the
whee l,valv eor tire may bedamag ed.Tire
pre ssur eth at istoolow may result inatire
blow- out.Ther eis aris kof an acc iden t.
R Chec kth etire for foreign objects.
R Chec kwhet herthewhee lis losi ngair or
th evalv eis leak ing.
If you areunab leto rec tify thedamag e,con-
tac ta qualif iedspec ialist workshop. G
WAR
NING
If you fituns uitable accessories onto tire
valv es,thetire valv esmay beove rloaded
and malf unction ,whic hcan caus etire pre s-
sur eloss .Due totheir desi gn,ret rofitte dtire
pre ssur emon itors keep thetire valv eopen .
This canalso result intire pre ssur eloss .
Ther eis aris kof an acc iden t.
On lyscrew thest and ard valvecap orother
valv ecap sappr ovedby Mer cedes- Benzfor
your vehicleon to thetire valv e.
Use asuit able pressur egauge tocheckth e
ti re pre ssur e.The outerappear anceof atire
does notper mit any reliable conclusio nabout
th etire pre ssur e.On veh icles equipp edwith
th eelec tron ictire pre ssur emon itor, thetire
pre ssur ecan bechecke din theon -board com-
put er.
The tire tempe rature and pressur einc reas e
when theveh icleis in mot ion.This isdepe nd-
en ton thedriv ingspee dand theload.
Ther efore, you should onlyco rrec ttire pre s-
sur eswhen thetires are cold.
The tires are cold:
R ifth eveh iclehas been parkedwithth etires
out ofdire ctsun lightfor atleast three hour s
and
R ifth eveh iclehas notbeen drivenfurther
th an 1mile (1.6km)
The tire tempe rature chang esdepe nding on
th eout side tempe rature, theveh iclespee d
and thetire load. Ifth etire tempe rature
ch ang esby 18 ‡(10 †), thetire pre ssur e
ch ang esby appr oximat ely10kPa(0. 1bar/
1. 5psi) .Tak eth is int oacc oun twhen checkin g th
epre ssur eof warm tires .On lyco rrec tth e
ti re pre ssur eif it is toolow forthecur ren t
oper ating cond ition s.Ifyou checkth etire
pre ssur ewhen thetires are warm ,th eres ult-
ing value willbehigh erthan ifth etires were
co ld. This isno rm al. Do notred uce thetire
pre ssur eto thevalue specifiedfor cold tires .
The tire pre ssur ewould other wise betoolow.
Obs erveth erec omm ended tire pre ssur esfor
co ld tires :
R on theTir eand Load ingInfor mat ionplac ard
on theB- pillar onthedriv er'sside
R in thetire pre ssur etab leon theins ide ofthe
fuel filler flap Und
erinflated orover inflated tires
Und erinflated tires G
WAR
NING
Tir es wit hpre ssur eth at istoolow can over-
heat andburs tas aco nsequen ce.In addi-
ti on ,th ey also suffer from exce ssiv eand /or
irr egular wear,whic hcan severelyimpa irth e
brak ingproperties and thedriv ingcharac ter-
ist ics .Ther eis aris kof an acc iden t.
Av oid tire pre ssur esthat are toolow inall
th etires ,inc ludin gth espar ewhee l.
Un der inflat ed tires may:
R ove rheat,leadin gto tire def ects
R adve rselyaff ecthan dling
R wear exce ssiv elyand /orune venly
R hav ean adve rseeffecton fuel consumpt ion
Over inflated tires G
WAR
NING
Tir es wit hex ce ssiv elyhigh pressur ecan
burs tbec ause they are damag edmor eeas-
ily by road debris,pot hole set c. In addit ion,
th ey also suffer from irregular wear,whic h
can severelyimpa irth ebrak ingproperties
and thedriv ingcharac teris tics .Ther eis a
ris kof an acc iden t.
Av oid tire pre ssur esthat are toohigh inall
th etires ,inc ludin gth espar ewhee l. Ti
re pressu re
301Wheels andtire s Z

Overinflated
tiresmay:
R increase thebraking distance
R adversely affecthandling
R wear excessively and/orunevenly
R have anadverse effectonride comfort
R be more susceptible todamage
Maximum tirepressures 0043
Example: maximum permissibletire pres-
sure
Never exceed themaximum permissibletire
inflation pressure. Alwaysobserve therecom-
mended tirepressure foryour vehicle when
adjusting thetire pressure (Ypage 299).
i The
actual valuesfor tires arevehicle-spe-
cific andmay deviate fromthevalue sin the
illu stration. Checki
ngthe tire pressures
Importa ntsafety notes The
tirepressure monitordoesnotwarn you
of:
R incorrect lyset tire pressure
R sudden lossoftire pressure, e.g.from afor-
eign object thathaspenetrated thetire
Observe thenotes ontire pressure
(Y page 299).
Information onair pressure forthe tires on
your vehicle canbefound:
R on the vehicle's TireandLoading Informa-
tion placard onthe B-pillar
R on the tire pressure tableinthe fuel filler
flap
R in the "Tire pressure" section Checki
ngtire pressures manually To
determine andsetthe correct tirepressure,
proceed asfollows:
X Remove thevalve capofthe tire that isto
be checked.
X Press thetire pressure gaugesecurely onto
the valve.
X Read thetire pressure andcompare itto the
recommended valueonthe Tire andLoading
Information placardorthe tire pressure
table (Ypage 299).
X Ifthe tire pressure istoo low, increase the
tire pressure tothe recommended value.
X Ifthe tire pressure istoo high, release air.
To do so, press downthemetal pininthe
valve, usingthetipofapen forexample.
Then check thetire pressure againusing the
tire pressure checker.
X Screw thevalve caponto thevalve.
X Repea tthese stepsforthe other tires. Tire
pressure monitor
General notes If
atire pressure monitorisinstalled, thevehi-
cle's wheels havesensors thatmonitor thetire
pressures inall four tires. Thetirepressure
monitor warnsyouifthe pressure dropsinone
or more ofthe tires. Thetirepressure monitor
only functions ifthe corresponding sensors
are installed inall wheels.
Information ontire pressures isdispla yedin
the multifunction display.After afew minutes
of driving, thecurrent tirepressure ofeach tire
is shown inthe Serv. Serv.
menuofthe multifunc-
tion displa y. Example:
currenttirepressure display
For information onthe message display,refer
to the "Checking thetire pressure electroni-
cally "section (Ypage 304). 302
Tire
pressur eWheels andtires