2021 MERCEDES-BENZ GLS ESP

In
order forth ecor rectly wornseat belttopro‐
vide theint ended leve lof protect ion, eachve hi‐
cle occupant mustobser vethefo llo wing infor‐
matio n:
R The seat beltmustno tbe twis tedand must
fi t tig htly and snuglyacr oss thebody .
R The seat beltmustbe routed acr oss thecen‐
te rof theshoulder andaslow do wn across
th ehips aspossible.
R The shoulder sectionoftheseat beltshould
no tto uc hyo ur neck nor berouted und er
yo ur arm or behin dyo ur bac k.
R Avoid wearing bulk yclo thing, e.g. awint er
coat .
R Push thelap belt down asfaras possi ble
acr oss your hips andpulltight wit hth eshoul‐
der sect ionofthebelt. Neverro uteth elap
belt across your abdom en.
Pr egn ant women mustals ota ke par ticular
car ewit hth is.
R Neverro uteth eseat beltacross shar p,poin‐
te d, abr asiv eor fragile objec ts. R
Onlyone person should useeachseat beltat
an yone time. Neverall ow babies andchil‐
dr en totrave lsitt ing onthelap ofano ther
ve hicle occupant.
R Neversecur eobjects withaseat beltifth e
seat beltisalso being usedbyone ofthe
ve hicle's occupants. Alwaysobser vethe
ins truct ions forloa ding theve hicle when
secur ingobject s,lugg ageor loads
(/ page11 9).
Als oensu rethat no obj ect s,e.g .a cus hion ,
ar eev er placed between aper son and the
seat.
The seat belts onthefo llo wing seats areeq uip‐
ped withaspec ialseat beltretract or:
R Front passeng erseat
R Rear seat s
Ac tivateor deacti vate thespecial seatbelt
re tract or(/ page 56).
If ch ildr enaretrav eling intheve hicle, besur eto
obser vetheins truction sand safetyno teson
"Chi ldren intheve hicle" (/page52). Limitations
ofthepr otection prov ided bythe
seat belt &
WARNIN GRisk ofinju ryor deat hdue to
an incorrect sea tpos ition
The seatbel tdoe sno tof ferth eint ended
le ve lof protect ion ifyo uha ve notmo vedth e
seat backres tto an almos tve rtical posit ion.
Yo uco uld slip beneathth eseat beltand
injur eyo urself . #
Adjus tth eseat proper lybef orecom‐
menc ingyour jour ne y. #
Alw aysensur eth at theseat backres tis
in an almos tve rtical posit ionand that
th eshoulder beltisrouted acr oss the
cent erofyour sho ulder . &
WARNIN GRisk ofinju ryor deat hwhen
additional restra int systems areno tused
fo rper sons withasmal lerstatur e
Pe rsons under 5ft (1.50 m)ta llcan notwe ar
th eseat beltcorrectly without asuit able
additional restra int system. Occ
upant safety 39

In
addi tion, theoper ation oftheaut omatic
fr ont passeng erairbag shutoffcould be
re strict ed. #
Yousho uld onlyuse seat covers that
ha ve been approved forth ecor respond‐
ing seats byMer cedes-Ben z. &
WARNIN GRisk ofinju rydue tomalfu nc‐
tioning sensorsin thedoor
The func tion oftheairbags canbeimpair ed
due tomodif icationsorincor rect wo rkper‐
fo rm ed on thedoor sor door trim, orifth e
door sar edamag ed. #
Nevermodify thedoor sor par tsof the
door s. #
Alw aysha ve wo rkon thedoor sor door
tr im car ried out ataqu alif ied spec ialist
wo rkshop. &
WARNIN GRisk ofinju rydue todeplo yed
airbag
A deplo yedairbag nolong eroffers anypr o‐
te ction. #
Have theve hicle towe dto aqu alif ied
spec ialistwo rkshop inorder tohave the
deplo yedairbag replaced. Ha
ve deplo yedairbags replaced immediat ely. St
atus ofthefront passeng erfront airbag Fu
nction oftheaut oma ticfront passeng er
air bag shutoff
The automatic front passeng erairbag shutoffis
able todetect whe ther thefront passeng erseat
is occupied byaper son orach ild restra int sys‐
te m. The front pass engerairb agisenabl edor
disa bled accor dingly.
When installing ach ild restra int system onthe
fr ont passeng ersea t,alw aysmak esur eof the
fo llo wing:
R Ensur eth at thech ild restra int system isposi‐
tion edcor rectl y(/ page 51).
R Alw ayscom plywithth ech ild restra int sys‐
te m manuf acturer'sinstallation instruct ions .
R Neverpla ceobjects (e.g.cushi ons)under or
behi ndthech ild restra int system. R
Fully re tract theseat cushion lengthadjus t‐
ment .
R The entire base ofthech ild restra int system
mus talw aysre st on thesitt ing surface ofthe
fr ont passeng ersea t.
R The backres tof thefo rw ard-f acin gch ild
re stra int system mus t,as faras possi ble,be
re sting ontheseat backres tof thefront
passeng erseat.
R The child restra int system mus tno tto uc hth e
ro of or be put under stra in by thehead
re stra int s.Ad jus tth eseat backres tinclin a‐
tion andthehead restra int setting accord‐
ing ly. &
WARNIN GRisk ofinju ryor deat hdue to
object sbe tween theseat surface and
th ech ild restra int system
Objec tsbetween thesitt ing surface and the
ch ild restra int system could affect thefunc ‐
tion oftheaut omatic front passeng erairbag
shut off. Occ
upant safety 45

#
Donotpl ace anyob jects betwee nth e
sitting surface and thech ild restra int
sy stem. #
The entire base ofthech ild restra int
sy stem mus talw aysre st on thesitt ing
sur face ofthefront passeng erseat. #
The backres tof thefo rw ard-f acin gch ild
re stra int system mus t,as faras possi ‐
ble, beresting ontheseat backres tof
th efront passeng erseat. #
Alw ayscom plywit hth ech ild restra int
sy stem manuf acturer'sinstallation
ins truct ions . A
per son onthefront passeng erseat must
obser vethefo llo wing informatio n:
R Fasten seat belts correctl y(/ page 38).
R Sitinan almos tupr ight seatposi tion with
th eir bac kag ains tth eseat backres t.
R Sitwithth eir feet resting onthefloor ,if pos‐
sible. The
front passeng erairbag mayot her wise be
disabl edbymis take ,fo rex am ple, inthefo llo w‐
ing situat ions:
R The front passen gertr ansf ersth eir weight by
suppor tingthemselv eson ave hicle armr est.
R The front passeng ersits insuc hawa yth at
th eir weight israised from thesitt ing sur‐
fa ce. &
WARNIN GRisk ofinju ryor deat hdue to
a disable dfron tpasse nger airbag
The fron tpasse nger airbag isdisable dwhen
th ePA SSENGER AIRBAGOF Find icat orlam p
is lit.
A per son inthefront passeng erseat could
th en, forex am ple, com eint ocon tact with
th eve hicle interior ,especially ifth eper son is
sitt ing tooclose tothecoc kpit.
If th efront passeng erseat isoccupied,
alw aysensur eth at:
R The classificat ion oftheper son inthe
fr ont passeng ersea tis cor rect and the fr
ont passeng erairb agisenabl edordisa ‐
ble din accor dance withth eper son inthe
fr ont passeng ersea t.
R The front passeng ersea thas been moved
as farbac kas possi ble.
R The person isseat edcor rectl y. #
Both bef oreand during thejour ney,
ensur eth at thest atus ofthefront
passeng erairbag iscor rect. If
th efront passeng erseat isoccupied, theclas‐
sif ication oftheper son orchild restra int system
on thefront passeng erseat take splace afte rth e
fr ont passeng erairb agshut offself-t est.The
PA SSENGER AIRBAGind icat orlam psdispl aythe
st atus ofthefront passeng erairbag.
Alw aysobser vetheno teson thefunc tion ofthe
PA SSENGER AIRBAGind icat orlam ps
(/ page47 ). 46
Occupant safety

Alw
aysensur eth at thefront passeng erair‐
bag isdisabled. ThePASSENGER AIRBAG
OFF indicat orlam pmus tbe lit.
NEVER useare ar wa rd-faci ng child restra int
sy stem onaseat withan ENABL EDFRONT
AIRB AG;DE ATHor SERIOU SINJU RYtothe
CH ILD can occur . When
installing ach ild restra int system onthe
fr ont passeng ersea t,obse rveth eve hicle-spe‐
cif icinf ormation (/page62).
Depending onthech ild restra int system and the
st atur eof thech ild, thePA SSENGER AIRBAG
OFF indicat orlam pma ybe off.In this case, do
no tins tallth ere ar wa rd-faci ng child restra int
sy stem onthefront passeng erseat.
Ins tead, installth ere ar wa rd-faci ng child
re stra int system onasuit able rear seat .
Af terin st alli ng afo rw ard-f acin gch ild
re stra int system onthefront passeng er
seat :depen dingonthech ild restra int system
and thest atur eof thech ild, PASSENGER AIR
BA GOF Fma ybe litcon tinuousl yor be off.
Alw aysobser vethefo llo wing informatio n. &
WARNIN GRisk ofinju ryor deat hdue to
inc orrect pos itioning ofthefo rw ard-
fa cing child restra int system
If yo usec ureach ild inafo rw ard-f acin gch ild
re stra int system onthefront passeng erseat
th at isposit ioned tooclose tothecoc kpit, in
th eev ent ofan acciden t,th ech ild could:
R com eint ocon tact with theve hicle inte‐
ri or ifth ePA SSENGER AIRBAGOF Find i‐
cat orlam pis lit,fo rex am ple
R bestru ck bytheairbag ifth ePA SSENGER
AIR BAGOF Find icat orlam pis off. #
Alw aysmo vethefront passeng erseat
as farbac kas possi bleand fully retract
th eseat cushion lengthadjus tment.
While doing so,alwaysmak esur eth at
th eshoulder beltstra pis cor rectl y
ro uted from theseat beltoutle tof the
ve hicle totheshoulder beltguide on
th ech ild restra int system. Theshoulder
belt stra pmus tbe routed forw ards and
do wn wardsfrom theseat beltoutle t.If
neces sary,adjus tth eseat beltoutle t and
thefront passeng erseat accor d‐
ing ly. #
Alw ayscom plywit hth ech ild restra int
sy stem manuf acturer'sinstallation
ins truct ions . When
installing ach ild restra int system onthe
fr ont passeng ersea t,obse rveth eve hicle-spe‐
cif icinf ormation (/page62).
If aper son issitting onthefront passeng er
seat :PA SSENGER AIRBAGOF Fma ybe litcon ‐
tin uousl yor be off,depen dingon theper son's
st atur e.
A per son onthefront passeng erseat must
alw aysobser vethefo llo wing informatio n:
R Ifth efront passeng erseat isoccupied byan
adult oraper son withast atur ecor respond‐
ing tothat ofan adult ,th ePA SSENGER AIR
BA GOF Find icat orlam pmus tbe off.This
ind icat esthat thefront passeng erairbag is
enabled.
If th ePA SSENGER AIRBAGOF Find icat or
lam pis lit con tinuousl y,an adult orper son 48
Occupan tsaf ety

wit
habuild corresponding tothat ofan adult
shoul dno tuse thefront passeng erseat.
Ins tead, they should useare ar seat .
R Ifth efront passeng erseat isoccupied bya
per son ofsmaller statur e(e. g.ate enag eror
small adult), thePA SSENGER AIRBAGOF F
ind icat orlam peit her light sup con tinuousl y
or remains off,depe nding ontheclassif ica‐
tion .
- Ifth ePA SSENGER AIRBAGOF Find icat or
lam pis off:mo vethefront passeng er
seat asfarbac kas possi ble,ortheper‐
son ofsmaller statur eshoul duse are ar
seat .
- Ifth ePA SSENGER AIRBAGOF Find icat or
lam pis lit con tinuousl y:theper son of
smaller statur eshoul dno tuse thefront
passeng erseat. &
WARNIN GRisk ofinju ryor deat hwhen
th ePA SSENGER AIRBAGOF Find icat or
lam pis lit
If th ePA SSENGER AIRBAGOF Find icat or
lam pre mains litafte rth eself-t est,th efront
passeng erairbag isdisabled.
If th efront passeng erseat isoccupied,
alw aysensur eth at:
R The classificat ion oftheper son inthe
fr ont passeng ersea tis cor rect and the
fr ont passeng erairb agisenabl edordisa ‐
ble din accor dance withth eper son inthe
fr ont passeng ersea t.
R The person issea tedpr oper lywit hacor ‐
re ctly fastened seatbelt. Be
sureto also obse rveth efo llo wing further
re lat ed subje cts:
R Sec uring thech ild restra int system onthe
fr ont passeng ersea t(/ page62) PRE-S
AFE®
sy stem PRE-
SAFE®
(ant icipa tory occupa ntprotec‐
tion) PRE-
SAFE®
is ab leto detect cer tain critic aldriv‐
ing situat ionsandimplemen tpr e-em ptive meas‐
ur es toprotect theve hicle occupants.
PRE-S AFE®
can implement thefo llo wing meas‐
ur es indepe ndently of eac hot her :
R Tight ening theseat belts onthedr iver's seat
and front passeng erseat.
R Closing theside windo ws.
R Vehicl eswith sliding sunroof:Clo sethe
sliding sunroof.
R Vehicl eswith memor yfuncti on:Movethe
fr ont passeng ersea tto amor efa vo rable
seat position .
R Vehicl eswith memor yfuncti oninthe
re ar passe nger comp artment :mo vethe
out errear seat sto amor efa vo rable seat
position . Occ
upant safety 49

-
Secu ring thech ild restra int system with
th eseat beltonthefront passeng erseat
(/ page63). Obser vethespecif ic
ins truction sfo rth ere ar wa rd-faci ng and
fo rw ard-f acin gch ild restra int systems
(/ page62).
If th efront passeng erseat isoccupied,
ensur e,bo th bef oreand during thejour‐
ne y,that thest atus ofthefront
passeng erairbag iscor rect forth ecur‐
re nt situa tion(/ page 47).
R Obser vethewa rning labels intheve hicle
int erior and onthech ild restra int system.
R Also secur eTo pTe ther ifpr esent .
Do notalt er thech ild restra int system &
WARNIN GRisk ofinju rydue tomodif i‐
cations tothech ild restra int system
The child restra int system can nolong er
func tion proper ly.This poses anincr eased
ri sk ofinjur y. #
Nevermodify ach ild restra int system. #
Onlyaf fix acce ssories whic hha ve been
speciall yappr oved forth is ch ild
re stra int system bythech ild restra int
sy stem's manuf acturer. Onl
yuse child restra int systems whichar ein
pr oper working condit ion &
WARNIN GRisk ofinju ryor deat hcaused
by theuse ofdamag edchild restra int
sy stems
Child restra int systems ortheir retainin gsy s‐
te ms that have been subjec tedto stre ss in
an accident mayno tbe able toper form their
int ended protect ive func tion.
It ma ybe thecase that thech ild can notbe
pr oper lyrestra ined. #
Alw aysimmediat elyre place child
re stra int systems that have been dam‐
ag ed orinvo lved inan acc ident . #
Have thesecur ingsystems forth ech ild
re stra int systems checkedat aqu alif ied
spec ialistwo rkshop beforeins talling a
ch ild restra int system again. Av
oid direct sunli ght &
WARNIN GRisk ofburnswhen thech ild
seat isex posed todirect sunlight
If th ech ild restra int system isex posed to
dir ect sunlight orheat, partscould heatup.
Childr encould sufferbur nsfrom these parts,
par ticular lyon theme tallic partsof thech ild
re stra int system. #
Alw aysmak esur eth at thech ild
re stra int system isno tex posed to
dir ect sunlight . #
Protect thech ild restra int system witha
blank et,fo rex am ple. #
Ifth ech ild restra int system has been
ex posed todirect sunlight ,allo witto
cool beforesecu ring ach ild intoit. #
Neverlea vechildr enunat tende din the
ve hicle. 54
Occupant safety

Be
sureto obser ve:
R Ifth efront passeng erseat isoccupied,
ensur e,bo th bef oreand during thejour ney,
th at thest atus ofthefront passeng erairbag
is cor rect forth ecur rent situa tion
(/ page 47).
R Obser vetheno teson aut omatic front
passeng erairbag shutoff(/ page45)
Cent errear seat
Cent errear seat (secondseat row)– secur ing
sy stem:
0076 Ve
hicle seatbelt
¯ Alsosecur eTo pTe ther ifpr esent
(/ page60) Ac
tiv atin gor deac tivatin gthe child seat
saf etyfe atur eof theseat belt &
WARNIN GRisk ofinju ryor deat hif a
seat beltisunf astened while th eve hicle
is in mo tion
If th eseat beltisreleased whiletheve hicle is
in mo tion, thech ild safetyloc kis deac tiva ted
and thech ild restra int system isno long er
cor rectly secu red. The seat beltisretract ed
sl ig htly bytheiner tiareel and cann otbe
immediat elyfastened again. #
Stop theve hicle immediat elyinaccor d‐
ance withth etraf fic condi tions. #
Activateth especial seatbeltretract or
ag ain and correctl ysecu rethech ild
re stra int system. When
enabled, thech ild seat safetyfe atur e
ens ures that theseat belts ofthefront
passeng erseat andrear seat sdo notslac ken
once thech ild restra int system issecur ed. The
seat belts onthefo llo wing seats areeq uip‐
ped withach ild seat safetyfe atur e:
R Front passeng erseat
R Rear seat s #
Toins tall ach ild restra int system: when
ins talling ach ild restra int system, always
obser vethemanuf acturer'sinstallation and
opera tingins truct ions aswellas theinf orma‐
tion inthis Oper ator's Manual. #
Pull theseat beltsmoo thly from theseat belt
outle t. #
Engage theseat belttongu ein theseat belt
buc kle. #
Toactiv ateth ech ild seat safetyfe atur e:
pul lth eseat beltoutfully andletth einer tia
re el retract itag ain.
Wh enthech ild seat safetyfe atur eis act iva‐
te d, youwill hear ara tche ting sound. #
Push thech ild restra int system down until
th eseat beltsitstight ly. #
Todeac tivatethe child seat safetyfe a‐
tur e:press there lease buttonoftheseat
belt buckle. 56
Occupant safety

0073
When
usingacat ego ry0/0+ babycar
seat andacat egor yIre ar wa rd-faci ng
ch ild restra int system onare ar seat :
adju stthefront seat sothat theseat does
no tto uc hth ech ild restra int system.
0073 When
usingacat egor yIfo rw ard-f acin g
ch ild restra int system: remo vethehead
re stra int from there spectiv eseat, ifpossi‐
ble.
Af terth ech ild restra int system has been
re mo ved, replace thehead restra int immed i‐
at elyand adjus tall head restra int scor ‐
re ctly .
0073 The
backrest of thefo rw ard-f acin gch ild
re stra int system mus t,as faras possi ble,be
re sting ontheseat backres tof there ar
seat .
0073 Fo
rcer tain child restra int systems inwe ight
cat egor yII or III,th er ema ybe restrictions
on themaximum sizesetting, e.g. due to
possible contact with thero of.
0073 The
child restra int system mus tno tbe put
under stra in be tween thero of and theseat
cushion and/orbeinstalled facing the wr
ong direct ion. Wher eposs ible, adjus tth e
seat cushion inclination accordingly.
0073 The
child restra int system mus tno tbe put
under stra in by thehead restra int .Ad jus t
th ehead restra int sacc ording ly.
0073 Mak
esur eth at thech ild's feet do notto uc h
th efront seat. Ifneces sary,mo vethefront
seat slightl yfo rw ards.
The seat beltson thefo llo wing seats areeq uip‐
ped withaspec ialseat beltretract or:
R Front passeng erseat
R Rear seat s
When enabled,thespecial seatbeltretract or
ens ures that theseat belts ofthefront
passeng erseat andrear seat sdo notslac ken
once thech ild restra int system issecur ed
(/ page56). #
Installth ech ild restra int system.
The entire base ofthech ild restra int system
mus talw aysre st on thesitt ing surface ofthe
re ar seat . #
Alw aysmak esur eth at theshoulder belt
st ra pis cor rectly routed from theseat belt outle
tof theve hicle totheshoulder belt
guide onthech ild restra int system.
The shoulder beltstra pmus tbe routed for‐
wa rdsand down wardsfrom theseat beltout‐
le t.
No teson rear wa rd-faci ng and forw ard-f acin g
ch ild restra int systems onthefront
pa sseng erseat &
WARNIN GRisk ofinju ryor deat hwhen
using are ar wa rd-faci ng child restra int
sy stem while thefront passeng erairbag
is enabled
If yo usec ureach ild inare ar wa rd-faci ng
ch ild restra int system onthefront passeng er
seat andthePA SSENGER AIRBAGOF Find i‐
cat orlam pis off,th efront passeng erairbag
can deplo yin theev ent ofan acciden t.
The child could bestru ck bytheairbag.
Alw aysensur eth at thefront passeng erair‐
bag isdisabled. ThePASSENGER AIRBAG
OFF indicat orlam pmus tbe lit. 62
Occupant safety