2021 MERCEDES-BENZ GLS SUV towing

Ke
eping theair -water duct free #
Keep thear ea between thehood andthe
winds hieldfree ofdepos its,e.g .ice, snow
and leaves. Cleani
ngand care No
teson washing theve hicl ein acar wash &
WARNIN GRisk ofacci dent dueto
re duced braking effect afte rwa shing the
ve hicle
The braking effect isreduced afte rwa shing
th eve hicle. #
Afterth eve hicle hasbeen washed,
br ak ecar efully whilepaying attention to
th etraf fic condi tions untilth ebr aking
ef fect hasbee nful lyrestor ed. *
NO
TEDama gefrom automatic braking If
one ofthefo llo wing functionsis switc hed
on, theve hicle brak es aut omatically incer‐
ta in situat ions:
R ActiveBr ak eAssi st
R ActiveDis tance AssistDIS TRONI C
R HOLD functio n
R ActivePa rking Assist
To avo iddamag eto theve hicle, deactiv ate
th ese systems inthefo llo wing orsimilar sit‐
uation s: #
Dur ing towing #
Inacar wash *
NO
TEDama gedue touns uitable car
wa sh #
Beforedr iving intoacar wash mak e
sur eth at thecar wash issuit able for
th eve hicle dimensions. #
Ensur eth er eis suf ficie ntgrou nd clear‐
ance between theunderbody andthe
guide rails ofthecar wash. #
Ensur eth at theclear ance widthof the
car wash, inpar ticular thewidt hof the
guide rails, issuf ficie nt. To
avo iddamag eto your vehicle when usinga
car wash, ensur eth efo llo wing beforehand:
R ActiveDis tance AssistDIS TRONI Cand the
HOLD functio nar edea ctivated.
R The surround viewcam eraor there ar vie w
cam erais swit ched off.
R The side windo wsand slidin gsun roof are
com pletely clos ed.
R The outsid emir rors arefo lded in.
R The blowerfo rth eve ntil ation/he ating is
sw itched off.
R The windsh ield wipe rsw itchis in po sitio n
005A.
R The Sma rtKe yis at amin imum distance of
10 ft(3 m) away from theve hicle, other wise
th eta ilg atecould openunintentio nally. 32
8
Ma intena nce and care

To
w star ting ortowing away Pe
rm itted towing methods *
NO
TEDama gefrom automatic braking If
one ofthefo llo wing functionsis switc hed
on, theve hicle brak es aut omatically incer‐
ta in situat ions:
R ActiveBr ak eAssi st
R ActiveDis tance AssistDIS TRONI C R
HOLD functio n
R ActivePa rking Assist
To avo iddamag eto theve hicle, deactiv ate
th ese systems inthefo llo wing orsimilar sit‐
uation s: #
Dur ing towing #
Inacar wash Mer
cedes-Benz recomme ndstransp orting your
ve hicle inthecase ofabr eakdo wn,rath er than
to wing itaw ay. Fo
rto wing, useato w rope ortow bar withbo th
axle son thegr ound. Donotuse tow bar sys‐
te ms.
* NO
TEDama getotheve hicle duetotow‐
ing away inc orrectl y #
Obs erve theins truction sand noteson
to wing away. Pe
rm itted towing methods Ve
hicl eeq uipment/ towing
me thod Bo
th axle son thegr ound Fr
ont axle raised Re
ar axle raised
4MA TICvehicles Yes,maximum 31mile s(50 km) at
31 mp h(50 km/h) No
No Br
eakdo wnassis tance 34
9

To
wing away theve hicl ewith both axle son
th egr ound #
Obser vetheno teson theper mitt edtowing
me thods (/page349). #
Mak esur eth at thebatt eryis con nect edand
ch arge d.
A disc hargedbatt eryhas thefo llo wing effects:
R The enginecanno tbe star ted
R The electr icpar king brak ecann otbe
re leased orapplied
R The automat ictransmissio ncan notbe shif‐
te dto position 005Cor005D
% Ifth eaut omatic transmiss ioncann otbe shif‐
te dto position 005C,orthemultifunc tiondis‐
pla yin theins trument clusterdoes notsho w
an ything, theve hicle mustbe transpor ted
aw ay (/ pag e35 1). Atowing vehicle with
lif ting equipment isrequ ired forve hicle
tr anspor tatio n. *
NO
TEDama gedue totowing away at
exc essiv elyhigh speeds orove rlong dis‐
ta nces The
drivet ra in could bedamag edwhen tow‐
ing atexc essiv elyhigh speeds orover long
dis tances. #
Atowing speed of30 mph(50 km/h)
mus tno tbe exc eeded. #
Atowing distan ceof30 miles(50 km)
mus tno tbe exc eeded. &
WARNIN GRisk ofacci dent whento wing
a ve hicle whichis toohea vy
If th eve hicle being tow- star tedor towe d
aw ay ishea vier than theper missible gross
mass ofyour vehicle, thefo llo wing situat ions
can occur:
R The towing eyema ybecome detach ed.
R The vehicle/tr ailercombination may
sw erve oreve nov ertur n. #
Ifano ther vehicle istow- star tedor
to we daw ay,its weight mustno texc eed th
eper missible gross mass ofyour ow n
ve hicle. #
Information ontheper missible gross mass of
th eve hicle canbefound ontheve hicle iden‐
tif ication plate(/ page392). #
Donotopen thedr iver's door orfront
passeng erdoor astheaut omatic transmis‐
sion mayot her wise shiftto position 005Dauto‐
matic ally. #
Installth eto wing eye(/ page353). #
Fasten theto w bar .
* NO
TEDama gedue toinc orrect connec‐
tion oftheto w bar #
Onlyconnect theto w rope ortow bar to
th eto wing eyes. %
Youcan also attachth eto w bar tothetrailer
hitc h. #
Deact ivat eth eaut omatic locking mechanism
(/ page72 ). #
Donotactiv ateth eHOLD function. 350
Breakdo wnassis tance

#
Dea ctivateth eto w- aw ay alar m(/ page92) . #
Deact ivat eAc tiveBr ak eAssi st(/ pag e21 1). #
Shif tth eaut omatic transmiss iontoposition
005C(/ page18 6). #
Release theelectr icpar king brak e. &
WARNIN GRisk ofacci dent dueto limi‐
te dsaf ety-re lat ed func tionsdur ing the
to wing proce ss
Saf ety-re lat ed func tionsar elimit edorno lon‐
ge rav ailable inthefo llo wing situat ions:
R theignition isswitc hedoff.
R thebr ak esy stem orpowe rst eer ing sys‐
te m ismalfu nctioning.
R theener gysupply ortheon- boar delectr i‐
cal system ismalfunct ioning.
When your vehicle isthen towe daw ay,signif ‐
icant lymor eef fort ma ybe requ ired tosteer
and brak eth an isno rm allyre qu ired. #
Use ato w bar . #
Mak esur eth at thesteer ing wheel can
mo vefreely ,bef oreto wing theve hicle
aw ay. *
NO
TEDama gedue toexcess ive tracti ve
po we r If
yo upull away shar ply, thetractiv epo we r
ma ybe toohigh andtheve hicles couldbe
damag ed. #
Pull away slo wlyand smoo thly. Lo
adi ng the vehicl efo rtr ans port #
Obser vetheno teson towing away
( / pag e350). #
Connec tth eto w bar totheto wing eyein
or der toload theve hicle.
% Youcan also attachth eto w bar tothetrailer
hitc h. #
Shif tth eaut omatic transmiss iontoposition
005C. %
The automatic transm ission maybe locked
in posit ion005Dintheeve ntofdama getothe
electr ics.Toshif tto 005C ,pr ov ide theon-
boar delectr icalsystem withpo we r
( / pag e34 7). #
Load theve hicle ontoth etra nspor ter. #
Shif tth eaut omatic transmiss iontoposition
005D. #
Use theelectr icpar king brak eto secur eth e
ve hicle agains tro lling away. #
Onlysecur eth eve hicle bythewheels.
Ve hicl eswith ADSPL US (Adap tiveDam ping
Sy stem PLUS) &
WARNIN GRisk ofan acci dent when
tr ansp orting vehicles withAd aptive
Dam pingSy stem PLUS
The reduced damping forc es on theve hicle
being transpor tedcan cause theve hicle/
tr ailer combination tostar tto swing.
As are sult, when transpor tingvehicles with
th eAd aptiveDam pingSy stem PLUS, the Br
ea kdo wnassista nce 35
1

ve
hicle/tr ailercombination mayst ar tto skid.
Conseq uently,yo uco uld lose contro lof your
ve hicle. #
When transpor ting,ensur eth at:
R The vehicle hasbeen loaded onto
th etranspor tercor rectl y
R The vehicle issecur edatall four
wheel swit hsuit able tensi oni ng
st ra ps
R The maximum permissible speedof
35 mph(6 0km/h) isno texc eeded
when transpor ting *
NO
TEDama getotheve hicle from secur‐
ing itincor rectl y #
Afterloa ding, theve hicle mustbe
secur edon allfour wheel s.Ot her wise,
th eve hicle could bedamag ed. #
Aminimum distance of8in (20 cm)
up wa rdsand 4in (10 cm) down wards
mus tbe kept tothetranspor tplatf orm. #
Secur eth eve hicle onallfour wheel saf te r
loading .
4MA TICvehicl es/vehicl eswith automatic
tr ansmiss ion #
Mak esur eth at thefront and rear axle scom e
to rest on thesame transpor tatio nve hicle.
* NO
TEDama getothedr ivet ra in due to
inc orrect pos itioning #
Donotpos ition theve hicle abovethe
connecti onpointofthetranspor tve hi‐
cle. To
wing eyesto rage location Ex
am ple: towing eye
To wing eye1 islocat edunder thecar gocom‐
par tmen tfloor . 352
Breakdo wnassis tance

Obser
vethemaximum tirepr essur e
(/ page369).
Use asuit able pressur ega ug eto checkth etir e
pr essur e.The outerappear anceofatir edoes
no tper mit anyre liable conclusion aboutthetir e
pr essur e.
Onl ycor rect tirepr ess ure whe nth etir es are
cold. Condition sfo rcold tires:
R The vehicle hasbeen parkedwit hth etir es
out ofdir ect sunlight forat lea stthre ehour s.
R The vehicle hastrave led less than 1mile
(1 .6 km ).
The vehicle's tires heat upwhen driving. Asthe
te mp eratur eof thetir es incr eases, sotoodoes
th etir epr essur e.
Ve hicl eswith atir epr ess uremonit oring sys‐
te m: Youcan also checkth etir epr essur eusing
th eon- board computer.
The tirepr essur ere comme ndedforincr ease d
loa d/spee din thetir epr essur eta ble can affect
th eride comf ort. &
WARNIN GRisk ofacci dent dueto
uns uitable accessories ontireva lve
If yo umoun tuns uitable accessories onto tire
va lves, thetir eva lves ma ybe ove rloaded and
malfunct ion,whic hcan cause aloss oftire
pr essur e.Afterm arke ttir epr es su re monit or‐
ing systems willcause thetir eva lve to
re main open, depending onthedesign. This
can also result inaloss oftirepr essur e. #
Onlyscr ew standar dva lve caps orvalve
cap sspe cifica llyapprove dby
Mer cedes-Ben zfo ryo ur vehicle onto
th etir eva lve. No
teson towing atrail er
Alw aysinf lateth ere ar axle tires tothere com‐
mend edtirepr ess ureon thetir epr essur eta ble
fo rincr ease dloa d. Ti
re pres sur etab le The
tirepr ess ureta ble ison theinside ofthe
fuel filler flap. %
The datasho wnintheimag esisexam ple
dat a. If
on eor mor etir esiz es prece deatir epr essur e,
th efo llo wing tirepr essur einf ormatio nis onl y
va lid forth ose tiresizes andtheir respectiv e
load condition.
The load conditions "partially laden" and"fully
laden" aredef ined intheta ble fordif fere nt num ‐
be rs of passeng ersand amounts oflugg age. The
actual number ofseats maydif ferfr om this. Wheels
andtires 359

R
Recomme ndedtirepr ess ures 1 forcold
tir es. The recomme ndedtirepr ess ures are
va lid forth emaximum permissible loadand
up tothemaximum permissible vehicle
speed.
Please alsonote:
R Information onper missib lewe ight sand loads
on theve hicle identif ication plate
(/ page392).
R Information ontirepr essur ein thetir epr es‐
sur eta ble (/ page359).
Fu rther relat ed subje cts:
R Determ inin gth emaximum permissible load
(/ page36 4)
R Noteson tirepr essur e(/ page35 7). Ste
psforDe term ining Correct Load Limit The
follo wing steps have been developed as
re qu ired ofall manuf acturersunder Title 49,
Co de ofU.S. Feder alRe gulations, Part57 5, pur‐
sua nttothe"N ational Traf fic and MotorVe hicle
Saf etyAc tof 1966". #
(1):Locat eth est at emen t"The combined
we ight ofocc upant sand cargoshould never
exc eed XXX kgorXXX lbs." onyour vehicle's
placar d. #
(2): Determ ine thecombin edweight ofthe
dr iver and passeng ersth at will beriding in
yo ur vehicle. #
(3): Subtr actthecombin edweight ofthe
dr iver and passeng ersfrom XXX kgor
XXX lbs. #
(4): The resulting figur eeq uals theav ailable
amoun tof car goand luggageload capac ity.
Fo rex am ple, ifth e"XXX" amount equals
14 00 lbs. and ther ewill befive 150lb pas ‐
seng ersin your vehicle, theamount ofavaila‐
ble cargoand luggageload capac ityis
65 0lbs. (140 0-75 0(5 x15 0) =650 lbs.) #
(5):De term ine thecombin edweight oflug‐
ga ge and cargobein gloaded ontheve hicle.
The weight mayno tsaf elyexc eed theav aila‐
ble cargoand luggageload capac itycalc ula‐
te din Step 4. #
(6): Ifyo ur vehicle willbetowing atrailer ,
load from your trailer willbetrans ferred to yo
ur vehicle. Consult this manual todeter‐
mine howthis reduces theav ailable cargo
and luggageload capac ityofyour vehicle.
% Notall vehicles areper mitt edtotow a
trailer .To wing atrailer isonl yper mittedifa
tra iler -hit chisins talled. Please consult an
aut hor ized Mercedes -Benz dealer ifyo uha ve
an yqu estion sabout towing atrailer with
yo ur vehicle.
Ev en ifyo uha ve cal cul ated thetot alload care‐
full y,yo usho uld still mak esur eth at themaxi‐
mum permissible gross weight andthemaxi‐
mum gross axle weight rating ofyour vehicle are
no texc eeded. Details can befound ontheve hi‐
cle identif ication plate. #
Have your loaded vehicle –including driver ,
occupants andload –we ighed onave hicle
we ighbr idge.
The measur edvalues mayno texc eed the
maximu mper missi blevalues stat ed on the
ve hicle identif ication plate.
Fu rther relat ed subje cts:
R Calculation exam ple forde term inin gth emax‐
imum load(/page365) 36
4
Wheels andtires

Tr
aile rhitc h Gene
ralno teson thetrailer hitch Modif
ications totheengine cooling system may
be neces sary,dependin gon theve hicle model.
The retrof itti ng ofatrai le rhi tc his only perm issi‐
ble ifato wing capac ityisspec ified inyour vehi‐
cle documents.
Fu rther information canbeobt ained ataqu ali‐
fi ed specialis two rkshop. To
wing capacit y The
tongu ewe ight isno tinc luded intheto wing
capac ity. Mod
el Towing capacit y,
br ak ed
All models 7716 .2 lbs(3 500 kg) Mer
cede s‑Maybac hT owing capa city,
br ak ed
All models 7716 .2 lbs(3 500 kg) Maximum
tongue weight andload capacity *
NO
TEDama gecau sed bythetrailer
comin gloose If
th eto ngu ewe ight used istoolow, the
tr ai le rma ycome loose . #
Theto ngu ewe ight mustno tbe belo w
11 0.2 lb(50 kg). #
Use ato ngu ewe ight that isas clo seas
poss ibletothemaximum permissible
to ngu ewe ight . *
NO
TEDama gecau sed bythebicy cle
ra ck comi ngloose Whe
nus ing abi cy cle rack ,bo th themaximal
to ngu ewe ight andthemaximal loadcapacity
should beobser ved. #
Donotexc eed theper missible load
capacity . Obser
vetheadditional noteson load capacity .To
ngue weight Model
Maximumtongue
we ight
All models 617.3 lbs (280 kg) Mer
cede s‑Maybac hM aximum tongue
we ight
All models 617.3 lbs (280 kg) Missing
values werenotye tav ailable atthetime
of going topress.
Load capacit y Model
Maximumload
All models Mer
cedes‑Ma ybachM aximumload
All mode ls Pe
rm issible rear axle load (traile roper ation ) Miss
ingvalues werenotav ailable atthetime of
going topress. 406
Tech nica lda ta