Som
etir epr es su re tables onlysho wtherim diam-
et er inst ead ofthecom pletetiresize, e.g.R18 R18
.
The rim diame teris par tof thetir esize andcan
be found onthetir eside wall(/ page328).
Be sureto also obser vethefo llo wing further rela-
te dsubjects:
R Noteson tirepr essur e(/ page315)
R Tire and Loadi ngInformatio nplacar d
(/ page321) R
Maxim umtirepr essur e(/ page327) ChecChec
kingt king
the tir he
tirepr e
pr essur essur
emanu ally e
manu ally #
Read thetir epr essur ere commen dedforth e
cur rent ope rating condi tions from theTire and
Loadi ngInformatio nplacar dor thetir epr es-
sur eta ble. Obser vetheno teson tirepr essur e. #
Remo vetheva lve cap ofthetir eto be
ch ecked. #
Press thetir epr essur ega ug esecur elyont o
th eva lve. #
Read thetir epr essur e. #
Ifth etir epr essur eis lowe rth an there com-
mende dva lue, increase thetir epr essur eto
th ere commen dedvalue. #
Ifth etir epr essur eis higher than there com-
mende dva lue, release air.To do so, press
do wn theme talpin intheva lve, e.g. using the
tip ofapen. Then, checkth etir epr essur e
ag ain using thetir epr essur ega ug e. #
Screw theva lve cap ontoth eva lve. Fu
rther relat ed subjects:
R Noteson tirepr essur e(/ page315)
R Tire pressur eta ble (/ page317)
R Tire and Loadi ngInformatio nplacar d
(/ page321) TT
ir ir
e pr e
pr essur essur
emoni t e
moni tor or
ing syst ing
system em
FF
unct ionoft unct
ionofthe tir he
tirepr e
pr essur essur
emoni t e
moni tor or
ing syst ing
system em
&
D D
AN AN
GER GER
Riskofacciden tdue toincor rect
tir epr essur e
Eac htir e, incl udin gth espar e(if pro vided),
should becheckedmont hlywhen coldand
in0a tedto thein0 ation pressur ere commen -
ded bytheve hicle manu factur eron theve hi-
cle placar dor tirein0ation pressur elabel .(If
yo ur vehicle hastires ofadi.er entsize than
th esize indicat edon theve hicle placar dor
tir ein0ation pressur elabel ,yo ushould deter-
mine thepr oper tirein0 ation pressur efo r
th ose tires.) 318318
Wheels
andtires
As
anadd edsafety featur e,your vehicle has
been equipp edwithatir epr essur emoni toring
sy stem (TPMS) that illu min ates alow tirepr es-
sur ete lltale when oneormor eof your tires is
sign i/ca ntly under -in0at ed. Accor ding ly,when
th elow tirepr essur ete lltale illuminat es,you
should stop and checkyo ur tires assoon as
possible, andin0ateth em tothepr oper pres-
sur e.Driving onasign i/can tlyu nde r-in0 ated
tir ecauses thetir eto overheat andcanlead
to tirefa ilur e.Under -in0at ion also reduces fuel
e1ciency andtiretread life, and maya.ect
th eve hicle ’shandl ingand stoppin gabili ty.
Ple ase note that theTPMS isno ta substitut e
fo rpr oper tiremaint enance, anditis thedr iv-
er ’s responsi bilityto maint aincorrect tire
pr essur e,even ifunder -in0at ion has not
re ac hed theleve lto trigg erillum inatio nof the
TPMS low tirepr ess urete lltale.
Yo ur vehicle hasalso been equipp edwith a
TP MS malf unct ionindicat ortoindicat ewhen
th esy stem isno toper ating proper ly.The
TPMS malfunction indicatoris combined with
th elow tirepr essur ete lltale. When thesy stem de
tects amalfu nction, thete lltale will 0ashfo r
appr oximat elyone minut eand then remain
contin uouslyillumin ated. This sequence will
contin ueupon subseq uentvehicle star t-u ps as
lon gas themalfunction exists.
When themalfunction indicatorisilluminat ed,
th esy stem mayno tbe able todetect or sign al
lo w tirepr essur eas intende d.TPMS malfu nc-
tion sma yoccur fora va riet yof reasons,
incl udin gth einst allation ofreplacement or
alt ernat etir es orwheels ontheve hicle that
pr eve nttheTPMS from function ingproper ly. The
system checks thetir epr essur eand thetir e
te mp eratur eof thetir es inst alled ontheve hicle by
means ofatir epr essur esensor .
The tirepr essur eand thetir ete mp eratur eappear
in theon-boar dcom puter(/ page319).
If th er eis asubst antial pressur eloss orifth etir e
te mp eratur eis excessiv e,youwill bewarned with
displa ymessag es(/ page398) orthe0077
wa rning lampin theinst rument cluster
(/ page413). The
tirepr essur emonit oring system isonl yan aid.
It is thedr iver's responsi bilityto setth etir epr es-
sur eto there commen dedcold tirepr essur esuit a-
ble forth eoper ating situation.
In most cases ,th etir epr essur emonit oring sys-
te m will automaticall yupdat eth ene wrefere nce
va lues aTer youha ve chang edthetir epr essur e.
Yo ucan, howev er,also updat eth ere fere nce val-
ues byrestar ting thetir epr essur emonit oring sys-
te m manuall y(/ page320).
Sy st Sy
stem limits em
limits
The system maybe impair edorma yno tfun ction
par ticular lyin thefo llo wing situations:
R Incor rect refere nce values weretaught in
R Sudden pressur eloss caused byafo re ign
object penetrating thetir e, forex am ple
R Ther eis amalf unct ioncaused byano ther
ra dio signal source
Chec Chec
kingt king
the tir he
tirepr e
pr essur essur
ewit e
wit ht h
the tir he
tirepr e
pr essur e essur
e
monit monit
or or
ing syst ing
system em
R R
eq equir uir
ements: ements:
R The vehicle isswitc hedon. Wheel
sand tires
319 319
On-boar
dcom puter:
4 Service 5
Tire s
One ofthefo llo wing displa ysappear s:
R Current tirepr ess ureand tirete mp eratur eof
th eindividual wheels: R
Tire pressu rewil lbe displ ayedafter driving a
few minutes
R Tire Pressure MonitorActive:thete ac h-in
pr ocess ofthesy stem isno tyet com plete.The
tir epr ess ures arealr eady being monitored. #
Com pareth etir epr essur ewit hth ere com-
mende dtir epr essur efo rth ecur rent ope rating condi
tion(/page317) .Ad ditionall y,obser ve
th eno teson cold tires (/ page315).
% The values displa yedin theon-boar dcom-
put erma yde viat efrom those ofthetir epr es-
sur ega ug eas they referto sea leve l.At high
ele vations, thetir epr essur eva lues indicat ed
by apr essur ega ug ear ehigher than those
sho wnbytheon-boar dcom puter.In this case,
do notre duce thetir epr essur e.
R R
est est
ar ar
ting t ting
the tir he
tirepr e
pr essur essur
emonit e
monit or or
ing syst ing
system em
R R
eq eq
uir uir
ements: ements:
R The recommen dedtirepr essur eis cor rectl y
se tfo rth ere specti veoper ating status onallof
th ewheels (/page315).
Re star tth etir epr essur emonit oring system inthe
fo llo wing situations:
R The tirepr essur ehas chang ed.
R The wheels ortires have been chang edor
ne wly installed. On-boar
dcom puter:
4 Service 5
Tires #
Swipe down wardson Touc hContr olon the
leT-h andside ofthesteer ing wheel.
The Use Curre ntPressure sas New Refer-
ence Valuesmessag eis sho wnintheInstr u-
ment Displa y. #
Torestar t,pr es sTo uc hContr olon theleT-
han dside ofthesteer ing wheel.
The Tire Press. Monitor Restarted messageis
sho wnintheInstr ument Display.
Cur rent wa rning messa gesar edele tedand
th eye llo w0077 warning lampgoes out.
ATer youha ve been driving fora few minut es,
th esy stem checks whe ther thecur rent tire
pr ess ures arewit hin thespeci/ed rang e. The
cur rent tirepr ess ures areth en accep tedas
re fere nce values andmonit ored.
Be sureto also payatt ent ion tothefo llo wing rela-
te dto pic:
R Noteson tirepr essur e(/ page315) 320320
Wheel
sand tires
we
llon thego vernment courseasatir egr aded
100.
The relativ eper form ance oftires depen dsupon
th eactual conditions oftheir use, howev er,and
ma ydepar tsign i/can tly from thenor mdue tovar-
iations indriving habits, service practices anddif-
fe re nces inroad charact eristics and climat e.
T T
r r
actio ngr actio
ngr ade ade
&
D D
AN AN
GER GER
Riskofacciden tdue toinade-
qu atetractio n
The tractio ngr ade assign edtothis tireis
based onstraight-ahead braking traction
te sts . #
Alwaysadap tyo ur driving styleand drive
at aspeed tosuit thepr ev ailin gtra1c
and weather cond itions. *
N NO O
TE TE
Damag eto thedr ivet ra in from
wheelsp in #
Avoid wheelspin. The
traction grades, from highe stto lowe st, are
AA ,A, B,and C.Tho segrades repr esent thetir e's
ability tostop onwetpa vement asmeasur ed
under controlled conditi onsonspeci/ed govern-
ment test surfaces ofasphalt andconcr ete. Atir e
mar kedC ma yha ve poor traction perform ance.
T T
em em
per per
atur atur
egr e
gr ade ade
&
W W
AR NIN G AR
NIN GRisk ofacciden tfr om tireove r-
heati ngand tirefa ilur e
Ex cessiv espeed, underin0ation, orexcessiv e
loadin g,eit her separ atelyor incombin ation,
can cause excessiv eheat build-upand possi-
ble tirefa ilur e. #
Obser vethere commen dedtirepr essur e. #
Regula rly ch eckth epr essur eof all the
tir es. #
Adjust thetir epr essur e,ifnecessar y. The
temp eratur egr ades areA (the highe st), B,
and C,repr esentin gth etir e's resis tance tothe
ge ner atio nof hea tand itsability todissipat eheat
when tested und ercontroll edcond itio ns on a
sp ec i/ed indoorla bo ratory test wh eel.Sust ained hi
gh temp eratur ecan cause themat erial ofthe
tir eto deg ener ateand reduce tirelife, and exces-
siv ete mp eratur ecan lead tosudden tirefa ilur e.
The grade Ccor respond sto aleve lof per form -
ance whichall passen gercar tires must meet
under theFe der alMo torSaf etySt andar dNo .
109. Grades Band Arepr esent higher leve ls of
per form ance onthelabor ator yte st wh eelth an
th eminimum requ ired bylaw. DO
T DO
T, T ,
Tir ir
e e
Ident i/cation Ident
i/cationNumber (TIN) Number
(TIN) US
tirere gula tions stipula tethat everytir emanu-
fa ctur eror retread ermus tim print aTIN inor on
th eside wallof eac htir epr oduced. 326326
Wheels
andtires
%
The datash ow nin theimag eis ex am ple data.
The TINisauni queident i/cationnumber toiden-
tify tires and comprises thefo llo wing:
R DO DO
T(Depar T
(Depar tmentofTr tment
ofTranspo rt anspo
rtatio n): atio
n):tiresym-
bol mar ks1 indicating that thetir ecom plies
wit hth ere qu irements oftheUS Depar tment
of Transpo rtatio n.
R Man uf Man
ufactur actur
er er
identi/cation identi/cation
code: code:
manufac-
tur eridenti/cation code2cont ains details of
th etir emanuf acturer.Ne wtires have acode
wit htw osymbols. Retread edtires have acode
wit hfo ur symbo ls.Further informatio non
re treade dtir es (/ page332).
R T T
ir ir
e size: e
size: identi/er 3desc ribes thetir esize.
R T T
ir ir
e type code: e
type code: tiretype code 4can beused
by themanuf actureras acode todescr ibe
speci/c charact eristics ofthetir e.
R Manuf Manuf
actur actur
ingdat ing
date: e:
manuf acturingdate5
pr ov ides information abouttheag eof atir e.
The 1stand 2nd positions repr esent thecal-
endar week and the3r dand 4thpositions
st at eth eye ar ofmanu factur e(e.g. "3208 "
re pr esents the32nd week of2008). InfInf
or or
mation ont mation
onthe maximum tir he
maximum tireload e
load %
The datasho wnintheimag eis ex am ple data.
Maxim umtireload 1isthemaximum permissi-
ble weight forwhic hth etir eis appr oved.
Do notove rload thetir es by exceedin gth especi-
/ed load limit. Themaximum permissible loadcan
be found ontheve hicle' sTire and Loadi ngInfor-
matio nplacar don theB-pillar onthedr iver's side
(/ page321). Speci/
cations Speci/
cations f f
or maximum tir or
maximum tirepr e
pr essur e essur
e %
The datasho wnintheillust ration isex am ple
dat a.
Ne verex ceed maximum tirepr essur e1 speci-
/ed forth etir e. Alw aysobser vethere commen -
ded tirepr essur efo ryo ur vehicle when adjusting
th etir epr essur e(/ page317). Wheels
andtires
327 327
InfInf
or or
mati onontir mati
onontirec e
char har
act act
er er
is is
tics tics
%
The datasho wnintheimag eis ex am ple data.
This informatio ndescr ibesthetype oftirecor d
and thenumber oflaye rs inside wall1 and
under tiretread 2. TT
ir ir
e size designation, load-bear e
size designation, load-bearingcapac ity ing
capac ity,speed ,
speed
r r
ating andload index ating
andload index &
W W
ARNIN G ARNIN
GRisk ofinjur yth ro ugh exceed-
ing thespeci/ed tireload-bear ingcapa-
city ortheper missible speedrating
Ex ceed ingthespeci/ed tireload rating orthe
per missible speedrating maylead totiredam -
ag eand tothetir es bur stin g. #
Ther efor e, onl yuse tiretypes andsizes
appr ovedfo ryo ur vehicle model . #
Obser vethetir eload rating andspee d
ra ting requ ired foryo ur vehicle. 1
Firs tle tter( s)
2 Nominal tirewidt hin milli meters
3 Aspe ctratio in%
4 Tire code
5 Rim diame ter
6 Load-be aring inde x
7 Speed rating
8 Load index
% The datasho wnintheillust ration isex am ple
dat a.
Inf ormatio nabout readin gtir edat acan be
obt aine dfrom anyqu ali/ed special istwo rkshop. 328328
Wheel
sand tires
FF
ir s ir
st le t
le tt tt
er(s) er(s)
1 1: :
R Without: passeng ervehicle tires accor dingto
Eur opean manufacturingstandar ds.
R "P": passeng ervehicle tires accor dingto US
manu factur ingstandar ds.
R "LT": light truc ktir es accor dingtoUS manu -
fa ctur ingstandar ds.
R "T": com pact emer gency sparewheels with
high tirepr essur eth at areonl ydesig nedfor
te mp oraryuse inan emer gency .
Aspe ctr Aspe
ctratio atio
3 3: :
Ra tio between tireheigh tand tirewidt hin per cent
(tir eheigh tdivide dby tirewidt h).
T T
ir ir
e cod e e
cod e4 4
(tir (tir
etype ): e
type ):
R "R"radial tire
R "D": bias plytir e
R "B": bias beltedtires
R "ZR": radial tirewit hamaximum speedabove
149 mph(2 40 km/h)(o pt ional) Rim
diame t Rim
diame ter er
5 5: :
The diame terof thebead seat(notth ediame ter
of therim 0ang e).The rim diame teris speci/ edin
inc hes (in).
Load-bear Load-bear
inginde ing
inde x x
6 6: :
Numer icalcode that speci/es themaximum load-
bear ingcapac ityofatir e(e.g. "91"correspond s
to 1356 lbs(615 kg)).
The load-bear ingcapa cityofthetir emust beat
least halfthegr oss axle weight rating ofyour vehi-
cle. Donotove rload thetir es by exceedin gth e
speci/ed loadlimit.
Se ealso:
R Maximu mper missibl eload ontheTire and
Loadi ngInformatio nplacar d(/ page321)
R Maxim umtireload (/page327)
R Load index
Spe edr Spe
edrat ing at
ing 7 7: :
Sp eci/es theappr ovedmaximum speedofthe
tir e. %
Anelec tronic speedlimit erprev ents your
ve hicle from exceedin gaspeed of130 mph
(210 km/h ).
Mak esur eth at your tires have there qu ired speed
ra ting. Youcan obtain information onthere qu ired
speed rating from anaut hor ized Mercede s-Benz
Cent er.
Summer tir Summer
tires es
Inde
x Inde
x Speedr Speed
rating ating
Qu pto 100 mph(1 60 km/h)
Ru pto 106 mph(1 70 km/h)
Su pto 112 mph(1 80 km/h)
Tu pto 118 mph(1 90 km/h)
Hu pto 130 mph(2 10 km/h)
Vu pto 149 mph(2 40 km/h)
Wu pto 168 mph(2 70 km/h)
Yu pto 186 mph(3 00 km/h) Wh
eelsan dtire s
329 329
Inde
x Inde
x Speed r Sp
eed ratin g atin
g
ZR ...Y 1
upto186 mph(3 00 km/h)
ZR. ..(..Y )1
over186 mph(3 00 km/h)
ZR 1
over149 mph(2 40 km/h) R
Spe cify ing thespeed rating asthe"ZR" index
in tirecode 4isop tional fortir es up to
186 mph(3 00 km/h).
R Ifyo ur tirecode 4includes "ZR"andther eis
no speed rating 7,/ndout wha tth emaxi-
mum speed isfrom thetir emanuf acturer.
R Ifload-bear inginde x6 and speed rating 7
ar ein brac kets, themaximum speedrating of
yo ur tireis abo ve186 mph(3 00 km/h).To
/nd outthemaximum speed,askthetir eman-
uf actur er. All-w All-w
eat eat
her tir her
tires and wint es
and wintertir er
tires es
Inde
x Inde
x Speedr Speed
rating ating
Q M+S 2
upto100 mph(1 60 km/h)
T M+S 2
upto118 mph(1 90 km/h)
H M+S 2
upto130 mph(2 10 km/h)
V M+S 2
upto149 mph(240 km/h) Wi
nter tires bea rth e004D snow0ak esymbol and
ful/ll there qu irements oftheRu bber Manuf actur-
er sAssociation (RMA)andtheRu bber Association
of Canada (RAC)rega rding thetir etraction on
sno w.
Load inde Load
index x
8 8: :
R Nospec i/cation given: standar dload (SL)tire
R "XL" or"Ex tra Load" :ex tra load tireor rein-
fo rc ed tire
R "Light Load": lightloadtire R
"C", "D", "E":aload rang eth at depen dson the
maximum loadthat thetir ecan carryatacer -
ta in pressur e De/n
ition De/n
itionoft of
ter er
ms f ms
for tir or
tires and loading es
and loading
T T
ir ir
e s e
str tr
uctur uctur
eand c e
and char har
act act
er er
is istics: tics:
descr ibesthe
numb eroflaye rs or thenumber ofrubber -coat ed
belts inthetir econt actsurface and thetir ewa ll.
These aremade ofsteel, nylon, polyester and
ot her materials.
Bar : Bar
:me tric uni tfo rtir epr essur e.14.5038 pounds
per squar einc h(psi) and100 kilopasc al(kP a)is
th eeq uiv alent ofone bar.
DO DO
T(Depar T
(Depar tmentofTr tment
ofTranspo rt anspo
rtatio n): atio
n):DOT-mar ked
tir es ful/ llth ere qu irements ofthe
US Depar tmentof Transpo rtatio n.
Av Av
er er
ag ag
ew e
weight oft eight
ofthe v he
vehicle occupants: ehicle
occupants: the
numb erofvehicle occupan tsforwhic hth eve hicle
is desig ned,mult iplied by150 lb(68 kg).
U Unif nif
or or
m T m
Tir ir
e Quality Gr e
Quality Grading St adin
gSt andar andar
ds: ds:
auni form
st an da rd tograde thequ alit yof tires withre ga rd
1 "ZR" stat ed inthetir ecode.
2 Or "M+S004D" forwint ertires. 330330
Wheels
andtires