engine MERCEDES-BENZ GL 2013 Owners Manual

When towing a trailer, your vehicle's handling
characteristics will be differen tincomparison
with when driving without atrailer.
On long and steep downhill gradients, you
must select shift range 1,2or 3in good time.
i This also applies if you have activated
cruise control or DISTRONIC PLUS.
This will use the braking effect of the engine,
so that less braking will be required to
maintai nthe speed, This relieves the load on
the brake system and prevents the brakes
from overheating and wearing too quickly. If
you need additional braking, depress the
brake pedal repeatedly rather than
continuously.
Driving tips If the trailer swings from side to side:
X
Do not accelerate.
X Do not counter-steer.
X Brake if necessary.
R Maintain a greater distance from the
vehicle in front than when driving without a
trailer.
R Avoid braking abruptly. If possible, brake
gently at first to allow the trailer to run on.
Then, increase the braking force rapidly.
R The values given for gradient-climbing
capabilities from a standstill refer to sea
level. When driving in mountainous areas,
note that the power output of the engine
and, consequently, the vehicle's gradient-
climbing capability, decreases with
increasing altitude. Installing the ball coupling
G
WARNING
If the ball coupling is not installed and secured
correctly it can become detached while the
vehicle is in motion and fall onto the road.
There is a risk of accident and injury. Always install and secure the ball coupling as
described. Before every journey, ensure that
the ball coupling is secured with the bolt and
the corresponding spring cotter.
G
WARNING
If the ball coupling is not installed correctly or
not secured with the bolt provided and the
corresponding spring cotter, the trailer may
come loose. There is a risk of an accident.
Always install and secure the ball coupling as
described. Before every journey, ensure that
the ball coupling is secured with the bolt and
the corresponding spring cotter. G
WARNING
If the ball coupling is not installed and secured
correctly the trailer may come loose. There is
a risk of an accident.
Install and secure the ball coupling as
described in the ball coupling installation
instructions. Make sure that the ball coupling
is installed and secured correctly before every
journey. Cover cap
X
Pull protective cap 0002in the direction of the
arrow, out of the ball coupling recess.
X Place protective cap 0002in the ball coupling
recess. Towing
atrailer
259Driving an d parking Z

of the towing vehicle, as the latter is
equipped with an anti-lock brake system.
Doing so will result in a loss of function of
the brake systems of both the vehicle and
the trailer.
X Make sure that the automatic transmission
is set to position P.
X Apply the vehicle's electric parking brake.
X Start the engine.
X Vehicles with the AIRMATIC package:
select highway level.
X Vehicles with ADS: set ADS toAUTOor
COMF.
X Switch off the engine.
X Close all doors and the tailgate.
X Couple up the trailer.
X Establish all electrical connections.
X Check that the trailer lighting system is
working.
i Vehicles with the AIRMATIC package:
with a trailer attached, the vehicle will
always remain at highway level. When
coupling up a trailer, please observe the
following:
R Unless highway level has been set
manually, the vehicle is automatically
lowered to highway level. This is the case
if a speed of 5mph(8km/h) is reached.
R High-speed level is not available.
These restrictions apply to all accessories
powered through a connectio nto the trailer
power socket of your vehicle, e.g. a bicycle
carrier.
Observe the maximum permissible trailer
dimensions (width and length).
Most U.S. states and all Canadia nprovinces
require by law:
R Safety chains between the towing vehicle
and the trailer. The chains should be cross-
wound under the trailer drawbar. They must
be fastened to the vehicle's trailer
coupling, not to the bumper or the axle. Leave enough play in the chains to make
tight cornering possible.
R As eparate brake system for certain types
of trailer.
R As afety switch for braked trailers. Check
the specific legal requirements applicable
to your state.
If the trailer detaches from the towing
vehicle, the safety switch applies the
trailer's brakes. Towing
atrailer
There are numerous legal requirements
concerning the towing of a trailer, e.g .speed
restrictions. Make sure that your vehicle/
trailer combination complies with the local
requirements not only in your area of
residence but also at any location to which
you are traveling. The police and local
authorities can provide reliable information.
Please observe the following when towing a
trailer:
R To acquaint yourself with driving with a
trailer and with the resulting changes to
handling, you should practice cornering,
stopping and backing up in a traffic-free
location.
R Before driving, check:
-Trailer tow hitch
- Safety switch for braked trailers
- Safety chains
- Electrical connections
- Lights
- the wheels
R Adjust the exterior mirrors to provide an
unobstructed view of the rear section of the
trailer.
R If the trailer features electronically
controlled brakes, pull away the vehicle/
trailer combination carefully, manually
brake using the brake controller, and check
the brakes for correct function. Towing
atrailer
261Driving an d parking Z

R
Secure any objects on the traile rto prevent
the cargo from slipping when the vehicle is
in motion.
R If you couple up a trailer, regularly check
the cargo for secure fastening and make
sure that the trailer lamps and (if
applicable) the trailer brakes are
functioning correctly.
R Bear in mind that the handling will be less
stable when towing a trailer than when
driving without one. Avoid sudden steering
movements.
R The vehicle/trailer combination is heavier,
accelerates more slowly, has a decreased
gradient climbing capability and a longer
braking distance.
It is more susceptible to side winds and
requires more careful steering.
R If possible, avoid abrupt braking. Depress
the brake pedal moderately at first, so that
the trailer can activate its own brakes. Then
increase the pressure on the brake pedal.
R If the automatic transmission continues to
shift back and forth between two gears
when driving up or downhill, restrict the
shift range. Select shift range 4, 3, 2,or1.
Al ower gear and lower speed reduce the
risk of engine failure.
R When driving downhill, shift to a lower gear
to utilize the engine's braking effect.
Avoid continuous brake application as this
may overheat the vehicle brakes and, if
installed, the trailer brakes.
R If the coolant temperature increases
dramatically while the air-conditioning
system is switched on, switch off the air-
conditioning system.
Coolant heat can additionally be dissipated
by opening the windows and by setting the
blower fan and the interior temperature to
maximum.
R When overtaking, pay particular attention
to the extended length of your vehicle/
trailer combination. Due to the length of your vehicle/trailer
combination, you will have to travel an
additional distance beyond the vehicle you
are overtaking before returning to the
previous lane. Decoupling
atrailer G
WARNING
If you uncouple a trailer with the overrun
brake engaged, you could trap your hand
between the vehicle and the trailer drawbar.
There is a risk of injury.
Do not uncouple a trailer if the overru nbrake
is engaged. G
WARNING
Vehicles with level control:
The vehicle is lowered as soon as you
disconnect the trailer cable. This could result
in yourl imbs or those of other people that are
betwee nthe vehicle body and tires or
underneath the vehicle being trapped. There
is a risk of injury.
Make sure that nobody is in the immediate
vicinity of the wheel housings or under the
vehicle when you disconnectt he trailer cable.
! Do not disconnect a trailer with an
engaged overrun brake. Otherwise, your
vehicle could be damaged by the
rebounding of the overrun brake.
X Make sure that the automatic transmission
is set to position P.
X Apply the vehicle's electric parking brake.
X Start the engine.
X Close all doors and the tailgate.
X Apply the trailer's parking brake.
X Detach the trailer cable and decouple the
trailer.
X Switch off the engine. 262
Towing
atrailerDriving an d parking

Displays and operation
Instrument cluster
Instrument cluster: miles
0002
Speedometer with segments (Y page 268)
0003 Fuel gauge
0021 Tachometer (Y page 268)
0020 Coolant temperature ( Ypage 267)
001E Multifunction display (Y page 269)
001F Instrumen tcluster lighting (Y page 267) Instrument cluster lighting
The lighting in the instrumen tcluster, in the
displays and the controls in the vehicle
interior can be adjusted using the brightness
control knob.
The brightness control knob is located on the
bottom left of the instrument cluster
(Y page 33).
X Turn the brightness control knob clockwise
or counter-clockwise.
If the light switch is set to 0006,0016or
000D, the brightness is dependent upon
the brightness of the ambien tlight.
i The light sensor in the instrumen tcluster
automatically controls the brightness of
the multifunction display. In daylight, the displays in the instrument
cluster are not illuminated. Coolant temperature display
G
WARNING
Driving when your engine is overheated can
cause some fluids which may have leaked into
the engine compartment to catch fire. You
could be seriously burned.
Steam from an overheated engine can cause
serious burns which can occur just by opening
the engine hood. Stay away fro mthe engine
if you see or hear steam coming from it.
Stop the vehicle in a safe location away from
other traffic. Turn off the engine, get out of the Displays and operation
267On-board computer and displays
Z

vehicle and do not stand near the vehicle until
the engine has cooled down.
! Adisplay message is shown if the coolant
temperature is too high.
If the coolant temperature is over
248 ‡(120 †), do not continue driving. The
engine will otherwise be damaged.
The coolan ttemperature gauge is in the
instrument cluster on the right-hand side
(Y page 33).
Under normal operating conditions and with
the specified coolant level, the coolant
temperature may rise to 248 ‡ (120 †). Tachometer
! Do not drive in the overrevving range, as
this could damage the engine.
The red band in the tachometer indicates the
engine's overrevving range.
The fuel supply is interrupted to protec tthe
engine when the red band is reached. Outside temperature display
You should pay special attention to road
conditions when temperatures are around
freezing point.
The outside temperature display is in the
multifunction display (Y page 269).
Changes in the outside temperature are
displayed after a short delay. Speedometer with segments
The segments in the speedometer indicate
which speed range is available.
R Cruise control activated (Y page 195):
The segments light up from the stored
speed to the maximum speed.
R DISTRONIC PLUS activated (Y page 198):One or two segments in the set speed
range light up.
R DISTRONIC PLUS detectsav ehicle in front:
The segments between the speed of the
vehicle in fron tand the stored speed light
up. Operating the on-board computer
Overview 0002
Multifunctio ndisplay
0003 Switches on the Voice Control System;
see the separate operating instructions
0021 Right control panel
0020 Left control panel
001E Back button
X To activat ethe on-board computer: turn
the SmartKey to position 1in the ignition
lock.
You can control the multifunction display and
the settings in the on-board computer using
the buttons on the multifunction steering
wheel. 268
Displays and operationOn-board computer and displays

Delayed switch-off of the exterior lighting is
reactivated the next time you start the
engine.
If you have activated the
SurroundLighting functio
nand the light switch is set
to 0006, the following functions are activated
when it is dark:
R Surround lighting: the exteriorlighting
remains lit for 40 seconds after unlocking
with the SmartKey. If you start the engine,
the surround lighting is switched off and
the automatic headlamp mode is activated
(Y page 124).
R Exterior lighting delayed switch-off: the
exterior lighting remains lit for
60 seconds after the engine is switched off.
If you close all the doors and the tailgate,
the exterior lighting goes off after
5s econds.
i Depending on your vehicle's equipment,
when the surround lighting and delayed
switch-off exterior lighting are on, the
following light up:
R Parking lamps
R Daytime running lamps
R Side marker lamps
R Surround lighting in the exterior mirrors
Activating/deactivating the interior
lighting delayed switch-off
If you activate the Interior LightingDelay function, the interior lighting remains
on for 20seconds after you remove the
SmartKey from the ignition lock.
X Press the 0002or0005 button on the
steering wheel to select the Sett. menu.
X Press the 0004or0003 button to select the
Lights submenu.
X Press 000Bto confirm.
X Press 0004or0003 to select the
Interior Lighting Delay function.
When the Interior Lighting Delay function is activated, the vehicle interior is displayed in red in the multifunction
display.
X Press the 000Bbutton to save the setting.
Vehicle submenu Activating/deactivating the automatic
door locking mechanism
If you activate the
Automatic Door Lock function, the vehicle is centrally locked above
a speed of around 9 mph (15 km/h).
X Press the 0002or0005 button on the
steering wheel to select the Sett. menu.
X Press 0004or0003 to select the Vehicle submenu.
X Press 000Bto confirm.
X Press 0004or0003 to select the
Automatic Door Lock function.
When the Automatic Door Lock function
is activated, the vehicle doors are displayed
in red in the multifunction display.
X Press the 000Bbutton to save the setting.
For further information on the automatic
locking feature, see (Y page 86).
Activating/deactivating the acoustic
locking verification signal
If you switch on the Acoustic Lock function,
an acoustic signal sounds when you lock the
vehicle.
X Press the 0002or0005 button on the
steering wheel to select the Sett. menu.
X Press 0004or0003 to select the Vehicle submenu.
X Press 000Bto confirm.
X Press the 0004or0003 button to select the
Acoustic Lock function.
If the Acoustic Lock function is activated,
the 000C symbol in the multifunction
display lights up red.
X Press the 000Bbutton to save the setting. 280
Menus and submenusOn-board computer and displays

X
Press 0004or0003 to select the Auto. Mirror Folding function.
If the Auto. Mirror Folding function is
activated, the vehicle's exterior mirror is
displayed in red in the multifunction
display.
X Press the 000Bbutton to save the setting. 0002
To fold the exterior mirrors in or out
If you have switched the Auto. MirrorFolding on and you fold the exterior mirrors
in using button 0002, they will not fold out
automatically (Y page 119).
You can then only fold out the exterior mirrors
using button 0002.
Restoring the factory settings X
Press the 0002or0005 button on the
steering wheel to select the Sett. menu.
X Press the 0004or0003 button to select the
Factory Setting submenu.
X Press 000Bto confirm.
The Reset All Settings? message
appears.
X Press the 0004or0003 button to select
No or
Yes .
X Press 000Bto confirm the selection.
If you select Yes , the multifunction display
shows a confirmation message.
For safety reasons, the Daytime RunningLights function in the
Lights submenu is
only reset if the vehicle is stationary. ON&OFFROAD menu
Multifunction display (example)
X
Press the 0002or0005 button on the
steering wheel to select the ON&OFFROAD menu.
You can set the following curren tsettings to
appear in the ON&OFFROAD menu:
R On-road program (Y page 247)
R Off-road program (Y page 252) AMG menu in AMG vehicles
AMG displays 0002
Digital speedometer
0003 Gear indicator
0021 Upshift indicator
0020 Engine oil temperature
001E Coolant temperature
001F Status indicator (indicator not available in
USA/Canada)
X Press 0002or0005 on the steering wheel
to select the AMG menu.
Upshift indicator UP 0021
indicates that the
engine has reached the overrevving range
when in the manual gearshift program.
Upshift indicator UP 0021
fades out other
messages until you have shifted up.
If the engine oil temperature is below 176 ‡
(80 †) the oil temperature is shown in blue. 282
Menus and submenusOn-board computer and displays

Avoid driving at full engine outpu
tduring this
time.
SETUP 0002
Drive program (C /S /M )
0003 ESP ®
mode (ON /OFF )
0021 Suspension tuning (COMFORT /SPORT /
SPORT+ )
SETUP shows the drive program, the ESP ®
(Electronic Stability Program) mode and the
suspension tuning.
X Press the 0002or0005 button on the
steering wheel to select the AMG menu.
X Press the 0003buttonrepeatedly until
SETUP is displayed.
RACETIMER Displaying and starting RACETIMER
The RACETIMER is only intended for use on a
closed race circuit. Do not use the function
on public roads. 0002
Lap
0003 RACETIMER You can start the RACETIMER when the
engine is running or if the SmartKey is in
position
2in the ignition lock.
X Press 0002or0005 on the steering wheel
to select the AMG menu.
X Press the 0003button repeatedly until the
RACETIMER is shown.
X To start: press the 000Bbutton to start the
RACETIMER.
Displaying the intermediate time X
Press the 0002or0005 button to select
Interm. Time .
X Press 000Bto confirm.
The intermediate time is displayed for five
seconds.
Starting a new lap 0002
RACETIMER
0003 Fastes tlap time (bes tlap)
0021 Lap
X Press 000Bto confirm New Lap .
i It is possible to store a maximum of
sixteen laps. The 16th lap can only be
completed with Finish Lap .Menus and submenus
283On-board computer and displays Z

Stopping the RACETIMER
X
Press the 0007button on the steering
wheel.
X Press 000Bto confirm Yes .
The RACETIMER interrupts timing when you
stop the vehicle and turn the SmartKey to
position 1in the ignition lock. If you turn the
SmartKey to position 2or 3and then press
000B to confirm Start , timing is continued.
Resetting the current lap
X Stop the RACETIMER.
X Press the 0002or0005 button to select
Reset Lap .
X Press 000Bto reset the lap time to "0".
Deleting all laps If you switch off the engine, the RACETIMER
is reset to "0" after 30 seconds. All laps are
deleted.
You cannot delete individual stored laps. If
you have stopped 16 laps, the current lap
does not have to be reset.
X Reset the current lap.
X Press 000Bto confirm Reset .
Reset Race Timer? appears in the
multifunction display.
X Press the 0004button to select Yes and
press the 000Bbutton to confirm.
All laps are deleted. Overall statistics
0002
RACETIMER overall evaluation
0003 Total time driven
0021 Average speed
0020 Distance covered
001E Maximum speed
This function is shown if you have stored at
least one lap and stopped the RACETIMER.
X Press the 0002or0005 button on the
steering wheel to select the AMG menu.
X Press the 0003button repeatedly until the
overall evaluation is shown.
Lap statistics 0002
Lap
0003 Lap time
0021 Average lap speed
0020 Lap length
001E Top speed during lap 284
Menus and submenusOn-board computer and displays

Display messages Possible causes/consequences and
0001 Solutions
The yellow
000Dwarning lamp lights up. If you manually apply or
release the electric parkin gbrake, the red 0008(USA
only)/000D (Canada only) indicator lamp flashes.
The electric parking brake is malfunctioning. It is not possible to
apply the electric parking brake manually.
X Shift the transmission to P.
X Visi taqualified specialist workshop. 0008(USA
only)000D
(Canada
only)
Parking Brake Inoperative The yellow
000Dwarning lamp lights up. The red 0008(USA
only)/ 000D(Canada only) indicator lamp flashes for about ten
seconds after the electric parking brake has been applied or
released. It then goes out or remains lit.
The electric parking brake is malfunctioning, e.g. because of
overvoltage or undervoltage.
X Remove the cause for the overvoltage or undervoltage, e.g. by
charging the battery or restarting the engine.
X Engage or release the electric parking brake.
If it remains impossible to apply or release the electric parking
brake:
X Switch off the ignition and turn it back on.
X Engage or release the electric parking brake.
If the electric parking brake still cannot be released:
X Consult a qualified specialist workshop. The display message is only shown while the vehicle is in motion.
The yellow
000Dwarning lamp lights up and the red 0008(USA
only)/ 000D(Canada only) indicator lamp flashes.
It is not possible to apply the electric parking brake manually.
X Shift the transmission to P.
X Visit a qualified specialist workshop. 0008(USA
only)000D
(Canada
only)
Turn On the Ignition to
Release the
Parking Brake The red
0008(USA only)/000D (Canada only) indicator lamp lights
up.
You attempted to release the electric parking brake while the
ignition was switched off.
X SmartKey: turn the SmartKey to position 1in the ignition lock.
X KEYLESS-GO: switch on the ignition.292
Display messagesOn-board computer and displays