height MERCEDES-BENZ M-CLASS SUV 2011 Owners Manual

resul
tinsevereore ven fata linjuries to the
child and othe roccupants.
R Persons les sthan 1. 50mt all cannot wear
the seat belts correctly. For this reason,
secure persons less than 1.5 0mtall in spe-
cially designed, suitable restraint systems.
R Children less than 1.50 mtall or under 12
years of age cannot wear the seat belts
properly. Therefore, they should always be
secured in asuitable child restraint system
on asuitable vehicle seat. You can find
more information under "Children in the
vehicle" in the "Safety" section of the Own-
er's Manual. Follow the manufac turer's
installatio ninstructions whe nfitting achild
rest raint system.
R Do not secure any objects with aseat belt
if the seat belt is also being used by one of
the vehicle's occupants. G
WAR
NING
The seat belt doe snot offer the intended level
of protection unless the back rest is almost
ver tica l. Under certain circumstances, this
could cause severe or even fatal injuries in the
event of an accident.
Befor estarting ajourney, mak esure that the
seat is properly adjusted and that the back-
rest is almost vertical. G
WARNING
Ad irtyord amaged seat belt or aseat belt that
has been subjected to aload in an accident
or which has been modified no longer offers
the intended level of protection. Un dercertain
cir cumstances, this could caus esever eor
even fatal injuries in the even tofanaccident.
For thi sreason, check regularly that the seat
belts are not damaged or dirty.
Alway shaved am aged sea tbelts or seat belts
that have been subjected to aload in an acci-
dent replaced at aqualified specialist work-
shop. Consult aqualified specialist workshop
which has the necessary specialist knowledge
and tools to carry out the work required.
Mercedes -Benz recommends that you use a Mercedes-Benz Ser
vice Centre for thi spur-
pose.
For safety reasons, Mercedes -Benz recom-
mends that you only use seat belts which have
been approved by Mercedes-Benz for your
vehicle.
Fastening seat belts X
Adjust the seat and mov ethe backrest to
an almost ver tical position (Y page92).
X Pul lthe seat belt smoothly thr oughbelt
sash guide :.
X Without twistin git, guid ethe shoulder sec-
tion of the seat belt across the middle of
your shoulder and the lap section across
your hips.
X Engage belt tongue ;in buckle =.
Seat-belt adjustment :ifnecessary, the
driver' sand front-passenger sea tbelts
automatically adjust to the upper body
(Y page 48).
X If necessary, adjust the seat belt to the
appropriate height (Y page 48).
X If necessary, pull upwards on the shoulder
section of the seat belt to tighten the belt
across your body.
For mor einformation abou treleasing the seat
belt with release button ?,see "Releasing
seat belts" (Y page 48). Occupant safety
47Safety Z

Sea
tbelt adjustment The seat-belt adjustment func
tion adjusts the
driver's and front-passenger seat belt to the
upper body of the occupants.
The belt strap is tighte neds lightly when:
R you engage the belt tongue in the belt
buckle and you then turn the key to position
2 in the ignition lock.
R the key is in position 2in the ignition lock
and you then engage the belt tongue in the
buckle.
The seat-belt adjustment will apply acertain
tightening force if any slack is detected
between the occupant and the seat belt. Do
not hold on to the seat belt tightly while it is
adjusting. You can switc hthe seat-belt
adjustment on and off in the on-boar dcom-
puter (Y page 251).
The seat-belt adjustment is an integra lpart of
the PRE-SAFE ®
convenience function. More
information about PRE-SAFE ®
can be found
in the "PRE-SAFE ®
(preventative occupant
protection)" section (Y page 45).
Belt height adjustment You can adjust the seat belt height on the
driver' sseat and the front-passenger seat. Adjust the height so that the upper part of the
seat belt is routed across the centre of your
shoulder. X
To raise: slide the belt sash guide upwards.
The belt sash guide engages in various posi-
tions.
X To lower: press and hold belt sash guide
release :.
X Slide the belt sash guide downwards.
X Release belt sash guide release :and
mak esure that the belt sash guide has
engaged.
Releasing seat belts X
Press release button ?(Ypage 47) and
guide belt tongue ;back towards belt
sash guide :.
! Make sure that the seat belt is fully rolled
up. Otherwise, the seat belt or belt tongue
will be trapped in the door or in the seat
mechanism. This could damage the door,
the door trim panel and the seat belt. Dam-
aged seat belts can no longer fulfil their
protective function and must be replaced.
Consult aMercedes-Benz Servic eCentre.
Belt warning for driver and front
passenger The
7 seat belt warning lam pint he instru-
men tcluster is areminder for all occupants
to fasten their seat belts. It may light up con-
tinuously or flash. In addition ,there ma ybea
warning tone.
The 7 seat belt warning lamp goes out and
the warning tone ceases when the driver and
the front passenge rhave fastened their seat
belt.
For certain countries only: regardless of
whethe rthe driver or the front passenger
hav efastened their seat belts, the 7seat
belt warning lamp lights up for six seconds
after the engine is started. It then goes out if
the driver and the front passenger have fas-
tened their seat belts.
i For more information on the 7seat
belt warning lamp, see "Warning and indi- 48
Occupant safetySafety

in such
away that you have agood view of
roa dand traffic conditions.
X Vehicles with amemory function: save
the seat, steerin gwheel and exterior mirror
settings (Y page 103). Sea
ts Important safety notes
G
WARNING
The seats can still be adjusted when ther eis
no key in the ignition lock. For this reaso n,
children shoul dnever be left unsupervised in
the vehicle. They could adjust the seat sand
become trapped. G
WARNING
Only adjus tthe driver' sseat when the vehicle
is stationary. You will otherwise be distrac ted
from the road and traffic conditions and you
could lose control of the vehicle as aresult of
the seat moving. This could cause an acci-
dent. G
WAR
NING
If you adjus tthe seat height car elessly, you or
others could be trapped and thereb yinjured.
Children in particular could unintentionally
pres sthe buttons to electrically adjust the
seat sand become trapped.
Take care that:
R whil emoving the seats, your hands do not
get under the lever assembly of the seat
adjustmen tsystem.
R children in the vehicl edonot slidetheir
hands unde rthe levers. G
WARNING
Make sur ethat nobody can becom etrapped
when adjusting the seats.
Observe the notes on airbags.
Secure children as recomm ended; see the
"Children in the vehicle" section. G
WAR
NING
Make sure that the back of your head is sup-
ported at eye level by the central area of the
head restraint .Ifyour head is not supported
correctly by the head restraint ,you coul dsuf-
fer asever eneck injury in the event of an
accident .Never driv eifthe head rest raints are
not engaged and set correctly. G
WARNING
As eat belt can only offer its intended degree
of protection when the back rest is almost ver-
tical and the occupan tiss itting upright. Avoid
seat positions that do not allow the seat belt
to be routed correctly. Adjust the backrest so
that it is as upright as possible .Never travel
with the back rest reclined too fa rbackwards.
You could otherwise be seriousl yoreven
fatally injured in th eevent of an accident or
sudden braking.
! To avoid damag etothe seats and the seat
heating, observe the followin ginformation:
R do not spill any liquids on the seats. If
liquid is spilled on the seats, dry them as
soon as possible.
R if the sea tcover sare damp or wet, do not
switc hont he seat heating. The seat
heating should also not to be used to dry
the seats.
R clea nthe seat cover sasrecommended;
see the "In terior care" section.
R do not transport heav yloads on the
seats. Do not plac eshar pobjects on the
seat cushions ,e.g. knives, nails or tools.
Th es eats should only be occupied by
passengers, if possible.
R when the seat heatin gisinoperation ,do
not cover the seats with insulating mate-
rials, e.g. blanke ts,c oats, bags, seat cov-
ers, child seats or booster seats.
! When you mov ethe seats, make sur ethat
ther eare no objects in th efootwell or
behind the seats. Otherwise, you could
damage the seats and the objects. Seats
93Seats,steering wheeland mirrors Z

!
When the rear bench seat is folded for-
wards, the front seats cannot be moved to
their rearmost position. You could other-
wise damage the seats and the rear bench
seat.
! Make sure that the sun visor is folded up
befor eadjustin gthe backrest and head
restraint height. The head restraint and sun
viso rcould otherwise collide when the head
restraint is fully extended.
i It is not possible to remove thehead
restraint sfrom th efront seats .The rear-
compartment head restraint scan be
removed (Y page 96).
Pleas econtact aMercedes-Ben zService
Centre for mor einformation.
i Related topics:
R Luggag ecompartmen tenlargement
(folding dow nthe rea rbench seat) Adjusting the seat
selectrically :
Head restraint height
; Seat cushion angle
= Seat height
? Seat fore-and-aft adjustment
A Backrest angle
i Vehicles with memory function :ifP RE-
SAFE ®
has been triggered ,the front-
passenger seat will be moved to abetter
position if it was previously in an unfavour-
able position. i
You can store the seat settings using the
memory function (Y page 103).
i Vehicles with memory function :when the
seat is moved forwards or rearwards, the
headrest is moved up or down automati-
cally. Adjusting th
ehead restraints
Adjusting the head restraints manually Adjusting the head restraint height
! The head restraints must only be removed
at aq ualified special istw orkshop.
Mercedes-Benz recommends that you use
aM ercedes-Ben zService Centre for this
purpose. X
To raise: pull the head restraint up to the
desired position.
X To lower: press release catch :in the
direction of the arrow and push the head
restraint down to the desired position. 94
SeatsSeats, steering wheel and mirrors

Adjusting th
efore/af tposit ionoft he
head restraint With this functio
nyou can adjust th edistance
between th ehead restraint and th eback of
the seat occupant' shead.
X To adjust forwards: pull thehead restraint
forwards in th edirection of th earrow until
it engages.
There are se veral notches.
X To adjust rearwards: pressand hol dthe
re lease button :and push th ehead
restraint back.
X When th ehead restraint is in th edesired
position ,release th ebutton and make sure
th at the head restraint is engage dinposi-
tion.
Adjusting th ehead restraints electri-
cally X
To adjust the head restraint height: slide
the switch for head restrain tadjustment
(Y page 94 )upord own in the direction of
the arrow. Rea
rseat head restraints Adjusting the rear seat head restraint
height
X
If the head restrain tisf ully lowered, it is
necessary to press release catch :.
X To raise: pull the head restraint up to the
desired position.
X To lower: press release catch :and push
the head restraint down until it is in the
desired position.
Adjusting the rear seat head restraint
angle
Adjust the head restraint ssothat they ar eas
clos easp ossible to your head.
You can only adjust the two outer head
rest raints. X
Using both hands, reach back and grasp
the sides of the head restraint.
X Pull the lower edge of the head restraint
forwards or back until it is in the desired
position. Seats
95Seats,steerin gwhee land mirrors Z

Problems wit
hthe seat ventilation Th
es eat ven tilation has switched off prema-
turely or cannot be switched on. The vehicle's
electrical system voltage is too low because
too many electrical consumer sare switched
on.
X Switch off electrica lconsumers which you
do not need, such as the rea rwindow heat-
ing or interior lighting. Steering wheel
Important safet
ynotes G
WARNING
The electrically adjustable steering wheel can
still be adjusted when there is no key in the
ignition lock. Therefore, do not leave children
unsupervised in the vehicle, as they could
become trapped if the steering wheel is adjus-
ted. G
WARNING
Only adjust the steering wheel when the vehi-
cle is stationar yand do not pull away until the
steering wheel adjustment mechanis mis
locked in position. You might otherwise drive
without the steering wheel adjustment mech-
anism being locked in position. As aresult,
you could be distracted from road and traffic
condition sbyanunintentional movement of
the steering wheel and thereby cause an acci-
dent.
However, the steerability of the vehicl eisnot
affected. Adjusting th
esteerin gwheel man-
ually :
Release lever
; To adjus tthe steering wheel height
= To adjust the steering wheel position
(fore-and-af tadjustment)
X Push release lever :down completely.
The steerin gcolum nisu nlocked.
X Adjus tthe steering wheel to the desired
position.
X Push release lever :up completely.
The steering column is locked.
X Chec kifthe steering column is locked.
When doing so, tr ytopush the steering
wheel up or down or try to move it in the
fore-and-aft direction. Adjusting the steering wheel electri-
cally
:
To adjust the steering wheel height
; To adjust the steering wheel position
(fore-and-aft adjustment) 98
Steering wheelSeats, steerin
gwhee land mirrors

Do not exceed the maximum noseweight.
When driving with aloaded carriersystem,
always adjust your drivin gstyle to th eprevail-
ing road, traffic and weather conditions and
drive par ticularly carefully.
You can use carrier sys tems, e.g. bi cycle
racks or load-bea ringimplements on th eball
coupling. The maximum noseweight of 75 kg
applies when usin gcarrier system sontheball
coupling.
General information i
Chec kthe tyr epressure when towin ga
trailer. You will find the values in the tyre
pressure table in the fuel filler flap of the
vehicle (Y page 359).
You will find installation dimensions and loads
in the "Technical data" section
(Y page 378).
The maximum noseweight of the trailer draw-
bar on the ball coupling is 18
.H owever, the
actual noseweight must not exceed the value
given on the trailer tow hitc hortrailer identi-
ficatio nplates. The lowest weight applies.
! Use anoseweight as close as possible to
the maximum permissible noseweight .Do
not use anoseweight of less than 50 kg,
otherwise the trailer ma ycome loose.
Bear in min dthat the payload and the rear
axl eload ar ereduced by the actual nose-
weight.
Please note that when towing atrailer, PARK-
TRONIC (Y page 191) and Blind Spo tAssist
(Y page 208) ar eonly available with limita-
tions ,orn ot at all.
i On vehicles withou tlevel control, the
height of the ball couplin gwill alter accord-
ing to the load placed on the vehicle. If nec-
essary, use atrailer wit haheight-adjusta-
ble drawbar. Driving tips i
Observ ethe information on ESP ®
trailer
stabilisation (Y page 65)and on pull ing
away with atrailer. (Y page 141).
Vehicles wit hthe ON&OFFROAD package:
selec tthe trailer program (Y page 219) with
the off-road program selector wheel in the
cen treconsole.
Th em aximum permissible spee dfor vehicle/
trailer combination sdepends on the type of
trailer .Befor ebeginning the journey, check
the trailer's documents to see what the max-
imu mpermitted speed is. Observ ethe legally
prescribed maximum speed in the relevant
country.
For certai nMercedes-Ben zvehicles, the max-
imu mp ermissible rear axle load is inc reased
when towing atrailer. Refer to th e"Techni cal
data" section to fin dout whether this applies
to your vehicle. If you utilise any of the added
maximum rear axle load when towing atrailer,
th ev ehicle/trailer combination may not
exceed amaximum spee dof100 km/ hfor
reasons concer ning the operating permit.
Thi salso applies in countries in which the
permissible maximum speed for vehicle/
trailer combinations is above 100 km/h.
When towing atrailer, your vehicle's handling
characteristics will be differe ntin comparison
to when drivin gwithout atrailer and it will
consume more fuel.
On long and stee pdownhil lgradients ,you
must select shift range 1,2or 3in good time.
i This also applies if you have activated
cruise con trol, SPEEDTRONIC or DI S-
TRONIC PLUS.
This will use the brakin geffect of th eengine,
so les sbraking wil lberequired to maintain
the speed. This relieves the load on the brake
system and prevent sthe brakes from over-
heating and wearing too quickly .Ifyou need
additional braking, depress the brake pedal
repeatedly rather than con tinuously.
18 Data unavailable at time of going to print. Towing
atrailer
227Driving andparki ng Z

Coolant
Important safety notes The coolan
tisamixture of water and anti-
freeze/corrosio ninhibitor. It performs the
following tasks:
R anti-corrosio nprotection
R antifreeze protection
R raising th eboiling point
i When the vehicle is first delivered, it is fil-
led with acoolant mixtur ethat ensures
adequate antifreeze and corrosion protec-
tion.
! Only add coolant that has been premixed
with the desired antifreeze protection. The
engin ecould otherwise be damaged.
Further information on coolants and on fill-
ing can be found in the Mercedes-Benz
Specifications for Servic eProducts ,MB
Approval 310.1 ,e.g. on the Internet at
http ://bevo.mercedes-benz.com .You can
also consult aMercedes-Benz Service
Centre.
! Alway suseasuitable coolant mixture,
even in countries where high temperatures
prevail.
Otherwise, the engine cooling system is not
sufficiently protected from corrosion and
overheating.
If antifreeze/corrosio ninhibitor is present in
the correc tconcentration, the boilin gpoint of
the coolant during operation will be around
13 0†.
The antifreeze/ corrosion inhibitor con centra-
tion in the engine cooling system should:
R be at leas t50%. This wil lprotect the engine
coolin gsystem agains tfreezin gdown to
around -3 7†.
R not excee d55% (antifreeze protection
down to -45 †);otherwise, heat will not be
dissipated as effectively.
If the vehicle has los tcoolant, top it up with
equal amount sofwater and antifreeze/cor- rosion inhibitor. Mercedes-Benz recom-
mends an antifreeze/corrosion inhibitor
which has been approved for Mercedes-Benz.
! The engin ecoolin gsystem is filled with
coolant that must be renewed after 15
years, or after 250,000 km at the lates t. Vehicl
edata
Pleas enotet hat for the speci fied vehicle
data:
R the height sspecified may var yasaresult
of:
- tyres
- load
- conditio nofthe suspen sion
- optional equipment
R item sofo ptional equipmen tincrease the
unlade nweight and reduc ethe maximum
payload. The unladen weight is speci fied in
accordanc ewith EC directive and includes:
- driver (68 kg)
- luggage (7 kg)
- all fluids (fuel tan k90% full)
R veh icle-specific weigh tinformation can be
found on the vehicl eidentification plate
(Y page 37 2).
R only for cer tain countries: you can find vehi-
cle-specific vehicle data in the COC docu-
ment s(CERTIFICATE OF CONFORMITY).
Thes edocuments ar edelivered with your
vehicle.
Missing values were not available at tim eof
going to print. All models
Vehicle lengt
h(ECE) 480
4mm Vehicle width
including exterior
mirrors
214
1mm Vehicle width with-
out exterior mirrors 192
6mm Vehicl
edata
377Techni caldata Z

All models
Wheelbase
2915 mm
Unladen weight
Maximu
mroofload 10
0kg Vehicle height
178
8mm Ground clearance
191 mm
1796 mm
Ground clearance
202 mm
Tailg
ateo pening dimensions Models with: :
Opening
height ;
Maximum
headroom Stee
lsuspen-
sion 2195 mm 1987 mm
Steel suspen-
sion
33 2187 mm 1980 mm
AIRMATIC
package
34 2140 –
2215 mm 1931 –
2006 mm Traile
rtow hitch Mounting dimensions
G
WARNING
Only have atrailer tow hitch retrofit tedata
qualified specialist workshop which has the
necessary specialist knowledge and tools to
carry out the work required. Mercedes-Benz
recommends that you use aMercedes-Benz
Ser vice Centre for thi spurpose. In particular,
work relevant to safety or on safety-related
systems must be carried out at aqualified
specialist workshop.
! If you have atrailer to whitchr etrofit ted,
changes to the cooling system and drive
train may be necessary, depending on the
vehicle type.
observe the anchorage points on th echas-
sis frame.
! trailer tow hitc hfitted retrospectively with-
out changing the engine cooling system
and the drive train ,the braked and
unbraked tota ltowing weight (trailer
weight plus load weight) is reduced. Miss-
ing values wer enot available at tim eof
going to print. If higher towin gweight sare
used ,this can result in damage to your
vehi cle's engine. An ydamage that may
33
34 On vehicles with the ON&OFFROAD package, the value increases by 30 mm. 378
Trailer tow hitchTechnica
ldata
ML 250 BlueTEC 4MATIC
ML 350 4MATIC
Vehicle height
ML
350 BlueTEC 4MATICC
ML 250 BlueTEC 4MATIC:if you have a
If you have
atrailer to whitchr etrofit ted,
ML 25 0BlueTE C4MATIC.