wheel MERCEDES-BENZ SL CLASS 2020 Owners Manual

To
avoid hazardous situations:
R never install snowchains tothe front
wheels
R alway sinstall snowchains inpairs tothe
rear wheels.
For safety reasons, Mercedes- Benzrecom-
mends thatyouonly usesnow chains that
have been specially approved foryour vehicle
by Mercedes- Benz,or are ofacorrespon ding
standard ofquality. Formore inform ation,
please contactaqualified specialist workshop.
If you inten dto mount snowchains, please
bear thefollowing pointsinmind:
R Snow chains maynotbemounted onall
wheel/tire combinations.Permissible
wheel-tire combinations(Ypage 321).
R Only usesnow chains whendriving onroads
completely coveredbysnow. Remove the
snow chains assoon aspossible whenyou
come toaroad thatisnot snow-c overed.
R Local regulations mayrestrictthe use of
snow chains. Observe theappropriate regu-
lations ifyou wish tomount snowchains.
R Do not exceed themaximum permissible
speed of30 mph (50km/ h).
R On vehicles withActive Body Control (ABC),
if snow chains havebeen installed, youmust
drive ataraised vehicle level(Ypage 170).
You may wish todeactivate ESP®
when pulling
away withsnow chains installed (Ypage 66).
You canthereby allowthewheels tospin ina
cont rolled manner ,achieving anincreased
driving force(cuttingaction). Tire
pressur e Tire
pressur especifications
Import antsafety notes G
WARNIN
G
Underinf latedoroverinflat edtires pose the
following risks:
R the tires mayburst, especially asthe load
and vehicle speedincrease.
R the tires maywear excessiv elyand/or
unevenly, whichmaygreatly impairtire
tract ion.
R the driving charact eristics, aswell as
steerin gand braking, maybegreatly
impaired.
There isarisk ofan accident .
Follow recomm endedtireinflation pressures
and check thepressure ofall the tires
including thespare wheel:
R mont hly,atleast
R ifthe load changes
R before beginning along journey
R under different operating conditions,e.g.
off- road driving
If necessary, correctthe tire pressure.
The data onthe Tire andLoading Information
placard andtirepressure tableshown hereare
examples. Tirepressure specification sare
vehicle-spec ificand may deviate fromthedata
shown here.Thetirepressure specification s
that arevalid foryour vehicle canbefound on
the Tire andLoading Information placard and
tire pressure tableonthe vehicle.
General notes The
recomm endedtirepressures forthe tires
mounted atthe factor ycan befound onthe
labels described here.
Further informationontire pressures canbe
obtained ataqualified specialist workshop. Tir
epr essure
299Wheelsandtires Z

Imp
ortant noteson tire pressu re G
WAR
NING
If th etire pre ssur edro psrep eatedly, the
whee l,valv eor tire may bedamag ed.Tire
pre ssur eth at istoolow may result inatire
blow- out.Ther eis aris kof an acc iden t.
R Chec kth etire for foreign objects.
R Chec kwhet herthewhee lis losi ngair or
th evalv eis leak ing.
If you areunab leto rec tify thedamag e,con-
tac ta qualif iedspec ialist workshop. G
WAR
NING
If you fituns uitable accessories onto tire
valv es,thetire valv esmay beove rloaded
and malf unction ,whic hcan caus etire pre s-
sur eloss .Due totheir desi gn,ret rofitte dtire
pre ssur emon itors keep thetire valv eopen .
This canalso result intire pre ssur eloss .
Ther eis aris kof an acc iden t.
On lyscrew thest and ard valvecap orother
valv ecap sappr ovedby Mer cedes- Benzfor
your vehicleon to thetire valv e.
Use asuit able pressur egauge tocheckth e
ti re pre ssur e.The outerappear anceof atire
does notper mit any reliable conclusio nabout
th etire pre ssur e.On veh icles equipp edwith
th eelec tron ictire pre ssur emon itor, thetire
pre ssur ecan bechecke din theon -board com-
put er.
The tire tempe rature and pressur einc reas e
when theveh icleis in mot ion.This isdepe nd-
en ton thedriv ingspee dand theload.
Ther efore, you should onlyco rrec ttire pre s-
sur eswhen thetires are cold.
The tires are cold:
R ifth eveh iclehas been parkedwithth etires
out ofdire ctsun lightfor atleast three hour s
and
R ifth eveh iclehas notbeen drivenfurther
th an 1mile (1.6km)
The tire tempe rature chang esdepe nding on
th eout side tempe rature, theveh iclespee d
and thetire load. Ifth etire tempe rature
ch ang esby 18 ‡(10 †), thetire pre ssur e
ch ang esby appr oximat ely10kPa(0. 1bar/
1. 5psi) .Tak eth is int oacc oun twhen checkin g th
epre ssur eof warm tires .On lyco rrec tth e
ti re pre ssur eif it is toolow forthecur ren t
oper ating cond ition s.Ifyou checkth etire
pre ssur ewhen thetires are warm ,th eres ult-
ing value willbehigh erthan ifth etires were
co ld. This isno rm al. Do notred uce thetire
pre ssur eto thevalue specifiedfor cold tires .
The tire pre ssur ewould other wise betoolow.
Obs erveth erec omm ended tire pre ssur esfor
co ld tires :
R on theTir eand Load ingInfor mat ionplac ard
on theB- pillar onthedriv er'sside
R in thetire pre ssur etab leon theins ide ofthe
fuel filler flap Und
erinflated orover inflated tires
Und erinflated tires G
WAR
NING
Tir es wit hpre ssur eth at istoolow can over-
heat andburs tas aco nsequen ce.In addi-
ti on ,th ey also suffer from exce ssiv eand /or
irr egular wear,whic hcan severelyimpa irth e
brak ingproperties and thedriv ingcharac ter-
ist ics .Ther eis aris kof an acc iden t.
Av oid tire pre ssur esthat are toolow inall
th etires ,inc ludin gth espar ewhee l.
Un der inflat ed tires may:
R ove rheat,leadin gto tire def ects
R adve rselyaff ecthan dling
R wear exce ssiv elyand /orune venly
R hav ean adve rseeffecton fuel consumpt ion
Over inflated tires G
WAR
NING
Tir es wit hex ce ssiv elyhigh pressur ecan
burs tbec ause they are damag edmor eeas-
ily by road debris,pot hole set c. In addit ion,
th ey also suffer from irregular wear,whic h
can severelyimpa irth ebrak ingproperties
and thedriv ingcharac teris tics .Ther eis a
ris kof an acc iden t.
Av oid tire pre ssur esthat are toohigh inall
th etires ,inc ludin gth espar ewhee l. Ti
re pressu re
301Wheels andtire s Z

Overinflated
tiresmay:
R increase thebraking distance
R adversely affecthandling
R wear excessively and/orunevenly
R have anadverse effectonride comfort
R be more susceptible todamage
Maximum tirepressures 0043
Example: maximum permissibletire pres-
sure
Never exceed themaximum permissibletire
inflation pressure. Alwaysobserve therecom-
mended tirepressure foryour vehicle when
adjusting thetire pressure (Ypage 299).
i The
actual valuesfor tires arevehicle-spe-
cific andmay deviate fromthevalue sin the
illu stration. Checki
ngthe tire pressures
Importa ntsafety notes The
tirepressure monitordoesnotwarn you
of:
R incorrect lyset tire pressure
R sudden lossoftire pressure, e.g.from afor-
eign object thathaspenetrated thetire
Observe thenotes ontire pressure
(Y page 299).
Information onair pressure forthe tires on
your vehicle canbefound:
R on the vehicle's TireandLoading Informa-
tion placard onthe B-pillar
R on the tire pressure tableinthe fuel filler
flap
R in the "Tire pressure" section Checki
ngtire pressures manually To
determine andsetthe correct tirepressure,
proceed asfollows:
X Remove thevalve capofthe tire that isto
be checked.
X Press thetire pressure gaugesecurely onto
the valve.
X Read thetire pressure andcompare itto the
recommended valueonthe Tire andLoading
Information placardorthe tire pressure
table (Ypage 299).
X Ifthe tire pressure istoo low, increase the
tire pressure tothe recommended value.
X Ifthe tire pressure istoo high, release air.
To do so, press downthemetal pininthe
valve, usingthetipofapen forexample.
Then check thetire pressure againusing the
tire pressure checker.
X Screw thevalve caponto thevalve.
X Repea tthese stepsforthe other tires. Tire
pressure monitor
General notes If
atire pressure monitorisinstalled, thevehi-
cle's wheels havesensors thatmonitor thetire
pressures inall four tires. Thetirepressure
monitor warnsyouifthe pressure dropsinone
or more ofthe tires. Thetirepressure monitor
only functions ifthe corresponding sensors
are installed inall wheels.
Information ontire pressures isdispla yedin
the multifunction display.After afew minutes
of driving, thecurrent tirepressure ofeach tire
is shown inthe Serv. Serv.
menuofthe multifunc-
tion displa y. Example:
currenttirepressure display
For information onthe message display,refer
to the "Checking thetire pressure electroni-
cally "section (Ypage 304). 302
Tire
pressur eWheels andtires

Imp
ortant safety notes G
WAR
NING
Eac htire, includin gth espar e(if pro vide d),
sho uld bechecke dat least once amon th
when cold and inflat ed tothepre ssur erec -
omm ended bytheveh icleman ufactureron
th eTir eand Load ingInfor mat ionplac ardon
th edriv er'sdoor B-pillar orthetire pre ssur e
label ontheins ide ofthefuel filler flap .If
your vehiclehas tires ofadif fer entsiz eth an
th esiz eind icat edon theTir eand Load ing
In for mat ionplac ardorthetire pre ssur e
label, youshould determ inethepro per tire
pre ssur efor those tires .
As anadded safetyfeat ure, your vehiclehas
been equipp edwithatire pre ssur emon itor-
ing syst em(TPM S)that illum inatesa low tire
pre ssur ete lltale when oneor mor eof your
ti res are sign ificant lyund erinflat ed. Accord-
ing ly,when thelow tire pre ssur ete lltale illu-
min ates,you should stop and checkyour
ti res assoo nas pos sible ,and inflat eth em to
th epro per pressur e.Drivin gon asign ifi-
can tly und erin flatedtire caus esthetire to
ove rheatand canlead totire failur e.Un der -
inf lat ion also reduce sfuel efficien cy and tire
tr ead life,and may affectth eveh icle's han -
dlin gand stoppi ngabilit y.
Pleas eno te that theTPM Sis no ta subs ti-
tut efor proper tire main tenan ce,and itis
th edriv er'sres pon sibil ity to main tainco r-
rec ttire pre ssur e,eve nif und erinflat ion has
no treac hedthelev elto trigge rillum ination
of theTPM Slow tire pre ssur ete lltale.
US Aon ly:
Your vehiclehas also been equipp edwitha
TPM Smalf unction indicat ortoind icat eif th e
syst emisno toper ating pro perly.The TPM S
malf unction indicat orisco mbin edwithth e
low tire pre ssur ete lltale. When thesyst em
det ects amalf unction ,th ewarn inglamp will
flas hfor appr oximat elyamin ute and then
rem aincontinuo usly illum inated. This
seque ncewill berep eatedeve rytime the
veh icleis start ed aslon gas themalf unction
ex ist s. When
themalf unction indicat orisillum ina-
te d, thesyst emmay notbe able todet ector
sign allow tire pre ssur eas intended. TPMS
malf unction smay occur foravar ietyof rea-
son s,inc ludin gth emoun ting ofinc omp ati-
ble replace men tor altern ate tires orwhee ls
on theveh icleth at pre ven tth eTPM Sfrom
fun ction ing properly.Alw ays checkth e
TPM Smalf unction telltale afterrep laci ng
on eor mor etires orwhee lson your vehicle
to ensur eth at therep lace men tor altern ate
ti res and whee lsallow theTPM Sto continue
to fun ction properly.
It is thedriv er'sres pon sibil ity to set thetire
pre ssur eto that rec omm ended forcold tires
whic his suit able fortheoper ating situati on
(Y page 299). Not eth at theco rrec ttire pre s-
sur efor thecur ren toper ating situati onmust
fir st be taug ht-in tothetire pre ssur emon itor.
If asubs tantial loss ofpre ssur eoc cur s,the
warn ingthres hold forthewarn ingmes sage is
align edtothetaug ht-in refere ncevalue s.
Rest artthetire pre ssur emon itor afteradj ust -
ing thepre ssur eof theco ld tires
(Y page 304). The curren tpre ssur esare
sav edasnewref ere ncevalue s.As ares ult,a
warn ingmes sage willappear ifth etire pre s-
sur edro pssign ificant ly.
The tire pre ssur emon itor does notwarn youof
an incorrectly set tire pre ssur e.Obs erveth e
no teson therec omm ended tire pre ssur e
(Y page 299).
The tire pre ssur emon itor isno table towarn
you ofasudde nloss ofpre ssur e,e.g. ifth e
ti re ispen etrat ed byafor eign object.In the
eve ntofasudde nloss ofpre ssur e,brin gth e
veh icleto ahalt bybrak ingcareful ly.Avoid
abrup tst eer ing mov eme nts.
The tire pre ssur emon itor has ayellow warning
lamp intheins trumen tclus terfor indicat ing
pre ssur eloss oramalf unction .Whet herthe
warn inglamp flashes orligh tsup indicat es
whet heratire pre ssur eis toolow orthetire
pre ssur emon itor ismalf unction ing :
R ifth ewarn inglamp islit continuo usly, the
ti re pre ssur eon oneor mor etires issign ifi-
can tly to olow. Thetire pre ssur emon itor is
no tmalf unction ing .
R ifth ewarn inglamp flashes forappr ox-
imat elyamin ute and then rem ainslit con- Ti
re pressu re
303Wheels andtire s Z

stantly,
thetire pressure monitorismalfunc-
tioning.
In addition tothe warning lamp,amessage
appea rsinthe multifunction display.Observe
the information ondispla ymessages
(Y page 230).
It may take uptoten minutes foramalfunc-
tion ofthe tire pressure monitortobe indica-
ted. Amalfunction willbeindicated bythe tire
pressure warninglampflashing forapprox-
imately oneminute andthen remaining lit.
When themalfunction hasbeen rectified, the
tire pressure warninglampgoesoutafter a
few minutes ofdriving.
The tirepressure valuesindicated bythe on-
board computer maydiffer fromthose meas-
ured atagas station withapressure gage.The
tire pressures shownbythe on-board com-
puter refertothose measured atsea level. At
high altitudes, thetire pressure valuesindica-
ted byapressure gagearehigher thanthose
shown bythe on-board computer. Inthis case,
do not reduce thetire pressures.
The operation ofthe tire pressure monitorcan
be affected byinterferen cefrom radio trans-
mitting equipment (e.g.radio headphones,
two-way radios)thatmay bebeing operated in
or near thevehicle.
Checki ngthe tire pressure electroni-
cally X
Make surethattheSmartKey isin position
0048 (Ypage 126)inthe ignition lock.
X Press the0059 or0065 button onthe steer-
ing wheel toselect theServ. Serv.
menu.
X Press the0063 or0064 button toselect
Tire Pressure Tire
Pressure.
X Press 0076.
The current tirepressure ofeach tireis
shown inthe multifunction display.
If the vehicle hasbeen parked forover
20 minutes, theTire pressure willbe Tire
pressure willbe
displayed afterdriving afew minutes displayed
afterdriving afew minutes
message appears.
Aft erateach-in process, thetire pressure
monitor automatically detectsnewwheels or
new sensors. Aslong asaclear allocation of
the tire pressure valuetothe individua lwheels
is not possible ,the Tire Pressure Monitor Tire
Pressure Monitor
Active Active
displaymessage isshown instead of
the tire pressure display.The tirepressures
are alread ybeing monitored. Tire
pressure monitorwarning mes-
sages The
tirepressure monitordetectsapressure
loss inone ormore tires:
R Ifthe tire pressure monitordetectsapres-
sure lossinone ormore tires,awarning
message isshown inthe multifunction dis-
play .The yellow tire pressure warninglamp
then lights up.
R Ifthe Please Correct TirePressure Please
Correct TirePressure
message appearsinthe multifunction dis-
play ,the tire pressure inat least onetireis
too low. Thetirepressure mustbecorrect ed
when theopportunity arises.
R Ifthe Check Tires Check
Tiresmessage appearsinthe
multifunction display,the tire pressure inat
least onetirehas dropped significantly. The
tires must bechecked.
R Ifthe Warning TireMalfunction Warning
TireMalfunction mes-
sage appea rsinthe multifunction display,
the tire pressure inat least onetirehas
dropped suddenly .The tires must be
checked.
Observe theinstruct ionsandsafety notesin
the displa ymessages inthe "Tires" section
(Y page 230).
If the wheel positions onthe vehicle arerota-
ted, thetire pressures maybedispla yedfor
the wrong positions forashort time.Thisis
rectified afterafew minutes ofdriving, andthe
tire pressures aredispla yedforthe correct
positions.
Restart ingthe tire pressure monitor When
yourestart thetire pressure monitor,all
existing warning messages aredeleted andthe
warning lampsgoout. Themonitor usesthe
currently settire pressures asthe reference
values formonitoring. Inmost cases, thetire
pressure monitorwillautomaticall ydetect the
new reference valuesafteryouhave changed
the tire pressure. However, youcan also set
reference valuesmanuall yas described here.
The tirepressure monitorthenmonitors the
new tirepressure values.
X Set thetire pressure tothe value recom-
mended forthe corresponding drivingsitua-
tion onthe Tire andLoading Information
placard onthe driver's sideB-pillar
(Y page 299). 304
Tire
pressur eWheels andtires

Add
itiona ltire pressu revalues for differ ent
lo ad scan also be fou ndonthe tire pressu re
tab leon the inside of the fuel fillerfla p
(Y page 299 ).
X Ma kesure tha tthe tire pressu reiscorr ect
on allfou rwh eels.
X Ensu retha tthe Sma rtKeyis in po sitio n0048
in the igniti onlock.
X Pre ssthe 0059 or0065 button onthe stee r-
ing wheelto sel ect the Serv. Ser
v.menu .
X Pre ssthe 0063 or0064 button tosel ect
Tir ePre ssure Tir
ePre ssure.
X Pre ss0076.
The multifu nctio ndispl aysho wsthe current
tire pressu refor the individu altire sor the
Tir epre ssurewillbe displayed Tir
epre ssurewillbe displayed
aft erdrivingafew minutes aft
erdrivingafew minutesmes sage.
X Pre ssthe 0064 button.
The Use Curren tPre ssures asNew Use
Curren tPre ssures asNew
Ref erence Values Ref
erence Values message appe arsin the
mu ltifu nctio ndispl ay.
If yo uwi sh toconfi rm the restart:
X Pre ss0076.
The TirePre ss. MonitorRes tarted Tir
ePre ss. MonitorRes tarted
mes sage appe arsin the multifu nctio ndis-
pl ay .
After driving forafew minu tes,thesystem
che cks whethe rthe current tirepressu res
ar ewi thi nthe specified range .The new tire
pre ssu res arethen acceptedas refere nce
va lues and moni tored.
If yo uwi sh tocan celthe restart:
X Pre ss0038.
The tirepressu revalues stor edatthe last
res tart willconti nuetobe moni tored. Radio
typeapprov alforthe tire pres -
sure monitor Co
untry Radio
typeappro valnumb er USA FCC
ID:MRXMW 2433A
FCC ICID:MR XGG4 Thisde vice
comp lies with part15 ofthe
FCC rulesand with licens e
exe mpt RSS standa rds ofIndu s-
try Canad a.Ope ratio nis su bje ct
to the followi ng cond itions. (1)
Thi sde vice maynot cause
ha rmfu linte rference ,and (2)
Thi sde vice mustacce ptany
inte rference received,incl uding
inte rference thatma ycau se
und esired opera tion.Le pre sent
ap parei lest confo rmed'indu s-
trie Canad aap plica bles aux
ap parei lsradio exe mpts de
li cence .L'e xploitati onest
au thor isee auxde ux cond itions
su iva ntes. (1)L'appareilne doit
pa spro duire debro uillag e, et
(2) L'autisatue rde l'ap parei l
do itacce ptertou tbro uillag e
ra dioe lectriq uesubi,mem esi le
bro uillag eest susce ptible d'e n
comp romettrelefoncti onne-
ment. WARNING :Ch ang esor
mod ificati ons notexpressly
ap pro ved bythe party responsi -
bl e for comp liance couldvoi d
the user' sau thor itytoopera te
the equipme nt.The term "IC:"
be fore theradio certi fication
num beronl ysigni fiesCa nad a
tech nicalspe cificati ons were
met.
FCC ID:MR XMC34MA4 This
de vice comp lies with part15 of
the FCC rulesand with licens e
exe mpt RSS standa rds ofIndu s-
try Canad a.Ope ratio nis su bje ct
to the followi ng cond itions. (1)
Thi sde vice maynot cause
ha rmfu linte rference ,and (2)
Thi sde vice mustacce ptany
inte rference received,incl uding
inte rference thatma ycau se
und esired opera tion.Le pre sent
ap parei lest confo rmed'indu s-
trie Canad aap plica bles aux
ap parei lsradio exe mpts de Tire
pres sure
305Whe elsand tires Z

Gross
AxleWeig htRating (GAWR) :the maxi-
mum permiss iblewei ght that canbecarried by
one axle (front orrear axle) .
To ensure thatyourvehicle doesnotexceed
the maximu mpermiss iblevalu es(gross vehi-
cle weight and maximu mgross axleweight rat-
ing), have yourloa ded vehicle (includingdriver,
occupa ntsand theload)wei ghed onasuita ble
vehicle weighbrid ge. All
about wheelsand tires Unifo
rmTire Quality Grading Stand-
ards
Overvie wof Tire Quality Grading
Standards Uniform
TireQual ityGrad ingStandards are
U.S. government specifications. Theirpurpose
is to provid edrivers withuniform reliableinfor-
mation ontire performa ncedata. Tiremanu-
facturers havetograde tiresusing threeper-
formance factors:0043tread weargrade ,0044
traction gradeand0087temperatu regrade .
These regulations donot applyto Cana da.
Neverthele ss,alltires soldinNorth America
are provid edwith thecorrespondi ngqua lity
gradi ngmarkings onthe sidew allofthe tire.
Qual itygrade scan befound, whereapplicable,
on the tire sidew allbetwee ntread shoulder
and maximu msection width.
Example:
R Treadwear grade:200
R Traction grade:AA
R Temperatur egrade: A
All passe ngercartires must conform tothe
statutory safetyrequirements inadd ition to
these grades. i
The
actual valuesfor tires arevehicle -spe-
cific andmay devia tefrom thevalu esinthe
ill ustration.
Treadwear The
treadw eargrade isacompara tiverating
base don the wea rrate ofthe tire when tested
under controlled conditions onaspecifi edU.S.
government course.Forexampl e,atire grade d
150 wouldwea rone andone-half timesaswel l
on the government testtrack asatire grade d
100.
The relative performa nceoftires depends
upon theactual conditions oftheir use,how-
ever, andmay depa rtsignifi cantly fromthe
norm duetovaria tions indriving habits,ser-
vice practices anddifferences inroad charac-
teristics andclimate.
Traction G
WARNING
The traction gradeassigned tothis tireis
base don straight-ahe adbraking traction
tests, anddoes notinclud eaccelera tion,
cornering, hydroplaning, orpeak traction
characteris tics.
! Avoid
wheelspin.This canleadto dama ge
to the drive train.
The traction grades– from highe stto lowe st–
are AA, A,Band C.Those gradesreprese ntthe
tire's ability tostop onwet paveme ntas meas-
ured under controlled conditions onspecifi ed
government testsurface sof aspha ltand con-
crete. Atire marked Cmay have poortraction
performa nce.
The safe speed onawet, snow covered oricy
road isalw ayslowe rthan ondry road surfa-
ces.
You shoul dpay specia lattention toroad con-
ditions whentemperatu resare arou ndfreezing
point.
Mercedes -Benzrecommends aminimum tread
depth of00CF in(4 mm) onallfour winter tires.
Observe thelega llyrequi redminimum tire
tread depth (Ypage 297). Winter tirescan
reduce thebraking distance onsnow-covered
surface sin compari sonwith summer tires.The
braking distance isstill much further thanon Al
labout wheelsand tires
309Wheelsand tires Z

surfaces
thatarenot icyorcovered withsnow.
Take appropria tecare when driving.
Temper ature G
WARNING
The temperature gradeforthis tireisestab-
lished foratire that isproperly inflatedand
not overloaded .Exc essive speed, underinfla-
tion, orexcessive loading,either separately
or incombination, cancause excessive heat
buil d-up andpossible tirefailu re.
The temperature gradesareA(the highest), B,
and C,representing thetire's resistance tothe
generation ofheat anditsabil itytodissipa te
heat when tested undercontrolled conditions
on aspecified indoorlaboratorytestwheel.
Sustained hightemperature cancause the
material ofthe tire todegenerate andreduce
tire life, and excessive temperature canlead to
sudden tirefailu re.The grade Ccorresponds
to alevel ofperformance whichallpassenger
car tires must meet under theFederal Motor
Vehicle SafetyStandard No.109. Grades B
and Arepresent higherlevelsofperformance
on the labora torytestwheel thantheminimum
required bylaw. Tire
labeli ng
Overview 0043
Uniform TireQuali tyGradi ngStandard
(Y page 314)
0044 DOT, TireIdentification Number
(Y page 313)
0087 Maximum tireload (Ypage 313)
0085 Maximum tirepressure (Ypage 302)
0083 Manufacturer
0084 Tire material (Ypage 314)
006B Tire size designation, load-bearingcapacity
and speed rating(Ypage 310)
006C Load index (Ypage 312)
006D Tire name
The markings described aboveareonthe tire
in addition tothe tire name (sales designation)
and themanufacturer's name.
i Tire
data isvehicle-specific andmay devi-
ate from thedata inthe example.
Tire size designation, load-bearing
capacity andspeed rating G
WARNING
Exc eeding thestated tireload-bea ringcapa-
city and theapproved maximum speed
could leadtotire damage orthe tire burst-
ing. There isarisk ofaccident.
Therefore, onlyusetiretypes andsizes
approved foryour vehicle model.Observe 310
All
about wheelsand tiresWheels andtires

the
tire load rating andspee dra ting
req uired foryour veh icle. 0043
Tire width
0044 Nom inalas pe ct ratio in%
0087 Tire cod e
0085 Rim diam ete r
0083 Loadbe aring index
0084 Spe edrating
Ge neral: dependi ng on the manuf actu rer's
sta nda rds,the size impri nted inthe tire wall
ma ynot conta inany letters orma yconta in
one letter thatpre ced esthe size descri ption.
If the reisno letter preced ingthe size descri p-
tio n(a ssho wnabove ):the searepa sse nge r
veh icletire sacc ording toEur opeanma nuf ac-
tur ing standa rds.
If "P "pre ced esthe size descri ption: theseare
pa sse nge rveh icletire sacc ording toU.S. man-
uf actu ringsta nda rds.
If "L T" pre ced esthe size descri ption: theseare
li ght truck tire sacc ording toU.S. manuf actu r-
ing standa rds.
If "T "pre ced esthe size descri ption: comp act
eme rgency wheelswith high tire pressu retha t
ar eonl yde signe dfor temp oraryusein an
eme rgency .
Tire width: tirewidth 0043sho wsthe nomi nal
tire width inmi llim ete rs.
He ight-w idth ratio :as pe ct ratio 0044 isthe size
ra tio betwe enthe tire height and tirewidth
and issho wninpe rcen t.The aspe ct ratio is
cal cul ate dby divid ing the tire width bythe tire
he ight.
Tire code: tire code0087 speci fiesthe tire type.
"R "rep resents radial tire s;"D" represents
di ag ona ltire s;"B" represents diag ona lra dial
tire s. Op
tional ly,tire swi th ama xim um spee dof ove r
149 mph (240km/h )ma yha ve "ZR" inthe
si ze descri ption, dependi ng on the manuf ac-
tur er(e.g. 245/4 0ZR 18) .
Rim diamete r:rim diam ete r0085 isthe diam e-
ter ofthe bead seat, not thediam ete rof the
rim flange .Th erim diam ete ris sp eci fiedin
inch es(in).
Lo ad-b earingin dex :lo ad -be aring index0083 is
a num erical cod etha tsp eci fiesthe maxim um
lo ad -be aring capacityof atire .
Do not overload the tiresby exce eding the
sp eci fiedload limi t.Th ema xim um permi ssible
lo ad can befou ndonthe vehicle'sTire and
Loa ding Info rma tionplaca rdon the B-pi llar on
the driver 'sside (Ypage 306) .
Exam ple:
Loa d-bearin gind ex91 indicates ama xim um
lo ad of1,3 56 lb(615 kg)tha tthe tirescan
be ar.For furthe rinf orm ation onthe maxim um
tire load inkilog rams and lbs, see
(Y page 313 ).
For furthe rinf orm ation onthe load bearing
ind ex, see"L oa dind ex" (Ypage 312) .
Spe edratin g:spee dra ting 0084speci fiesthe
ap pro ved maxim um spee dof the tire.
i Ti
re data isveh icle-s pecificand mayde vi-
ate fromthe data inthe exampl e.
Re gardl essof the spee dra ting ,al wa ysobserve
the spee dlimi ts. Drivecar efully and adapt
yo ur drivin gsty leto the trafficcond itions . Summe
r
tire s In
dex Spe
edratin g Q up
to100 mph (160km/h ) R up
to106 mph (170km/h ) S up
to112 mph (180km/h ) T up
to118 mph (190km/h ) H up
to130 mph (210km/h ) V up
to149 mph (240km/h ) W up
to168 mph (270km/h ) Y up
to186 mph (300km/h ) ZR
...Y up
to186 mph (300km/h ) Al
labo utwhee lsan dtire s
311Whe elsand tires Z

Summ
er
tires Index Speed
rating ZR...(..
Y) over
186mph (300km/h) ZR over
149mph (240km/h) R
Optionally, tireswithamaximum speedof
over 149mph (240 km/h) mayhave "ZR"in
the size description, dependingonthe man-
ufacturer (e.g.245/ 40ZR18 ).
The service specification ismade upofload-
bearing index0083and speed rating0084.
R Ifthe size description ofyour tireincludes
"ZR" andthere arenoservice specifications,
ask thetire manufacturer inorder tofind
out themaximum speed.
If aservice specification isavaila ble,the
maximum speedislimited according tothe
speed ratinginthe service specification.
Example: 245/40ZR18 97Y.Inthis exam-
ple, "97Y"isthe service specifica tion.The
letter "Y"represents thespeed rating. The
maximum speedofthe tire islimi ted to
186 mph (300 km/h).
R The size descriptio nfor alltires withmaxi-
mum speed sof over 186mph (300 km/h)
must include "ZR",and theservice specifi-
cation mustbegiven inparentheses .Exam-
ple: 275/40 ZR18 (99 Y).Speed rating"(Y)"
indicates thatthemaximum speedofthe
tire isover 186mph (300 km/h). Askthe
tire manufacture rabou tthe maximum
speed . All
-
weather
tires
and win-
ter tires Index Speed
rating Q
M+S 1 up
to100 mph (160 km/h) T
M+S 1 up
to118 mph (190 km/h) H
M+S 1 up
to130 mph (210 km/h) V
M+S 1 up
to149 mph (240 km/h) i
Not
alltires withtheM+S marking provide
the driving characteristics ofwinter tires.In
addi tion tothe M+S marking, wintertires
also have the004D snowfla kesymbo lon the
tire wall.Tires withthismarking fulfillthe
requi rements ofthe Rub ber Manufa cturers
Association (RMA)andtheRub ber Associa-
tion ofCana da(RAC) regard ingthe tire trac-
tion onsnow. Theyhave been especia lly
devel oped fordriving onsnow.
An electronic speedlimiterprevents yourvehi-
cle from exceeding thefollow ingspeed s:
R 130 mph (210 km/h):
- All vehicle s(except Mercedes-AMG vehi-
cles)
R 155 mph (250 km/h ):
- Mercedes-AMG SL63
- Mercedes-AMG SL65
R 186 mph (300 km/h):
- Mercedes-AMG SL63 (Performa ncePack-
age)
- Mercedes-AMG SL65 increased maxi-
mum speed
The speed ratingoftires mounted atthe fac-
tory may behighe rthan themaximum speed
that theelectronic speedlimiterpermits.
Make surethatyourtires have therequi red
speed rating, e.g.when buying new tires. The
requi redspeed ratingforyou rvehicle canbe
found inthe "tires" section (Ypage 321).
Further information aboutreadi ngtire data
can beobtained fromanyqualifiedspecia list
workshop.
Load index In
addi tion tothe load -bearing index,load
index 0043may alsobeimprinted onthe side-
1 Or M+S 004D forwinter tires. 312
Al
labout wheelsand tiresWheel sand tires