General information

Read this section carefully before driving your vehicle off-road. Practice by driving over more gentle off-road terrain first.

Familiarize yourself with the characteristics of your vehicle and the gear shift operation before driving through difficult terrain.

The following driving systems are specially adapted to off-road driving:

• off-road drive program (for vehicles without Off-Road Pro engineering package)
• LOW RANGE off-road gear
• off-road ABS
• off-road 4ETS
• off-road ESP®()
• hill start assist
• differential locks
• DSR (Downhill Speed Regulation)

Observe the following notes:

• Stop your vehicle and, if necessary, select the off-road drive program or the LOW RANGE off-road gear before driving off-road.
• Select a vehicle level suitable for the offroad terrain. Make sure there is always sufficient ground clearance to prevent damage to the vehicle.
• Activate the differential locks.
• Check that items of luggage and loads are stowed safely and are well secured.
• Always keep the engine running and in gear when driving on a downhill gradient.
Activate DSR.
• Always keep the doors, tailgate, windows and sliding sunroof closed while driving.
• Adapt your speed to the terrain. The rougher, steeper or more ruts on the terrain, the slower your speed should be.
• Drive slowly and at an even speed through the water. Ensure that a bow wave does not form as you drive.
• Drive with extreme care on unknown offroad routes where visibility is poor. For safety reasons, get out of the vehicle first and survey the off-road route.
• Look out for obstacles such as rocks, holes, tree stumps and furrows.
• Check the depth of water before fording rivers and streams.
• When fording, do not stop and do not switch off the engine.
• On sand, drive quickly to overcome the rolling resistance. Otherwise, the vehicle could dig itself into the sand.
• Do not jump with the vehicle as this will interrupt the vehicle's propulsion.
• Always keep the engine running and in gear when driving on a slope.
• Do not shift the automatic transmission to transmission position N.

    See also:

    Ride & Handling
    In its V-8 E550 guise, the E-Class offers unrivaled ride quality, the sort that even its $60,000 peers can't match. Absent the sedan's available Airmatic adaptive air suspension, the E350 wagon ge ...

    Cleaning the wiper blades
    WARNING Before cleaning the windshield or wiper blades, switch off the windshield wipers and remove the SmartKey from the ignition lock. On vehicles with KEYLESS-GO, press the Start/Stop but ...

    Important safety notes
    The use of seat belts and infant and child restraint systems is required by law in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. territories and all Canadian provinces. Even where this is no ...