Downhill gradients

On long and steep gradients, you must On long and steep gradients, you must reduce the load on the brakes by shifting early to a lower gear. This allows you to take advantage of the engine braking effect and helps avoid overheating and excessive wear of the brakes.

When you take advantage of the engine braking effect, a drive wheel may not turn for some time, e.g. on a slippery road surface. This could cause damage to the drive train. This type of damage is not covered by the Mercedes-Benz warranty.

    See also:

    Engaging reverse gear R
    Only shift the automatic transmission to R when the vehicle is stationary. The ECO start/stop function is not available when reverse gear is engaged. For further information on the ECO start/s ...

    Preparing the vehicle
    WARNING   The wheel and tire size of the emergency spare wheel/spare wheel may differ to that of the damaged wheel. When using an emergency spare wheel/spare wheel the handling characte ...

    Working on the vehicle
    WARNING When working on the vehicle, engage the parking brake and shift the automatic transmission into park position P. Otherwise the vehicle could roll away which could result in an accide ...