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Driving instructions
254
Brakes
Downhill grades
!
When driving down long and steep
grades, relieve the load on the brakes by
shifting into a lower gear to use the
engine’s braking power. This helps prevent
overheating of the brakes and reduces
wear.
When using the engine’s braking power, a
drive wheel may not spin for an extended
period of time, e.g. on slippery road surfa-
ces. This may cause serious damage to the
drivetrain which is not covered by the Mer-
cedes-Benz Limited Warranty.
Continuous or hard braking
G
Warning!
Resting your foot on the brake pedal will
cause excessive and premature wear of the
brake pads.
It can also result in the brakes overheating,
thereby significantly reducing their effec-
tiveness. It may not be possible to stop the
vehicle in sufficient time to avoid an acci-
dent.
After hard braking, it is advisable to drive on
for some time, rather than immediately park,
so that the air stream will cool down the
brakes faster.
Wet roads
G
Warning!
After driving in heavy rain for some time
without applying the brakes or through
water deep enough to wet brake compo-
nents, the first braking action may be some-
what reduced and increased pedal pres-
sure may be necessary to obtain expected
brake effect. Maintain a safe distance from
vehicles in front.
The first time the brakes are applied after a
long period of driving in heavy rain without
braking, it is possible that there will be a
delayed braking response and that you will
need to depress the brake pedal more firmly.
You should therefore maintain a greater dis-
tance from the vehicle in front.
To help prevent brake disk corrosion after
driving on wet or salt-covered roads, it is
advisable to brake the vehicle with consider-
able force prior to parking. The heat gener-
ated serves to dry the brakes.
Salt-covered roads
G
Warning!
A layer of salt on the brake discs and the
brake linings may cause a delay in the brak-
ing effect, resulting in a significantly
increased braking distance, which could
lead to an accident.
To avoid this danger, you should:
R
occasionally brake carefully when you
are driving on salt-covered roads, so that
any layer of salt that may have built up
on the brake discs and the brake linings
is removed without putting other road
users at risk
R
maintain a greater distance to the vehicle
ahead and drive with particular care
R
carefully apply the brakes at the end of a
trip and immediately after commencing a
new trip, so that salt residues are
removed from the brake disc
Brake service
!
The brake fluid level in the reservoir may
be too low if the brake warning lamp in the
instrument cluster comes on and an acous-
tic warning sounds although the parking
Operation