A method for determining the mass of a motor vehicle while taking different driving situations into consideration, involving an evaluation of a vehicle acceleration, wherein apart from a driving force of a vehicle drive unit, resistance forces resulting from rotational forces, air resistance, rolling resistance, the slope descending force and a braking force are taken into consideration. Additionally, a multitude of different driving situations may be evaluated, wherein the individual results are stored and combined suitably into a collective mass value. Further, different driving situations can be weighted differently in determining the mass value.