wtwoten

the lights come on once i put the car in gear. when it is in park, its possible for me to turn the asr on and off. but once it goes into gear, all of the lights come on. my mechanic said it just loses communication with the module. does anyone have any idea of what this could be? i replaced the brake pedal switch as ive read numerously that this solves similar issues, but it has not solved my issue. thanks in advance.

wtwoten

no one?

chuckmcdonald

I had a similar problem with mine. The BAS/ESP light would come on. I had the dealer check it out. They said I had a bad brake vacuum booster. I had it replaced. The booster out three times in the 12/12 warranty period for repair. I am guessing it was not the issue but I feel I got my $1200 worth. I took it back a 4th time and they said it was a calibration of the actuator rod going to the booster. It was not the factory one because the brake booster was an updated part. I got it recalibrated and off I went. I took it back a 5th time and it was traced down to a brake pedal travel sensor. This was on my dime. The part was $60 but the diagnostic time was $380!!! I got hosed but my problem is now fixed. Time is money, money is time.

mackmack

i had the same thing few months ago, the ABS/ESP and BAS light ll come on once i put the gear in D, dealer said it was a brake light bulb was out...that was it.

E43 S

I had the same thing happen to me twice. I have the car 2 months and it came on twice. But once i shut the car off and on again it goes away???

01BlackE320

Funny you say that. My car did the same thing exactly twice a few months back and never did it again. Weird

E43 S

After seeing what the catalytic converters cost, and their labor, I really hope that those lights came on for the last time
I would hate to see how much it would cost to fix that problem.

Hirnbeiss

Step 1 should always be to replace the brake switch at the pedal. It's a well-known problem child.

E43 S

Hey do u know how much that switch is? and is that something i can do my self or have the stealer ship put in?

Cuz as luck would have it ---------after talking about it last week ---now it came on twice more.....grrr thank god nothin happens as a result yet---

victorylap

The "Brake Light Switch" is a common problem with the W210 which triggers the error msg "ABS/BAS/ESP" - the part cost less than $25 at your local MB dealership - the unit is undernearth the driver side/steering wheel - there's a recent thread of a DIY replacement for the Brake Light Switch - It isn't too difficult. Good luck. But, before you change the brake light switch - turn your car off with the keys in the ignition - turn your steering wheel from lock-to-lock - then, start your car - this should usually correct the problem, but, if you still continue to get the error msg "ABS/BAS/ESP", then most commonly it's the "Brake Light Switch"!

E43 S

do u think I should just leave this alone ?? whats the worse that can happen?

ml3204me

If your ABS/ASR/BAS light is on your traction control is disengaged, also cruise control will not work... That's been my experience.

E43 S

well its not on constantly .....it just turns on sometimes...once every 2 weeks or so...and only about 5 min after starting, so i dont think its much of a problem....hopefully it dosent turn into something more expensive.

jamieh

FYI
I have a 1997 E300 TD, my Service Centre contacted me 2/3 months ago to say Merc have advised them to replace the BAS Travel Sensor. I'm dropping it in next week.
***NB:- THIS IS NOT THE SAME AS THE BRAKE SWICTH***
I am the second owner of the car and no additional warranty was purchase, the cost of this work is covered by Merc.

Tommy_s4

Thats an ABS unit under the hood, i had the sameproblem mercedes will quote you 1800+ labor. Take it to a privat owned shop get a rebuilt unit that will cost 500 and pay the labor its a good 3-4 hour job

vinceC

The travel sensor is part of the brake booster.

mbnj

If it's the common brake switch problem you need to fix or stuff won't work. The switch is cheap, I found removing the lower dash cover to be a pain only because their are several different types of clips holding it in. The problem will not go away, it starts out sporadic but will come back eventually. Also, give VIN to stealer, they sold me the wrong switch the first time and had to do it twice.

wtwoten

My mechanic put a working ABS unit from a different E320 and the problems continued. That and he sent mine out to a place in Florida and they checked it and sent it back saying that it is fully functional.

wtwoten

I will look into this. Thanks!

wtwoten

and after God knows how long the car has been in the shop, nothing works. my dash still looks like a Christmas tree.

Fares

I had the same problem but only one i press the brake pedal even without engaging the gear. The cause was the broken fuse of the tail brake light.
I hope it is as simple as that in your case.

jnash

I had the same problem with my ABS/Brake error messages and replaced the brake $12 switch from the steelership. The problem had been intermittent for a while. After changing the brake switch the error lights would not go off until I did what Victorylap said and turned the steering from lock-to-lock with the engine off with the ignition on. Thanks Victorylap!

C280 Sport

Hi guys. I just had this same issue on my E320. I ran the codes and my shop told me they refuse to put a NEW one in because it would cost about $1,400. They told me they are search for a rebuilt one and can get it to me for around $400. Gotta love the indie shop.

Lancelot

I had the brakelight switch replaced, did the steeringwheel alignment, checked fuses etc. Had the car readout at the dealer and there was some error about ASR communication Voltage too low. They told me the Voltage-thing could be just about anything. In some cases it's the brake booster, in some the lightswitch needed replacement (it's also a fusebox and wirehub). In the end in my case it was the BATTERY, while there were no signs of bad cranking and such. My car had a cheap battery, and besides OEM there are only a few MB spec batteries like Bosch S5-S6 and a few Varta's...

btw moderators?! Shouldn't we make a sticky for the ABS-BAS-ASR problem by now?! Forum members keep having this problem coming up over and over again and we've seen various (but consistent) results;

- brakelight switch
- steeringwheel alignment
- brakebooster
- lightswitch
- battery

ydpaze

Hi everybody,
i got a 1998 Mercedes E300TD and the BAS/ASR light keeps turning ON. In the center of the Dashboard, only the BAS is displayed. I have read on other forums that the brake light switch might be the problem or the voltage on the battery is low. That's not the case with my car. The BAS light only comes on when the outside temperature is below -1 degrees celsius and after a 5 minute drive. Even when it's extremely cold and i restart the car, the BAS light still comes on. I also noted that the engine's output performance is limited. When it's warm outside, the BAS never comes on. Please help me out guys.