carlsson9

The ETS light has come on while I'm driving now, and so has the ABS lights...I've read in the manual that if theres a fault in the ETS, the ABS will also be shut off, thus the ABS light comes on too..will only be able to take my car in Monday, but wonderin does anyone know what could be wrong>?

Thanks in advance..

sosh

Could be as simple as a bad brake light switch or other sensor

jemmy

turn it in to get everything back to normal

Big J

brake light switch.....easy DIY

figure1a

Probably just a computer error. Happens in my car every couple months or so. Usually just pulling over and turning the car off and on resets it. My mechanic said it is a known glitch in the W210.

sbarsap

Carlsson, thats pretty ironic, something similar happened to me last Thursday 12/30. I started up my car and left the garage at work for lunch and the ABS and ETS lights came on and the computer showed the following three malfunctions:

1. ABS System
2. ESP
3. Brake Assist

When I left the restaurant and turned the car on the 3 malfunctions disappeared and re-appeared after 5 mins into driving. I called the dealer and they told me to bring it in Monday due to the New Years holiday. The strange thing is the malfunctions do not show up anymore when I left work nor over this past weekend. I am not sure whether I will take it in or not. I have an 01 E430 Sport and have 28K miles on it so it's still under warranty.

I guess I will take it in if the malfunctions show up again this week.

carlsson9

Thanks for the replies guys...i'm suspecting it could be some minor..i just hope its nothing majorly electronical that';ll break my bank...

Am taking the car in today, and hopefully it will get fixed..

sbarsap, I have the same problem as yours, ecept mine is the ETS, (electronic Traction Support) , don't think its the same at the ESP..but for your, I'm suspecting it could your brake pads been worn out..., that's why it alerting you..

its probably something minor, but its bloody irritating when it keeps popping off...

will let everyone know..

OceanView

I had these 2 light come on this morning as well.
But after I turned the engine off and back on, they went away.

Did you ever find out what your problem was?

MBtech1

Most likely stop lamp switch. If it comes on when you hit the brakes, its the switch for sure but it can also be on all the time and still be the stop lamp switch. They are only about $10 and are easy to replace and they are the problem about 85% of the time so if you have to pay to get it checked out, might be worth just replacing it and seeing if the light goes away.

mbnj

I have an '01 320 4matic wagon, same issue. Driving up to Maine in August under full load and 96 degree heat I hit brakes and all 3 cluster warnings activated. Stopped and restarted and cleared until next day, then went trouble free until last week, same thing.

How easy is this switch to replace yourself if you are a novice? Need any special tools, how about instructions?

516mbtek

Pratically anyone can install a stop lamp switch..remove screws from drivers lower dash panel (blk plastic) and squeeze the tabs and twist it out of the brkt.

Big J

It's the brake light switch and it is also the cheapest replacement parts to do, if not, then start praying hard......

sts15

My e 320 4matic did the same thing last week after driving in a rain storm. I shut it off and they all reset. Then one night several days later they came on again, but off after I turned it off. I figure it is the sensor getting wet. My question is, does the malfunction light mean that abs etc do not work?

mbnj

STS, I don't know if they still work, I could not notice any difference at all (other than absolute fear when they first went off) but all three only matter under unique conditions; ABS during hard braking, ESP when you are losing control, and BAS when you are braking suddenly. I did none of the above. Hopefully someone will reply.

Thank you, 516. Sounds like even a dope like me can handle relacement.

OceanView

Hey guys,
I had this problem in September, initially I called the dealer and they mentioned something like $1400 to fix.
I said hell no! Went to the parts department and I bought the brake light switch for $20 and did it myself.

It is pretty easy to change the part.
As others have mentioned it is just a few screws under the dash on the drivers side. The switch is located near the steering wheel column that goes into the firewall area. You may get your fingers and hand scraped up due to the tight area.
Once installed your problems should go away.
Took about 45 mins to do.

Well worth the effort and satisfaction that you did it yourself and saved some money.

sts15

When the malfunction light appeared, I had just gone though lots of water, coming out the other side of the pool the trafific was backed up and I hit the brakes, not real hard, and the lights and bells starting. As I was trying to read what they were saying, I almost ran into th car in front of me...

Yesterday my lcd radio panel went blank even thought the radio was working and I could change channels. After I stopped and started the car the panel came back on. I have not had the brake problem in two weeks now and figure I just have asomething screwy going on that is probalby unfixable...As long as the car keeps going, I guess I do not care about these little intermittant quirks...

Salarzae

I got the same problem, even my Cruise Control is not working 'coz of it!

mbnj

Alright, I went out and got the stop light switch ($20 at dealer), I took a quick look under dash (black plastic panel). Does anyone know exactly which/how many screws need to come out? It looked like there were three that I could see but didn't seem sufficient. There was one phillips head in upper left plastic near the red hand release. There were two hex screws in the edge of the felt underpanel close to the black plastic panel. I removed all three but didn't want to force the panel and break something. What else needs to come out? Does the panel pivot down or does the whole thing come out? Any help would be appreciated. Is there is a diagram somewhere on internet of the panel/fasteners?

Merci

OceanView

There is one on the right side that is about 3 inches in. You have to use an extension and a socket. I think it is 6 or 8mm in size. Kinda hard to see it unless you put your head on the floor and look up underneath the dash.

Not sure if there is a diagram anywhere.

Hope that helps

mtdceo

did you ever got the problem resolved? and what was the issue?
I got the same problem.... it comes on somtimes when I press on the brake.
then it dissappears when you turn off and on the engine..

people here say it's the stop light switch...
can anyone help with more detail instructions on how to install or do it myself..

thanks in advance.

mbnj

I went ahead and tried this myself. Here's my take (not a guy who takes cars apart). There are three screws; two hex heads and one phillips that is just to the left of the left side hex (Ocean properly points out you need to get down low to see the one on right and need a socket - he has size right). The screws are in the grey felt portion of the panel (near the "front" lip of panel), none are actually in the black plastic (plastic is permanently joined to felt portion). My PO'ed moment was in removing the panel. The first two fasteners are pressure poppers that you can force out by pulling carefully. There was another fastener on the upper right that is totally different but since I didn't know/see I kept exerting pressure and it snapped (THEN I saw it was different). Now here's the kick in the pants, I remove the presumed faulty switch (you need to know what it looks like or poke around by process of elimination) and realize that the replacement sold to me was the WRONG switch (I will restrain myself from mentioning the moronic "stealership" involved). I ended up playing with the old switch a little and putting it back in, etc. So far it has not had a problem. Probably nothing to do with me at all but I'll pay the stealer to replace at my next servicing since I didn't enjoy wresteling with the dash and breaking one fastener. Hope this helps.

rob_fed

a. Yes, you found the correct phillips screws, take those out.

b. Then near the steering column near the floor, you will need to take off the round plastic fastener that holds the black plastic down to the floor. It unscrews counter-clockwise.

c. Now here is where you are correct, the felt panel is attached to the lower dash with three types of fastners.

1. Directly behind the felt there are metal push in type clips.
2. Directly under the steering wheel opening, there are two places where the felt piece clips to plastic ears.
3. Where the felt piece connects to the center console, there are 3 more plastic clips.

So, I did break the metal clips off of the plastic, but here is how you can do it. You need to pull up and then out. On the console side you need to force the felt up. Under the steering column you need to push up to release the plastic ears, then out to release the metal clips.

Sound hard, yes, the first time. If you do it again, it is not so bad.

Thanks,

mbnj

Thanks, Rob. But for me a few days late, I also broke the clip but there was no way to know the first time. I did not need to worry about the floor fastener because I had enough give to get my hand back to the switch by removing the stuff up front only. I am really po'ed about breaking the one clip but it does not seem to make a difference given the other fasteners were intact.

sts15

It has not rained here for several weeks, and the problems I was having with the malefuntion sensors have not re-occured. Every once in awhile I get a light malefunction but it too comes and goes. I attribute it to gremlins and have decided that the electrical system is not the greatest but since it comes and goes there is not much I can or want to do about it.

carlsson9

Whoops, forgot to put closure to this thread..

Had it checked out beginning of the year ( based on the date i wrote in this post ) and had both the ABS sensor and brake switch changed. Hadn't had a problem since..

However, it it advisable to get these sensors changed, as the cruise control will not work when the warning comes out, and this will be very irritating when you drive on the highway heaps.