sack5000

Just in the last few days I get the message "ESP Inoperative" in the message display. It came on Sunday briefly and not again until today. The message also says "see owner's manual". In the owner's manual it says to "take car in immediately". I guess I will but really don't like the stealer.

Any thoughts on what the problem might entail? Thanks,

rhampar

Take it to your dealer. If you don't like using the one you bought the car from find another dealer in your area to take it to.

amdeutsch

Did you notice his location? Did you notice the distance between dealers after looking at your book?

sack5000

There is just one game in this town. But yes will have to drag it in...

rhampar

Sorry didn't realize there are only 2 dealers in the state of Oaklahoma. Guess I'm spoiled living in NYC I have 6-8 to choose from which are a relatively short drive away.

cls63

I had that problem in my cls550 and now very rarely in my cls63...Dealer fixed it pretty quick, but it comes back sometimes. I just turn the car off and then back on, it seems to fix things, I'd rather do that than take it to the dealer and drive a stupid PT Cruiser...

JCsE350

Same thing happened to me. The car was a week old and the ESP warning lights came on. It says the same thing that the "ESP is inoperable, check your owners manual". Well the Owners manual doesn't give you any help but says to bring to your dealer. Well I did, they went ahead and take look at it. They found that a control unit (p/n 171-545-05-32) in the steering column control module/angle sensor to be defective. They replaced the angle sensor under warranty (free of charge) and the ESP warning light have turned off. Everything was okay after that.

sack5000

Any updates to this situation? I never took it to the stealer. The message comes up from time to time but always goes away when I restart the car. I have noticed the light comes on around corners etc as expected so seems to be working like it should. Just wondering if someone has had the same problem. Thanks,

padrino

It was happening to my E63 and I took it in a few weeks ago and they found the same problem with mine. Since the steering column control module was replaced I have had no issues.

emilner

I had the same thing, it was a module in the steering column. They had my car done in no time and I got a free car wash out of it...

E500Newbee

Yup, had the same problem as everyone described about. Anyways, took it in and had the module changed out under warranty. Now, the car is good now.

DieselNY

This just happened to me tonight except I don't see anyone mention what happened to me, the car would only go 20mph even if I floored it and going up hills? I saw ants crawling faster then me, I was so scared I thought the car was going to get stuck on a hill that was only a little slope, very scary. Any idea what the heck this is? When I got home I turned off the car then back on and the yellow light and error all gone and car drives fine. It also mentioned checking oil on next gas fill.

ANy idea what just happened and why was it maxing at 20mph and sometimes 10mph?

Thanks.

E500Newbee

Your car went into fail-safe mode. Which give the car max speed at 20mph so you can get home or to the dealer or somewhere safe. Most of the cars these day are computer on wheel. Which is good and which is bad. For instance, when you leave you computer(Window OS)running for a long period of time, it tend to freak out from time to time. Our car is the same way, so many electronic is running and the vibration happened during driving, which cost the electronic to have malfunction. If I'm wrong someone can correct me. I'm sure a whole more smarter people on here.

Displayed "ESP malfunction, Headlight unavailable, take it dealer for check" or check with dealer. Something like that, I was scare. I was taking an exit ram off one highway to another and was doing 65+ and the car was boucing hard. The ram was the highest ram too, my estimate is about more then 50fts off the ground. I thought I was going to flip the car and fly off the ram. Talking about scary.

DieselNY

Thanks for the reply! I agree it is good to have safety measures but wow how dangerous is this that it just started going 20mph. It was late at night and I was only in the car 2 minutes and had not drived it all day. I checked the oil this morning which it was low so I HOPE by putting some in it will stop. But again this is a very dangerous feature.

It did though go away when I shut the car off but again I am going to put in oil and hope it works.

cgcedisto

Although it seems like the control module in the steering column is a common cause, I've also seen the ESP warning message and other warning messages as result of low voltage from the battery at startup. I've also seen the car go into limp home mode as result of low startup voltage. As explained to me by my maintenance manager, low battery voltage at startup can cause the various computer components/sensors to not synch up properly, causing phantom warning messages/limp home behavior. That's why turning the car off then restarting can clear the messages. A new battery fixed the problem with phantom error messages at startup for me.

BenzVince

I had that problem once, mysterious with that message, then when I got home, turned it off, and called the dealer, when I got back in my car, started up, the message disappeared

notoriousk

I own an E350W4. When I first bought the car, I was very pleased with the performance. However after just 20,000 miles, the car has started producing a number of mechanical and electrical problems including ESP malfunction, Cruise control failure, trunk electric system failure, electric valves failure etc. The only way you can get rid of such problems is to pay big bucks to the stealer and get the broken parts replaced. I worry very much that if the car gets so many problems after 20000 miles, then at 50000 miles it will become a money burner where no matter how much money you spend on, you can never have it fixed. I hear that even the 2010 E350W4 has serious issues with reliability. I dont know whether I should sell my E350 and if so, should I buy a new Mercedes or look for a more reliable Japanese luxury?

dsc201knoc

My car seems to be doing the same thing i also have a sos error and a hedlight out.. (not the bulb) maybe the ballast...

coolenium

my esp light comes on as soon as i start the car i checked it with a local shop and the told me it was the sbc control module. can some one help me with that i have a 2007 mercedes benz e 350 with 87000 miles would it be covered in the warrenty or do i have to pay to get it repaired and how much will it cost me.
thank you

PHDZINE

Just had mine fixed a few weeks ago. It was the steering column module. Fixed under warranty but it would have cost $600.00 if it was out of pocket to give you an idea on how much it would cost.

achtung6

Common problem it seems with the W211. I just had mine replaced yesterday under warranty.

The p/n used in my case was 211-545-01-16

All is good now.

faizalza

Hi...
Frankly, I turn hard left and right while parked, switched off, after 20 mins, it went away, weird
faizalza

giant330ci

i had same problem, it was very easy to DIY. took me about 30 min. Steering angle sensor cost about $270 at my local dealer. Saved me about @350 on labor cost.

megaflaco

I have same problem diagnostic says Low voltage in ESP , can it be repaired since are too expensive @800 plus labor

nbaccam

I own a 2009 MB E350 and the ESP and Cruise control light start showing while I was driving twice this past month. It happening while I was driving at least 30 min to an 1 hours during my trip. Once this two light show up then into a few more minute of driving the ABS, Batteries and Brake light also start flashing off and on. Also once all this light keep flashing my speed odometer gauge would drop down to 0 while I'm driving. I stop my car and turn of the engine to check what could be wrong. I try starting the car back up, but the car would not start and the shift gear lockup, which I cannot even put on neutral just to get it to be tow. Would somebody tell me what could be the issues with my car.
This happen twice already with the last time, I just drive home without stopping with all the light showing on my dash panel.
I been looking on the internet about this issues with the same year make and model of my vehicle, most mention about the steering angle sensor going bad.