mtnman82

Hello all. I have an '03 C230k w/automatic. It has 49,4xx miles on it, but just went out of warranty (4 years). My nearest stealer is ~200 miles away.

About 3~4 times in the last 2 months, when initially starting the car after it's been sitting all night, I will get 2 malfunctions, saying BAS and ESP errors. I believe I have my foot on the brake peddal when I'm starting the car.

I did some searching/reading and see about a switch that goes bad and can be replaced relatively cheaply. However, those threads always mention the ABS warning along wiht the other two, which I'm not getting.

I also read about this happenning sometimes if power is disconnected somewhere? I'm sure I have the original battery in there, so I'm wondering if the battery is starting to get weak and when I'm starting the car the voltage is dropping just enough to cause an error??

I thought I would also post, in case I'm missing something else and someone can enlighten me .....

Lastly, is there a good thread/write-up on replacing the battery and what all needs to be reset and how to reset everything? I read thru the fault code thread, but didn't see anything on an actualy procedure/list for replacement.

Thanks in advance!!!!!

c240on19s

do you have k&n filters

mtnman82

No K&N filter. Everything is stock. What might filters have to do with the ESP & BAS warnings? I'm curious, not giving you a hard time or anything.

c240on19s

trust me its ok i wondered the same myself. as it turns out mercedes requires dry filters, kn is a wet oiled filter. The oil from the filters contaminates the mass air meter, aka MAF. A contaminated maf will throw codes that read ESP, ESP BAS, and check engine. More indepth, 203b accelerator malfunction. The cars accelerator will go dead and you have to turn off the computer and restart the car for the malfunction to disappear. Crazy aint it. I didn't believe it at first, but i chagned back to oem and im yet to have a problem. also the car shifts smoother and runs more powerful and faster IMO with stock oem filters.

mtnman82

Thanks for that info. I guess I'll check my air filter just in case, but I know it's dry(stock). I'll check the MAF wire too (I assume I can see it when I have the filter out?).

So, should I be replacing that switch? Battery? Both? Something else?

c240on19s

if its your maf you will get codes, i suggest getting a cheap obdII scanner from ebay and plug it into you car and see what you get.. either that or take it to someone that has a stardiag-- if you make friends with the mechanic he will generalyl let you hook up free of charge.

mtnman82

Damn ... I just had an ODBII tool at the house tonight (wife's Caravan threw a code - she didn't tighten the gas cap all the way ).

The malfunctions clear themselves after the car is turned off/on again, so I guess I'd have to catch it just right?

Should I be forgetting about the threads I read on the switch or low battery??

BTW, thanks for responding, C240!! I guess you're the only help I'm going to get on this forum ....

c240on19s

yeah there is a few decent people here, but most are young punks that get on here to trash talk... this message will prob stir them up


Any malfunctions you get related to esp/bas will be stored in your ESP module and can be read at the dealer, according to SUNman (One of the good guys here)

If its your battery, you can call the 1800 number on your drivers side visor and they will come out and replace/recharge it... It will prob cost but at least its not a trip to the stealer

miteclspdr

Actually this kept happening to me on an 02 C230K that I had. The dealer tried to fix it and after four times it still kept happening. They ended up buying the car back from me after 8months with no depreciation.

takaseem

C240, thanks for the info.

I bought a 2001 E320 in Jan (sorry if this is a C thread, but those problems apply to all I think). Oil change was done then, but 5k miles later, and I decided to change oil as well as air filter. I got original MB parts from dealer. The old air filter turned out to be original part as well (same one I got), and even thought it was very clean, I decided to put new part anyway. But the point is about 40-50 miles later, my ABS, ESP, and BAS lights all came on at the same time. I was on highway, so didn't stop. 30 mins later, restarting car cleared the malfunctions and the lights for those 3 systems.

I just got done, reading all about the brake light switch causing this problem with the 3 malfunctions, but was interested in what you had to say. I know you are referring to filters that are not dry which could cause this, and I used original which must be dry. But the conincidence that the lights came on shortly after I changed the air filter makes me wonder if messing with removing air filter (cleaning the housing with vaccum cleaner, and having to remove the top cover of air filter from the manifold completely, and keeping it open for 20 mins or so) may have had something to do with the lights. Any thoughts?

Anyway, I hope they don't come back, but I will monitor and see, and will report back for others.

Thanks again.