shivi1345

https://mbworld.org/forums/safety-te...203-crash.html

LILBENZ230

Multi-airbag deployment in a 2005 W203 most likely spells the end. The car's passive safety features saved you after the failure of the most important active safety one. Had you been having ESP issues or tried a restart or turning the wheel full lock to full lock a few times? ESP is very important.

Glad you and your girl are alright, the irreplaceable things. Time to consider what will replace the car, though.

OneOfaKindTrini

If the rear end was stepping out so often you could not have been possibly been driving soft. Atleast you are safe. Look for a new car, something with 4wd. May I suggest a evo or a 330xi.

CHiKompressor

glad you're safe and all the safety equip worked like it should

LILBENZ230

AWD isn't needed in SoCal. As a 2005 C230 owner myself, I can say that during rains the rear of my car can get tail happy on certain surfaces without me driving hard. It depends on a number of things and (common sense) is especially noticeable on aged tires. The firm hand of ESP always gets my car back in line. The OP didn't have this benefit on this particular day or this likely would've never happened.

Glyn M Ruck

Sorry to hear of your misfortune. Pleased you are safe.

AdidasC230

Wow that sucks man, any pics of the carnage?

mleskovar

Glad you and your GF are alright. Sounds like you hydroplaned....ESP may or may not have helped. Any obvious damage to the car? I'm curious what the insurance reaction will be.

samaritrey

Glad you and your GF are ok...

now we need pics to see how bad it is.

any ideas what might be next if it is totaled?

B189s

I'm glad you and our GF are OK!

B189s

What's the cause of hydroplaning tho? I've experienced this twice/3 times before and been wondering what was the cause of it.

Bad/cheap tires? It happened once I was on my stock 16' Michelin and I think once/twice when I was on my 19s General UHP

mleskovar

Water between the tire and the road surface resulting in loss of rubber to road contact and control over that wheel....ESP or manual control. Happens around 50 mph and above and symptoms get worse with tire wear. Kind of like black ice without the cold. Heavy downpours and poor drainage are big contributors.

TemjinX2

glad your ok. Sounds like the car is total with that many air bags going off. Each one of those air bags are at least $2k+.

shivi1345

well.....

I had never had any ESP problems before.....of all the days for it come up, right? lol

I was kinda messing around earlier in the day, cuz the rain.....but I was definitely NOT messing around on the freeway

I was on Falken ZE912 tires......all season w/ pretty good tread

as for damage.......the passenger front wheel is broken, front bumper, fender, HUGE dent in the sideskirt under the passenger door w/ potential frame bending, ..............

I can take a pic in the morning I guess lol

as for what's next.........
it really depends on what kinda $ I get from my insurance. The adjuster said he would call me Tues/Wed. The day of the crash I pretty much knew the car was done, so I kinda started to think about what I'm gonna replace it with. My 1st thoughts were 4WD lol....S4 mayb.....but they break down. I'm kinda lookin at a 190E 2.3 16V Cosworth......

suggestions?

TemjinX2

lol i say keep it in the w203 family...c32 or c55. AWD doesn't make you invincible from spinning out either, usually just more traction before it finally goes.

LILBENZ230

190E? That's stepping back quite a bit in time. I would've said a newer C-class or 3-series. There are a ton of cars out there, though.. depends on what you're looking for. How many miles were on your C230?

FraKctured

Better a dead 203 than a dead you 03...sorry to hear this.

shivi1345

I say 190E cuz it's cheap......and the 2.3 16V Cosworth one is pretttttttty cool lol. It's the only version of that model I would get (cuz the even cooler ones weren't brought to the US lol)

idk if I'll get enough $ for a C32, let alone a C55

I had 75,000 Miles on the clock; I was just about to do the B service and a ATF flush.....

LILBENZ230

I'll make a prediction and say you'll easily get enough $$ for a C32.

TemjinX2

u can get c32's for 12-15k and c55's for around 18k-22k.

c32 for $11k

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac...559153703.html

LILBENZ230

I say you get $17,000 for your C230. Let us know what their offer is. It's been my experience with insurance (State Farm, anyway) that their valuations are often much more than I expected. When I totalled a Nissan Altima in 2003, my research said it would be worth at most 3500-4000 with its mileage. State farm paid $7,500.

shivi1345

hahahahaah I actually saw that craigslist AD too....isn't 105K miles a lot tho?

.......I don't really like that old interior, but I could live with it lol

ya I mean......it all depends on Farmers. I thought that insurance companies were a p.o.s. and never gave you what's fair.....

we'll see what they say I guess lol............

W203E35

Damn, glad you are alright Shivi. Keep the tradition going...get a Benz

nlpamg

oh man, sorry to hear that. glad that you and your gf are ok though.

I wonder what could have caused your ESP malfunction...

LILBENZ230

My car, at 28,000 miles, told me randomly while driving "ESP Unavailable". I pulled over, restarted the engine, and the error disappeared. I have 73,300 now and it has never returned. So I was wondering if the OP could have restarted and gotten the ESP error to disappear.