cswang

Does anyone else find the ESP system intrusive?

I drove with it turned off this morning and think the driving experience was greatly enhanced. I can actually accelerate without it cutting out. Coming out of turns on power is much smoother. Even driving in E mode is better.

It started me wondering if there is something wrong with the ESP system that it is so intrusive.

Also, is there a quicker (not that it is too time consuming) way to disable it other than scrolling through the menus such as a secret combination of buttons?

MoneyMike23

just push the button

cswang

What button? I have to scroll through the settings to turn it off. Am I missing something?

MoneyMike23

Unless you are for some reason talking about permanently disabling it... In which case, say goodbye your cruise control, and hello to moving violations and potential accidents everytime it rains or snows.
I don't know about you, but I have a very heavy foot and LOVE letting my tires loose. But I really can't afford to have my license suspended(again) so I REALLY try to leave that magical little button alone.

cswang

No, I don't want it permanently disabled as it does snow occasionally here. But for most driving conditions, I don't think it is necessary. So... again, where is this button?

MoneyMike23

Hold on...

MoneyMike23

its right under the triangular "Hazard" button in the center console.

MoneyMike23

Indeed, Sir.

Scat01

First off - there is no button on the 2012 - our 2008 cars have esp button on the dash above the climate controls - you have it in the menu (very simple to get to as you stated)

I am confused on your impression of the ESP being intrusive though, I drive my cars extremely hard and never notice any interuption?

Accelerate without it cutting out? Do you mean just launching from a dead stop?

Coming out of turns the power is smoother? Are you flooring it around 90 degree corners or something?

I only ask because I do not have any of the described effects with it on in my car and I frequently drive "spirited" to what appears to be the cars limits in acceleration and cornering - with no issues...

MoneyMike23

Sorry... not trying to be a douche... I'm having a very boring morning at the office, and for some reason, I have found comic value in your post... Thanks for that!
Ohhh and I'm not laughing AT you... I'm laughing with you... (well I'm sure you'll laugh when you see the button that says ESP on it) LOL

cswang

Thanks. Unfortunately, all that I have there is the passenger airbag warning light. Damn...

MoneyMike23

I would assume that this is what he is refering to.
Also, Sorry ****, didn't notice you had the '12
My bad

cswang

Not driving it particularly hard, especially with the crummy touring OEM tires. At times though, if I accelerate under gas enough to go down a gear, it will balk before continuing. I actually see the tachometer stop a bit before the rpms climb.

Around corners and turns, not flooring it but anything more than coasting through seems jerky as if it is encountering tire spin and applying braking.

Might just be a learning thing for me, only had it for a couple weeks really. Still it is much better off.

cswang

No worries. I would have smacked myself in the head if there were a nice button like that on mine though. Wonder why they removed it.

Scat01

Well that does make more sense, this is not a ESP issue however, there is a known "pause" or "delay" in these cars when downshifting, and it is annoying - There are numerous debates on these forums regarding the installation of a "Sprint Booster" - I am on the side that praises the hell out of this product as it totally changed the way the car reacts, and in my opinion addresses the downshifting issue quite well. Our cars are drive by wire, there is no throttle cable directly connecting the gas pedal to the ECU and the delay resides there - I will not go into detail, but the idea of the Sprintbooster is to basically speed up the signal of pedal travel to the ECU in very basic terms - search these forums for all the discussion on Sprintbooster or just google it and look into it...

Also search "sneaky TCU reset" as our tranny's also adapt to personal driving style, so if you do alot of slow cruising during your daily driving it will adapt to the style and shift at lower RPM's as well as need a little more push to downshift...Again, minimal info as there are pages of good information written on this in here already.

"search" is your friend - good luck.

MoneyMike23

That's a good question??????


Meanwhile at MB headquarters....
"The reinitiation of communism has begun!!!"

cswang

Thanks. I'll take a look now that I know what to search for. Still curious why it would be different with ESP off than on without me significantly changing my driving style.

lickem66

The button on our pre-2012s just turned off traction control not the stability control.

Doanster

When you think ESP is kicking in, does the amber warning triangle in the speedo cluster flash? If it does, then ESP is indeed kicking in. If not, then you're experiencing the lag that Scat mentioned previously. Also, akin to his comments, the few times ESP has kicked in for me is when I've been driving like a bat-outta-hell and probably shouldn't have been or it's raining and I accelerated too quickly into/out of a turn.

acr2001

THIS is the most important comment in this thread. If you do not see the light coming on, then it is entirely in your head as I imagine it is, because ESP does not kick on unless you are skidding or spinning wheels. If you are indeed skidding and spinning your wheels, and you wish to turn the system off so that you can regularly drive this way, there is something wrong with you.

If the light is coming on very very often, then it is possible that your car has an issue causing the ESP system to be overly sensitive.

Broberg

The 2011 also lacks the button, you have to deactivate it in the menu,
my 2010 on the other hand has the button in it's usual place.
It's surprising on how many small changes are made between the 2010 and 2011 models.
for an example the plastic covers over the c180 engines are extremly different between my 2010 and my fathers 2011.

I wonder, would it be cause of the transmission difference?
Mine is a 6-Speed Manual, my fathers is the 5-Speed automatic.

lickem66

What in gawd's name did we do before these "nannies"..? Someone is crazy to drive without them on? Huh? What about folks who love 60's, early 70's muscle cars?
From some of the discussions on these boards (BMW, Merc, etc.) you would swear that if we shut this nannies off, we would all die in a giant spectacular pile-up and it would all be filmed on our Kool-Aide flavored smartphones. Shutting off a nanny does not equal insanity or instant death; driving above your skill-set causes problems and sometimes death..

Doanster

I whole-heartedly agree with you regarding too many nannies these days, e.g. TPMS, auto-climate control, etc., but even if the OP had a 70s muscle car and was asking why he fish-tails or goes into drifts multiple times throughout the day, the response will still probably be that he/she is over-driving the car for daily use. That was the gist of acr's response, I think. It takes quite a bit (for a daily driver/normal commute) to get ESP to kick in so if it's truly going off that much thatit should be turned off completely, I wouldn't want to be anywhere near. Back on topic. Sounds like the OP is not having ESP truly engaged vs shift lag.

ps Track? Now that's a whole 'nuther story. I relished the fact that there was no ESP in my previous car. ABS was the only thing I needed to worry about during HPDE days.