My 05 c55 has 127k miles on it. Never experienced any electrical issues until now. When I start my car, I get display malf, abs failure, esp failure, And I can't get it out of park. I eventually, started it in neutral and drove it about 2 miles until i stalled out. I'm thinking there's possible corrosion on a shared ground for either the display system or somewhere in the canbus itself. I'm assuming it could be a ground due to the fact that multiple circuits are out and I'm getting a slide show of messages. As far as the car stalling out, I'm very confused. Has anyone had similar issues or know what this could be? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!
-mike

Whoa, hadn't heard of that one before. I'd start in the engine bay and trunk looking for water drip marks; starting pulling connectors and go from there? If nothing, move to the firewall and look for broken rubber grommets? Sorry about not being more helpful.

Sounds odd, but unfortunately the only surfire diagnostic is to tow it to the dealership and hook it up with a STAR computer... it will tell you immediately what the problem is..

Maybe try disconnecting the battery and resetting the ECU, might give you a clue.
Good luck

Guessing will just waste your time and money. You need to have it diagnosed properly.

Luckily I have access to STAR at school, Im over here at UTI and MB training is actually on campus. So that should be a help. Thanks for the suggestions guys, I appreciate it. I'll keep everyone posted when I figure out what the issue is

Pull some codes and we'll go from there.

The problem seems to be intermittent, the break wear message, abs message and display malfunction popped up whilee I was at the light this morning, and instead of stalling out, I went into limp mode and couldn't leave second gear. Pulled over started the car and issue went away again. Still waiting to pull codes, I'll post em as soon as I get access to STAR

I realize this is an old thread, but this is exactly what's been happening to me lately. I hooked up my STAR yesterday and ran the diagnosis. No faults in the TCU. The ESP control unit shows one fault as a STORED fault, ABS/ESP module is defective. I can't imagine this module would go bad at 106k miles, but who knows? Going to try cleaning the electrical connectors at the front SAM and the module itself.

On Saturday, the car went into limp mode twice while driving, both times I just turned car off and restarted. Saturday evening after dinner, turned car on and got the messages immediately, turned off and on at least 5 times and had messages and couldn't shift out of park. Had to disconnect battery and reconnect to reset ECU so I could get home. While running diagnostics yesterday, it seems like car is fine idling for 15-20 mins and then eventually the warnings will come up, and then keep coming on each time car is restarted unless battery is disconnected to reset ECU.

Just wanted to share my experience and hopefully solution if I can find one soon.

Hey mshields818, I had a very similar issue, don't know if you saw my post. The issue with mine turned out to be the gas pedal assembly/switch and corresponding SAM unit.

Here's the post

Gear shifter problem, I had the same problem and changed the gear shifter unit and everything.. Perfect again.
I have a spare one if anyone's interested.

The gear shifter would cause the ABS/ESP and brake wear warnings to show up? Wouldn't it also throw a code in the ETC unit? STAR is pulling a code from the ESP unit saying the ESP module is defective. I'm not getting any codes from the ETC. Going to check the electrical connector for corrosion and clean it up.

hey mike did you resolve this issue ? I am having literally the same exact problem intermittently

Abs / esp offline and speedometer goes to 0. Gear selector light disappears

He never reported back with the solution...sigh

Does anyone know of the answer to this dilemma?? My dealer is saying the fault is caused by a failed ESP module and that it needs to be replaced and that will resolve all of the same issues listed below and shown in the photo.

Iīve had that problem several times during my 12 years of ownership.
The ABS-module in the engine compartment was changed but the problem later came back.
The reason can be almost anything, you need a proper scan at the dealership to pin point the problem.
In my case it was bad connection between the ABS-module and the connector itself. When you loose the connector, be very careful
because itīs a bit tricky to loosen it, and fragile. Also once upon time there was a recall on this subject, -There is a ground connector close to the
module that need to be looked over, the recall suggested an extra washer there (!).

Regarding gears stuck in P in limp home-mode, there is a temporary solution to get going (in second): In the cupholder between the
seats there is a little hole under the small rubber carpet at the bottom (or was it in the compartment just behind?) Take a long screwdriver
and put it down the hole and push gently, and you will reach a flap deep down which make it possible to move the gearlever again.
If you donīt have a screwdriver at hand when it occurs, you can always tear up the plate surrounding the gearlever and you will clearly
se the flap and push it while you move the lever. The flap is white plastic.