clk500RCP

Greetings - this is my first post as a new 2005 CLK 500 owner. I've been reading the w209 forum for about 9 months and you guys have provided tons of good advice, and hate that my first post is a complaint about the car, but wanted to get feedback on any similiar experiences others have had with ecm problems.

In late December, I purchased a 2005 CLK 500 coupe (black/stone) with keyless go, Comand, and bi-xenons and it has been an absolute pleasure to own and drive everyday I've had it, until this past weekend. I started the car after a brief stop and encountered "ESP: Speedtronic - please visit workshop" error on the driver display, and all functions in the steering wheel were dead. I took it to the shop on Monday, and they indicated that an electronic control module in the steering wheel had gone bad. It was replaced after removing and reattaching the steering wheel, and the problem went away . . . until I found the same error had been thrown again as I was leaving a poker tournement tonight. When I bought the car I expected to run into some small electronic gremlins such as the seatbelt presenters not working (an occasional problem that is never reproducible at the dealership), but to have an ECM go out twice in 5 days (if that is indeed the root of the problem, which I doubt) is downright pitiful.
I'm hoping the ECM was just reinstalled incorrectly, but even if that's the only issue, it doesn't give me alot of confidence in the local service dealership.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is just an isolated incident early on in the cars service history - the 7-speed transmission is smooth as silk (the '04 5-speed in my girlfriends '04 C240 feels like a chevy impala in comparison) and the V8 is absolutely perfect.
I'll be sure to post some pics (not alot of black/stone combos out there for some reason) to the group as soon as I can get past these "undocumented features" with the ecm.

rwhittington1

I bought my 2005 CLK 500 new on the showroom floor. It has had every electronic and sensor problem imaginable. I had the one of which you speak. Also, it would intermittently stop playing radio, running thermostat for AC, heat and defrost, etc. I have had several electronic sensors changed after having to argue with the warranty rep--not with the local Mercedes dealership. The arms on both floats in the fuel tank were replaced 2X as it would say 3/4 tank full and run out of gas. Finally, they put "sleeves" on the float arms to protect the arms from sediment. The was not before I had to be towed 5 times. I was NEVER towed when owning GM products. The panel/wall that protects the engine from slush and that is removed for oil change has twice come loose, once slicing my tire on the interstate at full speed because it happened too quickly to pull over. Today, I had vibrations first at 65, then continuing down to 35. That same shield came loose as I was trying to get to the dealership. I put almost 1 million miles on Buicks and Cadillacs. I despise this Mercedes but am trying to get 10 years of use out of it because of mileage. I have babied it, garaged it, only let Mercedes technicians touch it. I have spent more money on tires because they cannot be rotated. It is the most unreliable vehicle that I have ever had, and it has cause me to NEVER want another Mercedes. It is a high maintenance car that is a wonderful car in city traffic but needs to be the 2d car in the household with one that is reliable for daily use.