...Thank God I'm okay, someone was watching over me as it could have been much worse with other cars around, but earlier today driving to school I had my first (minor) accident. There was an icy patch I hit in the left turn lane that caused me (and the CTS-V behind me) to start sliding. I couldn't do anything on sheer ice, even with brand new a/s Michelin Primacy MXM4 (installed 255/35/18s) tires, so braking or giving it gas was doing literally nothing, and I collided with the curb pretty hard. ESP was going berserk and I could feel it braking on one side but it was too late.

It was only my back wheel that hit - the car itself, all other wheels, and all tires are okay but the one wheel is damaged. These were new EuroSport MB-8s I had just installed a few weeks ago and was waiting to post pictures of after lowering the car with links. Anyway, when this happened I didn't notice at first but as I was pulling out of it I started to fishtail worse and worse and eventually ended up almost doing a 180 - weird for just a straight snowy road. So I look down and there's the big message on the center gauge that says ESP Inoperative and the ESP light is stuck on. I pulled into a parkinglot and inspected the damage and to my relief it hadn't damaged the tire itself. So I restarted the car, and I got the same warning so I had to drive the remaining mile on icy horrible roads without ESP, yeah it was really fun trying to control almost 400 torques on that road.

So I went to school, finished finals, and when I came out a bit later and started the car everything was 100% normal. I could tell the alignment was a bit off unfortunately but ESP was working even after stopping and starting the engine a few times to be sure. I drove home safely and was able to avoid doing any additional damage to that tire/wheel and tested out ESP on a few icy spots and it seemed to work fine.

What caused ESP fail like that? Do you think it did any permanent damage or bent control arms, parts of the suspension? How much is it usually to do an alignment?

Thanks
~Joey

 

Bump. Really just curious about ESP and if I'm in the clear or not.

 

It probably just threw a code and then needed recycle reset due to the impact. my guess anyway it is probably ok. But be sure to check your rear wheel suspension I suspect you have a bent arm also throwing alignment off and may need a few parts replaced. Your insurance should cover it when you file the claim.

 

/\ +1

 

Honestly that sounds pretty minor of an accident, being that you basically slid into a curb. Being your car is AWD its almost putting 100tq to each wheel, 2WD E320s but down just as much per wheel, its really not that hard to control.

ESP can be upset by violent motion and sudden stops after slides. Ive pissed mine off to where it turns itself off at auto x events because of repeated and intentional yaw and heavy braking, sliding.

Also ESP is a driver Aid not something good driving skills and paying attention cant compensate for if its not working.

Black ice can thwart even the most expensive and fancy driving aids, and black ice sucks. Go get an alignment and check under your car.

Also if you really want to know what set it off, go to MB and have it read, the codes are stored. All we can do is guess.

 

Thank you vettdvr, I inspected the suspension parts myself and it looks fine but a bent control arm is likely - I'm no expert so I'll have it checked out. It makes sense it was just a code as everything has been fine since that first restart. I'm glad the accident was minor and that CTS didn't slid into me as he went off too, could have been much worse but only damaging one wheel is a blessing compared to the pile-up that could have happened.

As for Dubstep, yes it is hard to control a torque-rich engine with all-season tires on ice and snow, and as you mentioned black ice causes problems with even the most expensive snow-ready cars. When temperatures are low the day before and the pavement is cold enough, it won't melt and ice will form over night hence our problem. We got almost 6 inches in areas yesterday which was expected but it definitely came all at once. When ESP was inoperative I definitely had to work not to spin out, a lot of careful throttle input and drifting on the streets of HR hahaha. ESP works a LOT in the snow especially with my wider tires but you're right it's something that helps you it can't overcome the laws of physics as they say. Didn't know it was actually something that could be read by OBD so I'll have them check it out.

Thank you all.