rajah996

Hey guys,

I know somebody on here put instructions on turning off all
traction control via the instrument cluster, but I cant find it.

Can anybody help with this? Also should I do sneaky ECU reset,
before taking traction off to see its full potential?

coldhammer

you can put it in dyno mode if that is what your talking about. Otherwise i dont know of anyway to completely disable traction control on the sl55.

Dyno Mode: (confirmed on my 03 sl55)
1. To start, the key must be removed from the ignition.
2. Insert the key and turn to position 1.
3. Immediately press and hold the trip odometer reset button until the instrument cluster beeps. There is no visual message, only an audio beep. Be patient, this takes around 40 seconds.
4. Press the lower menu button (it looks like two sheets of paper, the one with the writing in the background behind the blank one) 5. Press the up arrow button.
6. Press the "+" sign to disable the Traction System (turn "ON" test mode) 7. Start the engine, the traction system is now disabled.
To return to normal, remove the key and restart the engine. The traction control warning should no longer be in the cluster. If it is, shut the engine off and remove the key again. Then insert the key and turn to position 1. Note that the DYNO test screen is displayed immediately. Push the "-" button to enable the traction system (turn "OFF" test mode)
NOTE: When you first turn the key to position 1, ESP DYNO Test screen pops up, then after 1-2 seconds it may disappear while faults are displayed. If you weren't fast enough in pressing the "-" button before codes were displayed, just wait until all codes cycle by, then the ESP DYNO Test screen will reappear.

JoeNobody

Driving in dyno mode is dangerous. You'll easily have the car sideways just from simple inputs.

Just turn off ESP if you want to fool around, the last you want is to tow your car out of a ditch because you were not actually on a dyno.

jrgator

dyno mode, while fun, can be dangerous. it even turns off abs (but the burnout is more impressive than just turning off ESP)

dRockSL55

Note on non-030 package sl55s there is no limited slip differential. The ESP modulates the rear brakes to keep traction to both wheels while using an open differential. Braking the spinning wheel transfers torque to the other.
Turning ESP off turns off stability control but still works the rear brakes to keep both wheels spinning.
Dyno mode disables this function and will likely result in the car trying to spin one wheel.

rajah996

Thank you for the replies guys! I have some dry-rot rear tires
on the car, so I figured I would do one session of smoking the
rears in a controlled environment before mounting the new ones.

To be clear, I have NO intention of driving the car anywhere near
public streets in dyno mode. It will probably be in dyno mode for
a couple minutes while I burn off some tread.

jrgator

oh, you will do that for sure. let us know how it works out for you.

cal1

I seem to recall some discussions on the E55/63 boards a number of years back about how running in dyno mode can shave maybe a 10th or 100th off of a 1/4 mile time. Not something I would want to do given abs is shutdown too. I want all the help i can get stopping a 120 mph car at the end of a 1/4 mile run.

One more point, I have heard of people having issues with the car putting itself in "limp" mode if the car is left in dyno mode to long. A simple shutdown and restart should clear it.