I got my car back from the dealer and they said the noise I heard when turning sharply was my tires... I don't believe them.

I discovered when I have the ESP on and I go around a tight corner like a tight cloverleaf and turn sharply, I hear a dull rhythmic grinding noise (gaar,gaar,gaar,gaar) that slows the car as if you were pumping the brakes lightly. I can replicate it by going in tight circles, either direction in a parking lot. To me it sounds like a CV joint but the sound appears to come from the front of the car.

If I turn the ESP off, I don't (or haven't yet) heard the noise.

This isn't normal ESP operation, is it? Any one else have this problem? The car's a 99 E55 AMG.

 

Never in my car.. but you can check your front bearings & joints.. if you only hear the noise with the ESP on & not with the ESP off im sure is not your tires.. butif you hear the noise with or without ESP posible your tires can made this noise

Fabio Daniel

 

When your hear the sound on those tight turns with the ESP on, is the ESP light blinking on your dash?

 

Yes, when ESP is engaged (light off) and I go around a roundabout, the ESP lamp flashes, it feels like the brakes are being applied and the car makes that pulsating, grinding noise.

I've had the ESP engage in situations where it's supposed to and it applies the brakes as it should but it never makes that noise that I hear when driving slowy in a tight circle.

It sounds like if you had too wide of snow tires on the front of your car and they hit a sway bar or something when you turn too sharply. I've seen no indication that the inside of the tires are rubbing against anything. I can turn them full lock in both directions and move forward without the tires touching anything.

To me it seems like one of the rotation sensors is faulty and the ESP is trying to keep the car from "going out of control" but I don't understand why that loud grinding noise is happening.

Any ideas?

 

It sounds more like an issue with the ESP and not a suspension component because if it was a mechanical issue it would do it with or without the ESP.

 

Are you the original owner? Any chance you have an aftermarket limited slip differential?

 

Maybe is an ESP sensor if your ESP light tilting... but the sensors register faulty in the dealer scanner

Fabio Daniel

 

Sadly, no, to both questions. I've heard the chatter of an LSD in a tight corner and this noise doesn't sound like that. Also when I punch it, it only lays down one stripe. I was surprised that the AMG's don't come stock with an LSD.

I did some more driving in circles tonight and while I was doing laps on a deserted roundabout, I could almost turn the noise on and off with the ESP switch. It would always go off with I disengaged it but the noise didn't always come back when I re-enabled ESP. It would if I sped up a little though.

I'm almost wondering if the ESP is pumping the brakes while modulating the signal at around 60-80hz and it's causing the pads to catch and vibrate?
Maybe something's loose in the brake calipers or ?? I had the wheel bearings checked thinking that the wheel had side-play but they're fine.

As to why it only does it at slow speeds on tight corners, maybe something's getting pinched or stretched and the rotation sensors wiring on a wheel are opening up or shorting out and the thing thinks a wheel has stopped?

I can't find much detail about how ESP works. In the manual it says little more than "ESP cannot suspend the laws of physics".

I read that and thought "damn!", there was something I was going to try that I saw in a cartoon once but I guess that's out of the question now.

Come to think of it, I wonder if the noise is a normal noise that ABS makes? I bet it's controlling the braking part of the ESP.

I've never heard the ABS on this car but I did have another MB with ABS and it made sort of a sick pulsing groan.

What does it sound like when your ABS kicks in?

 

It can be loud. Yeah, it's probably because in a low speed, tight corner the right and left wheel rotate at significantly different rates. Faster corners don't cause this. The ESP is particularly sensitive, unfortunately.

 

Just a wild guess, do you have different model tires or very large tread variation from the front and the rear?

 

pls try looking on the steering thing near the leftside or driver side exhaustmanifold (header) i use to ave this issue and we found out i had a bad engine mount causing the header to hit the steering rod... thanks

 

The tires are stock sizes and I can't see any problems with either of them.

I'll look under the hood and see if I can see anything that's touching that shouldn't be but I just had both engine mounts replaced a couple months ago and the sound doesn't sound like what I'd expect to hear if the steering column was hitting a header.

I think the noise is the ABS system and it's normal, what isn't normal is why the ESP would engage it at such a slow speed during a normal turning maneuver.

 

Its the rear BRAKES! You answered yourself Unplug your ABS pump, do your tight circle test and I bet it won't make the noise. Turn the car off and plug the ABS pump back in to remove the idiot lights from the dash and go get a brake job done on the rear.

If it's doing it at a really slow speed and with the ABS pump unplugged then you make want to check out your axle or wheel bearing. Wheel bearings are common wear parts and increase drag in the system. Also clean the VSS sensor wheel and sensor with some alcohol on a tooth brush.