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Do I have ESP (Electronic Stability Program)?

15K views 34 replies 15 participants last post by  Goonednate24 
#1 ·
I recently bought a 1994 S420 with 136,000 miles. I don't know if it has ESP. Does anyone know?
 
#2 ·
If you have ESP, you should have a little switch on the center console labeled "ESP". If not, you should have one labeled ASR. ASR was the stock traction control that sensed rear wheel spin only. ESP added steering wheel position and yaw sensing to the mix to further help rein in the car if you got it crosswise. I'm not sure on either account if the front wheel brakes are included in the control of the two computers.

BTW, on ASR equipped models, if you press the ASR button, the big yellow caution triangle in the middle of the cluster will illuminate letting you know that you have partially disabled the wheel braking function of the ASR computer. But alas, the car will still retard the engine timing to hobble the car if it senses wheel spin- so still no ability to smoke the tires.
 
#3 ·
pchansen1 - 2/12/2006 5:25 PM
BTW, on ASR equipped models, if you press the ASR button, the big yellow caution triangle in the middle of the cluster will illuminate letting you know that you have partially disabled the wheel braking function of the ASR computer. But alas, the car will still retard the engine timing to hobble the car if it senses wheel spin- so still no ability to smoke the tires.
AFAIK, it is the other way around, the wheel braking is
still enabled, but the motor trottle adjustment is
turned off. The same apply when you turn off ESP,
the wheel braking is still retained (ETS).
Even if the ESP is off, it is turned on again when
braking.

Yes, the ESP also monitor the front wheels.

A picture of the components in EPS is here;
http://mbwde.hl-users.com/Mediengalerie/Werksfotos/Technik/pages/B2000f5182.htm

BTW, the german s-klasse-club has posted a video
of EPS development under the member-only section.
As the club is recognized under MBCCCI, this is
the club to be in for the future.
http://www.s-klasse-club.de/

br,
syljua
 
#9 ·
1996_s500 - 2/12/2006 6:32 PM

sbou101 - 2/12/2006 2:54 PM

BUT, I can see the outline of a yellow triangle above the speedometer. Any Explanation?
i believe there is some form of traction control on your car, however, it is not in ASR or ESP. They had an earlier version that was a button with a tire on it. Is that what you have?
I don't have that either. I'll try to find the owner's manual and see what it has to say...
 
#10 ·
I have a '92 500SEL.

It has an ASR light on the dash which I have never seen come on. It also has the yellow triangle in the speedo, which also has never come on. I have the button on the centre console with the tire picture. Pressing it causes the red LED in the switch to light up. I have no owners manual.

Also, the yellow traingle and ASR light do not light up even when the engine is off and the ignition is on (all the other warning lights come on then).

Is this normal?

Any insight is appreciated.

Thanks, Ryan in South Africa
 
#11 ·
If you have ASR the triangle on the speedo will come on when your rear wheels are spinning. ASR will stop them from spinning, but if you are in ice or mud the light will come on at times and then the system will kick in. You car may be on a change over period, as in 1994 you should have ASR, but 1993 no ASR. This is just my statement from owning a few of these vehicles.

If you have a triangle on your speedo then the cluster has probably been changed at some time. There are date stamps on the cluster units, you may have to remove it to see.
 
#12 ·
I have a 1993 500SEL and it has ASR. There should be a switch on the left side of the console by the cigar tray with a picture of a snow tyre on it. ESP was not put on the W140 until I believe 1996. BTW my triangle with the exclamation mark does NOT light up when I push the ASR switch. Only when the car looses traction.
 
#16 ·
my cluster looks original - I base that on the dact that it is still the mechanical "rolling wheels" odo.

I have not had the guts to try and get the asr light to come on by provoking slip. Maybe when there is less traffic....
 
#18 ·
S class - 2/14/2006 7:26 AM

my cluster looks original - I base that on the dact that it is still the mechanical "rolling wheels" odo.

I have not had the guts to try and get the asr light to come on by provoking slip. Maybe when there is less traffic....
You may have ASD (automatich sperr-diffrential), later
named ETS (electroic traction support). BTW, this is
the part retained when EPS or ASR is turned off, and
therefore may not have a button to be turned off
on your car either.

ASD and ETS is sensing the wheels on the rear
axle to not have the same rotational speed, and
will brake the one going faster. ASR is in addition
also monitoring the front wheels to sense that
both rear wheels spinning (going faster than the
front ones), and then reduce the
trottle speed. Finally, EPS will monitor the
steering wheel angle and calculate a correct turning
radius from that. Via accelrometers, any
deviation from that will cause the brakes to
brake the car into the correct path again;
Oversteer and the outer front wheel will brake.
Understeer and the inner rear wheel will brake.

The first W140 (or correct C140) to have ESP
was the S600C in May 1995.
http://mbwde.hl-users.com/Modellgeschichte/index.htm

For the provoke of slip, just come here
to Norway and have a drive in the snow!

I´m glad for my EPS these days...
Today, I drove my car to much on the snowy curb
in a corner, got the tail end swinging out, but
ESP got into action and stabilized the car.

br,
syljua
 
#19 ·
thanks syljua,

I believe I do not have ESP, but my warning light is definately ASR. And I have the button with the tire picture.

We seldom have condition here were you could get any slip - even with powerful cars. ..

You talk about ASD : sperrdifferential : I assume this would be some type of limited slip diff? - perhaps you german is better than mine.

My car is a european import with all notices and warnings in the car in German - I LOVE this is is like so authentic. Most W140s here (in fat most benzes) have the english translations.

Ryan in South Africa,
 
#20 ·
S class - 2/14/2006 10:01 AM

You talk about ASD : sperrdifferential : I assume this would be some type of limited slip diff? - perhaps you german is better than mine.
Yes, but AFAIK, this is not a traditional, mechanical
kind of LSD, but one that does the same thing
by using the ABS sensors and the brakes.
So, I guess, ASD will not cancel wheel spinning at
high speed like an LSD will?

S class - 2/14/2006 10:01 AM
My car is a european import with all notices and warnings in the car in German - I LOVE this is is like so authentic. Most W140s here (in fat most benzes) have the english translations.

Ryan in South Africa,
[:)] Mine too are a german import. You can order
owners manual in the correct language cheaply
(if not for free) from the dealer.
Some of the labeling in the car can also
be "multilanguage", like for the fuses in the
trunk where the backside should be in english.

br,
syljua
 
#21 ·
Its probably just as well its not a traditional mechanical LSD - as I understand it they can have undesirable side effects on handling in twisty corners.

My fusebox in the trunk seemed to be only german - I haven't tried removing the card. I know the tire data sticker in the fuel filler cap area is definately only germain - ditto for other similar stickers around the car.

Ryan in South Africa
 
#22 ·
First off i would just like to say that i found this forum very helpful in the last few days, thank you all. Well heres my question, i know this has been discussed many times in this thread but i would just like a quick answer, I just got a '94 500 SEL , i have two issues one more important then the other. okay well the important issue, on the bottom right of my dash i have the asr light, which turns on once in a blue moon when im driving on the highway (whats that about?) anyway so for a while now ive been looking for a way too turn off the traction control, from the thread i figured it doesnt exist (for this model). But i do have the "Snowy Tire" button next to the ashtray, now when i turn it on i will admit it does let me drift a little bit more then usual but nothing like i hoped. So is that all im gonna be able to get out of that button? (and it automatically turns off after 60km/h i think thats normal right?) My second less important issue, the car tends to overheat when i push it to the limit is this normal with these big engines? In its defense let me just say that i live in beirut, lebanon, Mostly Uphill roads, no traffic laws and no speed limits so when i say push it to the limit i really mean it. so take that into consideration. thank you for your time everyone.
 
#23 ·
Interestingly I was reading my '98 S500 owner's manual today to determine what the ASR light was since there have been many posts lately re. the ASR light being on. It seems like ESP and ASR serve very similar functions (detect unbalanced traction between the wheels and use the brakes and sometimes throttle to adjust) and now I understand that my car has ESP (with the ESP "off" switch) and not the ASR system. Since the lights and behavior are similar, it's easy to see how these two options get confused. It's not hard to get the ESP triangle light to come on in the center of the speedo with a fast start but it's goes off again pretty quickly.

One time (after a car wash) and then shortly turning onto a freeway on-ramp with pretty good acceleration, I felt the car do a sort of momentary braking action which could have been the ESP really kicking in. I assume that the wet wheels and/or road contributed to that behavior.
 
#24 ·
I would recommend you to read this;
http://www.pvv.org/~syljua/merc/Fahrdynamiksysteme.pdf
In german, but you will get a lot from the images.

The important things to note are;

ESP is ASR + yaw control
ASR is ETS + motor torque control
ETS is traction control by utilizing wheel brakes

If you turn off EPS or ASR, ETS function is still active.

The conditions where turning them off is beneficial
are; Snow with chains, deep sand etc.

EPS off will still be fully active (on) at braking action.

br,
syljua
 
#29 · (Edited)
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