2001 Mercedes-Benz SLK320 Electronic stability control Problems

“While driving it, the car will act like I slammed on the brakes and the bas/esp light will come on. I am not hitting the brakes when this happens, I am just driving along. Initially, these events happened at low speeds, more recently it happened at 50mph in the rain. There seems to be no connection to speed, acceleration, turning, or anything other than random faults. Dealer read an esp code c1120-004, 016 esp yaw sensor plausibility occurred 1 time and erased code. They could not duplicate the condition in a short test drive. …”

“Vehicle applied brakes on it's own at highway speed and no driver application. The bas/esp alarm lights came on and the vehicle seemed to be ok until it was turned off. The alarm cleared when restarted but the vehicle applied brakes again on it's own and the indicators came back on. The repair shop could not get a code because it was not on when they checked it. This has happened at least 10-12 times but only during hours when the business is closed. I let my local mechanic drive it for a week and it never happened with him. This is very sporadic but dangerous situation. …”

“While driving on a straight, smooth paved road, the right front brake suddenly locked hard enough to cause the car to suddenly jerk to the right and caused the tire to skid. I did not have my foot on the brake pedal at all. Immediately the vehicle's esv dash light came on. Had I not had a firm grip on the steering wheel to hold the car in the road, the car would have left the roadway. This is a very scary and dangerous defect. While reading posts in online forums, several people with these cars are having similar experiences. Below is a link to one such sight for you to research. …”

“On three occasions the brakes were applied by the stability control system without driver intervention. In the most recent occurrence this action placed the driver and other motorist in the vicinity of the car in extreme danger. Traveling east bound on highway 80 through fairfield california in the left lane at approximately 75 MPH, the brakes were abruptly activated by the stability system causing the car to yaw to the right and then suddenly to the left. Fortunately there was enough distance between other motorist that there was not a collision. …”

“Driving at lower speed, car rumbles ,esp warning light comes on as well as bas/esp. Cars skids to stop. Dry roads, driving normally. Has happened twice since. Very scary.”