ASR

For those of you with this safety feature, make sure it doesnt backfire on you and actually make you "unsafe".

And as a sidebar to this discussion, obviously you can leave earlier, or later, all the common sense attributes are noted, lets not get sidetracked to a sideways(pun intended) thread.

The ASR feauture is great for rain and or other slippery surfaces to keep you straight, I have not tested it yet fully, and plan on doing so this winter.

Where it CAN be dangerous is pulling away from a stop on a gravel side shoulder, corner, (insert situation here), where you need traction and torque immediately.

With the ASR on, this could engage and slow down the spinning, AND the engine. Remember, the ASR does not have to sense full wheel-spin, just a small amount, like a handfull of gravel could do.

It is up to you to familiarize yourself with this feature, and how to temporary shut it off when pulling away from situations like this.

Dont let it backfire on you.

The more you know, the better prepared you will be.

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Chris Ecklund
98 300 DT

[Lee Scheeler]

Chris,
ASR stops the slippage at all costs. The newer cars can de-activate it but many people with ASR from its inception to 95' cannot. The only thing you can do is hit a switch that lets you dial in a few more degrees of slip for a moment but even then it is only a minimal amount.

The only times I have seen ASR get someone in trouble are A)when the driver expects full power and ASR does not let them have it becuase of a partial loss of traction. B) when you have a ultra high HP car and get ahead of it. To explain "B" here is what I mean. In a 500E try a right hand turn from a dead stop in 1st gear. Stomp the gas abruptly and crank the wheel. You CAN get the tail swinging before ASR grabs you. Then ASR cuts throttle and applies the rear brakes. Since the backend is already going this sends you into an even worse slide. (almost ala early 911 Porsche antics)Granted, you almost have to be "trying" to get it to do that, but it CAN happen.

Still, most people could get into serious trouble sooner or later without it. Just wish MB believed me capable of handling my own vehicle on occasion. Oh BTW, regarding early versions of non-defeatable ASR....ASR is LESS active when the brakes are applied. Need a bit of wheelspin? Just apply the brakes enough to trip the brake circuit and you should have some spin on demand. Not to say this defeats ASR 100%, but it does give it a bit of a prozac.

You engineering DIY'ers can probably take it from there...Lee

Well that actually brings up another subject I was going to discuss, that being the two foot method, braking, accelerating etc...

benz somehow built in a sensor in the new models(or mine) that eliminates this. I cant creep no more!

Has anyone else with a new e-class noticed this. ( or other new class)??

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Chris Ecklund
98 300 DT

[mbdoc]

This is only on diesel models, has to do with the electronic throttle controls.

Anyone out there try (as recommended on the alt.mercedes group) to pull the fuse on the ASR? If so what happened?

[Lee Scheeler]

Eric,
To my understanding: if you pull the fuse on the ASR module you will cause many more problems than you will solve. First you will set a code/warning light. Second would be that you would likely enable "limp mode" which only allows for 2/3rds to 3/4 throttle anyhow. That will give you less power and performance than a bad/hot day anyhow. You are better off getting into the brake circuit to make ASR "less" active or buying a dedicated defeat switch.

Hope this helps...Lee

I think my MB is a mind reader. ASR has been kind of flaky lately for some reason. I first noticed all these black tire stripes on the way to and from work at all the stop signs. Hmmm...somebody must have a pretty hot car around here. Hey that looks like my tire print. Yep its me! The other day I caught the ASR off the job and laid down about 50 feet of patch. Mostly from the left tire, with a little from the right.
Great fun! After it warms up a little, the ASR reports for duty.

[Lee Scheeler]

Eric,
You didn't by any chance have the brakes applied even in the slightest? If the brake circuit is tripped you can get wheelspin. Try brake-torquing the car sometime and see what kind of smoke you leave... If you play around with brake/gas modulation a little bit you can get a good smoke-cloud going.

If ASR is functional 100% (even with the BS defeat switch on the dash turned on) you should only be able to get maybe 1 revolution of the tire before it grabs you. You can still leave rubber, but not a 50-foot burnout strip. Never heard of an OEM ASR being "late" as you describe. Ever have the sub-gauge (below the speedo/tach) ASR warning light come on? Beyond that, I'll leave it to Benzmac and MBDOC to diagnose.

Lee

Hmmmm....I dunno! My car has some kind of glitch. Occasionally, the temp gage will not function as well. Not sure I want it fixed though :-) What's interesting is the tire marks. Definitely two stipes which would indicate at least a partial limited slip rear end. The left mark is more pronounced than the right in all occasions. Sometimes it will only leave a left tire mark.

Lee - I'll have to try out the brake torquing , tire smoking technique out. Thanks for the tip.

[Lee Scheeler]

Eric,
To my knowledge it is a 25% limited slip diff back there. ASR (theoretically) should make for even distribution but sans slippage.

You mentioned your temp gauge gets weird on you...define weird. 500E's do run hot and you can get a pretty good swing from approx 80C (ideal) and up to 115C under bad conditions or with a cooling system having anything out of spec. It would be theoretically normal for it to run about 80-85 cruising, then get up hotter when pushed or in traffic, then go back down again after you got moving. The A/C can influence temp (raise it when on) as well.

Just on a wild guess...has your car been checked for a faulty wiring harness? Even the 500E's were subject to the cracked wiring harness glitch that plagued many W124's. That has been known to cause many strange behaviors/symptoms in cars. Your local dealer or top-notch independent should be able to tell you. Your dealership may or may not fix it on a goodwill basis beyond the usual warranty.

Hope this helps...Lee

Lee,

When its not working, my temp gage will not show any movement at all, even after driving for 20 minutes. Then all of a sudden it will spring back to life an register like 85 degrees. Its only happended about 4 times in the last 2 months.

According to the service records, my wiring harness was replaced by an independent shop sometime in 1997, along with the computer box.

In retrospect, I believe what I have been doing to make it slip is to start with the front wheels a little bit turned to one side, and then straighten it out as I start moving.

Does this make sense?