454 Forfour ESP Disable

Background Info

Amadeo contacted me to ask if I knew how to disable the ESP on the original Forfour (454). I had a look around, found no info so I referred to the wiring diagrams and came up with an idea. He tried it out and it worked out perfectly.

Disabling The ESP

Disconnect the battery. Remove the handbrake surround by lifting it…

…not forgetting to disconnect the window switches.

Lever the cup holder out and remove the bolt underneath it.

Same at the front.

Disconnect the airbag light and lighter socket.

Push the surround through the base.

Fit a switch in a convenient place like underneath the handbrake.

Under the carpet between the handbrake and the gear lever is the lateral movement sensor.

The sensor uses 4 cables.

1	Black	Earth
2	Green	CAN Bus Low
3	Green/White	CAN Bus High
4	Black/White	Power

Yep, looks correct.

In this case, Amadeo decided to switch both the CAN Bus High and CAN Bus Low. This would require a DPST switch. This would switch 2 cables separately.

However, I believe that switching just the black or the black/white cable would work also. This would remove the power from the sensor instead of stopping the data. If you are switching 1 cable, you can use an SPST switch instead.

Amadeo cut both the CAN Bus wires and extended them to the new switch.

He wired them to the switch…

…and fitted it to a suitable position.

Put everything back together, reconnect everything including the battery. Ideally, with the ignition off, flip the switch and then start the car. The ESP light should be on. This means that the traction control is disabled.

Amadeo used a missile switch so it couldn’t accidentally be activated.

With the ESP off, don’t drive like a prick. If you have turned the “talent enhancer” off and have no talent to start with you’ll almost certainly stuff your car into a ditch at the first roundabout.