I was driving home from dinner last night ... and after completing a right turn at normal speeds ... the ASR warning message splashed across the instrument panel message area. The engine continued to run at nominal idle, however I could not throttle up the engine and there was no propulsion to the rear wheels. I pulled over to the extreme right apron of the road, out of the way of traffic, and turned the engine off ... waited about 30 seconds and restarted the engine. The ASR light did not come back on ... I drove about 4 miles to home without incident.

Are there any suggestions as to how I should proceed to diagnose, correct, remedy the problem? I have to use this car to ferry my 86 year old mother back and forth across Alligator Alley and I can't afford to have it break down on that desolate road with an old lady in the car.

I've got a 1996 E320, with 57,000 miles on the odo. I bought the car new and my maintenance has been and continues to be impeccable and beyond that which is called for in the owners manual by MB. The only other thing that has required action beyond preventive maintenance is a CEL light of P170 which appeared two weeks hence, which I tracked down to a "potential" MAF failure. I removed the MAF, cleaned the sensor plate with a non-residue/high quality electronic component spray cleaner and dried it with compressed air. I cleared the CEL code and replaced the MAF ... and the CEL has not come back on (yet).

I would appreciate any and all assistance. Thank you.

Sure does sound like a bad throttle motor to me, I suppose it could be the microswitch in the gas padal too, but probably the throttle motor.
Need to check for stored codes in the ECU and ASR
Gilly

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Check tire pressure/size for uniformity...

Arthur, I thought of that too, or maybe a wheel speed sensor, but I don't think these faults would cause limp-home mode.
Gilly

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I thought of that too, but b/c it is in a turn , it may trigger limp.
Just a first check I would do........if for no othger reason than to get it out of the diagnosis.

Sure, makes sense to check it, or maybe a case where the owner just rotated tires or had to replace a single tire for some reason, or put the spare on it. Best course right now, besides the few things we've mentioned, is to get it checked for codes.
Gilly

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Thank you for telling me about "limp home" mode. I didn't seem to be able to crawl anywhere, much less limp, when the ASR warning splashed across the visual annunciator ... is there something special one does to "limp" home? My recollection was that I applied pressure to the gas pedal and there was zero forward response ... almost as if the throttle and transmission were completely disengaged ... but with the engine at nominal idle ... ok ... I have to pull the codes ... or try to. thank you.

hmmmm ... will do ... right away. thank you much.

Is there another term for "throttle motor." This is an "old" straight six 104 engine ... not a "throttle-by-wire" like the new ones. Pardon my ignorance if I don't understand the terminology. Would appreciate any additional info on the "throttle motor" and its location. I am assuming the m/switch is in the vicinity of the gas/throttle pedal. However, I realize that I need to draw the codes out of the car ... or try to first. thank you.

I have read and learned a bit on this website. I think that I should share my expensive experience with you guys.
My car is 94 S420, I have exactly the same problem as you describe... the engine is on but no power to the transmission, ASR light lit up, turn off the engine and start normally as it never happens. This happens just once in a while, it only happens when I apply brake especially when it rains. I bring my car to change a harness... it costs me CAN $1300.00... Just seconds after I leave the shop.... it happens exactly the same... Holly cow... So... I change the brake light switch ($25.)... And ... the problem is solved. I believe that this switch is not only light up the brake light and release the shift gear solenoid but also send the signal to the computer to dis-engage the engine from the transmission. To test this, I put my car on Drive gear, one foot on the brake and the other on the gas pedal, the car does not force to go forward. which means that when I apply brake, the engine and transmission is actually dis-engaged.
I hope that this helps and makes sense to you

Cars I had
1991 560SEL
1994 S420