I am still sold on the battery root cause for my car. We had our first cold/cool snap this weekend and it was, "Welcome Back ASR." But I will be replacing the battery soon. I will not endure another winter of this.
I have also concluded that Limp Mode, as it pertains to this issue, was engineered in to protect MB from liability lawsuits. Lack of electric power for the ABS pump should not mean automatic denial of full engine power. Unfortunately for us, once ASR is disabled, an E320 becomes a hot rod.
Though I have only experienced this for the first few seconds after recovering from an ASR fault, without ASR power management my car flies. So I imagine, back in the mid-90s, MB lawyers thinking, "If we allow the cars to operate without ASR and ABS, and someone gets into an accident, they will turn around and sue us for a "defective" product. So let's protect ourselves and cripple the car, even if that means careful, responsible drivers will never get to experience the full capabilities of the vehicle."
Sigh.
Perhaps those elusive makes of the ASR defeat chips should instead shift their focus to a Limp Mode defeat chip. Or was that already the path they were on?