3 Point Fan

A buddy of mine has a 1997 S320 which now refuses to start. He gets a "key error" when he turns the ignition. He was told the chip in his key is missing. Unfortunately, Mercedes-Benz no longer sells this key. He was told he needs to change the steering column, key and module. He is not much of a DIY guy and that is beyond his skillset. He called local locksmiths who stated they cannot fix it. Same with two independent M-B garages.

I did a little research and from what I gather, the key has a chip which syncs to the DAS 2 (immobilizer) system.

My question for this group is: can the immobilizer be bypassed? How is this done?
Is a "Julie" unit required to do so?
Does someone offer a service to send a module and get this modification done? That WOULD be within my buddy's skill set