Generally, with the new facelift a lot of things were fixed. They made something like 200 mechanical changes to the car.
There were a few after issues, like coil packs, but the control arm issue was fixed as well as the ICM problems, both of which caused a lot of B5 owners grief.
There are a few stupid things they have done that make no sense, and still are not propery addressed, such as putting the CCM under the driver's seat, where water is most certainly going to get to it. And, on that note. sunroof drains that do not work properly as soon as a spec of dust gets in it. Once they plug up, the just dump water into the passenger compartment.
Yours is one of very few ABS issues that have come up, so I'd say it was likely a quirk. Honestly, your issues are not so bad on a '98.
As long as you keep up with fluid changes, you should be fine for a while. Also, check that you have the oil line shields installed to the turbo.
Mark
