Thats one of the reasons I am really glad to be airbag free in my w-126. The 126 was pretty much "state of the art" and the first test run of the airbag systems in the wild. A 24 year old airbag would make me nervous for exactly those reasons.

Good to hear your ok. Good thing you kept your mind on the task at hand driving the car.

I think you will probably be pleasantly surprised at what MBUSA will probably do for this one. They probably want to see "why" this happened and use your situation to add to their knowledgebase so they can avoid the problem in the future. In the interest of PR and because of your willingness to let them have a look at your car they may work a deal with you on the repairs. Keep in mind your car is well outside of its warranty and no other car maker in the world would even talk to you at this point other than MB.