thats true in a diesel you can keep driving.... my first experience with these were with volvos and i missed a christmas because of the v regulator....so from that point i started carrying one of these and i have changed many in the dark and in the rain....but it only becomes important in a diesel if you cut the car off....or its dark...

yes, everynow and then you will actually lose an alternator... although i have not lost one since 1984.... if you do loose an alternator do not replace it with an american alternator, Its better to have a 200k bosch alternator than a brand new american replacement.... the reason its better to have the bosch is because you want to be able to change the brush assembly in the future.. once you buy the american then your stuck replacing alternators from then on.

also on many of these bosch alternators they will have two belts, they are called a matched pair... I dont remember if the last time i replaced them if its this way on a mercedes... I think on the volvo you buy the matched pair and i think you just buy 2 belts for the mercedes....(its much better to get a matched pair)