Have you considered a VW TDI? It may not be a Benz (ok, it's not), but it has many of the features that I was looking for and that MBUSA hasn't provided me with: a modestly priced car with high fuel economy, good reliability, good performance, manual transmission, and no fancy gadgets that break down.
BTW my W210 was on Ebay for sale a month ago or so, but I was totally repulsed by people's lack of appreciation for all the work and fixes that I've done to the car so I decided to take it off the market. It seems that most people just want to have a free lunch and they don't give a damn.
