ATTENTION CORKY :
Thanks for your input and feel free to provide none.
Why do you deem it difficult to estimate the cost of replacement of an accumulator ? After all, labour hours are found in an MB service manual and the cost of the part is easily determined. Hence IF this is my problem, I can estimate what it would cost to fix.
Given your extensive engineering background, I am sure you'll be the first to point out that most engineering subsystems usually have some common failure mechanisms. For example, in the case of a hydo suspension, the symptoms I have described might be the result of accumulators and/or struts. While this does not constitute a diagnosis, it does allow some evaluation of the range of financial expense required to address the problem !

You should really try to think outside the box instead of being irate