Tump,

Having gone through a recent sequence of events not as drastic as yours, I found that insurance companies total a car when the repair costs reach 75% to 80% of the book value of the car.

That would make your car a "total" by their accounting methods at $27k to $32k, depending on the value they use and the percentage range. In any case you are getting close enough to make it easy for them to decide to avoid fixing it. By the time the job is done they will expect a 20% growth (the estimate from the body shop is always low and adders as more damage is uncovered run the cost of a major accident like yours up significantly), which will get them to the total value before considering your diminished value argument.

Good luck, and don't believe them when they tell you the differential, axles and transmission are as good as they were before the event. None of that equipment is intended to see axial loads or shock impulses like yours has experienced. Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)