I just went through this on my 98 E300.
CKP failure WILL result in immediate, sudden, engine shut down. See if you have P0725 on OBDII or P1335 on HHT (or the Xentry HHT Emulator).
Get the real MB starred part from an MB dealer. Make sure it’s Bosch part 0 281 002 124 which correlates to MB part number 003 153 74 28.
Bosch claims that part 0 281 002 123 is a direct replacement. Well no it is not as I found out, I tried 2 different sensors before going to the dealer. The -123 is the sensor Pelican sells. (No disrespect meant to Pelican, they are going by the Bosch sensor guide, linked in my thread linked below, which has bad information.)
If you are willing to get a little banged up on the hand and wrist, then you can reach down in the hole just below the oil filter to wrangle the sensor out. Otherwise you will need to remove the intake. If you look just below the oil filter you will see a right angled plug on the bell housing. The sensor is under the plug.
First unplug it, grasp the plug head and pull straight off. A 5 mm hex adapter, a swivel, and two 12” extensions will loosen the single bolt, take the bolt off, then just grasp the body and pull straight out of the engine.
W210 CAN bus issues