I was asking about MB cars, mainly. Not being too familiar with the marque, was wondering if they all had their evaps buried deep in the center of the dash? As I mentioned earlier, on my '97 E300D, not only does the ENTIRE dash have to be removed but also the steering column, complete center console, and on and on....

I recall earlier GM vehicles had the evaporator on the engine side of the firewall. Easy to access and r/r. Don't really remember a lot of them failing, either. I believe they used that config into the early 2000's. These were the systems with the HUGE cylindrical Frigidaire compressors before they moved to the R4 design. They were about 16" long with the pulley and clutch, weighed about 50 lbs and had 6 pistons with the swash plate configuration. R12, of course and ice cubes spittin out of the vents at all times......lol Can't recall what Ford and Chrysler did with their evaps, though.

My son had an 04 GMC Safari and the evap was still on the engine side. I had a Ford Aerostar (cant remember the year) and the heater core was about the easiest thing to change out I've ever seen. The Safari was basically the same. Disconnect the hoses on the engine side, open the passenger door, take a plastic cover off in the footwell, and there was the heater core. Literally a "piece of cake"!

However, there really is no comparison of American cars and MB of similar vintage. My '83 240D is a little rough but "all there" and mostly original. Pretty sure I wouldn't feel the same about an '83 Buick Regal. Doubt it would be in as good condition, either. To be fair, the American cars were about a third of the price, though. Hard to beat that value at the time.

An HVAC service cart for 40 bucks, or so, would've been a great deal! As you mentioned, though, only so much room for "stuff". I've got the same problem.....