Richard, agh, it's worse than I thought... please don't tell me you use (gulp) YELLOW mustard on your brats! The extra jack stands is a good idea, by the way.
toknow, sorry to hijack your thread.
I don't know where you'd jack the whole side of the car up, or why you'd want to.
For the front, I use the beam that's directly in line with the front wheels. It's also the only scrap of metal showing if you have an engine cover like mine, so presumably that's what MB wants us to use.