Posted the following in the Vintage section - deleted it there and reposting here - hope I have it right this time -



Hello - I am new to this forum and merely an owner who has some frustrations with Mercedes. This is my second coupe - a 1999 CL500 - my earlier one was a 1992 300CE. Love to drive them - have to mortgage my house to fix them. I was told that the transmission tunnel insulation was hanging down and in danger of creating further damage. The shop, a dealer, suggested that to remove and replace would cost about $1,700 (US!), primarily because the tranmission had to be dropped to get to it. Seems like alot to pay for something that has no significant mechanical function. Does this sound correct? Is there another way? In the meantime, I had them cut off the offending pieces so that the further damage scenario could be avoided. Of course that could mean a noisy car.