Good evening, Adam --

Without having diagnosed your car personally, my guess is that this shop is fishing and your money is the bait. With the understanding that we have no information other than what is in your message, what is the likelihood of both the ignition control module and the coil failing _at_the_same_time? And -- I would say that it is unlikely that your ignition control module is bad, but, of course, it could be -- but I would definitely take it to someone like Donnie or one of the other pros on this site before spending $1800 (or, roughly 1/3 the current price of your car) on a part that is about the size of your hand.

I have purchased parts from a very large MB wholesale dealership for years and my parts guy there says that this module is (incorrectly) diagnosed so much, that they will not even sell the part to a DIYer or a shop besides their own. This should tell you something.

However, if a shop definitely determines that the module is faulty, go to someone like http://www.atlanta-stuttgart.com/ and purchase a used one (for probably $200 at most) and tell 'em I sent you and they owe me one.

If you want to see what they want $1800 for, open your hood, look at the pancake-thickness box on the driver's inner fender near the front with the fat wires connected. The coil is in front of it and further toward the radiator . . .

Richard Easley
Waco, Texas
http://hsb.baylor.edu/html/easley/home.htm