Looks like Mercedes-Benz won this one, NO RECALL as of April 22, 2004 -

NHTSA Action Number : PE03058 NHTSA Recall Campaign Number : N/A
Make : MERCEDES BENZ Model: M CLASS
Manufacturer : MERCEDES-BENZ USA, LLC. Year : 2000
Component : ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE:BELTS AND ASSOCIATED PULLEYS
Date Investigation Opened : December 17, 2003
Date Investigation Closed : April 22, 2004
Summary:
THE OFFICE OF DEFECTS INVESTIGATION (ODI) OPENED THIS PRELIMINARY EVALUATION TO INVESTIGATE ALLEGATIONS OF ENGINE CRANKSHAFT PULLEY HARMONIC BALANCER FAILURE THAT COULD RESULT IN LOSS OF POWER-STEERING ASSIST. ODI HAS RECEIVED A TOTAL OF 546 NON-DUPLICATIVE REPORTS THAT ALLEGE ENGINE CRANKSHAFT PULLEY HARMONIC BALANCER FAILURE ON ALL MERCEDES-BENZ VEHICLES USING THE SUBJECT COMPONENT. THE SUBJECT COMPONENT FAILURES ARE PROGRESSIVE IN NATURE AND ONLY A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THE COMPLAINTS AND WARRANT CLAIMS INVOLVED A FAILURE THAT HAD PROGRESSED FAR ENOUGH TO EFFECT POWER STEERING PERFORMANCE (6 OF 55 ODI COMPLAINTS REFERENCE INCREASED STEERING EFFORT). THERE HAVE BEEN NO CRASHES OR INJURIES RELATED TO THE ALLEGED DEFECT. A SAFETY-RELATED DEFECT HAS NOT BEEN IDENTIFIED AT THIS TIME AND FURTHER USE OF AGENCY RESOURCES DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE WARRANTED. ACCORDINGLY, THIS INVESTIGATION IS CLOSED. THE CLOSING OF THIS INVESTIGATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FINDING BY NHTSA THAT A SAFETY-RELATED DEFECT DOES NOT EXIST. THE AGENCY WILL TAKE FURTHER ACTION IF WARRANTED BY THE CIRCUMSTANCES.

I'm so glad I took my 2000 ML in recently (4/12/04) to get the harmonic balancer replaced under warranty. Had it not been for this forum I would never have known of the problem. Sigh..

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Slowdriver

2000 ML320 (37K Mi)
1985 BMW 735i (155K Mi)
1989 Caravan (102K Mi) cargo hauler
2000 Montana (40K Mi) family hauler