Originally Posted by Mlmonkey

First of all I want to thank eveyone that contributes to this forum. It has saved me LOTS of money!!

1999 ml430 125,000miles

The front passenger side cup holder has, after reassembling many times, broken beyond repair. I haven't looked at this much but I need it replaced. Anyone do this before? Any place I can buy one at a good price?

You can certainly inquire Phil here at Mercedesshop, it helps support this site. There is a panel on the right side of the dash that pulls off, and a screw under there. Remove that screw and remove the glovebox, will give good clearance to get behind the dash with your hand and remove the 4 screws to remove the entire cup holder. They are very small Torx head screws, right around T8 I believe.

I also have been experiencing clunking from the front passenger side while turning left at low speeds and while coming to a stop. Probably a coupling problem in half shafts (or whatever the correct term is). Just looking for the right order of diagnosing this problem. Where should I look first?
Doesn't sound exactly like it, but I would look to see if the front swaybar links have been replaced with the new ones. I think the 99's still had the old ones.

I also have an issue with the rear license plate mounting. The scews are seized and a couple of the "threaded nut spacer thingys" are spinning free. Is there a way to remove these without taking of the interior panel?
You could grind them down and let the inside part fall in to the panel, but they'll probably rattle around a bit, so may be better to pull the inside panel out. Normally this is how I did it anyways.

If it is not proper to have multiple questions in one thread I appologize.