Im starting to think it is something else too, I drove it today about 20 miles to dust out any cobwebs from the wife driving it. Still runs champion with plenty of power and nice shifts, no unbalance or shaking. I know its hard to troubleshoot over the internet, I figured I would come to a make specific site to see it anyone else had the same or similar problem.

as for the history, I took it once to the mercedes dealer who really bent me over and the second time to an independent mercedes guy with a really good reputation who finished me off. Both times were not good experiences even aside from the prices they charged for things I would normally do myself had it not been a mercedes.