I think I had a similar part replaced by the dealer for free on a 124. When it was done, the car was well out of warranty. The dealer never heard of it but somebody in the Mercedes club gave me a special repair number and when they called it in, Mercedes covered it. Perhaps you should check with one of the technical experts at the Mercedes Club of America and see if there is anything like this for your car. May not work but it will not hurt to try.