Not all of us know as much about auto maintenance as you do...but we are eager to learn. Thus we ask questions that may seem basic to those who are more experienced and are very grateful for the advice we get. (Incidentally, the word is "incredible," not "incredulous;" if you find something incredible then it's the person, not the thing itself, that is incredulous.)

However, it may be of interest that I posed to the question to Rusty at buymbparts and his opinion was that, as long as the hoses are in good shape, it's fine to leave them. So apparently there is some difference of opinion even among those who have significant experience.

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 160k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 180k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 145k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 79k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife