Good news, and I have my fingers crossed the idler arm stays put. Alignment shop said that with the new steering linkage everything else was nice and tight, and he aligned the car to eliminate the toe-in excess.

__________________
87 300e (white/black; amg body kit)
88 300ce (red/cream; amg body kit)
93 300ce cabrio (white/blue/blue top)
93 300ce cabrio (black/grey/black top)
98 ml 320 (totaled @ 137,000 miles)
99 clk320 (black/grey/black top)