The reason benz made these parts theft deterrent is because in other countries where chop and ship shops are plenty and these cars cost a literal fortune. A car can land in a shop and disappear within 2 hours at max.

They sell spares and other pieces - So benz came up with coding the parts which makes it harder to sell (this lowers insurance rates for the owner of the car - Look up Ford Sierra Cosworth history in the UK to understand it).

I remember landing on a website that offered a 722.6 shifter rebuild service for the later style PRND +/- type shifter - cost was high but they could do it - they also repaired some old radios I think. - let me try to find it.

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)