Go back through this thread, and you'll see that different people have gotten different responses from their dealers. If you're the original owner of the car, you may get some relief from the dealer. Of course if the car is under warranty they'll cover the whole thing. The shop foreman at Mercedes-Benz of Houston North, Charlie Johnson, tried to get Mercedes to help me out by covering the towing bill from Lufkin, and I would have paid for the repair. Since I am not the original owner, and the car was out of warranty, they refused to give me any relief. Ended up doing it myself, with a little advice from Charlie, who was very helpful. Fortunately for me the damage to the upper oil pan and front engine cover was only cosmetic.

Mercedes and NHTSA do not consider this to be a recall issue because it's not a safety problem.

Good luck!

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Lenny

There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games. --Ernest Hemingway

'10 GL550/'04 BMW 545/'99 BMW 323/'98 ML320/'87 VW GTI (race)