As far a the quality issues, I don't think that the Alabama assembly plant has anything to do with the problems. Thru two ML's all of the problems have been part failures. If you bought your ML used, maybe many of the problems had been resolved. I'm west of St. Louis MO. Luckily, we have a good dealership here.
Oh yeah, how did you know you needed the MAS? And, where did you order it from?