yep, the roads are terrible here.. car has hardly ever been off-road, but the desert would probably seem like an easy ride after the roads here... I live in Cairo by the way - and if any one's every been, they'll know what I'm talking about!
I saw the front right shock myself when they lifted up the car in the mercedes garage here, and it was damp around the 'join' on the shock. They told me both the front ones needed replacing. However, when i drive the car, the whole ride seems really unstable, every hole it hits makes an incredibly hollow sound throught the whole car, and when cornering, the car bounces around the corner -it feels a bit like being in a boat- (not a flaw i ever noticed with an ML500, as it used to corner beyond belief for a 4X4) ....
The car has done about 110,000 kilometres (approx. 68,350 miles), which i appreciate to be a fair amount for a 2002 model... so on top of the bad roads here, maybe this is the reason for the shocks being 'shot'?!