If YOUR Mercedes shop only quoted you $162.50, then you may want them to do the job. I got quotes from my closest two dealers (one hour and two hours away), and this goes back awhile so I don't remember the exact prices but both were higher, and the service advisor at the closer shop really didn't understand what he was talking about.

I did both the front and the rear myself without too much trouble, though in retrospect I would say if you can find a proper seal driver then get it. Dropping the driveshaft is not too big a problem, and to approximate the preload draw a line pointing to 12:00 on the nut before disassembly, and torque it until points to 12 again. Not the best method but pretty close. Of course with the aluminum diff carrier a gentle touch is needed to pull the old seal.

Good luck!

__________________
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)