I am a subscriber to this post. Today I had my wife drive to the dealership to have the balancer checked out before her 67 mile each way trip to Newburgh tonite & my weekend trip to Massachusetts, each for my son's ice hockey team. I admit I had no appointment, but from this forum I knew it was a quick visual inspection. The service advisor told my wife the inspection involved opening the engine, which couldn't be done without an appointment. Well, my wife angrily called me, and after I cited the specifics per ILUVMILS, the advisor put me through to the service manager. Displaying grace and knowledge, he agreed that it was a quick visual and he got off the phone and walked outside and did it himself. Verdict: I'm one of the lucky ones, mine is fine even with 81,000 original miles on my 98 ml320. This forum and the people who take their personal time to post are the best, an unbelievable resource for the rest of us. Thanks again, esp to BENZMAC for bringing this potential problem to our attention, and to ILUVMILS, who made it so clear and simple to understand for a novice like me.