Hmmm, ours seems to be on the early end, but...

Late production '96 S420, 88,500 miles, "pronounced wobble" in the main crank pulley and slapping noise as the tensioner flopped back and forth with the vibrating serpentine belt. Looks like it's gonna be HB, bolt, belt, front main seal, by the book. No more than a few hundred bucks, and the dealer is checking into getting MB to pay for the parts.

Interesting reading the notes from techs on quality of newer Benzes. My dad swore by them. My wife's dad does too, but his last was a late '80s SEL. I never owned one. Bought my wife the used '96 with 37,500 miles a few years ago -- looked new and hardly broken in for a car that should run a quarter million miles without breathing hard. I said, "No dear, anything that costs THAT much we experiment with a USED one first. Well, the bumper-bumper warranty that came with it paid out about $17,000 in repairs over two years, and we've paid out a bit less than $4,000.

Not encouraging.