Yes, I rather feared that opportunities would be limited. Shame really as
there must be a market for a supplier, just as there is in the US.

Here in France the garages have catalogues of "pattern" parts so it's not
always essential to "buy Mercedes". Having said that, I have always bought
genuine parts and, in the case of the exhaust system, the genuine one was
100 Euro cheaper!

The one beauty of being here is the cost of labour. My coupe burst a
radiator 10 miles from home - recovery charge 25 Euro. Hourly rates 25 Euro.

UK readers may be interested in bringing their cars down here if they need
big work. Parts prices are the same but what you save in labour you can
spend a part of having a gastronomic few days in France - really!

Oh well, enough of all this - back to the dealership.