Engine Belts And Pulleys problems of the 1999 Mercedes Benz M Class

I was driving across the verrazano narrows bridge from brooklyn to staten island. Just past the tolls, my harmonic balancer failed, causing the serpentine belt to sizes and stopping the engine. Consequently, I lost steering and braking became very hard. I was more-or-less pointing to an shoulder/embankment between the main highway and the exit immediately past the tolls. I coasted to that embankment and used its slope in part to help stop the vehicle. I was subsequently towed to ray catena mercedes in edison, NJ. I was informed by the service advisor there (mr. Hessert) that this failure was part of a "campaign" and that it would be repaired along with any collateral damage "for free" by mercedes. I asked "since when" was this campaign in effect, they stated since April of 2005. I asked why I was not notified of this as I am the registered owner. We both together then called mercedes customer service and were informed that there was no 'notice' and that this was not a formal recall. Had this failure happened 40 minutes earlier while I was on the long island expressway, or 10 minutes later when I would have been on the goethals bridge, I would have been at the very least severely injured if not dead not to mention any other vehicles and individuals who would inevitably been involved. I am told that the _defective_ harmonic balancer will be replaced along with the serpentine belt and the "upper oil pan" as that part was damaged during the failure. I will request that these parts be retained.

I have problems with my check engine light from and faulty oxygen sensor, the car was repaired under warranty. Then I had a hose disconnect and lost power steering prior to the recall on the hose cloamp and I paid the towing and repairs myself. Now I have had a major mechanical problem and on August 5th, my car lost power steering, air conditioning, the battery light came on and then my car began overheating. Apparently the crankshaft broke and it shredded one of the major belts, which damaged the oil pan and water pump. I immediately pulled over and had the car towed 20 miles to the dealer. The bill is going to be $3000. I saw a similar complaint on the NHTSA web site. I am concerned that other consumers may have similar problems and may not be able to pull over safely, not to mention the cost of repairs.