That is the recommendation, yes. I would not let a dealer even do the airbag fix on mine.

I used a place called "GLover's Garage" back in Georgia. They were just a bunch of old-time car guys (all brothers) for things like brakes and a coolant flush. One of them had an SLK320 with 280,000 on it his wife bought new, THAT guy knew my car! I never asked them to "give me a price", I simply would bring them parts I wanted used (fluids too, I"m fussy that way) - and told them, "Just charge me your $90 an hour, don't hurry, I don't want it cheap, I want it RIGHT." We got along well.

But in most cases, a German car shop is the way to go.