Have a really nice 03 SLK320 with 80K miles that's become my wife's daily driver now that the kids are in school and she's not hauling them with her everywhere. The ignition key is becoming increasingly difficult to turn, and recently it takes a minute or two of wiggling the steering wheel before the ignition key can be turned. Obviously I am worried about if/when it totally seizes up, so I want to address it.

Saw this nice detailed video of a guy with a Crossfire who removes his steering lock / ignition assembly and remove this little spring assembly, which appears to resolve the issue. Has anyone else done this? Any downside to it? Seems like a simple enough fix...and avoids having to play with tumblers and keys.