I have a 2001 CLK320 with 170K KM's and the cat's have just gone (loud rattling under the car). Brought it to the shop to confirm. Today the engine light came on while driving on the highway and coming to a stop the car lost power and started shaking.

Can I put a staight pipe instead of replacing these cat's which from Mercedes cost 860 CND$ and 460CND$?

I love this car and I am not ready to get a new one so any help would be great. Also the rear cat's I thought were not connected to the engine light???

Dave