If $$ are an issue, you can always try salvage. They have a huge network set up. I once bought a starter for my '75 300D. I went to a salvage yard between work and home (10 years ago). He found the part on the computer from a yard in Texas. I got the starter a couple of days later. It came off an early '80s 300D and worked just great.

I had no idea the car was supposed to crank that fast. I was used to the sloooowwww crank my car always had since I bought it. After the new starter, I could start it in sub-zero temp without the block heater.

Sorry, I got a bit off-topic.

__________________
Michael LaFleur

'05 E320 CDI - 86,000 miles
'86 300SDL - 360,000 miles
'85 300SD - 150,000 miles (sold)
'89 190D - 120,000 miles (sold)
'85 300SD - 317,000 miles (sold)
'98 ML320 - 270,000 miles (sold)
'75 300D - 170,000 miles (sold)
'83 Harley Davidson FLTC (Broken again) :-(
'61 Plymouth Valiant - 60k mikes
2004 Papillon (Oliver)
2005 Tzitzu (Griffon)
2009 Welsh Corgi (Buba)