That's why you back up the link with a heavy hammer or body dolly. You don't have to hit the pin very hard, just lots of times. It works great, no problem.

I do expect that the split clip works okay AS LONG AS YOU PUT IT ON CORRECTLY. I peened the chain into my daughters 300D motor that I overhauled last Winter. It went together easily. I would not hesitate to do this again.

BTW, there were comments in this thread about leather punches and pin punches or something. You don't need any kind of punch, just a medium size ball peen hammer. Use the ball end (amazing, using a ball peen hammer for exactly what it was designed for) and tap the pin ends while backing up the back side of the link with a body dolly or large hammer. Nothing to it. It's cheap and works great.

The peened link is my preference. Each to his own. I'm sure that the TSB from Benz was not sent out for giggles. But, each to their own. After all, it's your car, you can do what you want with it.

Have a great day,