Thanks for the replies,

compu 85: by "limp" I hope you mean limp to the repair garage, as opposed to...never mind. I did not check the engine numbers but I believe its the original motor. I've read the horror stories on this forum about the engine (rod bender) and other major defects affecting this particular model. Its had them all except for the bent rod and cracked head. It uses about 0.5 quarts in 3,500 miles, most of which I think is leaking from unknown locations at the front of the engine. Its been doing it for years. The compression was checked about a year ago by the Mercedes dealer, and was reported to be holding equal compression across the 6 cylinders and was well within specs.

ForcedInduction: I would love to loose the EGR valve. I saw its handy work last spring when I installed new glow plugs. The intake manifold was choked with coke. I tried just blocking off the EGR, but the MAF ratted me out to the ECU which killed the boost.

When you say "Replace the vacuum actuator on your turbo with a normal wastegate actuator", could you be more specific? I know the 350 and 300 are nearly identical, and the older 300 turbo lacked a computer. Are you suggesting using the vacuum actuator and wastegate actuator from the older diesel?