I am up to $9000 into my sdl. I am hoping this will level off very soon and I can drive for several years without major repairs. Then maybe my wife will begin to like me again.

Honestly, I was kidding myself when I bought mine. I figured I would fix a couple of cosmetic and mechanical items and ride on the repuation of Mercedes the rest of the way. Not the case. Let's face it, these are old cars. Mercedes reputation is anything but that of a chevy but its also expensive to repair. Time and the elements = rock and reputation = scissors no matter what manufacturer name you stick on it. Between 2 oil cooler hoses alone, I will spend $700. I also need a fan clutch, $200, sunroof doesn't work $xx?, hoses need replacing, prob should get a new vacuum pump just so those bb's don't fly into my engine and destroy it, other gaskgets and several other items. Timing chain and rails will cost you $400-600. I can almost guarantee you will be up to my figure in no time. I am not saying don't enjoy your car, just be prepared to shell out lots of green. If you don't want to shell that out, then sell it now before you start.

p.s. The guides to the timimg chain are NOT plastic. They are plastic coated aluminum. That's why when they break, they can do a lot of dammage. Good Idea to replace those as well.