Don't get me wrong guys, I'm a Mercedes diesel enthusiast just like you and I would never go back to VW after owning my first Mercedes.
If the timing belt breaks on a VW the engine is toast, they are zero clearance engines, the valves smash into the pistons and it's all over. It happened to me and that's when I decided to give Mercedes at try.
I love my old '95 E300 and I guess I should be happy it has been so reliable to me for so many years. This was my "learning" car!
I am looking for something to replace it (Mercedes diesel) for sure and hopefully I will find something with a turbo this time and glow plugs that were replaced properly.
funola explained how the glow plugs should seat in the head and I took a close look at mine and sure enough they were screwed into the head at different depths. some were in fairly deep and others were not.
I will be be waiting for an analogy on my first Mercedes experience from dieseal300 (he is pretty good at that) The one about the lift pump acting as a mini air compressor was perfect!