Thank you, thank you, thank you! I've been craving information on the fan because this oddball Bently manual I have (published in South Africa???), says that the early fans can be removed with this bent rod people are talking about, but that the fan on the w104 is different. As long as I know I can get the fan off with the rod then I'm fine. The car broke down at my parent's house 400miles from here, so that's why I want as much info as possible from you all. I need to get all the parts, tools and info before this weekend, and be able to knock the job off and drive the car back to Virginia Sunday afternoon. I can't have any surprises!

Thanks for all the help. The ball-end allen is a great idea I hadn't thought about. I'll be sure to pick one up.

GregS