Mike,

It looked fairly obvious to me also that it was the infamous broken radiator tank inlet. All of the new ones do come with a metal insert to reduce the chance of a repeat performance.

Your prices from FastLane would be as follows:

Antifreeze 1 Gallon Part # Q 1 03 0002 - $11.98

Radiator Part # 124 500 90 03 - $294.03

Radiator Hose - lower Part # 124 501 33 82 - $8.49

Radiator Hose - upper Part # 124 501 94 82 - $10.73

Thermostat Kit Part # 110 200 05 15 - $16.69

The radiator and thermostat kit would both be OE BEHR...

Anyone can do this themselves, just click on the link to FastLane, enter the information about the car (not just Mercedes...) and choose the category of part, then the part. If you need the part #, choose "buy" and click on the window in the background...

You should be able to re-use the clamps on the car, and I would ask PartsShop/FastLane for a quote on the Mercedes Benz degreaser and citrus radiator flushes.

Definately flush the cooling system. You could even do it before removing the old radiator by using "mechanics wire" (baling wire) to re-attach the upper hose. Just take the clamp loose, run a couple of pieces of rire through it, reposition the hose, tighten the clamp enough to hold the wire, and while holding the hose snugly against the radiator, attach and tighten the wire and hose clamp enough to get a snug seal.

Then you can refill the cooling system, run the car to warm it up, and flush the system before taking it all apart to replace the parts.

You can also call a couple of radiator shops about replacing just the upper tank if the radiator is in good enough shape to warrant a repair...

Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

__________________

Scott Longston
Northern California Wine Country...
"Turbos whistle, grapes wine..."