I've always felt the same when naysayers bring up inspection, but maybe I'm not giving these guys enough credit. I'm also running catless headers on my BMW (secondary cats intact!), so I might be slightly biased against excessive hand-wringing in this regard. But there are no emissions inspections in my county, visual or otherwise, so it's a moot point for me anyway.

Same kit here, waiting to install. Agree it appears well made.

Absolutely a look thing. It cleans up the engine bay and removes yards of superfluous vacuum tubing and other doo-dads. The fact that the charge air pipe and intake runners are no longer being mucked up with soot can't hurt, either.

I actually consider myself an environmentalist, despite minor tampering with two of my vehicles' emission control systems. My feeling is that tinkering with a 30-year-old diesel and keeping it in service is way more environmentally friendly and sustainable than leasing a new Prius or Tesla every four years. More savvy financially as well.

IMO (and speaking from an OM602 perspective here), the EGR delete should only be done in conjunction with the pressure-actuated wastegate mod. Surprised that someone would know enough to delete the EGR, but not enough to realize that doing so would prompt EDS to cut boost.

On the other side, what's the diameter of the round plate that slips into the clamp ring? Mine purchased is so loose that I'm making a new plate.

No way to fool the EGR on this engine. You'll probably want to get codes pulled and see where the trouble is. You will need real MB Xentry to get a true picture.

My roommate bought one of Rollguy's kits a while back, but after searching throughout the house and garage, we could not find it. His 350SDL has been smoking badly upon acceleration and was being sluggish. Because it's his daily driver, we needed to fix it soon, so I donated the EGR delete kit that was on my old 300SD manifolds (I installed non-EGR manifolds).

The EGR delete kit that I had was one that I bought on eBay or somewhere. It was all stainless steel. I didn't care for the bolt heads sticking up so tall, so I used rounded head bolts. It came with blue silicone water pump sealant (interesting) but I used copper silicone sealant instead.

The stainless steel exhaust manifold plug was very thick and I could not get it to fit my 300SD a few years ago until after some hours of trying, I warped it enough that the clamp would barely fit over it and I could thread in the clamp bolt while holding the clamp with pliers. It was a total hassle and didn't seal but I didn't want to fight with it anymore.

When I tried installing this same plug on the 350SDL, it just wouldn't work. The clamp would not close down enough because the plug was way too thick. The thickness of the metal on that end of the EGR valve was paper-thin, and if you put in metal that's any thicker, the clamp will NOT tighten over it.

So, I took a jar lid that had a 36mm pop-up button that was the same diameter as the plug. It was already the perfect shape and size, so I used a Dremel tool and cut out slightly larger than the button (to 38mm) and used a file to smooth out the edges.

Then I placed the newly made plug against the end of the manifold and tapped on the edges with a hammer so they would bend over the sides. After that, I used copper silicone sealant and the clamp fit right over it. I used brake cleaner to get the expiration date off of the paint.

If the clamp makes the plug buckle at the open end, you'll have to remove the clamp and use a hammer to make sure the edges fit tight against the manifold end. If the end up the plug sticks straight out past the end of the manifold, the clamp will catch it and make it buckle. It has to fit tightly against the manifold first.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...t-imag1368.jpg
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...t-imag1369.jpg

You need a egr delete kit
 

:)I use the egr delete kits to improve engine performance

Nice thread resurrection.
Manifolds from a '79 SD are also an option.

OM617 - T E.G.R.
 

The 1980 W116 300SD also has non EGR manifolds.....

I usually find the EGR valve proper isn't fully closed due to accumulated buildup of oily exhaust crud, it's a simple thing to remove it and clean it so once closed it remains so, increasing your boost / power / fuel economy whilst reducing the amount of soot and smoke the exhaust emits .