I am the new owner of a 1987 diesel with 163,000miles on it...the dealer who always maintained it told the origianl owner(my dad) that it wasnt worth changing the timing chain...a bad idea to open it up..would cost more than it was worth. I took it to a new guy who told me i should DEFINITELY change it ...and it will then run for many more miles....who do i believe? my cynical self cant help thinking the original dealer wanted it to die so my dad would buy a new car.....which he eventually did....yet my new guy it seems would be motivated to want to do some work $$$ although he seems like a very upfront honest kind of guy. Does anyone know what the standard thought is on this? or what mercedes actually recommends? I would appreciate any info regarding this. thanks