380SL airpump
 

Is the air pump a necessary component? Recently while disassembling the front end components getting ready for a timingchain replacement that my air pump was not connected ( drive belt) and obviously has a bad bearing. What is the downside of not fixing the airpump? Will be detrimental to the engine function? Can I remove and replace the bearing? it appears it is a light press fit but have not been able to dislodge it yet. Is the bearing readily available?

Thanks for any help/

Have you tried to search this site for air pump bearing? There are a lot of posts on this.