Originally Posted by pifcat2

I've spoke to 2 shops about machining my SOHC M103 12 valves. I remove the cam. These are shops in the San Francisco Bay Area.

shop 1: Cylinder Heads Unlimited, found in local automotive listing
$175 hot tank, bead blast, check valve guides, springs, valve grind
$6 ea x 12 = $72 to replace valve guides
$50 to plane if needed
=$297 plus parts (valve guides, seals, springs if needed)

shop 2: Bay Area Cylinder Head, highly reputable, about 40 minute drive one way
=$300 "everything" plus parts

I'm considering the more local shop because I'll may need to source the valve guides after they work on it and I don't want to make 3 trips to the further place. On the other hand, another Mercedes enthusiast said the further shop is known to do good work on Mercedes heads.

1. Does the M103 head need special machining or expertise?
   
2. What other questions should I ask?
   
3. Anyone know good machine shops in San Jose?

Originally Posted by tjts1

I used a place here in San Rafael that cleaned and resurfaced my M102 head for $90. They removed the valve train and temp sensors and reinstalled everything after the resurface. I put 15k trouble free miles on it since. I can look up the contact info if you're interested.

About the hot tank, be careful. If they don't know what they're doing, they can warp the head further. Find a place that will use a different cleaning method.

Originally Posted by Ferdman

pifcat2, check with the Service Manager at your local MB dealer for recommendations of local machine shops.