300 E transmission leak

I have an opportunity to purchase an 86 300E with 145K. The car runs well but it has a transmission leak. As I was scanning through my CD version of the repair manuals for the car, I couldn't find anything about R&R of the transmission. Am I missing something? Has anybody used this CD that has some insight? According to some of the other issues posted about this problem, it will likely to be necessary to remove the transmission to replace the seal (between the engine and the transmission). Has anyone attempted this....if so how big of a job is it? Are special tools required? If I should choose to take it to a local MB mechanic, how much would I expect to pay for the seal replacement?
Thanks in advance for your help.

[joel]

taking down a tranny is not a daily job for most people.
do a search on possible cost. i would bargain for 2000$
from the asking price.

[haasman]

Mercedes has had a great deals on factory rebuilt transmissions. Depending on the model they can be a great deal. You turn in you old one as the core.

Jeff

Thanks for the inputs. Joel, $2000?!?! Holy cow is that US or CN$....just kidding. I actually bought my 89 while living in Calgary last year. The previous, oiginal owner was a retired lady in Winnipeg. She and her husband put 260KM (about 161K miles) touring all over North America. It was reverently taken care of by the local dealership (who sent me every record on the car....approximately 50 pages). Needless to say, it is in excellent condition.
The 86 that I was considering turned out to be a dog. It had been wrecked and poorly repaired, interior ripped, etc.
hassman, for future reference, are the OE rebuilt tranny's offered through dealerships?
Thanks again.

[haasman]

Yes, only through authorized Mercedes dealerships.

Jeff