Last week after a trip up north to Hearst Castle the W109 developed a tapping noise from under the hood. I thought it was a rocker coming loose but then I came across a comment Tom made on this forum about his 4.5 making a tapping noise that is due to an exhaust leak. Well sure enough when I checked under the car today I found the large rubber O ring that supports the front of the exhaust pipes broke. By chance I had an extra ring in my spares box (thanks eBay!) so I replaced it and I was able with lots of WD-40 and a 12 mm wrench bent 45 degs to tighten the 2 bolts on the drivers side manifold/downtube joint. Well luckily it took care of the noise. I'm glad I ran across Tom's remark or I would have been pulling the valve cover off!! Tom have you tried tightening these 2 bolts?

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Bill Reimels
Now down to one:
1972 300SE 3.5 W109 (Euro delivery)