Finding a used engine is a crap shoot. A friend spent a good deal of time and money replacing an engine instead of rebuilding. After a month of headaches, that engine is now toast.

I think it is better to rebuild if you can do it yourself. You get the satisfaction of finishing the job and you get a practically new engine. A known quantity that will give you more peace of mind.

__________________
Michael LaFleur

'05 E320 CDI - 86,000 miles
'86 300SDL - 360,000 miles
'85 300SD - 150,000 miles (sold)
'89 190D - 120,000 miles (sold)
'85 300SD - 317,000 miles (sold)
'98 ML320 - 270,000 miles (sold)
'75 300D - 170,000 miles (sold)
'83 Harley Davidson FLTC (Broken again) :-(
'61 Plymouth Valiant - 60k mikes
2004 Papillon (Oliver)
2005 Tzitzu (Griffon)
2009 Welsh Corgi (Buba)