Originally Posted by Squiggle Dog

I recently rebuilt the turbo in my 300SD and it works fine, but it still seemed to have a lot of slop in it. Unfortunately, yesterday I was under the car and noticed a whole bunch of oil dripping off the bottom of the turbo. The bushings are probably worn out.

After spending the money on a rebuild kit and instructions and all the time I put into it, I would have probably been better off just sending it to a turbo shop to be rebuilt, where they would have installed new bushings if needed and made sure that it was properly balanced. They have access to hard-to-find parts like the metal wastegate diaphragm. Mine was cracked and I had to hunt one down. I only found one place that was willing to sell one to me because apparently Garrett doesn't like people buying their parts and shipping them to third parties.

I think it only costs about $300 to get one of these turbos rebuilt with a warranty. I've heard from a few sources that Tim's Turbos does a great job on these in this price range.