My understanding on the gaskets for these pumps (from talking to my mechanic yesterday) was that the metal gasket was the original design, and is superceded by the paper/fiber one. As I understand it, the reason for the change in material was that the (later) thinner gasket allows the piston to travel a bit farther, thereby generating a bit more vacuum than the original one. It sounded reasonable on the surface. Perhaps there is a tech. bulletin that addresses this issue.

He said to make sure to get the paper/fiber one and that you must use a gasket sealant (they use hylomar) to make it seal correctly.

I am planning on doing this job on my 92 300D was investigating the price of this pump at the dealer - list is about $550, but he would sell it to me for about $440. Yikes.

This is the type of part that I would typically purchase from the dealer as this part is going to be on there a long time, but I will see who else can get me this part in the aftermarket.

Anybody know who is the OE supplier for these????

Chris