I did the timing seal on my M104 last year. I can't say what the minimum steps are involved since I did the head gasket at the same time.

I believe the following need to be removed:
- fan shroud
- fan assembly
- valve cover
- coolant crossover tube

There is no distributor on this engine.

Take pictures or make good drawings so you can put the vacuum lines back in the proper location. I met with some confusion there during assembly.

Basides the u-shaped gasket, be prepared to replace the o-rings for the water passage in the upper cover and the o-rings for the crossover tube.

It is specified to use Loctite 5090 sealant (MB Part No. 002 989 73 20 10) for the vertical sealing surfaces of the upper timing cover and a bead at the corners of the gasket seal. Don't add it to the gasket or o-ring seal surfaces. Let those gaskets do the job on their own. I like to prep all sealing surfaces with Scotchbrite to ensure as perfect a surface as possible and coat all o-rings and gaskets with a thin coating of silicone grease - just enough to make them shine. I believe it helps during installation so they won't bind and helps them seat into a natural position. I don't like to install any gasket dry.

The dicey part of the job is when you reinstall the upper timing cover. It is tough to locate it properly onto the surfaces without snagging the u-shaped seal. Practice a bit with some dry runs before putting sealant on the surfaces. You'll understand when you get to that point. You don't want to do this job twice!

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95 E320 Cabriolet, 169K