wow - thx for the replies guys -

the car has 91M on it - mechanically, it's top notch - super clean and it runs like a champ, except for the tic-tic-tic. I printed off the service announcement I got from a link on this forum regarding the oil bridges and gave it to the service advisor (MB dealership) and asked him (again) to check if that is the problem - still nothing. I'm no mechanic, but it seems to me that if you were needing to replace your camshaft and all the lifters the problems I would be experiencing would far outweight a little ticking noise.

Anyway - thx for all your help so far - any suggestions are mucho appreciated.