I definitely agree that a Mercedes trained mechanic is better than one who isn't and I will always take my car to a Mercedes trained person when one is available. However, I do most repairs on the car myself and I'm not a factory trained mechanic. I've rebuilt the front end, replaced shocks, installed a rack pin in the injection pump, adjusted my valves and even put a water pump on a 190 2.6 among other things all with the help of just the service manuals. These kinds of jobs aren't difficult and if you have the info in front of you that tells you how to do it, there's no reason you can't. Again, not all repairs on these cars are rocket science. Some are but many aren't.

Scott

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Scott
1982 Mercedes 240D, 4 speed, 275,000
1988 Porsche 944 Turbo S (70,000)
1987 Porsche 911 Coupe 109,000 (sold)
1998 Mercedes E300 TurboDiesel 147,000 (sold)
1985 Mercedes 300D 227,000 (totaled by inattentive driver with no insurance!)
1997 Mercedes E300 Diesel 236,000 (sold)
1995 Ducati 900SS (sold)
1987 VW Jetta GLI 157,000 (sold)
1986 Camaro 125,000 (sold - P.O.S.)
1977 Corvette L82 125,000 (sold)
1965 Pontiac GTO 15,000 restored (sold)