MPlatt,

I'm not surprised with your experience with the dealer prices. I had my frontend reconditioned on my 87SDL about a year ago (at 250,000 miles). The dealer wanted close to three times for the parts alone not including labor. I had a non-dealer suspension shop install MB OEM parts for a fraction of the dealers quote.

I would be interested to hear the cause of the cracked head. Was there a something that caused an overheat that cracked the head? What type of antifreeze, MB Orange or green?