It never occurred to me that you can not find some of the parts you need in the US for a gray market MB. How does one go about it? I was looking for a price on a water pump for an '88 500sel but I am not having any luck. Even the few UK auto part sites suck.

What's a newbie to do???

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08 R320 CDI current

Past
95 E420
87 300D Turbo 5spd
90 300TE
83 300SD
85 300TD
92 400E
85 190D

you 'groan' may have to go to the dealer and have them run the VIN for most of the parts.

I had to do this for an 82 300D grey market I had. I eventually sold the car because getting parts was more difficult and expensive going through a dealer.
After a while you would end up with a book of part numbers though, and can just source stuff through the part number here.

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EPC takes VINs, pretty sure that's exactly what the dealer guys are doing.

You'll have to pay $12/year for the EPC version that lists all-world cars.

A great source for ordering genuine parts not easily available in USA is http://www.speed-autoteile.com

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Kent Christensen
Albuquerque
'07 GL320CDI, '10 CL550. '01 Porsche Boxster
Two BMW motorcycles

Have you tried www.eurocarparts.co.uk?

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Every mercedes part has a part number on it. A 300d 1983 model euro might have the same water pump as a 240d of the same year. Not a hard part to find but if you simply ask for a part for an 83 300d you will get parts for the turbodiesel which may be wrong for the 300d euro (fan belts for instance are different....they will bolt on but will slip).

Call by the part number and you will be fine.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Not entirely true . Particularly on the older cars. Transmissions in particular were the ones I had problems with.

I can't imagine the waterpump would be any different from the Fed counterpart of the same engine.

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http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42