As mentioned in an early thread after buying my 350SD, it runs beautifully, but I accounted and planned for engine work to keep the rod bender happy.

Putting 2000+ miles on the car and resolving a tire wobble quirk has made me decide to keep the car for the long run. It starts, runs and drives beautifully. But I do see a teaspoon of oil in the recovery bottle after 500 miles. Therefore I’ve premptively decided to do the HG, and since my preferred and trusted shop is also a Bosch service shop, I’ll have them seal the IP while at it.

Ive looked through a few threads. I want to be sure that I’m very clear on what irreversible, long term items I need to specifically request are MB only parts. Essentially, I don’t care if I can save some money with Victor Reinz VC gaskets and such, but certain items should only be MB parts. I’d appreciate recommendations on the list.

Initial cut of required OE MB parts:
- head gasket
- head bolts
- valve seats (if necessary)
- tc guides (if necessary)
- timing chain (if necessary)
- ip seal kit (or should this be Bosch?)

Not sure if TC is really in play at 115k, but I figure they’ll initially line up the timing marks on the cam and harmonic balancer, and if it’s more than a small amount off, it seems like it’s as good a time as any, no?

Anything else that should be an MB part only?

Thanks!

__________________
Current Diesels:
1981 240D (73K)
1982 300CD (169k)
1985 190D (169k)
1991 350SD (116k)
1991 350SD (206k)
1991 300D (228k)
2008 ML320 CDI (199k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (442k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (267k)

Past Diesels:
1983 300D (228K), 1985 300D (233K), 1993 300D 2.5T (338k), 1993 300SD (291k)