Michael,

I purchased all genuine MB parts from my local dealership. For internal engine bits I am probably most comfortable with this. Obviously, with more time available I could have shopped around for some of the other bits such as hoses. The lower radiator hose was one of those bits that, had I seen the price first, I would not have purchased it. About $127 AUD was just crazy. As a comparison the head gasket was about $70 AUD, the head bolts (10 in total) under $9 AUD each and the washers for the head bolts a bit of a surprise at over $2 AUD each. To put this into perspective $1 AUD is about $0.76 USD at present.

Having said that I am more comfortable with genuine parts, several years ago when I did the same job on our M103 (300TE) I fitted a non genuine head gasket that is still fine. The shop that machined the head for me also supplied the VRS gasket set, hence the non genuine head gasket. That gasket looked to me to be less likely to suffer the problems the original did. I think from memory it had a metal ring around the oil feed hole.

Greg

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107.023: 350SLC, 3-speed auto, icon gold, parchment MBtex (sold 2012 after 29 years ownership).
107.026: 500SLC, 4-speed auto, thistle green, green velour.
124.090: 300TE, 4-speed auto, arctic white, cream-beige MBtex.
201.028: 190E 2.3 Sportline, 5-speed manual, arctic white, blue leather.
201.028: 190E 2.3, 4-speed auto, blue-black, grey MBtex.
201.034: 190E 2.3-16, 5-speed manual, blue-black, black leather.