Broken camshaft bearing mounts on '82, 240D.

[Gene Williams]

Two of the camshaft bearing mounts (towers) broke on my 240D at about 70 mph. Assuming that the camshaft is not bent, can I replace these towers with used ones, or do I need new ones that are center bored after being mounted on the head? I don't see anyone selling new ones. I know there are several different cams used on these engines. Do the same towers fit all these cams? The numbers on my cam, as near as I can read them, are (from front to back) ?15(E?), 8 (sideways), 616 (with the mercedes emblem in front of it), and 10. I have no idea what these numbers mean, but I saw a post on this site from someone who said that he also had a cam with the number 10 stamped on the back, and that he thought it meant he had an "uprated engine", whatever that is.

Anyway, any information on the cam and towers on these engines will be appreciated. I have a good mechanic, but he is not familiar with mercedes engines (though he does a lot of diesel machinery). He wants me to find out as much info. about replacing these parts and their availibility before he tears into the engine to find out what went wrong.

Thanks----Gene Williams