Yep thats what I have been doing, but that first cam is just a guess. The only way to do it is the way they say not to. you put the chain on it and slide the first hold down on there and try to put it at 45 then use the rest to force it down into place? Also still wondering when you do the tensioner. Is that the last thing you do?

Yes you put the tensioner last and you may find installing the 2 bolts a little hard , if you gingerly use a screw driver and lightly push on the rail you will be able to start the bolts easier to the tensioner, the tensioner is oil fed, no reset needed, and yes the first cam is the hardest due to the way the valve tappets get compressed against the cam , lobe , it gets easier as you go, just remember do the drivers cam then make 100% sure all the slack is out meaning install the cam , and try to rotate the cam counter clockwise , it should just rear the first pinning hole , once that's done its down hill,ps ive done about 15 of those engine , the first time is hardest, I remember I had to go backward. a step like you, just use plenty of lube and tighten slow and evenly, using ONLY HAND TOOLS!

And in case your wondering , Mercedes does make a tool to slide the adjusters on after the cams are installed , but if your care full they are not really needed.

Yes, your help has been a life saver, I was going to give up on it. lol I had no intentions of removing the adjusters. I also took an old wrench and did some grinding to make it fit on the cams and be able to turn without hitting anything. That made the last try go a lot smoother. Do you usually lock the crank in place somehow or just hope it doesnt turn?

no locking of the crank , just watch it , if the first cam is pinned it cant turn clockwise , but if its pinned 1 tooth off and you tried moving the crank clockwise and it turned of course that's not right,

Actually that sounds like a good way for me to test and make sure its pinned good before moving on to the other cams.

Thats just not working for me. I turn the crank to 45 pull the chain as tight as I can to the driver side. and start the whole procedure for 2 hours. Then when I get to the last cam and I put the tensioner in it pulls the crank 4-5 degrees off. everytime it also pulls the passenger exhaust cam and gets the pin stuck. I tried to hold the crank and it broke the pin holder location and it a chunk of metal almost fell all the way in luckily i got it out. But I still cant figure out how to get this **** all set up. What am I doing wrong? Also when you turn the crank to 45 there is so much play it can jump 5 either way real quickly so i dont see how I can get the chain any tighter for the first side.

I just found this info also and I still cant comprehend whether I have the adjusters in the correct position. Because some people call the "notch" The piece of metal and some call it the missing space with no metal.

4. Now using the images below (if you notice the little notch in the indent is at the left...this is the advance position and must be far right on both when the cam is at 45 deg and cams pinned on initial setup ONLY.... now read on), start pulling the chain CCW, starting at the crank timing gear and moving counterclockwise (move the intake came sprockets fulling CCW and the small timing ie retard/advance indent will move to the extreme end of the small opening. With the pins in place, the sprockets on the intake cam will move into the "RETARD Position" see images below and slowly move the intake "sprocket only (remember the cam is pinned and will stay in position). The sprocket is part of the cam position sensor assy network and by setting the sprocket in the retard position while the chain is being positioned.... the chain can then reposition into the advanced position for idle adjustment and acceleration..... otherwise your idle will be crappy and your acceleration will suX. ALSO, keep in mind that your vehicle will require a RELEARN sequence...as a child it will need to relearn the acceleration and decel timing as well as idle and shift points. All of this will reoccur in the LH-SFI and CAN network, etc.

this is what mine look like right now.

Your uploaded picture is the correct position= ie installed "retarded position",other usefull notes to free the cams of tension the mb factory info states to rotate both right side cams approx. 6 teeth in direction of rotation to free of tension and left cam inlet 10 teeth opposite of direction of rotation, the left exh cam 14 teeth in direction of rotation,and if you need the tool to removed the adjusters its 119 589 00 01 00,as long as your cams are installed and pinned And your adjusters are in retarded position , like your picture your good

Cam position,retarded

ok thats good. now do you have any info on why the tensioner keeps pulling the crank? Do I need to remove all the cams and start over, thats getting tiresome lol

I was trying to visualize whats going on , you can backwards rotate this engine provided your 1 tooth don't want to say 2 teeth off, so if with the tensioner in and you rotate engine reverse rotation slightly before 45 then go forward to 45 mark on crank, can you pin cam? if not adjust the cam forwards or backwards accordingly,

The cams are pinned. and the crank still moved when I put the tensioner in.

Ok I just went and spent a couple hours trying to get this right. I was able to get all the cams to pin at 39-40 ish and stay there. I tried to get them closer to 45 by moving the chain over 1/2 a link to the left. but then they went to 50 or more (I think the driver side exhaust cam keeps moving from the crank tension) I tried a couple times to get it right and was not able to do it. Should I just leave it at 39-40 ish or should I try something else to get it right? Maybe 1/2 a link is 10 degrees?