I used a box cutter to score the seam between the breather cover and the valve cover (See dtinker's message earlier in this thread). I also remember warming up the engine for a bit, and that seemed to make it easier. I then used a 1/4" flat-blade screwdriver. On the driver's side breather cover, there is a slight overhang (lip) near the oil fill tube. I placed the screwdriver under that lip, held the screwdriver with my right hand and s l o w l y applied (lifting) pressure with my left hand near the blade. If you're tempted to twist the blade, look very carefully at the seam to make sure that the metal is NOT deforming. Aluminum and alloys are very soft, compared to steel. With luck, you should see the seam start to widen. Good luck!


Do NOT buy replacement screws from MB. They are 18mm and 2mm too long for this job! If you're using stainless steel screws, remember that aluminum will give before steel :-) I went with aluminum replacement screws. Replacement screws, steel or aluminum, will have Allen heads instead of Torx. I read somewhere in the MB forum to torque the screws to 4 Nt-m. This translates to 36 in-lbs. I used anti-seize on the threads so I only torqued to 30 in-lbs. As a test, I installed one of these screws in a nut, put it in a vise and torqued to 36 in-lbs, and the screw head didn't snap. As mentioned in several threads, the bigger E-bolts should be torqued to 7 ft-lbs or 84 in-lbs. I torqued to 80 since I used anti-seize.