I am in the middle of a head gasket replacement on my 1993 190E 2.6 I removed the head with the intake manifold in place and the exhaust manifold off. I have removed the intake for head reconditioning. The question is, when it comes time to reassemble I would like to do so with the intake off and then install it, after the head is properly in place and bolted, is it practical to install the manifold with the head in place, or should I put it back together on the bench.
Additionally is there a suggested brand of gasket goo that I should coat the head gasket with?
Other than the lot of vacuum lines, wires, bolts and screws that you have already removed, installing the intake manifold with the head in place is pretty straight forward. I had my intake off recently, tracking down a coolant leak which just turned out to be a water pump seal rather than a(nother) head gasket.
Things I would recommend doing while you have the intake manifold off are the motor mounts and vacuum connectors. Even if the mounts are still pretty good, the one on the left is never going to be more accessible than it is now. Even if everything was working fine before, old rubber vacuum connectors are much more likely to leak once they have been disturbed. It is a great time to replace them. I found the dealer to be the best place for intake parts. The gasket was only about $5. $3 or $4 seemed like a lot for the little rubber connectors but they fit properly and I only needed about dozen of them.
2.6 Intake Manifold Question 
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