The incorporation of carbide forming metals into diamond-like carbon (DLC) can considerably increase the film adhesion to steel substrates due to the release of internal stress. The main advantages of DLC-films, e.g., hardness, low abrasive wear and low friction coefficient are maintained. We report about a method to deposit metal-containing DLC films in a plasma activated process using different iron-and cobalt-containing volatile precursors. In the case of ferrocene (FeCp2; Cp : Cyclopentadienyl) and cyclooctatetraen iron-tricarbonyl, for example, we found surprisingly high deposition rates up to 60 mu m/h. The used process is characterized by means of r.f.-power/potential measurements and the film composition of different precursors as a function of the r.f.-power is discussed. A steplike change of the metal-content in the film reflects the change of the deposition mechanism from direct ion-incorporation to an additional path via an incorporation of small radicals.