For the record:

I've been running WVO for over 5 years, and have logged almost 210k miles on my converted VWs & am up to 10k miles on my e300d.

I converted my father's '83 300SD to a two-tank system in 2004. He's put on ~85k miles since then of daily, trouble-free winter/summer driving.

Yes, running WVO can ruin your engine. There is no question about it. But then again, running diesel can ruin your engine too, if you run crap fuel. Would you guys run old skanky diesel that has water in it? No, probably not... but some would.

It's the same with WVO... if you run crap fuel, or your car isn't properly modified to handle WVO, you will have problems. It may take A LONG TIME for the problems to present themselves, but it will happen eventually.

I would say that about half of the conversions I see in person or online are going to do damage to the car over time. There is a lot of junk out there, and a lot of hack jobs. But let's be realistic... many of the cars being converted are in their final years, and so deferred maintenance and outright abuse will more likely be the cause of death, not a bad WVO conversion. Kinda like my great aunt who took up smoking at 82.

I'll say this though, I think the WVO crowd sometimes fails to understand why they aren't always welcomed by the Mercedes diesel aficionados. These cars are cherished by them, and for ages it was a tight-knit group of people who loved and appreciated the cars. As a community, they'd help each other find, restore and maintain the cars. Then all of a sudden they find they are inundated with a bunch of hooligans who don't seem to have any appreciation for the make, they just want (seemingly) to use and abuse their cherished cars. I've seen some of the sadder cases, I can see why they react that way.

It's kinda like a bunch of drunken cowboys rolled into town and started boozing up and groping the farmers' daughters.

But really, some of us cowpokes ain't all bad... honest sir, and we got the best of intentions for yer daughters.

__________________
Jake
1999 e300d PlantDrive WVO/SVO conversion
**note to self: oil changed at 268k kms**
1990 Toyota 4Runner FrankenDiesel swap