Smokey in here!!!
I have taken apart many ignitions to retrieve the vacuum shut off valve. And when I find the keys in the junk cars, I get the ignition and the locks too.
In some of the older Mercedes, as yours, oil does get sucked up into the vacuum lines of the car. Bad elements, or vacuum leaks. What ever. I can remember a couple of times when attempting to unplug the electrical from the back of the lock cylinder, that my hand was covered in motor oil.
I would suspect, that as the diaphram in the vacuum pump on the front of the engine failed, oil in the vacuum pump would be sucked into the system and make it's way to the shut off valve.
My first Mercedes was a 1980 300CD. This diaphram failure actually happened to me.
As the shutoff valve wore down over the years, oil made it's way into the lock cylinder. Oil is probably in other vacuum pods as well. Just open up a vac pod closest to the engine to find out. I started with the one at the driver's leg area.
So if the smoke is indeed coming from the ignition, the smell is a combination of electrical and burned oil.
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Selling used Mercedes parts on Ebay...always changing...
cdplayer51 take a look!
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