It does appear that those tubes can fail at any time. Let's face it. A poorly manufactured end in the tube could fail immediately. So I don't know why MB would persists with this design. Another one of life's unanswered questions!

However practically speaking, it does appear that they last for awhile. In my case, it's somewhat indeterminate since the original parts were replaced. Org part number was xxx xxx 02 xx.

My car just turned 100k; I bought it with about 75K on it. So there's no real way of determining how long they will last. But rest assured that engine heat, oil pressure and time will get at least one of them!

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Regards . . . . JimF
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'94 S500 Cpe

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