I'm fairly experienced but I also rely on this car for work. I put 7-800 miles a week on it so I would only have two to three days in a row to get it all going.

I did remove the valve cover to take a gander at the chain and cam sprocket the other day.

Should I be able to deflect the chain any? I could do so on the driver side of the cam sprocket before the plastic guide.

I checked the teeth for wear and I did see a few very small "nicks" on a few of the teeth but nothing that looked drastic to my untrained eye. I also didn't see any that had broken off.

I did notice shiny polishing on the links themselves where they engage the sprocket teeth.

I still haven't checked for stretch but I hope to do that tomorrow.

I also bought the FSM cd just now that was recommended above.

I checked the specs and I should be getting, at least if it were new, 26 city mpg and 33 highway.

I'm not.

I'm also using a little oil.

The best mpg I've measured on this car is 29 that was almost all highway. Yesterday I filled up after putting about 300 highway and 100 city and I got just over 27 mpg. However, I had doped the fuel with a very heavy dose of Startron tank cleaner and I was testing out the K&N air filter I bought(without consulting anybody) for most of that tank. The engine actually died within 45 seconds the first time I started it with the K&N installed.

Something is missing from the cruise control, previous owner says it's a rod missing, so it doesn't work. It actually will engage when I hit the lever but it only holds for a fraction of a second. So, I don't use it and often my MPH fluctuates if you know what I mean.

I try to keep it between 70-75 but it really is windy here and it never is right behind you. It's also quite hilly in spots along my routes.

The odometer reads just over 208K now and has very little if any blowby.

I have noticed something leaking out of the bottom of the IP. It just looks a little wet and grimy.

I also noticed that I have oil leaking from the EGR. Not a lot, but enough to notice.

It also shifts very harshly when I give it plenty of pedal. It really shifts like a punch in the back sometimes.

Is this potentially causing damage to my rear end or flex discs? I haven't checked the flex discs yet but I hope to soon and also replace the oil in the rear differential.

These are all the problems/symptoms I have noticed thus far.

If any of these could be affecting my MPG that could explain my low numbers.

I really need to check the chain tomorrow so I can rule that out or move forward with the repair.

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1993 W124 300D
-297K on the clock as I type this.