Greetings,

My '82 240D had exacatly the same problem. I would get a year or or so out of a starter before it complelty stopped functioning without warning. What happened was that the rebuilt starter that I was given at the parts store was intended for at VW Rabbit diesel! The casing and all the external parts are exacatly the same. However, the internal components required for a rabbit diesel vs a Mercedes diesel are too weak to perform the task. I would bet that you're situation is exacatly the same. I was alerted to this fact by finally giving up and having "The Mercedes Shoppe" in Puyallup Washington deal with it. Ever since the shop installed the correct starter, I never had a problem again (with the starter that is) Hope this helps