Hello,
Will it be better for the engine to breathe cleaner air and redirected the crankcase breather to a "regular" metal mesh plug/ filter placed somewhere in the engine bay instead of the air filter? See picture.
This as there was some soot in the air pipes and intercooler, apparently it come from the breather.

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E300TD year 2000. RUSTY SOLD
cost a fortune to maintain on the road
but run well on WVO
Second Merc died due to corrosion ( NOT rust) How can mercedes get away with that for so long?
Third lasted a month then went away...
Fourth now... Corroded too...