Looking for a shoulder to cry on as my 99 E300 TD with 197,000 miles just got towed to an independent Mercedes mechanic with engine missing on #2 cylinder, smoking like crazy and making a clanking metallic sound. I've run it for 135,000 --6 years--on WVO with a 2 tank Golden Fuel system with a Devil's Own water injection system. It has fuel spray out when the lines are cracked but the engine makes no change in rough idle when cracking number two fuel line, so it evidently has lost compression in that cylinder. Mechanic said it may be cheaper to just do an engine swap with a low miler than to do a cylinder head job...I've priced some online today and prices for a 60,000 mile engine are running $2800 -$3300 shipped. Can you really be sure of mileage when purchasing an engine online? His fee for installation is $1500 approximately.
Any thoughts...or sympathy?

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1999 E300 TD
1999 E300 TD, WVO conversion
2007 Jaguar XJ8
1993 190E 2.3, Limited Edition, 239,000 miles (sold)
1991 300 SL (sold)
1977 MGB
1969 TR6
1980 TR8
joturbe@comcast.net