Sorry I disagree. I just talked to two Mercedes Benz mechanics that also disagree with all of these details. I'm trying to get them to sign up for the forum to join this discussion, because it's a good discussion. These were old school mechanics that worked at the dealer in the 90's.

If we both drove two OM617's/616 or 603's over 30+ years, the exact same way and I changed my oil every 3000miles and you 7500miles using the same OEM oil, filter, I would have significantly less ring and overall engine wear then you.

I'm talking about compression, actual ring play/wear, timing chain stretch (using a dial gauge), and just overall cleanliness of the engine along with oil analysis results.

__________________
1976 Mercedes 240D (Sold)
1985 Mercedes 300D Turbo Diesel: 500,000KM
1986 Mercedes 300E (Sold)
1988 Mercedes 300E (Sold)
2002 Mercedes C240 (Sold)
2008 Mercedes C350 4matic

A great site for purchasing industrial rubber products!

Industrial Rubber