What might be the normal oil consumption in a mercedes benz diesel 20+ years old in good condition, like in 3K of driving?

I don't know what "normal" is but my 83 300d uses about 3 quarts beyween 3 k changes.....it does mark it's territory some though. No smoke at all on start up so I figure rings are good. hope this helps

My 603 burns nothing. 8 quarts go in, 8 come out.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Do you know what Mercedes linked to acceptable oil consumption on them?

You need to look it up for your engine. I think for the 603 its like 600-800 miles a quart. But I'm not sure.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

That might not be too bad if you have leaks! After I started to seal up my leak problems, my oil consumption went down real fast!

my 603 engine with 398000 miles used 2 quarts in 5000 miles Shell Rotella 15/40

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commercial fisherman diesel in my blood in my boats trucks and Dear old Dad has had me drivin them since i got my first license in 1968
1986 300 SDL 427654
1999 Chevy Crew Cab Dually 225423
1986 300 SDL 287000 Dad's
1987 190 Turbo 158000 Mom's (my inheritance)

i know my om617 consumed/ leaked at least 1.5 quarts in 5k of driving..

I still leak very little. I have a little over 300k and I use a little less than a quart every 3k.

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'85 300SD (formerly california emissions)
'08 Chevy Tahoe
'93 Ducati 900 SS
'79 Kawasaki KZ 650
'86 Kawasaki KX 250
'88 Kawasaki KDX200
'71 Hodaka Ace 100
'72 Triumph T100R

My 190D 2.2 with almost 350K on the clock is usually down about 1/2 qt at each 3,000 mile change.

Jim

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2005 C240 4matic wagon (daily driver)
87 190D - 225K (on loan)
85 190D - 312K (on loan)
2011 Subaru Legacy AWD (Wife's)

OM603, 318,500 miles, no oil consumption.

With a slight leak and a lot of sustained high-speed (75 mph) driving about 2 quarts every 3000 miles in the summer and one quart in winter.

Assuming that no internal work was done on any of the engines to correct problems. It seems to me there is a large variation in the amount of oil consumed by the cars like from 0 to 3 quarts or more in 3K to 5K of driving. They are all Mercedes right? What am I missing here? Milage doesn't seem to be inherent because some have nearly 350K on them with no loss of oil.

Oh! Some people claim like mostly high speed driving makes a difference in oil consumption. Do you think this holds water??

More in the summer; I always have to fill up around 1800 miles after an oil change, around a quart. Now I can hear if the engine is low on oil.

I have one small leak and push the car to the limits.

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).