You may find it interesting to learn that Mercedes official line is the reason the 3.5L engines failed was because of our low-quality, low cetane fuel here in the North America.

I've always had my doubts about this but they say they have statistics showing that in Europe, where the quality of the diesel is better that the 3.5L engine is no less robust than the 3.0L, for what that is worth. That may explain your experiences and the experiences of other europeans who have had good luck with these engines.

There's still no excuse to market an engine where the fuel isn't good enough for it to run on but we all know that Mercedes has never made any mistakes, at least none they will ever admit to.

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Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz