ATF may not pick up as much road grime and junk as a coat of grease. Let me look into it a bit...

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Current Diesels:
1981 240D (73K)
1982 300CD (169k)
1985 190D (169k)
1991 350SD (113k)
1991 350SD (206k)
1991 300D (228k)
1993 300SD (291k)
1993 300D 2.5T (338k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (442k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (265k)

Past Diesels:
1983 300D (228K)
1985 300D (233K)

My 83 SD hanbook says engine oil on all hinges and locks.It works very well.

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran

Looking in the manual would have been to easy.

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1983 300SD
200000miles

Mercedes is great in that often they default to common sense -motor oil is indeed an excellent lubricant for certain small jobs. I would advocate a very thick tacky grease for the lower mount as this section often gets alot of water -especially if drains are blocked. My lower mounts are packed with water proof trailer wheel bearing grease and work perfectly now. Not the case when I bought the car as PO neglected car and we had to force hood open due to seized passenger side bushing which was rusted and bone dry. All 123 owners do service this area annually -takes all of 10 minutes