As a "fun car" (not that all of my cars aren't fun), I'm looking at a 1983 manual 240D. The odo is broken at 205K, but Autocheck shows a mileage of 217K back in 1999 (definitely a rollback in its history). So, realistically, this car probably has 350K on it, give or take. But it drives fine....and it's fun to drive a manual.

So how far have 616 engines (and 617 for that matter) been known to go without a rebuild? I wouldn't want a fun car suddenly to become un-fun.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Replace the timing chain, keep up on maintenance.

The average is 400k - 450k miles, unless it has been abused.

I have an exception near me 750000 highway miles, she replaces the timing chain every 200k miles. She is a Drug company sales rep, bought the EURO "5" speed manual 240D 17 years ago, with 28k miles from the original owner...
She has replaced the clutch twice. (AMAZING).

.

My 617 .951 has 347,000 no chain, and smells like a new one.Exhaust perfect burn no oil.Chain is tight,no slack timing within 2 degrees.

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

My 85 617 has 313K on the clock. Just changed the flex discs and center support/bearing for the first time{discs still looked OK}. Timing chain also at 2 degrees. Original exhaust. Properly cared for, these car can easily reach 600K+.
John

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1985 300TDT
2013 E350 Bluetec

I expect that with good care 6 or 700K would be possible.

In taking these motors down for other reasons, at 275K we typically find virtually no wear on the bottom end. The chain guides and cam chains do wear though and have to be changed. Also an engine killer is the chain drive oil pump on the 617 turbo motors. Its down out of sight but is much shorter than the cam chain so it gets five or six times the wear.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

My original 617.950 went 1,244,000.

Originally, we thought it was just 244,000, but service records were obtained recently that show the odometer rolling over back in 1989-1990.

When I got the car, the compression was low and it wouldn't start in cold weather, so I pulled it for a rebuild.

The bottom end looked good, but the cylinders and pistons were beyond shot. Rings came out in pieces...

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Did you just pass my 740 at 200 kmh in a 300SD?????

1978 300SD 'Phil' - 1,315,853 Miles And Counting - 1, 317,885 as of 12/27/2012 - 1,333,000 as of 05/10/2013, 1,337,850 as of July 15, 2013, 1,339,000 as of August 13, 2013



100,000 miles since June 2005 Overhaul - Sold January 25th, 2014 After 1,344,246 Miles & 20 Years of Ownership

With (really) bad care I reckon you could break one within about 2 miles...

...any secondhand vehicle is totally dependent on the previous owner(s).

One very good reason not to buy from a dealer in my opinion. To date I have noticed that if the owner is a total dick head then the car will have suffered.

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

I replaced the timing chain on my 617 at 212k....now at 319k with .5 degrees of stretch on the chain.....in over 100k! Proper (synthetic) oil changes I believe to be the reason for the nearly non-existent stretch. Cam and cam sprocket still in great shape, still very little wear on the slide rail/guides. The engine is easily going to outlast the car as its slowly rusting to death after 31 years in a salt climate. When the car dies I will part it out and turn the engine into a generator for my house.

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

Apparently the timing chain has been replaced.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

amazing!

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

So the rebuild at 1,244,000 miles was the first rebuild of the engine? If so, quite remarkable.

I have around 260k on the odometer, which had been broken since the previous owner bought the car, 10 years ago. The actual amount of time it was broken, I will never know, but 10 +/- years with no logged miles, and 260k on the clock, little blowby, I am burning a little bit of oil now, which is dissapointing, but not unacceptable given the amount of reliable service this car has provided to it's owners over the years. It burns so little oil I rarely have to top up, it only burns white on start up, and a little hint of smoke on hard accelerations. Drives down the highway like a new car, shifting a little rough, still haven't gotten that perfect yet.

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1984 300sd auto with 246,000 miles

Yes, but we didn't have all the records back then, so I thought the wear was quite excessive for only 244,000 miles. The cylinders must have had an 1/8" step in the top and the rings fell out in pieces!!!!

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Did you just pass my 740 at 200 kmh in a 300SD?????

1978 300SD 'Phil' - 1,315,853 Miles And Counting - 1, 317,885 as of 12/27/2012 - 1,333,000 as of 05/10/2013, 1,337,850 as of July 15, 2013, 1,339,000 as of August 13, 2013



100,000 miles since June 2005 Overhaul - Sold January 25th, 2014 After 1,344,246 Miles & 20 Years of Ownership

The seller and I came to terms....I pick it up next Monday. This will be fun.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife