Gillie, have you seen many oil problems

[Scott S.]

cropping up from the 1998 and 99 engines from running 10 to 13K on
conventional oil?
I just bought a mint condition ML 430
but the engine does have the crud
buildup problem. It has 35k on it.
I just changed oil and it had 5,000 miles
on oil and filter, and the filter has a
fine layer buildup in the deep pockets
of the oil filter. I can take a small bladed
screwdriver and run it up the length of the filter and remove a small amount of
the fine crud the filter has caught.
I don't know what kind of hell this is
playing with the oil pump.
It's a shame all this damage occured in
the first 10 to 20 thousand miles of these
fine engines.
Any thoughts would be welcomed.