I have a 2000 ML320 with 50M+ miles and is just passed the warranty. I had the dealer do an oil consumption check regarding the high usage of oil, 1000 miles, sometimes less, per quart. The dealer said this "was normal". I felt this was unacceptable considering my experience with Mercedes for 30+ years. He did mention that THERE IS A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT regarding the engine and that there were some engines in worse shape than mine. MB would contact me regarding the outcome.
Does anyone know of any details about the lawsuit, where, what, who, etc.?

There is a Class Action lawsuit in PA. regarding vehicles with the FSS (Flexible Service System) on 98-2000 or 2001 vehicles. It turned out that MB advertised that with the FSS owners could extend oil changes up to 20,000 but did not tell owners that they have to use synthetic oil. I am not sure of the exact wording but it has to do with the FSS and oil use, or similar wording. I heard that MB lost or settled the case and MB agreed to extend warranty of covered vehicles to 150,000 miles. There was no mention what will be covered on the extended warranty but one thing for sure the engine will be part of that coverage. My vehicle has a FSS but have yet to hear from MB on the extended warranty. I suggest you check with your MB dealer for more info.

__________________
Josemin


88 MB 300E
88 MB 560SEL
99 MB ML 430

http://www.jacobsenlaw-pa.com/

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Dean Albrecht
"Lead, follow, or better yet, get out of the way!"E500 owners motto

Many cases of high oil consumption in MB's are caused by over filling. The proper level is no more than half way between the marks on the dipstick. If you fill it too high it will rapidly consume oil until about the half way mark.

...Alan McReynolds
98 E300DT
96 G300DT
63 230SL

I agree completely with this observation. And I would add that one of the main reasons that they are overfilled to begin with is that you should wait 20 minutes or so before checking the oil. This is why you have to wait so long before the monitor in the instrument cluster will take a reading. It takes a long time for it to all get down into the pan.

Gilly

I would agree but for the fact that I am refering to the oil level light coming on (continuosly) to warrant a trip to the shop! The result is a low level as determined by the mechanic - 1-2 quarts.

sharjah03

I would also agree that there are definite cases of oil consumption, not trying to deny that.
But there are also problems with the oil level monitoring system, and there are also techs who don't seem to "catch on" about how to properly analyze the oil consumption of the engine. I have also seen techs bring the vehicle into the shop, and immediately pull the dipstick and say "yup, it's low!". Nonono, WAIT before pulling the stick, and also hook up the computer and check the monitoring system. They (MB) just really made an easy system very complex, and it's easy to goof up.
I would also agree that if it actually is burning 1 qt every 1000 miles it's pretty unacceptable, although MB in their infinite wisdom does state in the owners manual that 1qt every 600 (!) miles is "acceptable".
But the previous post (mcreynol) I believe has a good point and I have been told as much from MB: If you put in excess oil (even unintentionally) it seems to burn that excess oil off. How exactly it does that without fouling plugs I don't know, wasn't explained.
The dealer in cases like this should perform the oil consumption test, which starts with an oil change, and the car/truck is brought back after about 1000 miles and the shop computer is hooked up and some calculations are done using information stored by the FSS system in the instrument cluster. This will VERY accurately tell the technician how much oil has been consumed, and is a REQUIRED test before MB will allow engine work to be done to correct high oil consumption.


Gilly