Oh, ok, news to me...

The last MB I owned was a brand new C320 back in 2001... I couldn't for the life of me understand why they laughed at me when I asked for an oil change at 500 miles. I explained to them that the engine needed to be flushed out from shavings and they just laughed at me.

Dyno oil FTL.

So, are they using Mobil 1 on the whole MB line nowadays?

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They just switched to Mobil 1 ESP 5w40 from 0w40. They use fleece filters now which are pretty cool.

FSS went away when they stopped including maintenance, go figure.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

The engines are bulletproof as long as there's oil and coolant. The auto transmissions are a whole different story. I think VW/Audi have always had problems making long-lasting autoboxes.. The Audi 5000 was notorious for breaking the transmission, and I once replaced the transmission on an Audi V8. The is AWD and the transfer case and front differential is integrated. This makes for a 4' long and 300 lbs thing. Luckily, it lasted for almost 200k miles with proper maintenance. The rest of the car still feels like new, there's no rust and the 4.2 liter V8 pulls strong.

I've owned several Audis, and I have to admit that the cars from the late 80s and early 90s are the best. They have some "personality" that the newer ones don't have, and they have mostly gotten rid of the quirky electronics from the mid-80s. (read: they bought a HVAC system from GM, it's also found in 80s Cadillacs!) I enjoy Audi a lot too, but a lot of the spare parts are either ridiculously expensive or NLA. With Mercedes, parts are relatively cheap and I can get everything. They make durable autoboxes too, but for me it doesn't matter if I drive auto or stick.

BTW, here in Norway, a Jetta like that, even with all the leaks, would probably be worth $3-4k due to an extreme import tax on all cars.

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'95 E36T AMG (124.092)
'98 E200T (210.235)
'00 E430 4Matic (210.283)

I junked it, now its a small cube probably on its way to Japan to be turned into a good car.

The trans was rather durable, I put it in park and reverse at 20-30 mph many times and it never once blew apart. The fluid was black as tar and towards the end had some cool sparkles in it. Still shifted fine, even with all the abuse I gave it.

I ran the engine very low on oil towards the end, it went to the junk yard with the lifters ticking in protest and I doubt more than 2 quarts in the pan.

I didn't want anyone getting good parts off that car!

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200