You aren't going to blow it up or anything, it's just that wear is faster above 3000 rpm, more or less.

The magic number is 2500 ft/min, I think, measured at the rings. Above this speed, the oil film breaks down, so the cylinders start to wear faster. Less of a problem in the silicon aluminum blocks, since silicon wears considerably less, but still....

4000 rpm intermitantly won't make it junk tomorrow, but the higher the rpm, the shorter the life. You'll know when it starts using oil.

Redline means it can blow if you go faster.....

I'm fairly carefull with my cars -- I've had the 300D up to 4600 rpm (no redline in the tach, mechanically limited in the injecton pump), but I've not run the 280 SE anywhere near the max speed marks in the speedometer -- I have no desire to find another engine at this point.

Doesn't seem like much to you now, I'm sure, but later, when you get to my age, buying cars is a pain in the sitting part, and fixing them simply means diverting cash that needs to go to house and retirement!

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

'Course age is relative in many ways. I'm 38, so house and retirement issues are certainly present.