My 10/87 built 300 SEL's owners manual says 8 liters (8.5 quarts) - I put in 8 quarts and it comes up to a little bit over 1/2 way between min/max on the stick, which I guess is exactly where it should be. Hasn't burned a drop of the M1 Truck & SUV 5W-40 in the last 1700 miles (151k total on the car).

Now, everything I have read on the forum and in the WIS says the M103 should take ~6.5 liters for an oil & filter change.

Does mine have a different pan? Am I missing something?

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(2) 1988 300 SEL W126

Mine holds 6.3 qts with a new filter during oil/filter change. You take a reading after you start it up, let the new oil fill the filter and the oil has had plenty of time to drain down after shut-off.

All sorts of arguments here about how long to wait before checking stick.

8 qts. and you're 1/2 way up the mark???

Your eng. is essentially the same as mine as far as oil capacity goes.

Not sure how you've ended up with this situation?

I know, confusing!

Well I doubt they would have included such a blatant misprint in the manual all the way out into 1988?

Here's a theory - my car is the Light Ivory color (623 Hellelfenbein) - the official color of the taxis in Germany. It has none of the optional features you'd find only on a cab, none of the extra feature code #'s on the plate etc, but perhaps they stuck a bigger oil pan on the taxi models to accomodate a more severe duty cycle on the oil?

I would think 8 quarts on a regular 6.3 qt capacity would really bury the level over the max line... If I didn't have one of those midget size Purflux filters on it the dealer supplied me with, I bet the extra .5 the owner's manual specifies would have fit in fine on a full length Knecht.

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(2) 1988 300 SEL W126

Is this a euro model vehicle? If so, you may have answered your question.

I live and purchased the car in South Dakota... I would imagine it's just a regular US model.

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(2) 1988 300 SEL W126

Yeah, my 90 300SE takes 6.5 quarts. Very wierd. Perhaps they switched the oil pan on the m103 around 89?