Also since you intend to race, do consider a full synthetic ATF for your tranny and synthetic gear oil like 75W-140 for your diffs. Mobil-I work fantastic to my knowledge and also Chevron Delo gear oil works even better for MB trannies. Don't worry about the wear of soft metals, Chevron Delo gear oils are EP etching sulphur free and use far better boron instead which protects the tranny well under severe racing conditions.

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99 Gurkha with OM616 IDI turbo

2015 Gurkha with OM616 DI turbo

2014 Rexton W with OM612 VGT

Just to pile on on the mileage vs octane question: My Saab, per the manual, will run on regular with less power but premium is recommended. Tracking the car shows that premium produces over 10% better mileage, usually 11-12%, and the price difference these days is more like 5-6%; it's consistently cheaper per mile to use premium. I haven't tried it in the 560 cuz that's an old enough engine I don't trust the ignition system to be that sensitive, and the manual says use only premium, but for a car of the vintage of the original poster I strongly suspect the Saab experience should be instructive.

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Craig Bethune

'97 SL500, 40th anniversary edition

'04 Olds Bravada (SWMBO's)
'06 Lexus ES330
'89 560SL (sold)


SL--Anything else is just a Mercedes.
(Kudos to whoever said it first)

i don't know where you folks are getting your numbers from but here the spread is at least 10% on the price of regular versus premium. If you are going to provide facts so others can make an informed decision please try to keep them accurate. Wild guesses and wayward opinions don't help anyone. Reading this reminds me of my neighbor who insists the nissan truck he just bought gets 33 miles to the gallon when everyone else with that model gets 18. I've run 87 octane in my c280 a few times and I haven't noticed one bit of difference in performance or gas mileage. Maybe I'm the lucky one and my car is just ambivalent, or maybe the little dance ritual I do before starting her up is the charm.

hi,
i have s600 2004. According to the manual, it requires 93 octane gas. I cant find it in los angeles. any advice?