makakio:

How bad is your oil consumption? One quart per 1000 mi, per 500 mi? Is there a leak or is it all burned?

The Mercedes designers who designed the 103 (and 104, for that matter) must be stubborn people. They need to learn from these Japanese designers who make 1/2 of these Germans make on how to seal an engine. If you are an owner of a 103 or 104 engine, let me know if you have no leak after 60 kmi. Some people I know of had their head gasket replaced 3 times within 60 kmi. LOL, that is pretty bad, Mercedes. Apparently they could not designer a good gasket. In stead of improving the gasget, they took the approach by replacing when needed.

My 1997 E320 had the head gasket and timing cover (top and bottom) replaced under warranty at around 38 kmi. Now it is at 59k and I start seeing a slight color change in that area again. It is not really seeping yet, but I can see it is coming. If it does come, I will fight to death against Mercedes to get this repair without paying for it.