I spoke with the Service Manager at the Mercedes dealer here. He was polite and listened, and apparently hadn't heard of sludging issues on the M112/113 nor the O'Keefe lawsuit in the US. He agreed it wouldn't hurt to approach MB Canada and see if they'll do anything to help. First step is an initial inspection at the dealer, I'm booked for an appt in about a week and a half. Then take it from there.
Thanks for all the replies and I really appreciate all the help.
I've been doing plenty of reading and research about sludge and it seems like there are plenty of examples of cars (especially post 1998) having this problem. Not just Mercedes but also BMW, Lexus, Toyota, Audi, VW, etc. Most seem to be related to a combination of city driving and extended oil change intervals.
I agree with you guys on the trying to clean it option. If I don't get any help from MB (and I'm not holding my breath there), I may as well try and clean the engine up using an appropriate oil or in conjunction with a cleaner instead of simply getting another engine right away. Nothing to lose in trying. If I can get consumption low enough, I'll be happy with that.
Drove the car today and it runs so perfectly, you'd swear there is nothing wrong. Watched the exhaust when I started it, especially in the morning, and there was nothing - no smoke at all. Same while driving. Bizarre. Unless my cats are sucking it all up...
So, who knows...we'll see how it pans out (no pun intended).
