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I agree my 1991 350SD was a dream to drive long distance in - and had I been graced with one that ran for 500k miles without bending a rod, I would have been very pleased. Instead mine did its thing at about 165,000 miles. I had it rebuilt by the local MB dealership. After 10k miles, and the end of the warranty, it began to burn oil again. I found this website while investigating my car's demise, and confronted the service manager, who flat lied to me telling me there was no "class problem" with the engine to his knowledge and this kind of failure was "rare" in his experience. I printed out a ton of stuff from this site, the MBCA site, and a few others and went in to see him. He stonewalled me so went into the showroom and started scene with the sales guys I know. To get me to calm down they offered to let me have the blue book trade in value, plus the expense of the rebuild in trade on any car in the lot. I tried a 1996 E300D and a 1998 E300D TurboDiesel. Both were nice cars but once you drive the 1998 model you have to be a better man than me to choose the 1996.
The 1998 has its issues, mostly the glow plugs and the peculiar arrangement of all the items requiring service under the intake manifold. But mine now has 182,000 miles and doesn't leak any, and only uses about a quart of oil in 8,000 miles (I use Delvac 1). So, in the end things worked out fine. I did like the W126 chassis better, but this thing gets a real 30 mpg and can scoot when you floor it.
Sorry to hear of the demise of your 1991 350SD jcciem, I hope no one was injured.
Jim
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Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles
Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)
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