I love my 126 with 603.970, but would have preferred to have the same car with a more historically reliable engine.

I have heard some stories of these engines going for 200K plus, but many other stories of them trashing themselves very early (40-60K even).

I am gonna go for the 200K brass ring and see if I get lucky ... after taking apart the intake system and finding and cleaning out the gunk from the combination of the EGR and the crankcase ventilation, I continue to hope for long term reliability.

The 603.970's torque is far better off the line in driveability than 3L's, but likely not much difference at cruising speeds.

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George Stephenson
1991 350 SDL (200K and she ain't bent, yet)
former 2002 E320 4Matic Wagon - good car
former 1985 300 CD - great car
former 1981 300 TD - good car
former 1972 280 SEL - not so good car
a couple of those diesel Rabbits ...40-45 mpg