Well folks, where to start. For one of course that's not my intake
Rick was right, mine is clean. However, mine is clean because I modified my EGR's duty cycle with engine diagnostic software at just 800 miles. This 'egr mod' has been very popular with the TDI community, in reducing intake clogging. The picture above is what happens to MOST stock TDI's after 44-60k miles. Those that run good fuel or drive higher rpms have slower clogging. I personally don't believe that biodiesel will clean your intake, but some claim that b100 use will. As posted above, the combination of the oil vapors/mist from the ccv and the sooty exhaust from the egr form the hard carbon in the intake. Using biodiesel or modifying the EGR/CCV are neccesary.
Not really sure what narwhal is saying, but I think he's asking/saying that the tdi intake clogging problem led me to wonder about the E300, and that assumption is correct. The last thing I want to have is a clogged E300. There is also a much much smaller crowd of E300 owners on discussion forums, than the 15,000 TDI owners on the tdiclub, so information and experience is much more limited.
I see on the left side of our engine, the ccv hose is easily accessible. It would be simple to attach a length of heater hose to the ccv, and run it to the ground, and cap off the hole to where it's re-routed... Also disconnecting and plugging the vacuum hose to the EGR will stop it, but my trigger a check engine light... These are a few of the things I'm curious about on the E300. Obviously if the intakes stay clean there's no need... Also folks modifying emissions equipment is for 'off road' use only
Edit: I finally see what narwhal was asking. NO, biodiesel causes NO intake sludge. It has no sulfur and relatively zero soot. The reason my intake is so clean is some 25,000 collective miles on 100% biodiesel, as well as a few tweaks
