Bisric,
I never said dump the car. I said they were GREAT cars with a flawed engine. And that if the engine was fixed, it's a great engine too. Perhaps you should read what I wrote before slamming me. As to oil consumption, MB's official spec is one quart per 1000km, or ~650 miles. So yeah, whatever, you are "within spec". My point was that a good, tight OM603 should be in the 4-5kmi/quart range. It's not just mine, I know numerous other 603 owners who have the same consumption rate. These engines DO NOT burn a lot of oil. My old OM617 uses about 2500/qt, but for 617's, this is somewhat more normal (I have never heard of someone with a 617 getting more than 4-5k/qt). And yes I use Mobil synthetics (Delvac-1, specifially), with oil analysis at each change, which does let me go beyond your silly 5kmi limit. You should educate yourself before shouting. You just look like an idiot. Now go take your medication like the doctor ordered. Once again I repeat, it's a great car, and I just like to make sure that people are informed about the known problem with them... if you buy (or own one) with that knowledge, that's great, and I would never put down anyone for owning one - you included. Some owners do NOT know and that is why I mention it. I'd like to tell you what I really think of you and your "pissed off" attitude but the nice moderator would probably boot me from the forum, and well, you're not worth it.
BTW, for those of you who DID take your Ritalin: Although the main issue with 3.5's oil consumption is the bottom end problem, increased oil consumption can also be due to worn internal turbo seals. There is almost no way to tell for sure without replacing the turbo,
AFAIK, as it just goes out the exhaust in tiny quantities that don't smoke. But I know at least one person who had their oil consumption drop drastically after the turbo was replaced on an OM603 (now back to the 4-5kmi range). Bad valve seals usually show up as blue smoke, and serious turbo or bottom end problems will also, but those are kinda rare.
Now back to your regularly scheduled programming. :p