Thanks for all the replies. I guess I'll stick with checking the oil when it's stone cold. This way there is no shadow of a doubt that all the oil is down in the pan. I have had this car now for 3 months now, and I am still trying to establish an oil consumption rate. I recently did a 500 mile around trip to VA from NJ and she used up some oil. This I would imagine is due to 1) switching down to 10W-40 and 2) cruising at a steady 70-75 mph for 5 hours each way. Thanks again for the replies.

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1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member