My '88 manual transmission 300E is sitting at well over 170K miles. On a 105 degree day, I sprung a leak on the heater hose at the left rear of the head. It resulted in a warped head, I'm working on getting it apart now.

Up until this experience, this engine was amazing. I can't really blame the problem on the engine itself. Had I renewed all the hoses, I would not be doing anything to it. It used so little oil it was scary. I changed it every 3,300 miles and it did not go down on the stick at all during that time. It had valve seals only at about 60,000 miles.

I believe the explanation about these being high mileage now is right on the money. This is why you see many questions on MShop regarding these engines. Had I not been dumb enough to rely on old hoses, particularly one that connects directly to the cylinder head, this engine was probably headed for 300K miles.

I think that all things considered, Benz probably gets an A or A- on this engine.

Good luck,

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Larry Bible
'01 C Class, Six Speed
'84 Euro 240D, 523K miles
'88 300E 5 Speed
'81 300D Daughter's Car
Over 800,000 miles in
Mercedes automobiles