Dan, thanks for taking the time and effort for posting this!! It points out something I've never found a clear answer for, and here is the question: If you were to remove the build up of debris that is in the pan, and I’d guess to a lesser extent suspended in the oil as well, wouldn’t cleaner oil slow down the rate at which the parts brake down? Don't the filings contribute to the rate at which wear occurs?

Also, the MB comments strikes me as unnecessarily innocent from a manufacturer. I’d think they could reverse engineer, or measure the wear and calculate between the wear and the original specs, to show how and what variances of the design influence wear and tear. From this you’d think they could really design valves, bearings, solenoids and so forth so they would last 200K miles or even 400K miles. You'd expect they can tell which elements wear more quickly, and from that basis, determine design tolerances to facilitate greater longevity....

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...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"