could the problem (with the figures) be in: Tran"z"lation ,
lack of proof reading, (or the manuals publisher an oil Baron)
?

The Owner manuals for my '80, '82 & '84 300Ds all say 1.5 litres pre 1000km.
But they say that it may be worse until run-in.

__________________
Tony from West Oz.
Fatmobile 3 84 300D 295kkm Silver grey/Blue int. 2 tank WVO - Recipient of TurboDesel engine.
Josephine '82 300D 390kkm White/Palamino int.
Elizabeth '81 280E, sporting a '79 300D engine.
Lucille '87 W124 300D non-turbo 6 cylinder OM603, Pearl Grey with light grey interior


Various parts cars including 280E, 230C & 300D in various states of disassembly.

Wide open running also increases consumption. Of course the only Mercedes that can be run wide open over here is a 4 cylinder Diesel. When I drive my 240D wide open I get quite an increase in consumption (from almost none in town to around a half quart at fill-up. This has been confirmed by others in my area. I don't think that these specs were changed to reflect stateside prudishness regarding reasonable legal speeds on supersafe superhighways.

Just my thoughts though, based upon years of running these cars in varying conditions.

__________________
2008 GL320CDI 6K
1970 280SL 112K
1982 240D 210K (Sold)
1973 220D 220K (Sold)
1967 200D 160K (Sold)
1992 400E 139K (Sold)
1988 300E 148K (Sold)
1987 300D 257K (Sold)
1991 300E 108K (Sold)
1987 300E 131K (Sold)
1978 300D TMU (Sold)
1980 300D TMU (Sold)
MBCA Member

Some of us may consume a lot of oil, about1 qt every 200 miles, but we are working on the problems one at a time...And the car still runs fabulously besides that 1 issue

My point was only that I think any car, spark or compression fired, will burn oil closer to the range cited in factory specs if run hard. The reason that so many people's cars don't "burn oil" in the states is not so much a function of the fact that their engines are in such great condition but one of never "pushing" their car's engines hard for sustained periods of time. My 400E never needs oil added because it never undergoes sustained high speed operation. If I drove it in Germany at 155mph for 3 hours straight, I would probably need to add at least a quart at fill-up.

On the possibility of misprints, etc. , I have seen these specs from several factory publications from many different years, so I doubt it is a typo.

__________________
2008 GL320CDI 6K
1970 280SL 112K
1982 240D 210K (Sold)
1973 220D 220K (Sold)
1967 200D 160K (Sold)
1992 400E 139K (Sold)
1988 300E 148K (Sold)
1987 300D 257K (Sold)
1991 300E 108K (Sold)
1987 300E 131K (Sold)
1978 300D TMU (Sold)
1980 300D TMU (Sold)
MBCA Member