ATF may not pick up as much road grime and junk as a coat of grease. Let me look into it a bit...

My 83 SD hanbook says engine oil on all hinges and locks.It works very well.

Looking in the manual would have been to easy.:o

Mercedes is great in that often they default to common sense -motor oil is indeed an excellent lubricant for certain small jobs. I would advocate a very thick tacky grease for the lower mount as this section often gets alot of water -especially if drains are blocked. My lower mounts are packed with water proof trailer wheel bearing grease and work perfectly now. Not the case when I bought the car as PO neglected car and we had to force hood open due to seized passenger side bushing which was rusted and bone dry. All 123 owners do service this area annually -takes all of 10 minutes