I've enjoyed this car for the last 10 years. I purchased her in '04 with only 46K on the ODO, but I digress.

Now that I'm over 300K, do I need to change the timing chain or can I just have it measured to see if it is still within specs? Thanks.

Congratulations! What are some of the major maintenance highlights during your time of ownership?

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 154k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 172k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 142k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Highlights? How about memorable moments? First glow plug replacement was expensive, but no broken plugs. Lots of labor on the first set. Second set 150K miles later was routine.

Replaced entire A/C system at about 80k. The replacement compressor pooped out at 290k.

Beginning at about 75K, I began changing tranny fluid every 50K. So far, so good.

New radiator at 275K.

Just installed third set of pads. No need for rotors at this time.

Tomorrow, I will change the oil (Amsoil 5-40) and wash and wax.

I hope the next 100K will be as uneventful as the last 100K. Great car.

I checked the timing chain in my '96 E300D (same engine but not tubocharged) at about 275,000 miles. It had maybe 1 degree of stretch as best I could tell.
The valve gear otherwise looked pretty much new. I'd advise checking yours, not replacing it. Make sure you replace the various seals while you're in there.

The bolt in the picture is a crude substitute for the proper measuring tool; with a bolt there's a little slop that introduces error into the measurement. Thus, my measurement of 1 degree is +/- 1 degree.

Jeremy

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

That's great...sounds like it's been relatively trouble-free. I love seeing these cars hit 300k and beyond....my 98 has 83k and my 99 153k so hopefully they have nice long lives ahead of them!

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 154k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 172k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 142k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Congratulations. I bought my 1999 in 2003. Excellent cars indeed. I have had confidence in the longevity of these motors since I had the experience of working on them new.

I'd take a look at the timing chain now just in case. If you haven't missed oil changes and do it on time I'm sure it is still okay at the time.

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Only diesels in this driveway.
2005 E320 CDI 243k Black/Black
2008 Chevy 3500HD Duramax 340k
2004 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 220k

When my '96 hit 300k, I was thinking about the chain. Then Jeremy's post appeared, as if by magic, with photos and everything. Since I have records back to new, and the oil was changed at factory recommended intervals by the first owner and at 1/2 the factory intervals by me, I am going to take his word that the chain is fine. Thanks Jeremy.

After I started running it on WVO, 152k ago, I changed oil every 3 to 4k.

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Greg
2012 S350 BlueTEC 4Matic
2007 ML 320 CDI
2007 Leisure Travel Serenity
2006 Sprinter 432k
2005 E320 CDI
1998 SLK230 (teal)
1998 SLK230 (silver)
1996 E300D 99k, 30k on WVO
Previous:
1983 240D, on WVO
1982 300D, on WVO
1983 300CD, on WVO
1986 300SDL 237k, 25k on WVO (Deerslayer)
1991 350SDL 249k, 56k on WVO - Retired to a car spa in Phoenix
1983 380 SEC w/603 diesel, 8k on WVO
1996 E300D 351k, 177k on WVO

I wonder if there are examples of the 98-99 out there with significantly more than 300k. Of course that's a fair amount of driving....20k a year. There are some examples of the 95 E300 I've seen in the 450-550k range.

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 154k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 172k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 142k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Keep on trucking and at 312,000 miles (500,000 kilometers ) apply for the high mileage badge. Badge

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1999 Mercedes E300TD daily driver sold at 238K miles 106K miles were mine, rust worm got it :-(
2006 Mercedes CDI new daily driver! 56,000 miles May 2016 now 85,625 Apr 2018 and Apr 2019 101,000 miles Apr 2020 109,875. March 2024 135,250

Congrats on your milestone.
I am not too far off from you, but lately I have not been putting as many miles since I retired. Will post when I get there.

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06 MB E320 CDI 123k miles
14 Sienna (wife's DD) 36k miles
11 GL350 Bluetec 136k (Sold)
96 E300; 292k+ miles (Donated)
11 Sprinter 22K+ miles (Sold)

Jeremy, that may be the cleanest high mileage engine I have ever seen. What oil were you using when this picture was taken? I think I need to run it in my '97 E 300 D.

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'97 E 300 D

The three POs used 15W40 dino oil and changed oil & filter at factory intervals (7500 miles) for the first 250,000 miles. I switched to Mobil-1 5W40 upon purchase in late 2007 and since then have changed oil & filter annually at 7500 miles or less.

The EGR valve was disabled soon after purchase (for testing purposes only) along with cleaning the intake manifold of all the oil/soot crud. The timing chain/valve train photo was taken in mid-2011 at 278,000 miles. The oil in the engine at that point had 4470 miles and 6 months on it. No cleaning or special prep was done before taking the picture; that's just how the engine looked when I took the valve cover off.

Since Mobil changed its formula, no longer uses a Group IV base for its Mobil-1 5W40 "Turbodiesel Truck" product, and raised its price, I have changed to Chevron Delo-400LE (Group III) synthetic. As the car is now driven only 5000 miles a year I can still keep to the annual oil & filter change interval. During the year (now at 295,000 miles) the engine leaks no oil and uses so little that I don't have to add any between changes.

Why the car has done so well I cannot explain. I guess it's just one of the "good ones."

Jeremy

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

Please note, that Jeremy has a 96 E300D N/A.

The M-B fluid recommendation document on Startek states that starting in 1998 when they introduced the FSS system, they changed the recommend oil to sheet 229.51 specifications. The most common oil that meets this is Mobil1 Formula M ESP 5W-40.

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The OM 642/722.9 powered family
Still going strong
2014 ML350 Bluetec (wife's DD)
2013 E350 Bluetec (my DD)

both my kids cars went to junkyard in 2023
2008 ML320 CDI (Older son’s DD) fatal transmission failure, water soaked/fried rear SAM, numerous other issues, just too far gone to save (165k miles)
2008 E320 Bluetec (Younger son's DD) injector failed open and diluted oil with diesel, spun main bearings (240k miles)

1998 E300DT sold to TimFreeh
1987 300TD sold to vstech

Ineresting, I am already using M1 5W40 TDT, have the EGR deleted, and have a white '97 E300D. The only difference I can see is yours appears to have headlight squirters. Thanks.

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'97 E 300 D