I was just checking the oil on my 2000 E320 Wagon and it was 1q down (in 2k miles).

Went to add the quart and I found this lovely gunk.

I bought the car 1 year ago and saw some residue around the oil cap but nothing like this.

So now the car has 99k mi (I've put 10k mi on) and I've had to put a new tranny in it....so now am I in for a rebuild and or head gasket?

The only other things I can think of

1 - the car does smoke a bit under full acceleration but is clean at startup and under normal acceleration.

2 - the auto oil level sensor has never worked and I don't know if there is any relationship.

3 - it burns about 1q of 15W50 Mobil 1 every 2k mi.

4 - the dipstick comes out clean and the coolant is clean.

I really don't want to sink a bunch of $$$ in the car but I do love it. I had planned on keeping it for another 50k mi or so (7-10k / year).

Any ideas? Should I get it to a shop ASAP?

Unfortunately I don't have a good mechanic..only the st....dealer.

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