Friend's 99-320E with six cylinder, 85,000 miles needs a quart of oil every 800 miles. It also appears to have evidence of blow-by under the oil filler cap. He's had the car for a few years (since 25,000 miles), has all recommended work done at the dealer (including oil changes). Is this a problem or is it just a characteristic of the vehicle. If not can anyone give me any idea about the costs to correct his problem(s). I'll greatly appreciate any feed back that anyone can offer.

Excessive crankcase pressure due to a plugged PVC system is the first thing that comes to mind.

You might also want to post in the tech section...

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'07 Yukon 2500
'13 Subaru Outback 3.6R
'13 Orbea Carpe 9-speed

Currently Benzless
Formerly: 300TD, S600, E55, 560SEL

---= The forest breathes, listen.
-Native American elder

Agreed - moved to Tech Help.

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Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

I believe Mercedes lost a class action lawsuit regarding the issue on M112 engines with Dino Oil Changes every 10k-12k miles. Result was they had to cover certain engines for an increased warranty period for oil consumption. Do a search and you should find more info.

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Ali Al-Chalabi

2001 CLK55
1999 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Diesel
2002 Harley-Davidson Fatboy
Merlin Extralight w/ Campy Record

Unless the car has seen very few oil changes in its life, I agree with Zeus and the Swede. These engines are amazingly well built and oil usage is just not an issue with them. I would explore the crankcase ventilation issue to the fullest extent.