300E lifters
 

I had an issue last night when I started my car (1993 300E 2.8l); it sounded like it had a bucket full of marbles in the block! I turned it off and restarted it and it ran like it was missing on one or two cylinders. This had happened once before but when I restarted it it ran fine. I went out this AM and it ran fine. I then took it to the shop and described the problem, the mechanic said it's either a check valve on the oil system or a couple bad lifters. Anyone had anything similar to this happen, and what was the problem? If I need new lifters how much should I expect to pay?

Lifter failure on the M104 engine is RARE & $$$

You would replace 12 lifters at a time(exhaust or intake) due the the labor to remove each cam.

Why not try a "light" synthetic oil change with some oil conditioner first.

Thanks, I'll consider that option.