How many higher mileage M104s with original head gasket

[philmartin]

Hi all,

Have a 95 E320 and have been reading a lot on the forum here about the head gasket problem. The question: is this an absolute guaranteed failure after some period of time or are there a lot of cars that never have the gaskets replaced?

Also, on another car I had, after noticing some oil seepage between the head and block, I did a hot torque of the head bolts which helped a lot and was able to run the car for many more miles before getting rid of it and never replaced the head gasket. Has anyone tried this on the M104?

TIA.

philmartin