Hello, six months ago I bought a 1983 240d thats done 150,000. Its a one owner car with a full mercedes service history (every 4-5 thousand miles stamp) and the local dealer has comfirmed its legitimacy. when the oil cap is lifted there is quite a lot of blow by and when I blocked the crankcase vent plug the engine died after 3 seconds. I have changed the oil and it went from the top mark on the dipstick to the bottom in five thousand miles so it is using some oil. The car cold starts well but not without glowplugs and the performance is about right and its clattery but I think this is normal. Saw a video of a 300d with 215,000 on you tube with no blow by! Has the engine been overheated? It runs at a consistant 80-85 on the temp gauge and there is no evidence of head gasket problems. Sorry for the long post would appreciate any guidence. Thanks.

 

It looks normal to me if the oil dipstick goes from max to min in 5000 miles. That is about 1+ quart for 5000 miles. Sometimes I hesitate to buy a car with LOW miles of that vintage. It is only about 6000 miles/year for a 25 years old car. It is too good to be true unless it is a show car. But if the car drives OK and the history is authentic then I would not worry too much about it.

83 300D 323K, 87 300SDL 320K miles.