Now if only they had a procedure for when the C-141 wing spars fracture Dave, ...

Oil coolers are likely not necessary for low-speed operation and general driving. Yes Mercedes did it for a reason, I've seen 130C on the oil temp gauge on my quattro driving hard for extended periods, have gotten my manual transmission hot enough to burn my arm from same driving. I am pretty sure that the M-B will get hot too if run hard enough long enough, but most of us will never see / do it. Personally, I'll keep it operational on a car because it's good insurance for the oil temp.

My 300TE 4matic had a heat exchanger where the fuel was cooled by the A/C system on its way back to the fuel tank also. Again, I believe that up until recent years, Engineering at M-B came up with a good idea to make something more robust for a 1% application, and it went on all cars. That's what made a Mercedes a Mercedes.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff