has anyone used the Bilstein engine flush? Some believe it to be better than the standard can of engine flush, what do you think?

Somewhere, i think it was on swedishbricks, someone recommended using "high detergent" oil instead, doing two oil changes at 500 mile intervals? Has anyone done this? What exactly is high detergent oil? All I've found is "run clean" oil, is this the same thing?

My '86 240DL, automatic (218,000 miles) is just completing a two-bottle treatment with Auto RX. After the first 500 miles with the first bottle, the oil was very black with contaminents. After the 1500 mile oil-only phase, it was dark for that mid-change milage. Now It is time (after 500 miles with the second bottle)to replace the third oil/filter that has the second bottle of Auto RX. (For high milage cars, they want you to do two applications)

All I can tell you so far is:

The car got 25.4 MPH on a recent highway trip. I believe this is a 2 MPG improvement over its historical effeciency.

The cam lobes look very clean. I expected the entire cam, caps and valve cover to be sparkling clean -- Not. Can see signs that some of the crud has lightened and, in places, flaked off.

The flame trap holder had crusty residue I had to scrape out. This had not been there before.

I don't notice any oil leakage nor blow out that wasn't present before (has a leaking rear engine seal)
--
1989 740Ti 1986 240DL 1984 244GL

you could try Berryman's Chemtool B12. It works great and it's very cheap. 16 oz. bottle @WallyWorld for $2.53. And you only use 4 ounces for 4 cylinder engine flush.

I've used it on three cars and it works: it cleans a lot of crap out of the engine and the pan without the need for aggressive solvents. A little expensive, so I use it only once when I buy a used car.

Steve: Now I'm intrigued. Is this stuff something that goes into the oil to clean the gunk, sludge and rot out of it, or is this just another radiator/cooling system flush? If the former, I've heard that cleaning the engine TOO well is actually counter productive, in that the motor, over time, develops a certain amount of "filler" which keeps the clearances tight, keeps the oil seals sealing, and in general, allows the engine to run well, even at high mileage. I recall a lengthy article which pointed out that really getting rid of all the gunk in the motor actually opens up the bearing clearances, the ring gap, the gaskets and the seals to the point where the engine really starts to use oil, leak oil, get noisy, and in effect, beat itself to death. What say you? Oh, and by the way, the article also indicated that draining the oil, refilling the crankcase with Kerosene, running the motor for about two minutes, draining the whole thing over night, replacing the filter and adding new oil accomplishes the same thing as expensive motor flush. Heard of that, too?

Brad