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My 2000 C43 in Oregon was placed in unheated storage unit 5 years ago while I was away in AK. My daughter started it once 4 years ago but it wasn’t driven. After that, it sat with the battery disconnected and only an 1/8 of a tank of ethanol added fuel (..it’s Oregon). I returned to retrieve it this week. Other than a thick coat of dust, it looks as good as the day I stored it, even the tires held air.

I purchased a new battery in order to unlock the steering and push the car out of the unit and winch it up on the trailer, I thought it would be a good idea to purge the fuel and pulled the valve stem out of the fitting on the fuel rail. (I can purchase non-ethanol premium fuel locally to top off the tank $$$ 3.85/gal $$$). There was no pressure on the line. I turned on ignition to activate the fuel pump and nothing... After disconnecting the leads to the coils, I turned the engine over once to see if it would see fuel. Nope.

I’m assuming the fuel is grease now after all the short-chain hydrocarbons and ethanol vaporized. So aside from replacing the fuel filter and possibly the pump my plan is to add some Marvels Mystery oil to the oil (surfactants), turn it over w/o ignition a bit, drain and replace the oil and filter then change out the spark plugs. (Although the one plug I pulled seems to be in good shape.) I have K & N air filters and those will be cleaned and oiled as well. If it starts after that, I’ll let it idle for ten minutes, give it some occasional revs to expand the rings to scrub the cylinder walls well, then drop the oil and change the filter again. I’d replace and flush the coolant, possibly the brake fluid (?), and although MB recommends we never touch the tranny fluid, I thought it might be best now to do so as condensation may have accumulated in the pan??? The tires are at the end of their life anyway and will be replaced before any serious driving is embarked upon :)

The car has 105k well-maintained miles on it. Want it to go many more. Not an expert myself on Benzs so if you who are would offer any pearls of wisdom here before I undertake this startup, please advise and I will worship the ground you walk on...