In the past I’ve done work that required taking oil samples every day. If you did a lot of short runs where it didn’t fully warm up it would accumulate moisture in the oil fairly quickly. One run of decent length and it would nearly all evaporate out. There’s no need to change oil due to time unless you only do 5 minute trips exclusively. In which case it would be easier just to take a long drive than to change the oil.
The guys at Blackstone have done tests on oil that had been sitting around for decades and didn’t find anything unusual in it.
That’s where I referred to “special engine”. It very much depends on the car. As for manufacturer “requirements”, you might discover that recommendations for the exact same car vary in different countries. I was surprised to discover it for my VW many years ago.
Talk to a couple of mechanics. If the car is valuable or vintage, check with a couple of those mechanics as well.
There is nothing “special” about MB engines that isn’t also true of most late models cars, including Honda, Toyota, VW, etc… Most high power or performance engines, particularly those that are turbo charged have been designed to use synthetic oil and come directly from the factory that way.
A $50,000 car that lasts 20 years will cost you $2,500 a year just for the purchase price. Seems $129 extra per year for fresh oil is not that great an expense.
And this is nothing new either. My 13 year old GM LS1 engine says right on the oil fill cap:
SAE
5w30
Mobile 1
Factory Fill
NOTICE
See owner manual
Special engine oil required
Now the Mobil-1 is just a marketing tie-in between GM and Mobile, but you do need to use synthetic oil in the engine, and premium gas in the tank.