[W126 Coupe] 560SEC cracked engine block - how??

[Dawid Loubser]

Well, it's happened -

Without any particular overheating, or other problems, my regularly- 
maintained
1990 560SEC Euro has developed a crack in the engine block (my  
mechanic just showed
it to me today) and thus needs to be replaced (at immense cost,  
obviously). He will
present the options to me tomorrow. Basically, my car did start to  
overheat, and steamed
out of the exhaust, but I immediately stopped driving the car, and  
towed it to my local
specialist. I can't believe it overheated for long enough to cause  
this sort of damage,
I barely expected a ruptured head gasket.

This all comes as a bit of a shock to me, I know this is going to be  
incredibly expensive
to sort out. I would like some opinion from the experts around here -  
has this happened to
you? Why would this happen?

I am looking at other options, such as simply finding a good other  
engine (which I might
have a good lead on) - but honestly speaking, I am still in a bit of  
shock.

kind regards to you all (I've been a lurker on this wonderful list for  
a *long* time - too long,
in fact)

Dawid