Old Mercedes Diesels

[wavinwayne]

Recently, I've given passing thought to buying an early-mid 80's Mercedes diesel. It would be more of a toy than anything else. Well, I got to looking around on eBay and autotrader last evening, and I was SHOCKED at how much those old cars are going for. It was not uncommon on eBay to see early 80's 300 series diesels with >200k miles fetching $5K+. That seems ridiculous to me. Autotrader was not much better, although I did find a few with dings and rust for around $1K. I was just amazed that these old beasts sell for so much.

Do any of you BITOGers drive one of these old Mercedes diesels? What do you like/dislike about them?

 

[tig1]

Way under powered.A friend had a 240D which I drove a lot. In hilly country it sort of dogged along, but on the flat roads of Illinois it crused well. Mileage was good, 30 hwy.

 

[Benzadmiral]

It's been said that, after the nuclear holocaust, when the humans are all gone and the dominant form of life is the intelligent cockroach, they'll be driving W123 diesels.

It's not so much their fuel economy, though it was quite good back in the '80s, and compares favorably with a lot of cars today. It's that the cars were so well built and are quite simple and easy to work on. Have a look at http://www.mercedesshop.com/shopforum/forumdisplay.php?f=15, the diesel forum.

I drove a red over palomino 1984 W123 sedan once as a loaner car when my current used Benz was in the shop. You did kind of have to kick it to get it really moving uphill (though that was at Denver's 5200-foot altitude). But it was *solid.* If I'd bought that one, I might still be chugging along in it today.

 

[tdpark]

my mom had a 1980 300D- non turbo. They got rid of it 17 years later with 275k on it. The main thing with this car is the darn vacuum tubes that power the doorlocks, help control the transmission and a few other things. There are miles of vacuum tubes and trouble shooting is a pain.

Main reason my parents got rid of it was because it had developed leaks in all these vaccum tubes. To diagnose and repair would have cost a small fortune. Also, no mechanic wanted to do it as it is very tedious work.

Engine and transmission were bulletproof and got great gas mileage. My mom beat the snot out of it too. My sister, brother and I learned how to drive on that thing and we all beat the snot out of it.

 

[mistersooty]

I have a 1977 240D(123) and 1981 300SD(126). Driving the 240D in any kind of traffic takes planning and patience. It is built like a tank and we've driven it flat out (82-85 mph) across Iowa and South Dakota on vacation. I can't think of many cars that can, alright have to be driven flat out almost all the time.

The 300SD is accelerates "better" with the turbo but the body is on the large side and the interior is more plasticky.

Maintenance is a breeze on both. Plenty of room under the hood, Delvac1 every 10k miles. I've put 150K on both cars with no maajor issues, but they do require maintenance, valve adjustments (DIY), fuel filters.

Of my cars, the 240D is the one I would never give up.

 

[mcrn]

I had a 83 240D. As mentioned above it was so slow that it was almost dangerous. And again like mentioned above the Vacuum system was the worst part of the car. It controlled everything. The power door locks, the A/C, the transmission, and if there was any leaks anywhere in the system all of that was effected. It was a great cruising car. Even at 25 years old there was no rattles and it took bumps better than a friend of mines Lexus. I did put new Bilsteins in it though . IF it had power I might have kept it.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Yes, there's something about the 240Ds, the W123 versions, that makes people get really attached to them.

 

[hillclimber]

A few years back I drove a 240D from Seattle to DC. Getting over the Rockies was interesting as I had to get over in the slow lane with the 18 wheelers (and struggled to keep up with them). Crossing Nebraska I found I could achieve 80 mph with the pedal to the metal. As noted above, it seemed comfortable doing that all day. Cool car -- black with black hubcaps, big tan seats and, of course, that big MB steering wheel. I dug it; nothing else quite like it, for better or worse.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: hillclimber
A few years back I drove a 240D from Seattle to DC. Getting over the Rockies was interesting as I had to get over in the slow lane with the 18 wheelers (and struggled to keep up with them). Crossing Nebraska I found I could achieve 80 mph with the pedal to the metal. As noted above, it seemed comfortable doing that all day. Cool car -- black with black hubcaps, big tan seats and, of course, that big MB steering wheel. I dug it; nothing else quite like it, for better or worse.


This sounds like a vehicle that would have really benefited from a Turbo......

 

[mcrn]

Yes turbos helped. They did not turbo the 4 cyl but they did the 5cyl. My dad had a 300TD and it has some pretty good power. Nothing to race or anything like that but it did have enough power. It was cool but did not feel as tight as my 240D. My mom had a 300SD. That thing was so smooth and heavy. It cruised great!

 

[mstrjon32]

Friend of mine had a 1984 240D, had something like 370K on it when it had to be hauled to the junk yard because the floor pan had finally rusted through. Engine still ran well.

The transmission was wonky by 370K and the car was SLOW. I think it had 67hp when new from the factory. I drove it once and I had my foot welded to the floor for most of the entire trip, often losing speed while climbing hills.

It did have a lot of personality though, I could see myself in one.

 

[huffmuds9320]

I still see many of the older Mercedes (with round headlights) diesels around here in the bay area. They seem to be a bit underpowered when accelerating from a standstill stop. You can hear the engine roar as the light turns green. The engine sound is very cool though.

 

[moribundman]

Well, those old M-B were originally made for two types of drivers:

1. Taxi drivers:
The good old M-B sedan with the low powered Diesel was the most common taxi vehicle (Hence the nickname "Turkish Taxi") in Germany. Perfect for driving around town. Now you see more VW, Audi, Ford etc as taxi.

2. "Man with hat" -- which is a jokular term referring to farmers (who always wear a hat when driving to town):
In Germany, almost every farmer had ( I speak in the past because it has changed) one or several M-B. They always had a hitch and were used for all sorts of things we town and city folks found amusing. For example, the farmer would tow a cart with a bale of hay around. Or he'd ferry some fertilizer to the field. All the farmer was interested in was a reliable vehicle with gobs of torque. On regular roads the old M-B were always a nuisance, slow and stinky.

 

[Throckmorton]

Originally Posted By: mstrjon32
...the car was SLOW. I think it had 67hp when new from the factory. I drove it once and I had my foot welded to the floor for most of the entire trip, often losing speed while climbing hills.

It did have a lot of personality though, I could see myself in one.
You are correct. I used to drive a an old diesel Golf and it was practically a hotrod compared to an auto-transmission 240D. The 240D was slow even by the standards of a 1980's automobile. In today's world where most any car has anywhere between 140 -300 hp or more these cars would be dangerously slow.

 

[Chris142]

I got an older MB non turbo diesel stuck in a pot hole in front of my work. I had to rock it out by using D the R over and over. It didn't have enough p00p to drive out of the hole by it's self.

 

[dnastrau]

I had an '81 300SD (126 body turbo sedan) project a few years ago. I sank a lot of money into it and didn't get much of it back when I sold it, but I did learn a lot about Diesels in the process. If you buy one, buy the best one you can afford! Check carefully for rust underneath, and for leaky rear windows that will cause water to creep into all sorts of places and rot things out.

The turbo Diesel was probably good for a 0-60 time of about 12 or 13 seconds and would wind up to about 110 MPH. Not bad, and an absolute screamer compared to the non-turbo Jetta Diesel that I had next. The engine was bulletproof and always started as long as the glow plugs were in good shape and fresh, treated fuel was in the tank. I used the block heater in the winter too.

It didn't get great gas mileage for a Diesel in my opinion (maybe 27 or so on the highway) but it was heavy and I had a heavy foot. An overdrive 4th gear would have helped too (4th in the automatic was not an overdrive.)

The ATC A/C system can be a headache if it needs work as can vacuum piping as mentioned earlier. The cruise control modules and window regulators are a common trouble spot as well. I enjoyed the car but the tinworm took hold underneath and I didn't want to deal with rust repair to make it pass Pennsylvania inspection so I sold it to someone more able to deal with the problem.

A sluggish turbo Benz can often be a caused by a clogged pressure sensor line that goes between the intake manifold and the boost enrichment device on the fuel pump. Carbon and junk dumped into the intake from the EGR valve clog this up and the pump no longer "sees" the boost from the turbo. It takes about 15 minutes to clean out the line and manifold fitting. I did this to a friend's sluggish 300SD and the difference was like night and day in power.

The transmission control cable adjustment that "tells" the transmission what the throttle position is can also make the car sluggish if there is too much slack.


I would buy another if it was sound and rust free. Just don't expect 40 MPG, and if you cannot do the work on it yourself expect large repair bills when things need attention. IMHO, great old cars.

Andrew S.

 

[MBCLK]

these cars are expensive because they are converted to run on vegetable oil or biofuels...not sure if i have the terminology correct.

http://www.lovecraftbiofuels.com/

 

[Oldwolf]

I have a 1993 300D with a 2.5L Turbocharged engine. I find the car a pleasure to drive and work on. You probably should be a wrencher though if you own one (older MB diesel)otherwise you might have to spend a lot of $ having someone else do it. My car is fast, cruises great on the highway, and averages 34 mpg. This is one car I can see myself growing old with. Yikes! Don't tell my wife I said that.

 

[mcrn]

Originally Posted By: Oldwolf
I have a 1993 300D with a 2.5L Turbocharged engine. I find the car a pleasure to drive and work on. You probably should be a wrencher though if you own one (older MB diesel)otherwise you might have to spend a lot of $ having someone else do it. My car is fast, cruises great on the highway, and averages 34 mpg. This is one car I can see myself growing old with. Yikes! Don't tell my wife I said that.


I agree with the wrenching on it yourself part for sure! I wish I knew now when I owned one. I spent a lot paying someone else to do what I could have easily done. They are easy cars to work on.

 

[wavinwayne]

I found a '63 locally for $2500. What do you guys think of it? Here's a link: http://huntsville.craigslist.org/cto/1324426511.html