Originally Posted By: gathermewool
Very cool looking cars.
I’ve never been behind one that didn’t stink to high heaven and smoke, though.
Heh, yes, they seem to be most prone to running rich in low/mid RPM's before the turbo gets going. Unlike most diesels they cruise at 2,700+ RPM (the 4 cyl. 240D's can get up close to 4 grand at freeway speeds) so the turbo doesn't really start boosting until after 2K. The IDI diesel supposedly doesn't burn as clean, either. And the apparatus used to alter fuel mixture relative to boost on the Bosch inline injection pump can "work" a long time after it's right.
Just FYI, in mine (the white one)I've been repeating 23-24 MPG in town lately, best ever was 28. He drove his sedan 280 miles yesterday and got 21.8 which is kinda low, but it was loping pretty hard when he started it up and he had 2 passengers.
But, as somebody else said, gotta love a good old mechanical injection, emissions-free, inline diesel. It'll keep chugging until you deprive it of air, fuel, or oil.