MB 300D Information

[Conan]

I have a motorcycle up for sale or trade, and a fellow in northern CA says he might be interested in trading an '87 Mercedes Benz 300D for it. I know some of you on this forum have or had one of these. How are they? What kind of bugaboos should I look for? Are there known, high-dollar maintenance/repair items that will come up in her old age?

He says he has the original CA title signed by the previous owner, but he's never titled it in his name, passed emissions, or registered it. He says he'll have to pay $500 in back registration to tag it in CA, but I live in CO, so I might be able to get it here on a temp tag, then title and register it here.

The odo is broken, and he estimates 240K miles. Has good set of service records to document the miles until the odo died. Sounds like the guy buys and sells quite a few cars and bikes, but is not a dealer. I certainly am not looking to add a new car, but I'm intrigued with all things diesel. The bike I'm trading ('03 Aprilia Falco) is probably worth about $4k-4.5K. I looked up all the 300Ds for sale now in AutoTrader, and I'm guessing the market value of one like this (based on asking prices) is probably around $5K-$7K.

Are these fantastic cars? I don't know much about them. I have heard that they run forever. There is a pretty complete local parts car available... I sure wouldn't ever want to buy parts from a dealer unless I had no other option.

Thanks for any info in advance,

Lee

 

[Honeydew]

That is the W124 chassis. I'd suggest doing some research to help with your decision. Peachparts shopforum and benzworld are a couple forums to look at. I remember reading something about a rear suspension rebuild on the W124 being absurdly expensive.

 

[v8volvo]

They're nice enough to drive (though not as nice as a TDI or a Volvo Diesel) -- much better than the older Benzes. Smooth, quiet and they have good pep when they are running right. Not a simple engine or vehicle though, nothing like the old all-iron OM61x motors that came before. The OM603's have an aluminum cylinder head and the original ones have issues -- if they get warm even just once then the head is toast. There is an updated version from M-B that many cars have at this point but not all of them (only got them if they needed them ,aka got hot at some point). Look online and find the whole story and be sure to check it out; you can figure out what kind of head it has by looking at the casting # but I forget the details about where and what the right numbers are right now. You want to be sure you don't get stung by this because if the head goes kaput it's big bucks. Even if it has the new style head on it, keeping the cooling system healthy on these is critical. They are not forgiving of neglect like the old ones are.

Rest of the motor is not too bad, I work on several that have 300k+ on them and seem to run OK. Injection pumps are pretty bulletproof except for being prone to leaky delivery valve seals that take a special socket and a fair amount of patience and care to replace, but can be done with pump on car if you are careful and have steady hands and are sure to not let any dirt get in. Need to keep up with fuel filters as with anything else. Valves are hydraulic, no valve adjustments like in the older Benzes, but synthetic oil is a good idea to keep the lifters happy and make the bottom end last. Transmissions usually don't seem to last the whole life of the car and need work at some point, so either that has already been done or it probably will be someday. Any kind of work on front or rear suspension is pricey, same goes for electrical, climate control, etc.

Overall they aren't bad cars, I would probably rather have one over a W123 for the nicer driving experience, but be aware that it's a complex beast in every way and will occasionally require a pile of cash to be funneled into one system or another to keep it going. Most important thing is to either do or have someone else do a thorough checking-out before you commit to anything... If it's in good shape then you might be getting a good deal, but if it needs help then either be ready to get out your wallet, or walk away.

 

[compu_85]

With that many miles, if it has the original #14 cylinder head I'd be worried. An overheat in the past can lead to cracks in the future. With that many miles on the car I'd probably want some $$ in addition to the car. How is the paint?

Here's some info on the rear suspension: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=300339&highlight=w124+guide

The sunroofs all break and require $200 in parts to fix, with that many miles the trans is probably about used up too. Plus it probably needs vacuum pods in the climate control system... possibly more. They are very nice cars, but if you want everything to work you have to dump some money into them.

-J