Should I buy a 1993 W140 mercedes?

[Antsrcool]

Have an opportunity to buy a 1993 300sd which is the W140 body. Anybody have any input? It appears to have blue smoke and a knock only at idle. Sounds a lot like an injector that's nailing. It also has 240k on it. I fear it may have bent rods as that appears to be common. Not sure if I should take on such a basket case or not. The only tempting thing is that there are only 1006 of these made in the US which is a good and bad thing.

 

[Perfectreign]

Though the W126 cars are still considered the most bullet proof, the w140 was also very good. I like the w140 body style the best.

Check out BenzWorld - http://www.benzworld.org - and ask there. Many friendly people who can help out.

 

[Antsrcool]

Yea but 3.5 diesel I hear is garbage

 

[compu_85]

If it knocks and smokes at idle it likely has bent rods and ovaled cylinders - needs a new motor. Remember most early W140s will need their evaporator replaced, which is a 20 hour job. Unless you can get this car very cheap pass... it probably needs lots of work.

If you do get it and want a motor I'm considering selling my car as the body is getting a bit rusty.

-J

 

[Antsrcool]

Well it smokes and knocks at idle. So it needs a motor.

 

[Antsrcool]

Also how much for that motor? And I can get the car for 1500 bucks. Body has no holes but scabs in all the areas they always get it. I was going to have the body gone over as the interior is just about perfect. But since the motor is crap I'm reluctant.

 

[compu_85]

Only buy a car that needs major help in one of these three areas: Drivetrain, exterior, interior. Sounds like that SD needs help in 2 of the three

There were also more than 1000 of the W140 diesels sold here, IIRC the number is around 2500. Remember the 300SD Turbo and S350 TurboDiesel are the same car

IMHO $1500 is way to much to pay for a rusty mercedes with a bad motor. I'd want to knock $1000 of at the least.

-J

 

[BKmetz]

It's a parts car, walk away. Even 'IF' the engine was OK, and none of them are, fixing the small stuff is horribly expensive even if you do all your own work.

 

[RNDDUDE]

In a word...NO!

 

[Blanco98Beetle]

There is nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes. Walk away. If you want an SD I would look for an 1985 or earlier. If any signs of more than slight neglect; like ****ty paint , rust holes not attended to, cheap non German filters, holes in seats not repaired, ripped headliners, non matching tires, etc etc WALK AWAY.

Other enjoyable 85 and earlier MB Diesels are the 300D, and 300CD Turbo . Stay away from the non turbo CD .

You should be able to find a decently maintained of any above for 2,000 - 3,000.

....

 

[JeffDes4]

It's a parts car, walk away. Even 'IF' the engine was OK, and none of them are, fixing the small stuff is horribly expensive even if you do all your own work.

I agree it totally sounds like a parts car to me. Unless you can find cheap parts and are willing to put a ton of work into it, run

You will probably find out it needs much more work than you ever see as of right now.