Happy Sunday! I took an accidental sabbatical last week due to moving my oldest back to her sophomore year of college. She took the LR4, so I have recently picked up a new (to me) COAL that I’ll write up later. Let’s pick up where we left off. The dark red 1980 300D was enjoyable, but each time I drove it one couldn’t help but wonder what a turbodiesel would add to the equation.
I was about to find out! On an innocent grocery store outing in 2002 or so, there she was at the side edge of the lot…a 1984 300D turbo sedan, dark blue nonmetallic paint. Once again, quite faded and oxidized. But that didn’t put me off, since I knew the the Klasse wax would take care of that with some elbow grease. The Bundt wheels were present but in dire need of paint. The side trim was missing, but turned out to be in the trunk as I later found.
So, this was a rough version of the legendary 300D turbodiesel for sure. But it spoke to me! I had driven a turbodiesel a handful of times in high school, a friend’s parents had a tobacco brown 1980 300SD. It was a powerful car, in it’s own way. Not Corvette fast, mind you, but faster than you expected such a large and heavy feeling car to be. I wrote down the number on the sign and called. And called, and called. I always got a machine and left a message, but never got a return call.
About a month later, the 300D was still at the grocery store. And, I finally got a return call! The owner lived some hours away, and his daughter had taken the car to a local college where I lived. She bought a newer car, and they wouldn’t give her anything on a trade. So, dad directed her to park it with a for sale sign on it. Problem is, he had been passing the messages on to her since she lived locally, and asked her to follow up with the callers…..which she never did.
So, he was going back through and calling everyone. No one remained interested until he got a hold of me. He knew a little about the car….the odometer, which read a hopeful sounding 120,000 miles or so, had been broken for YEARS. He was sure it had twice the miles by now. And no air or heat. And the stereo didn’t turn on. And it didn’t like cold starts. So, what appeared to be a worthwhile project was sounding pretty dire. I offered $750.00 cash and he accepted.
Once we met up to exchange money and keys, I immediately started pumping it full of Power Service diesel additive….an IV for an old Mercedes diesel. Within a few hundred miles, it made a tremendous difference. Indeed, for all it’s faults, it ran very well and the transmission was as smooth as silk. The cruise control even worked!
I buffed the paint out several times and it shined up nicely. I had to wear latex gloves, so my fingers wouldn’t be stained dark blue. Spray paint the Bundt wheels, check. New tan WalMart carpet in the tan interior, black WalMart carpet in the trunk, check and check. I covered the well worn tan MBTex seats with nice sheepskin seat covers a friend gave me out of a 450SL he recently bought, as he didn’t care for them. I added a stereo from you guessed it, Crutchfield (who I ordered speakers from just this week for my latest COAL).
I went to my standby catalog back in the day, Adsit, for the little plastic sinkers that held all the side trim on. I don’t know why they had been removed and were in the trunk, but they all were in good shape and snapped back on without any problems. Adsit is still around and prints a fun paper catalog of new and used parts. I assume they must have a website by now…
This isn’t the actual car, but this is indeed what it looked like when I was done with it. This would have been a few months later, probably after at least a dozen buffings with the red Klasse. I didn’t know to clay bar at the time, but that would have made it even better, I presume. I actually had a friend with a detail shop ask me what in the world I had used, to make it clean up so well.
I did have to get the heat worked on. I probably would tackle this myself now, but it was above my pay grade at the time. About $700 later, I had a new heater control valve, rebuilt control unit, and new blower motor. Indeed, all was not lost, as I applied what I learned to later Mercedes COALs with heater problems I fixed myself. So, I made the money back over time I guess.
The new local WalMart Supercenter had an auto department, and I put on a set of their Douglas radials, which actually were quite satisfactory for this application. I can’t say how many miles I put on it since there was no working odometer, but probably 25,000 over the course of a year. I never addressed the A/C, but otherwise, it was in pretty good shape for an old car. I began toying with the idea of selling it on for something with A/C.
A local surveyor had a W126 body S-Class just like this, that I really admired. I don’t recall if it was a 420SEL or a 560SEL, but I do recall it had about 300,000 miles! It wasn’t for sale, but I wanted one like it if I could find a cheap one. Unfortunately, his wife was hit head on one afternoon by a drunk driver on a twisty local road. She was fine, but their S-Class was toast. I actually saw it pass by on a rollback before I found out it was his.
When I ran the ad (geez, a paper ad) for the 300D, I priced it at $3,900.00. My very first caller was the surveyor! He offered me $3,000.00 cash and I took it…..I had almost doubled my money, got a year of miles out of it, and that sure was an easy, quick sale for a car with no A/C or odometer. Bird in the hand, etc.
Shortly after it was sold, I found my W126 body S-Class, but it was a somewhat unconventional version we’ll look into.
Have you ever sold a car to the very first offer you received? Or later wish you had? I guess this would be in the realm of private party sales (as opposed to a trade).
I pass a house in my neighborhood that has a white 300SD and a nearly new (non-descript) Japanese small sedan parked in the driveway. Needless to say, the W126 is the car I prefer.
Back when diesel was cheaper than gasoline, I was interested in these 300 and 300SD models. Nowadays I’m not sure if the gasoline-powered models aren’t a better overall proposition.
Diesel engines are much more complex than they used to be and so much harder to get to be EPA compliant, that’s taken much of the magic out of it for me. (FYI in my area diesel is priced like premium – so for me it would be equal to buying a vehicle that required premium fuel.)
I am however seeing a decent number of diesel Canyon/Colorado in this neck of the woods.
As far as I know, I have never owned a vehicle that used premium fuel (though my 94 Ranger ran LOTS better on fuel higher than 87 octane), so making the “jump” wouldn’t be done lightly. Most newer diesel-powered vehicles also need to have urea added, which makes the fuel costs even higher.
I have driven 1 or 2 diesel Rabbits, and thankfully diesel cars are better, but knowing what we know about diesel fuel pollution versus non-diesel pollution I’d think long and hard about owning a diesel powered vehicle. It would have to get very good mileage numbers compared any available gasoline-powered equivalent.
Only if they offered stick shift on 300TDs for USA.Most Of Those Would Have Been On Road Today.
I have an ’82 240D and a ’84 Euro 300TD. Both are stick-shift.
Compared to equivalent older gas Mercedes I’ve owned, these diesels still have some advantages.
Their fuel mileage is in the 18 – 30 mg range, compared to 13 – 20 on my 1972 220 and 250 Mercedes gassers. (Plus my 250 had a ’70 engine installed, so it required premium too)
Plus, they’re not subject to the ill-effects of gasohol on carburetors.
Also, lacking complex electronic systems, they’re easier to keep on the road, so long as there are decent parts supplies available and rust doesn’t kill them.
Not so much, compared to ‘modern’ fuel-injected cars, like my ’90s Camry and Altima, which have the luxury of reliable, cold AC, and could manage well over 30 mpg on the hIghway, at least before gasohol.
For me, one advantage these old Mercedes diesels will always have, is their simple, clean, functional and practical design, especially compared to the four-wheeled ‘fishes, warts and reptiles’ we have today!
Happy Motoring, Mark
Beautiful
How about brakes, suspension, etc., etc. Did all that stuff eat you up?
Also, you failed to mention how fast you ever drove it!
I may be coming into a local, private buy deal on a Mercedes like this (123 sedan). It is a 1978 300D with well under 100K miles and looks very nice (paint needs no revival). A/C not working, of course but otherwise seems quite satisfactory. My local mechanic/garage has this car as a customer too and I am one of the very few Mercedes fans in this area. So my name is in for the eventual sale by the 80 year old (or so) lady original owner. I’ve never had a diesel and never had anything this slow but I know and like Mercedes so it could come my way. I like coupes and gasoline so I can’t imagine owning it very long.
There is a fellow on youtube, up in Washington State, who has many videos on how to service your older diesel Mercedes. I have watched many of them as I have never worked on a diesel or a Mercedes. While I am mechanical enough to service all my gasoline cars I thought his videos are easy enough for an amateur to follow.
I have only driven two Mercedes in my life. My father’s 1974 450SL and a 1977 240D. Took awhile for the 240D to go up the rise on westbound 24 out of Orinda but once on flat ground it was as solid as a tank doing 65 mph. That solid sensation really impressed me.
Nice .
A cheap Mercedes will always be the most expen$ive car you ever own .
If it suits you, you won’t care .
FWIW, the 1980 W123 uses the under license Chry-Co Air Temp II HVAC system, this uses the EVIL SERVO FROM HELL and will co$t you $1,500.00 MINIMUM to get working again .
-Nate
The later Mercedes automatic climate controls have their problems too.
Fortunately, both my diesels have the basic, manual heat-AC system.
Any 30-plus year-old car can be a money pit. A lot depends on your DIY skills and how obsessed you are to make the car perfect. Also whether you plan on them being your sole transportation, which mine are not.
I drove a $600 rusty, beater 240D for a few years. Repair and maintenance didn’t cost a lot. I fixed only what was required to make it reasonably safe, didn’t care about the AC, and it turned out to be a very nice driving car. I sold to a neighbor for a bit more than I paid and he enjoyed it for a couple more years, until it was stolen!
Happy Motoring, Mark
Even us mid-70’s Mopar C body lovers know to avoid cars with the Air Temp II.
Thank you .
I didn’t and spent well over $2,000.00 returning the Klima I/Air Temp II system to as new and enjoyed the coldest AC I’d had since the 1960’s before a re spray went badly sideways and I sold the car at a dead loss .
If you do your own work they’re not terribly bad to maintain but will never reach Toyota Gas ‘N GO! status, not a problem for me .
-Nate
Crutchfield gives good value on car stereos. I went into their outlet in Harrisonburg VA once to buy a radio for my 1987 Jeep Cherokee. When I plopped down the American Express card to pay for it the clerk noticed my last name and asked if I was related to Bill Crutchfield. I told the truth and said “not an immediate relative”. Perhaps I should have called him “Uncle Bill” and gotten a family discount. As it was I did get one of their ballcaps.
Beautiful car!!!
I just saw somewhere that no less a celebutard than Lady Gaga herself drives a W123 300D. Navy, just like yours. There are photos of her puttering around Manhattan in it.
I do wish Mercedes could find a way in their modern cars to convey the sense of solidity that set these cars apart. Alas, every car today, from Hyundais on to to Mercedes-Benzes seems to be built to roughly the same standard.