CC Driving Impressions: 1980 Mercedes Benz W123 200D — What’s the Hurry, Anyway?

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– Posted on March 8, 2024

The Mercedes Benz W123 is justifiably legendary in the car world because of its rational engineering, solid build, and exceptional durability and longevity. W123s are so overbuilt that they can take decades of abuse and minimal maintenance, but still keep rolling, as the wide variety of them still doing their job in the African continent can attest. My personal preference is towards the W124, but I do respect the older model as well and can see why it has such a good reputation. Speaking for myself, I didn’t really pay much attention to the diesel models, which are easily the most numerous over here, because I thought them to be unrefined and hilariously slow. Also, the vast majority of units left in Sri Lanka are not far off in condition from the African ones, having been worked hard for decades with minimal care and upkeep.

Not THAT far off an African example, but at least it still has all the hubcaps!

However, occasionally one does come across a well-kept car, so when I heard that an acquaintance had picked up just such a thing, I wanted to find out more about it. So we met up one weekend for a chat and a good poke around this cactus green (I think that’s the name of this colour) 200d. At the time, it was one of the least costly ways into a Mercedes Benz (the Petrol 200 was slightly cheaper, in the UK market at least). Unlike the Mercedes models that fill that role today however, it didn’t at first glance seem like you were getting less car for your money, as the basic 200D was externally the same car as the most expensive 280E.

First look, wearing the “bundt cake” alloy wheels.

Mind you, these certainly weren’t cheap, with 1978 UK market pricing being 6,250 GBP (approximately $12,200 at 1978 exchange rates) for the 200D, at a time when something like a Mini would have been under 2,000 GBP ($4000). A 280E meanwhile, rang the register at 9,695 GBP ($19,000) or about 50% more than the 200D.

All that money bought you a very rationally designed and beautifully built car with the solidity of a Swabian schloss and approximately the same level of durability as well. What it didn’t buy was much in the way of glitz or flash, or any options beyond the absolute necessities. This was mentioned in contemporary reviews of the car, with journalists comparing the W123 to the competition and wondering what the justification was for the car costing as much as it did, since “performance and equipment was certainly not anything special” (actual lines from a contemporary review). Of course, they didn’t know about the build quality and durability, which has resulted in W123s still working for a living in many places all over the world well into the third decade of the 21st century.

Quite the looker, really.

Over-familiarity may have dulled our responses to it, but the W123 is really a very nice looking car with crisp lines, excellent detailing and minimal unnecessary ornamentation. The familial resemblance to the bigger S Class is also quite evident, as is the lineage from the previous W115. It exudes a sense of solidity and quality that is difficult to define, but unmistakeable when you set eyes on it. A generally unmolested example like this one is a great way to get a fair idea of the impression a car would have made when it was new, and this car likely made quite a strong one. When I drove the car it had the “bundt cake” alloys that were common on all Mercedes products of the era fitted, but the original spec was semi-body coloured wheel covers, which the owner eventually fitted (and appear in some of these pictures). I’m still not sure which of the two wheel designs I prefer, but I can say that a nice W123 really does stand out in modern traffic, especially in a colour like this.

Bundt Cakes or Hubcaps, what does CC think?

“Bank vault-like” has become a bit of a cliche when describing car doors, but that really is the first thing that comes to mind when you open and close the doors of a W123. The solidity, weight and the motion of the hinges, as well as the slight effort needed to firmly shut them all bring to mind something more substantial than a mere car. These hefty portals allow access into a cabin that is as rationally designed and logically laid out as the exterior is, with everything you need and nothing you don’t. This car would originally have had half-fabric seats as per the original spec sheet, but as you can see in the pictures the seats have been re-trimmed in full vinyl. The material is good enough, but doesn’t have quite the same look and feel as the legendary MB-Tex.

Why exactly the re-trim was necessary is a question that I don’t have an answer to, as it had been done by a previous owner. It’s hard to believe that the seats could have worn given the low mileage and overall condition of this car, so it was possibly a change just for the sake of it, which is never ideal. Anyway, the seats feel a bit odd at first, seeming both hard and overtly “springy” and quite different from any modern automotive seating experience. But after a little while seated in them, you start to wonder whether you can get them fitted into your daily driver, because they actually offer a really great combination of support and comfort and would doubtless be stress-free over a long day of driving.

Stark, but somehow inviting too.

The seating position is naturally quite upright and the rectilinear design of the W123, combined with the relatively slim pillars as well as the abundant glass means that visibility from the driving seat is exemplary, and all four corners of the car are easily visible. It’s true there are many good reasons for the thick pillars and smaller windows that infect most modern cars, but when you drive something like this you can’t help but feel like there has been regression instead of progress in some ways. The steering wheel is the only major complaint worth mentioning, because it seems big enough to helm a bus, or perhaps a seagoing vessel. Surely something an inch or two smaller would have done the job of directing this Mercedes just as well! The fact that the ignition key is on the dashboard rather than the column and needs to be operated with the driver’s left hand in RHD cars like this, is also unusual at first but not difficult to get used to.

A truly pleasant driving environment!

Firing the 200D up requires a few seconds of waiting for the glow plug light to go off and I must admit that I turned the key with a bit of trepidation, expecting a very agricultural amount of sound and vibration to immediately disrupt the calmness of the early morning. After all, wasn’t that exactly what conventional wisdom tells you to expect from an old diesel? Imagine my surprise when the 2.0 litre four pot diesel fired up and settled into a muted thrum with only a slight amount of vibration noticeable through the seat and steering wheel. I’ve been in 90s pickup trucks that were far worse in NVH terms, honestly.

The four speed manual gearbox is not going to bother a Miata for shift quality, but neither is it a vague and sloppy mess, as some have described Mercedes manuals of this era. The shift throw is long, true, but also quite positive and smooth. The clutch is also pretty smooth in its action, enabling us to pull away from the curb without drama and join the light Sunday morning traffic. The test route was a free flowing street, so I thought I’d give it the spurs a bit and pressed the very long travel throttle almost to the floor.

When that happens, the thrum from underhood increases in volume significantly, but there doesn’t seem to be much effect on forward progress. Watching the speedometer confirms that you are in fact, accelerating, but the pace at which this happens leisurely at best. The 2.0 litre OM615 diesel engine has several fine qualities, but power is most certainly not one of them! With a peak output of 60 BHP at 4,400 rpm and 83 lb/ft at 2,500 rpm, pushing a car that weighs 3,060lb (1,390Kg) empty, I guess you really can’t expect anything other than gradual progress. I can understand why this motor was never offered in the US market, even in the days of the 55MPH speed limit! Performance figures state a top speed of 84MPH (135 Km/H) and 0-60 in 26-28 seconds. So really not for those in a hurry, then.

Still, this unmolested example shows that even 60 horses can be enough if you use them right. Unlike most other diesel W123s I’d previously experienced, which had all been beaten like the proverbial rented mule, this one might well have had those five dozen horses still in the stable, so it didn’t feel dangerously slow. The four pot doesn’t seem to mind being thrashed a bit, and when you do, it is possible to build up reasonable momentum. Once you build that momentum, conserving it as much as possible is the key to making progress, because building it back up again takes quite a while. In a corner, the four wheel independent suspension (Double wishbones in front and semi-trailing arms in the rear) keeps the body well controlled so it is possible to scoot through at a higher pace than you’d initially imagine. Body roll is present, but relatively mild, while there is no sign of wallowing or pitching when hustled. Once you get used to what the car needs, it’s certainly possible to cover ground fairly quickly on a winding road.

The only major black mark dynamically is the recirculating ball steering, which has little feel and is not particularly fast to respond, but it is at least precise. The four wheel disc brakes (doing without the optional ABS on this car) are capable and feel almost modern in their stopping ability, one area where Mercedes has always been ahead of its time. Of course the W123 was ahead in other areas too, like safety engineering, and of course, durability.

This particular example is a pretty good representation of how a 200D would have felt like when new, and it’s easy to understand why contemporary reviewers were less than thrilled about the W123 in general back then. Compared to, say the BMW E12 5 Series, or the remarkably modern C3 Audi 100 that debuted in 1982, the Benz feels significantly less athletic and modern, almost like it’s from another era altogether. Reviews back then were particularly critical of the pricing, and the question often asked was “What is all this money being spent on?” Well, four decades later it’s pretty clear where the money went, because W123s are still trundling on while the contemporaries have long been turned into washing machines and the like. You certainly aren’t going to see a million kilometre E12 still lugging loads in deepest Africa, that’s for sure!

How it looked pre respray

This car was purchased in the UK by a Sri Lankan doctor who was doing his consultant training, and after using it for a short while there, brought the car back with him when he moved home. He apparently used it quite sparingly and when he passed away the car went to the hands of his son who also ran it very rarely. The family owned it until a couple of years ago, when it was bought by a car flipper type who decided on a respray despite the original paint being in good shape, likely for more sales appeal. The half-fabric/half MBtex seats were redone at the same time. Shortly after, my acquaintance saw it when on his way back from somewhere out of town, and bought it almost on the spot. The odometer reads just over 99,000 Kilometres and apparently the records back that up. That is, of course, barely run in for a 200D, which means this car would be perfectly capable of doing daily duty even, should one want it to.

Original interior.

The current owner has several cars and despite liking this one quite a bit, preferred to have a Petrol example, so this car is for sale now. I considered it myself for a brief moment, but decided it wasn’t quite what I wanted (or needed) in my life at this time. Nonetheless, it proved to be a thoroughly charming car, and gave me a deeper understanding of why W123s are so revered. The fact that an absolute base model like this has basically all the qualities that make a top-of-the-range example special is a testament to the greatness of the basic design, and in my opinion, justifies considering the W123 one of the all time greats.

 

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