Thinking about a 300D?

[fields_mj]

The wife's car (2000 Bonneville) is starting to get up in years and miles, and we are trying to save up some money to replace it. I've been thinking about looking into a 300D as a 3rd vehicle for both of us to drive. As I under stand it, in general they were pretty much bullet proof, and are good candidates for WVO blends. I've driven a few over the years that were owned by a friend of mine, and I do like them. Having driven them, I know that I would like to have one with a turbo...

What information/advise can anyone give me on this subject? Looks like there are a number of 300D available from '81 to '87. Then it looks like there are a few from the early 90's. If I could find a good deal on one from the 90's that sounds like the direction I would like to go as it would likely have all the safety stuff that my wife would want on it, plus it would be new enough that she would like the styling and it could serve as the replacement for her Bonneville for all practical purposes. Anything out of the 80's would likely be driven primarily by me to save on fuel costs, and she would only drive it when she had to. After being tagged by a drunk driver, she's a huge fan of air bags, and lots of them.

Any info/advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[m67tang]

I drive a 300d turbo daily. Very good cars, but a lot of filters to change. unlike our trucks MB's are more of a industrial set up like a generator. A well maintaned MB will last a million miles. A poor kept one will drain your wallet.

Look on mercedessource.com at some of the tech help and common issues. You will get an idea how things are set up, and what goes wrong

 

[fields_mj]

Thanks for the link! I've book marked it. I went through the first few pages of the tech help section for diesels, and I can tell that it will be a good resource at some point. Right now it's data overload. As for now, I'm looking for a good overview to get me started. Looks like they have a lot of info on common daily issues with the 80's vehicles (kind of like our IDI section), but I don't see hardly anything on stuff from the 90's. Maybe that's a good sign?

 

[TWeatherford]

1985 was the last year they assembled them by hand. Quality went significantly down after that. I've had to 85 300D's and they're great. I've seen a few of the early 90's ones and they seemed to be in poor shape, they're just not very well built. Although they don't have airbags, I would rather be in a wreck in an 85 or older one than pretty much anything out there. I've seen crash tests where they ram into a wall, then ram them from behind with another car, and all four doors still open and close perfectly.

 

[fields_mj]

Well, that's my way of thinking too, but then again I understand my wife's point of view. If I die in the crash, it doesn't matter if the doors will still open. Being able to bring a person's body to a stop more gradually really does win out at the end of the day. At the very least it sounds like I should avoid anything after '85 that the wife isn't thrilled about.

Thanks!
Mark

 

[m67tang]

the later model 300d 2.5 turbo has a much cheaper interior quality. these cars are looked up buy chassis #. the earlier 300d & 240d are 123 chassis. the 300sd is 126 chassis (later model) 116 chassis (early) model. I don't remember the later model 2.5 300d turbo.

the 300d 6 cyl. 1986 (?) has head troubles and needs a replacement head to fix. Up to 1985 the 300d is 5 cyl. and very solid cast iron engine. after this model it was slowly down hill.

 

[lotzagoodstuff]

I have a buddy who drives a 300D with almost 400K on it, original everything except one automatic transmission. I think they are very well built, economical to operate if you work on them yourself daily drivers, but that's just my .02.

Good luck

 

[fields_mj]

I have a buddy who drives a 300D with almost 400K on it, original everything except one automatic transmission. I think they are very well built, economical to operate if you work on them yourself daily drivers, but that's just my .02.

Good luck

That's kind of what I'm hoping for. My wife is an RN, and works part time. Her drive is 45~50 min each way, 2 to 3 days a week. Family visits are 1 hr or 3 hrs away. To me this all sounds like a perfect fit for a diesel. I'm really hoping to be able to find a Mercedes that will fit the bill. I could drive it part of the time as well to keep the miles and fuel cost down on my truck. Like I said though, the only hang up is that for the car to be her primary vehicle, it will have to have air bags, and it will have to have at least a 90s body style.

 

[m67tang]

avoid the 350d- it was built for MB on contract, not a true mercedes benz. a real oddball.

newer diesels include: chassis #, 140, 210, 124.

keep in mind the newer the more expansive and complicated to work on.

 

[bockhold]

Our 1976 300d non turbo is fine and still gets a constant 25mpg. But its slow. And parts are sorta hard to find.

 

[The Warden]

Like the others, I'd recommend an '81 to '85...but, there aren't any airbags. '87 and up should have an airbag, but as others have pointed out, the overall quality isn't quite up to par with the earlier cars (although I would say that the 124 chassis is less complicated and less failure-prone than the 210 chassis, to say NOTHING about the 140 S-class ). Also, I don't know much about them, but I seem to recall people having issues with the airbags on the 124 cars...probably as a result of age and older technology. A '98 or '99 W210 E300 Turbodiesel might be best from your wife's point of view, but I don't know (and I'm not sure I want to know) what maintenance costs are going to be like, and the purchase price won't be cheap either.

I don't know what your price range is like, but given that the airbag is mandatory for your wife, I'm wondering if a '90's VW TDI may fit the bill better? IIRC the '98 and older ones handle biodiesel/WVO better than the later ones...

 

[fields_mj]

I'm kicking around the idea of a VW as well. The other requirements are that it has to be a 4 door and have enough room for 2 adults, 2 kids (in various stages of car seats) and a 60 lb dog. I haven't really established a budget yet. I was hoping for something in the $5K to $8K range, and for 8K it would have to be super clean. Anything more than that and I might as well buy her the CR-V that she wants.

 

[The Warden]

If you can find one, an '87 W124 300TD wagon might work and ought to be in your price range...but you might be best off trying to find a fixxer-upper and plan on renewing things i.e. the climate control, air bag system, etc.

A W123 300TD (wagon) would be perfect except for not having airbags...

 

[-=DeanstuD=-]

Sounds like a CRV should be in your future.

 

[Gary79F250]

123 body m-b v/s honda anything

The crumple zones and srs system on any 123 chassis 300-D are the point of impact on just about anything that it may drive into, short of a semi or a bridge abutment. If you simply wear your seat in one of those cars and drive it head-on at 50 mph into say a honda CRV the Benz will be ugly you will be a little dazed and the honda (including airbags) will be absolutly scattered into pieces. Its like comparing apples to oranges; two totally different products from two totally different ideas about what a passenger car should be. One is built to last (in a time when that was still possible) and the other is just built to sell more oranges. My 2 cents.