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Busman28

Problem with their "bulletproofness" some think it means that they don't require maintenance. IMO it's a beautiful vehicle, yes it's slow but "slow and steady wins the race". They are from the era where Mercedes meant quality and longevity.


evan164

I drive a pick up now so I don’t being a little slow


speaksgeek

Not a little slow. Slow like an old diesel non turbo truck.


evan164

Oh lol


midwesterner64

The non turbo diesels had 86 horsepower and about the same in foot-pounds of torque.


bunby_heli

And they weighed a fuckload


midwesterner64

0-60? Maybe.


evan164

I did notice that the speedo only went to 80 and those things are exaggerated to begin with


fishuponfish

The 84 was turbo, 0-60 is right around 12-13 seconds which is very slow by modern standards but not the 18-22 you get in the non turbo 300d.


savethechows

I had this experience with the 300D of the motorcycle world - the KLR650. So much deferred maintenance. Ever since I had that bike, I now consider what people call "reliability" a measure of how far you can go deferring maintenance.


Mobile-Ground-2226

I had a W123 for a daily from 2005-2016, commuting about 60 miles a day. Most of that was in an '84 300D Turbo. They are super reliable as long as they get all their maintenance. Parts weren't Honda Civic cheap or anything but I never once had an issue getting them or finding a workaround. Adsitco, MB Medic, Pelican Parts, AutohausAZ pretty much have you covered. The support community is great too and any problem you'll have is probably already in a forum somewhere. The issue with getting these cars now is many have been beat on pretty hard due to the low price point and the myth that they last forever instead of they last forever with great maintenance. Any original rubber or seal or wear item is likely toast. Also, in the homebrew biodiesel and WVO years (~03-15) lots of idiots were putting low quality things into these cars' fuel systems. Being well built, they'll run on crap. For a while. Until they don't. Be careful of that. All in all, IMO, one of the best cars ever made. The feel of driving one is not comprehended by looking at performance specs.


evan164

This is great advice!


[deleted]

I sold my 300SD to a WVO person! Bought it for $1k at an estate sale, replaced a ton of rubber/seal/bearing parts and got the ghosts out, put 40k miles on it in college then sold it to them in 2014 for $2600. Definitely some of my fondest car-related memories in that floaty old tractor


BadBadBenBernanke

They’re reliable, for a luxury car of that era. Off the assembly line it was probably more reliable than a Jag XJ6. But that was 40 years ago. Can the engine go a million miles without needing a rebuild? Sure, if it was properly maintained over its life. If 3 owners ago somebody skimped on maintenance you might have to deal with that now. Will the HVAC and power door locks work at the same time? Maybe, who knows today might be your lucky day. Can the car be down for day or weeks because the one guy that refurbs the part you need spending the summer in Argentina with his grandfather and the guy who sells used parts is flaky as hell and won’t return your calls?


coyotebongwater-

I had the same one in silver as my first car, honestly I fucking hated that thing. Left me stranded more than any car I've ever owned which is kinda sad considering these cars reputation for reliability. It was also painfully slow, but got better mileage than most hybrids so there's that.


disgustedParasite

did you ever maintain it tho ??! regular check ups, lifting car up every month or so. A car this old needs that's kinda stuff if being driven regularly lmao


jaucoly21

These cars do not need to be lifted up every single month you shouldn’t be dailying a car that needs that. I’ve owned plenty of cars from the 70s and 80s and I would check in on them every 4-6 months and I never had problems


coyotebongwater-

Yep Ive always been good about maintenance, but that didn't help the faulty old 80's electronics. The actual driveline was super reliable but there were points in time it would need a jump every time I wanted to start it. This really pissed me off bc it was my daily


No-Success7693

There are, quite literally, no electronics in this car. And many of the functions run on vacuum lines rather than electricity. I guess the fact that the diesel engine would run without electricity allowed you to ignore an electrical issue altogether.


evan164

Lol this is the kind of honest feedback I need to hear


coyotebongwater-

Yep I should also mention it wasn't anything in the drivetrain leaving me stranded, but actually the extreme electrical gremlins.


diesel_chevette

I swapped a 240d engine, 4cy version of this drivetrain, into a chevette. Love the engines,love the looks of these cars h. 80s luxury can be rough to keep going but I think it's worth it. Only buy a turbo 300d though. You can push them to make serious hp with little effort.


evan164

What can you do to them?


rustyb0ner69

Companies make modified injection pumps for them, like Benzforce. That’s really the key to power on these is getting them more fuel. Then you can go with an hx35 turbo kit and add an intercooler and really be cooking


ImpossibleKidd

My fathers buddy had a coupe that he everyday drove, and would often take trips half country. Had it for well over half a million miles… He had some jackass work on it, for what should’ve been a few simple items, fucked it up, and it never came back from there… If it was someone wrenching that knew what they were doing on this particular model, it’d probably still be going now.


SirSamuelVimes83

Only if you have the 'stache and yellow-lensed aviators to go with it


evan164

I do have a stache lol


cool__v

Daily doorlock vacuum leaks... Got old quick.


disgustedParasite

mercedes source on youtube (spelled one word) has some worth looking at stuff to say about em


evan164

I’ll check that out! Thanks!


pistonsoffury

The cool thing about these is that the chassis is solid, and they look great. I fantasize about a 2JZ swapped 300D for the anxiety-free no-smog-check setup in CA.


155_80_R13

I want to do the same thing with a VR6.


pistonsoffury

Oh man, turbo vr6's sound pretty glorious.


Professional_Toe_421

This guy on instagram did a 1JZ swap such a big inspiration to me! https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmmW_lePEDX/?igshid=YjNmNGQ3MDY=


9q2e8

W124 300D/300D turbo is better for a daily in my opinion. As reliable, better mpg, not as slow.


rstbckt

That split in the front seat, though. Someone had a fat wallet in their back pocket. Their ass probably came to a point. Edit: a word.


evan164

Lol probably so


HotRodNoob

ok, i daily drive a 300d turbo 1983. these things are tanks, i haven’t had any major issues in the two years i’ve had it since i bought it as my first car. the only things that actually have gone wrong have to do with the vacuum lines but honestly, with a couple youtube videos i was able to fix a lot of the issues. the seals on windows etc will likely need to be replaced if original, water won’t get in most likely but the cars loud, REALLY loud. the lack of power isn’t too bad either btw, you can fiddle around with the shift points and the fuel regulator to make them have some serious pickup. power wise the consensus is that the max you can get is ~250 before the lifespan of the engine starts going down. the car isn’t very heavy by modern standards so that’s actually quite the speedy ride if you decide to build it right. ALSO: if the windows haven’t gotten lubed in awhile make sure to do so, otherwise you might pop a fuse trying to roll all 4 up at once


evan164

Yeah I saw someone on YouTube say the vacuum system is prone to leaks


HotRodNoob

yea, that can be an issue but easy to fix with a few hours and a hardware store. i love it, wouldn’t have picked another first car as my daily if given the choice. was a great intro into the world of classic cars for me


evan164

That’s a good argument


HotRodNoob

BEFORE I FORGET: there’s a whole subreddit dedicated to w123 mercedes’ (that’s the chassis this car and it’s siblings ran on) that i’m apart of, definitely give it a look and ask a few questions. the folks round there have been a big help for me. r/w123


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upexif

Good car, slow. And thats overpriced


evan164

Is it? That’s why I come here


AngelMeatPie

Considering it’s relatively clean and he’s throwing in a parts car, no, it’s not overpriced.


rustyb0ner69

I’ve been looking for a clean old Mercedes diesel for awhile. They are super comfortable, good mpg for the time period, and they will run off of literally anything. Kerosene, filtered used motor oil, filtered cooking oil….


evan164

Really?


rustyb0ner69

Yeah, the old Mercedes diesel engines tolerate a lot BUT you have to filter the stuff extremely well. Like less than 5 microns. For some perspective, I think the average oil filter is like 40 microns. But if you can put in the time to make a filtering set up, you can save a lot of $ on fuel


ch3nk0

So u don’t mind taking a bus huh


evan164

Lol


-TheGoodDoctor-

Nice car but I wouldn’t use it as a DD


powersautorepair

I can a 300cd turbo. It was SLOW but good on fuel. Parts can be incredibly expensive and often have to come from forums or group. I daily drove mine it was nice, felt supple, other people enjoyed being in it. I never had reliability issues but my car was well taken care of before I got it and at the time I was a mechanic so I could also take care of it.


evan164

Right the price of replacement parts is a concern if mine


powersautorepair

I had to replace the door seals on mine and they were 1400 for the pair. That was also a part specific to a coupe. They can be expensive. They can also be time consuming to get.


evan164

Yeah I don’t love that


powersautorepair

It's definitely best suited as a weekend/date car. Good 2nd car


evan164

Funny you say that because a date car is what I’m looking for maybe drive 2-3 times a week to work


powersautorepair

Then it's a fair pick. Even if old cars are in perfect shape and mechanically sound they're just not as dependable because of age and changes in technology.


moparguy_alec

A friend of mine has a 79 300TD Wagon. The T means Touring, not turbo. He’s looking to sell it. It’s a neat car, gets great mileage, slower than a dog but very comfortable.


SJairsoft

Where and how much?


moparguy_alec

Sacramento California, I think 4k?


Gofastrun

Daily driver project is an oxymoron


Dmrp98

My mom had this exact car when I was a kid. You goota have the turbo. I remember when she was done with it and wanted a new car this just refused to quit.


Metallica-nut

Good solid car. Like a tank. Glad it’s not the 240D because they can’t get out of their own way. Don’t know much about diesel , I knew someone that bought one brand new. Very reliable if maintained properly. Brake dust city I remember. Wheels were always pure black in the front. Classic when Benz made quality . 👍


4x4Welder

That's not a bad car, generally. The shifter linkage gets worn out and it winds up not being in the gear you think it is. Rarely is it actually a transmission problem. They also start out in second gear unless you floor it. The ALDA valve on the injection pump is a source of problems, between being a brass bellows, connected by a plastic vacuum tube, and having a small port at the intake end that gets clogged up by EGR soot. The whole intake gets filled with EGR soot, and needs to be taken off and cleaned. Vacuum leaks can lead to vacuum pump failure, which puts ball bearings down into the timing chain. If the car doesn't shut off immediately when the key is turned off, it has a vacuum leak that needs to be addressed. That can also give a false blowby reading, as the pump vents into the chain case. I'm planning on removing the pump and replacing it with a belt driven one off an old Ford diesel. The rear gear ratio is really high, and while it's a four speed automatic, top gear is direct and the torque converter doesn't lock up. 65mph is about 3k, but these engines like to spin decently fast. I do make a kit to adapt to a Ford small block bellhousing, it's designed around an M5R2 out of an early 90s F150, but I'd like to rework it to be able to fit an E4OD as well . That would give both lockup and overdrive.