The older transmission is vacuum-operated and it appears to give less trouble than the newer one based on what I've read. However it's only a 4-speed, unlike the newer one.

I've test driven a number of turbo and non-turbo W210's and one impression I took home with me is that the turbocharged engines had knocking noises and smoked while the non-turbos didn't have either of these problems. I realize this was a small sample size and conclusions shouldn't be drawn, but could it be that the stresses of the turbo will shorten the life of the engine? And if not the engine, what about driveline components like flex discs or axle shafts?

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL