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Old 03-15-2012, 11:22 PM
bipolardave bipolardave is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 399
My W115 is my first Mercedes. I hadn't done much research prior to buying it and was anxious to have any old diesel Merc.

There aren't too many classic diesel Benzes here in WV, or the mid-Atlantic for that matter. So I pretty much jumped on it when it came up for sale because it happened to be the only locally available diesel Benz in good condition.

Having said that, I wish that I could have have held out for a W123.

It's not that I hate the car. As a matter of fact, I've grown to love it. It's not even a bad car once you get used to the quirks (ie. aforementioned slowness). However, sourcing parts and, more importantly, knowledge, has been problematic. The only resources have been this board and, thankfully, a set of MB shop manuals that came with the car. I don't even have the benefit of local expertise. The relatively local MB indy (relative = 100 miles away) hasn't worked on many W115s in recent decades. As a matter of fact, he loaded me up with a box of old parts saying that I was the only one he knew with one still on the road and that I'd need them more than he.

I've also had to throw quite a bit of money at it to get it back into semi-respectable shape ($4000 in body work alone). That's more than the car's worth. New tires, shocks, brakes, stereo, injection pump, valve seals, and timing chain put my "investment" over $10k. I've seen mint W124s and some Pontons go for less.

So, from several angles I would have been much better off going with a newer car. Perhaps if I lived in MB owner and salvage yard dense areas such as So Cal or Florida I'd have a different opinion.

Again, it's not a horrible choice for a car. You *can* live with it...love it even, especially given your previous ownership experience. You already know what you're in for. But if you were a first time buyer and didn't have a bead on a mint condition example, I'd submit that you look elsewhere.
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1974 240D "Boldie" 170K.- New timing chain/freshly rebuilt IP/replaced valve seals/injectors/upgraded stereo/new Bilsteins with Yokohamas/fresh paint and rocker panels plus lots of welds.
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