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Old 01-06-2018, 11:30 PM
gastropodus's Avatar
gastropodus gastropodus is offline
Mercedes Benz apprentice
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 434
I plan to keep my 240D indefinitely. It's simple enough that I can do most repairs myself (though I really need to ensure that I have a true garage in my next life phase to be able to do that work out of the weather!). Now that I've had a transmission swap done, almost all the big-ticket items have occurred and been dealt with: engine, transmission, front end. The body, while not perfect, is not a rust bucket; it could certainly stand some attention, though. One major subsystem that will eventually need attention is the rear drive axles.

And I should say that I do truly love to drive my manual transmission 240D. It's no rocket, but it is steady and comfortable and reasonably nimble as a car. There's just something so damn satisfying about driving a well-tuned diesel Mercedes of the W123 era.

Paradoxically, I just bought a new hybrid Camry, and I'm in the process of transferring my W201 to another forum member. In the past I've counted on at least one of my diesel Mercedes to be running well at any particular moment, and usually that is true. The whole 240D transmission problem meant that the 240D went out of commission at just the time of year that I usually drive it the most - winter - because the manual transmission of the W201 is very stiff in the cold, and exacerbates a shoulder problem that I've had for years. Also, the whole way that the transmission swap was handled by my usual shop kind of turned me off, and since I don't enjoy working on the W201 I decided it was time to let it go. So I'll commute down to the farm in the Camry each week with its creature comforts, and drive the 240D to work. And now I'll have a car that my family will actually want to travel in - though the espresso drive through that I take my daughter to won't start her drink when they hear the clatter of the diesel any longer!
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- '79 240D - engine swap complete! Engine broken in! 28-31 mpg! Lovin' the ride!
- '86 190D (W201-126) - 2.5 NA engine, 5 speed, cloth interior, manual climate controls, 33-34 mpg (sold to forum member).
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