So, I saw an ad for a car that I want to make my future daily driver. It is a gray market car that is a 4 speed. It has us spec headlights though. It is an 84 300D, but I haven't asked if it is a turbo. Are all '84 W123s turbos? Or did rogue NA motors make it into the 82-85 years that turbo 300Ds were made? Also, is the 4 speed in it the same one as you find in a 240D? Does it have an overdriven 4th so that you can acutally use it on the highway without winding it out to a telephone number just to cruise at normal (70-90) speeds? I would guess that it does since I can't imagine someone in europe wanting to drive on the autobahn at high speed without a decent od ratio. Is there any way to tell from appearence if it is a W123 turbo, perhaps the wheels or something kinda give it away?
Also, I know nothing about the W123 cars really and about what to look for, except that you have to check for rust very carefully, which is not something I think much of in the volvo world. Any engine things to check? I am pretty mechanically skilled, and the merc TD doesn't seem more complicated that a modernish EFI gas volvo, maybe even simpler. I jsut don't really know the tricks to something mercedes specific. Just a list of links to threads with common problems or a basic list to of stuff to look at when buying one would be a hige help. I have also driven a few by now, and I like the way that they drive for the most part. Some have significantly more steering play than others though. WHat causes this? I understand that the W123 atleast uses a steering box, the pieces of which are not entirely familiar to me since it has been a while since I have touched anything without rack and pinion steering. Is it adjustable play and balance wise? Are there a lot of very costly joints and bushings that I am going to have to use a ton of special tools to tear teh whole front or rear end apart to replace them? Also, I drove one 87 W124 300DT with the OM603.96 and it handled much better than the older 300Ds, and had more power, but I think it is out of my price range for a daily beater. The guy that owns it is a fanatic and fixes it pretty religiously too though. Are parts going to be quite expensive for a W123 even? I know that the parts generally don't fail that often, but with a 2 year old car I just am thinking of how hard they will be to get and what the cost will be. Also, how does the manual gearbox shift? Is there any way to shorten the throw? I have never driven a manual mercedes, but romor has it that they aren't that great to shift. I prefer manuals, but if it isn't a very dependable trans, or it sucks to drive it, then I would just concede that it will be a daily driver and put up with an auto.
I also hear that the OM617 is externally balanced. Does this mean it has a dual mass flywheel on manual cars? And, do these fail much? I know on other diesels they fail a fair bit and are an expensive nausience to replace. How hard would doing a routing longish term maint project like a timing chain be? This is pretty stupid simple on my current car, but I am used to belts, so the whole chain thing is new to me.
What is a reasonable price for a fairly rust free W123 turbo? With say a little surface rust on the rear fenders and under the tail lights, and a decent ho hum paint job with some miles but everything expensive to fix working?
If the car I am looking at turns out to be NA, is it still worth buying? I have only driven turbos and they are at my threshold of slowness tolerence. No offence to you guys puttering around in 500K mile 240Ds, I just drive like a Cali person and feel almost unsafe with anything much less than 150ponies under the hood on the freeway.
Are there things you can do to make them faster? Can the ALDA be tweaked for example? can the injection pump deliver more fuel without destroying itself or becoming unreliable? Is removing the EGR that big fo a deal? How many miles is too many on these cars, or is it is just signs of wear that should be avoided and mileage isn't a big deal? What questions should I ask the seller?
Lastly, what sort of fuel mileage should I expect out of a manual trans 300D turbo or NA car? Or any 300d for that matter? Do some auto trans lock up on the highway and become more efficient?