1981 300SD, over 200k miles, good running car, has a little blow-by and the tranny needs new seals, and it needs the interior to be redone, it needs a new paint job, and the a/c needs a little work on it, but overall, it's a good strong car.
-Joe

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'81 MB 300SD, '82 MB 300D Turbo (sold/RIP), '04 Lincoln Town Car Ultimate

Sooner or later every car falls apart, ours does it later!
-German Narrator in a MB Promotion Film about the then brand new W123.

I need to do the exhaust on the SDL sometime soon. Some questions:

1) I presume that you keep the factory downpipe with the flex coupling built in.

2) What tubing did you use to go from the downpipe to the muffler? Was this commercially available? Who bent it properly?

3) I presume that you eliminated the center muffler, just forward of the rear axle and just to the driver's side of the vehicle.

4) What are the details of the flowmaster muffler? What is the expected life of this component?

5) What's the cost for the system from the back end of the downpipe to the end of the system?

6) You mention a cat on the system. I cannot seem to find any evidence of a cat on this one. That is, unless I am calling the cat the center muffler. It is awful small for a muffler and awful big for a cat. As mentioned above, it lives just forward of the rear axle on the driver's side.

I'm weighing a complete stainless steel system from Timevalve for $650. or so. But, this is a bit pricey and I was looking for alternatives.

Thanks.

Just had a Major Service done on my 86' 300 SDL. My pocket book is thin but my car feels good. $617.20 worth of service, Oil, belts, wipers, fluids, air filters, fuel filters, fuel injection clips, and remove brake fluid resivor and flush system. ABS system checked secure main harnes. Check front wheel speed sensors. Replace rear turn signal bulb. 5.5 hours of labor at $75.00 an hour. Shew wee....

I know exactly how you feel. I reside in both camps. The one camp being those that use an indy for certain work. I had the indy do a bit of work when I brought the SDL from Florida up to New York. Spend about $700. on tie rods, alignment, rear axle fluid replace, motor mounts, injection timing check, road test and evaluate, balance all four tires, and front pads.

I definitely needed to do the tie rods, alignment, and balance of the tires.
The remaining items I could have deferred.

I get the same Shew wee feeling when I have to pay the bill for these services. So, now, I generally reside in the opposite camp. I do most everything else myself now that I have it home.

With the help of this forum, which is invaluable, you might consider the same. None of the aforementioned items seems out of typical capability. However, I have no knowledge of the specifics of the ABS. This might be the exception.

It sure beats that shew wee feeling, that is for sure.

Have two...
A 1981 300sd with 144,xxx miles, smokes like a pig, looks like hell and it's very difficult to start in cold. It also burns and/or leaks a quart of oil every 750 miles. Once its going it runs great.

The second one is a 1988 300SEL car looks great and runs great. Does'nt burn or leak a drop of oil. Love this car

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I'm sick of .sig files

Brian, I try to do some work myself. My father has a Transmission and Auto shop in East Texas which is about 3.5 hours from here in Austin. I drive up often and with the benefits of a family owned Auto Repair shop. I use his facilities to do some of the work. I just recently replaced both upper control arms, lower ball joints and drag link. This all ran me around $ 400.00 out of pocket for parts. My labor was cheap it was $0.00. In all i've pumped in about $3000. into my 300 SDL in the last 3 years that I've owned it.

I have a 1983 300SD.
just finished with the climate control repair, valve adjustments, vacumm pump rebuild , a new brake booster and nozzles change.
The wallet took quite a hit
Now everything is running fine and smooth.
The only thing left to do before the winter is hiting is a skid plate and new winter tire.
But is a fun car to drive

You're doing fantastic. I'll be crossing the $3K mark in the next two weeks when I get rid of the FR380's and put Michelin HydroEdge on it. This is after only eight months. Most of it was as received and I'm still working my way through it.

Hattie is over $5K in the same time frame.

$5k thats chump change! I have had two expensive weeks one $1,600 week in May and I just had another $1k week a few months ago. I just dropped $420 at the dealer Friday and now my trans is demanding attention.

It's only money, I can always make more.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Boy, you are way up there. I have to take a look at the complete list one of these days.

Brian, Yeah Hattie's working hard on his car. He doesn't need to sell it, i'm sure he's just going through a low. We all have those expeierences from time to time. I figure if i'm going to own a MB and an SDL at that, i've got to keep it going. The best way to have a great running car is to take care of it. That's what I'm going to do. I have alot to do. Next on my list is my Climate Control, which is a problem for most. Head gasket. Most likely the blower motor is going to play out soon. I can drive for about 2 hours and I can hear what sounds like a bird whistleing under the dash on the passenger side. I have a problem with A/C flowing out the middle vents. I have a problem with the heater not coming on for about 25 miles, just as i'm pulling into work or getting home from work, does it come on.lol. New Hood Pad. That Hood Pad has been gone for 3 years that i've had it. Does anyone know the significance of the Hood Pad? I want a new dash or good used one. I just don't like those dash pads, they come off and warp. I hear New Dashes run anywhere from $800.-$1000. Does anyone know where I can get a good or new Dash? I have a palomino interior. I think the lower part of the dash is more cream color though. When I leave for work in the mornings and pull out of the driveway my transmission slips a bit, probably needs a vacuum regulator or clutches. So Hattie thinks he's got problems. I've got a few, but i'm in love with my car. It's almost like marriage, you gotta work at it.

Yeah I'll have to crunch the numbers and post them, I must be over the $6k mark by now.

A newer W210 or Japanese car is looking better every day.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Hattie how much did u buy your SDL for? Do you have a picture of your MB? Wow! You've pumped nearly $6k into your car and your still having major problems? What's the future hold in needed repairs?

From what I have projected for the next 2 years or so: I only paid $2,500 for it $2,950 with dealers fees and tax.

The trans cant go that much longer- $1,500.
Driveshaft $?
Water pump+ dieing fan $300
Windsheild $300
If I want the car to look less dented and chipped up say at least $3k to get some rust and major dents fixed.
New head lights $200
Door seals at least 2 maybe 3 $80 each give or take.
Engine shock mount kits $100
Diff mount+ flex discs $250
Shocks all leaking $225
CV joint boots are cracking $?
Need a new bumper cover $200 maybe?
Drivers seat is starting to tear $?

ect, ect, ect...

I'm thinking to get my SDL in the kind of condition I want probably about $13k give or take!

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Hattie, I see you took off the part off your sig line that said "after you replace ...........what else can go wrong". I guess you are learning, huh?

Bummer. Mine is still doing good. No major new problems. On trip to NC this weekend the Cruise Control actually worked for 90 minutes! Could not believe it. Previous record was about 6 minutes. It let me set, resume, accel, decel and work again after tapping brake (that's resume, isn't it?). Bad part is we had to stop and I know it would not work like that again. I was right.

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Alan Hamm
'87 300SDL 277K Miles
'89 560 SL 68K Miles