I'm not to concerned about the chain they very rearly break. I will probably change it next summer though along with those annoying lifters.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Just checking back into this thread.
From my own experiences, my W126 is about as reliable as one could hope for.
They have a lot of room under the hood to do work, and the diesels have much simpler engine electronics.
My 1984 300SD I think of as a faithful wife.
My 1991 300TE is like a sexy, responsive girlfriend with (shopping and other) addictions. She seems to miss my mechanic if they haven't seen each other in a couple of months.
Granted that I have a gas wagon, but a lot of the problems I've experienced are endemic to the W124 body... let's see, OVP relay, exhaust, brakes, voltage regulator, monovalve, frozen ignition tumbler, cranky vacuum door locks, leaky washer fluid tank, cooling system cascade failures (the latter admittedly related to M103 head gasket failure).
Now she's gotten very cranky starting and is dripping something on my driveway. I'm envisioning another trip to my mechanic to troubleshoot both problems.
My wife is noticing the problems, and suggested I sell the W124 and keep the SD.
W124 problems seem to cost more than W126 problems, for both parts and labor.
I told her that my SD is akin to my wife, and the TE is my girlfriend. This way I have no time (or money ) for a warm-blooded human girlfriend... after telling her this she dropped the subject ...
Maybe you should bring your SDL to my house and we can trade my SD for your velour SDL... and I can sell my gas wagon to pay for the repairs to the SDL and buy diesel fuel for the next 10 years... but then I might end up with a human girlfriend, no wife, no home, and no money ... never mind

__________________
Bob Roe
Lehigh Valley PA USA
1973 Olds 88, 1972 MB 280SE, 1978 Datsun 280Z, 1971 Ford T-Bird, 1972 Olds 88, 1983 Nissan Sentra, 1985 Sentra, 1973 230.6, 1990 Acura Integra, 1991 Volvo 940GLE wagon, 1983 300SD, 1984 300SD, 1995 Subaru Legacy L wagon, 2002 Mountaineer, 1991 300TE wagon, 2008 Murano, 2007 R320CDI 4Matic 52K, some Hyundai, 2008 BMW 535xi wagon, all gone... currently
2007 Honda Odyssey Touring, 2014 E350 4matic

Well at least it keeps you out of trouble.

My problem is I have to bring an SDL back from one foot in the junk yard. If you buy a good one and keep it in nice condition I don't think there to expensive to keep nice.

I'm still thinking.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

HAHAHA, too funny...........mine never questions my *expertise*
BUT, her 1989 260E still draws complements from her friends, so I must be doing something *right*

__________________
Nachi11744

Look at it this way, it took 17 years to get one foot into the junkyard... how many 17 year old cars are IN junkyards.
Figure you have another 17 years at the current rate

__________________
Bob Roe
Lehigh Valley PA USA
1973 Olds 88, 1972 MB 280SE, 1978 Datsun 280Z, 1971 Ford T-Bird, 1972 Olds 88, 1983 Nissan Sentra, 1985 Sentra, 1973 230.6, 1990 Acura Integra, 1991 Volvo 940GLE wagon, 1983 300SD, 1984 300SD, 1995 Subaru Legacy L wagon, 2002 Mountaineer, 1991 300TE wagon, 2008 Murano, 2007 R320CDI 4Matic 52K, some Hyundai, 2008 BMW 535xi wagon, all gone... currently
2007 Honda Odyssey Touring, 2014 E350 4matic

Hatty, What's your thoughts on the 300SDL? You decided to keep it? Any more problems?

As of now it is staying. It is still a lot of work and a pain in the neck sometimes but I do like it a lot. And besides if something wasn't always breaking what would be the challange!

This week:
Blower motor died, luckly a good cleaning fixed it.
ABS light comes and goes. But it hasn't been back for a few days so maybe it is better.
weird idle problem came up.

Oh and I put a new set of Bilstein comforts all the way around. I am enjoying those.

Next week it will be a new list.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Well it's good to know that your still working on it, otherwise whatelse would you do. Heck, I guess you could be driving a 2005 E320CDI with a big fat car payment. Just get in and drive, stop and go and set at home eating potato chips and watching ESPN.