thinking of buying 1980 300sd turbo

[malign23]

i was wondering if anyone could give me any information about these vehicles. i am a pretty good mechanic but not familiar with mercedes at all. the price is 1500 it has 216,000 miles on it with 41,000 on a rebuilt top end. what are things to look for, potential problems and whaatnot, especially for converting it to run on grease. and how long do these cars go for? any help would be appreciated. thanks

[Aaron]

The 1980 300SD is the W116 chassis which has a bad reputation for RUST!! Make sure that the rocker panels and floors are solid, especially in the recessed areas in the trunk. Water sits in there and rots the floors away, I've seen it a million times. The driveline is the legendary, bulletproof OM617 inline 5 cylinder turbo engine coupled to the excellent 722.1 transmission. You are probably well advised to run a compression test on the engine and try to verify the following important maintenance items:

1. 3,000 mile oil and filter changes
2. 15,000 mile fuel filter changes and valve adjustments
3. 30,000 mile transmission fluid and filter changes

If the car has been maintained to those standards, you're pretty well set in expecting it to go on for hundreds of thousands more miles. You might ask if a timing chain has ever been replaced (there is no interval that specifies chain replacement, but checking the chain stretch at valve adjustment time is always a good idea).

Of course, check the other things like the automatic climate control for proper function in both temperature settings, and check that all of the windows go up and down properly (116s eat up window regulators). If the climate control is not working properly (i.e. not changing cabin temp) you may have to replace the servo which is not cheap. Sometimes you get away lucky with just a faulty amplifier or bad vacuum element, although changing the elements requires a lot of labor, depending on the location of the faulty one(s).

I always check the type of tires on the car. Cheap tires can mean a cheap owner. Good, high quality tires such as Michelin mean a caring owner. Many people skimp out on tires, as they are the easiest thing to skimp out on!

The W116 is a great automobile, I drove a 1980 300SD until it literally crumbled away and promptly replaced it with a 1983 300SD (W126 chassis), which is now pushing 284K miles.

I will say that for $1,500 don't expect an outstanding car. Usually you need to spend at least $3,500-$4,000 to find a good one. And generally (unless the owner is just having pipe dreams) if you spend $5K or more, that should get you a cherry example. I think that the W126 S-class is slightly more desirable because for the same money you can have power seats, better climate control, and a quieter ride, etc....but not as much style as the classic 116 has

Good luck! Let us know if you buy!

[DCM]

I have been driving a 1980 300sd for about 20 years. The big items were a transmission at about 125,000 miles and beyond that, the usual vacuum leaks and climate control problems. The car has 207,253 miles on it as of today.

My car has no rust but it has been in S. Ca since it was new.

I would not hesitate to buy another but would anticipate climate control problems in the next one too and this can be an expensive problem.

[t walgamuth]

that a tranny at 125k is unusual. if the fluid and filter are changed at 30k intervals they should last virtually the life of the car.

tom w

When you check for rust push a screw driver into the jack points under the car rust can hide under the undercoating. If it is a big car with great MPG you seek you have found it. The car has an amazing turning radius tighter than cars half its size. The headlights are kind of poor if you live in the country it is real noticeable but EURO lights are real cheap for the w116 cars often around $55 on eBay for a set and they make a remarkable difference. The lighting from the rear is poor and unless you enjoy being rear ended that can use some attention of course it will total a Honda and not scratch your car. It is just a dream to drive on the open road. For some reason it seems to get better mileage than the smaller w123 model cars. The trunk is huge so an extra fuel tank won’t be a problem you can still carry 4 bodies in it with a WVO tank. Rust is a major concern especially in the trunk and around the jacking points be sure to poke push a screw driver in various places to see if it pushes through sometimes it can be completely rusted out but you wont see it through the under coating heck a lot of the time you wont. Pull up all the carpet and check there too. If you’re over 6 feet tall you will really appreciate all the room. All the extra space in the car make it a dream to work on but it does have the dreaded heater servo but there is a work around kit for that part for around $100 instead of the $750 for the stock part that last 2 years at most. For such a large car it is AMAZINGLY nimble on tight roads just flip a u turn with the steering wheel turned all the way and you will know what I mean. I may be biased though I owned 3 at one point one of each model year. I think it is easier to work on than my W115 240D because there is just tons of room. I am going to look at a 1979 300SD today I hope it is in good enough shape to buy
DHS