Excuse the pic quality but it's from the phone cam. This one is the front flex disk:

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c397/funola/83300Dfrontflexdisk.jpg

This is the rear one:

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c397/funola/83300Drearflexdisk.jpg

I don't see any rips or tears and the rubber looks solid with no dry rot. I do not know the history of the car and I am thinking of not replacing them, just inpect every 10K miles. What do you think?

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

If there aren't any rips, tears, or other blemishes I wouldn't worry about replacing them. Just check on them every so often like you say.

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I can't tell by the images, since they're not quite in focus.

I thought mine looked good until I looked very closely while turning them. There are fine cracks. The cracks are much easier to see with the disks out of the car. I thought they looked good before I took them out, but now that I did, I'm glad that I changed them.

My car has 201K miles and ten years on it, and the disks were probably original. I'm sure that age is probably as hard on them as mileage.

I'll take better pics with a real camera next time I'm under the car.

Got 4 new Michelin X radials today. The cyclic noise that follows road speed is gone. I thought the noise was flex disk related but it was due to a bad tire. What a relief! It was really bugging me.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

That's good news.

I'd still check them, and very carefully. Mine looked a whole lot worse once I got them out. The cracks on the front disk were pretty much all on the front side, and very hard to see with the disk in the car.

The photos look fine. But, the cracks start to develop underneath the bolts.........not typically out in the open for all to see.........unless well advanced.

But, from those photos.........I'd let them go............

Are you saying the only way to inspect them is to take them out? And what do you mean "But, from those photos.........I'd let them go"? Let them go where? To the trash?

What is the official life expectancy/ replacement interval on the flex disks?

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

The photos don't show any cracks or any signs of distress in the discs. Therefore, I'd let them go........continue in service.

Some members are still on the originals.........after 200K.........

What I'm saying is check them very carefully before giving them the no-cracks diagnosis. I only saw a few very fine cracks in my disks before I decided to change them anyway, mostly because it was very hard to see the front of the front disk and I didn't look hard enough at the rear of the rear disk.

Now that they're out, had I seen the cracks, I wouldn't have given them a second thought.

I don't have a point of reference ( I changed all my discs about as soon as I got my cars) but I detect a tremendous amount of, well, flex in the driveline on the 240D stick. I would think there would be a tendency for these manual cars to shred discs when they get old.

Rick

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

245K, when were the discs last replaced? It's hard to tell from a fuzzy image, but small cracks will develop and sneak up on you. Several years ago, I inspected mine on the 240D, thought they were fine until the front disc let go at 70 mph. The sound of a driveshaft bouncing around is annoying.
Several years ago at the dealership two customers walked in with white powder on their face. They had been at the dealership in Richmond and told their discs were in need of replacement. They said no, just give me the free wash, I need the money to buy the latest CD from Ice Tea. They were warned if the disc let go, the resulting shake, shudder and bouncing from the driveshaft could set off the air bag.
A $150 repair turned into a $2000 repair plus towing.
They are very easy to replace on a 123 chassis, do it right the first time.