Hi All,

I am new here. I owned a 94 E420 and it was the best and most fun car I had with 150,000+ miles, except the a/c died. I am venturing into the world of diesel after reading up on biodiesel, thinking about either a (W124) 95 E300 or a (W210) 98-99 E300TD.

I know a diesel engine can last a long time, but that's no good if the transmission needs repair, for example. Apart from the a/c going dead at 120,000 miles, my E420 had radiator and water pump problems.

It will be a daily driver and I can't afford to have it in the shop all the time. I live in Orange County CA, and some daily commutes are 1.5 hr one way (for about 60 miles). You gotta have a/c in the summer.

I saw an ad for a 98 E300TD with over 223,000 miles on it, my first thought is that is very high. Most of the time, they are for sale with around 150,000 miles, and that seems more reasonable.

What would be considered high mileage on these? assuming they have been kept reasonably well.

Thanks
fly

Mines at 206k and going strong.

The OM606 seems to be holding up well.

There are a couple of 95's here that are over 300k.

Most of the problems engine specific problems are fuel leak or GP's for the msot part. Leaks are easy to fix; the GP's can seize and snap off which often reuslts in the head going to a machine shop to get it out.

The rest of the common issues are typcial problems based on chasis that you already know about; AC, spring perches, etc.

I personally wouldnt buy a car that came from the east coast because of rust and its contribution to spring perch failures.

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Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

223K is a lot of miles. Anytime you buy a used car that is beyond it's factory warranty you are taking on the mechanical failure risk that the manufacturer no longer thinks it makes business sense to do so. Even a very well maintained car at 223K miles will need repairs eventually. A car is a working machine and it will start to wear out the day it comes out of the show room. I don't think the need to rebuild an automatic transmission every 150K miles is unreasonable. A well maintaind diesel engine is worth at least 300K miles. Of course with a used car you really don't know for sure how well it was maintained. Other items such as bearings, seals, ball joints and parts made from plastic and rubber will fail as you get higher up in miles and they all won't fail at the same time.

If you don't mind doing your own maintenance and repairs a high mileage car might be a good deal. I don't mind spending a couple of hundred every few months on my Benz. It is paid for and I keep just enough insurance on it to protect my liability. It is a hell of a lot cheaper then a new car.

TimK

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EPA 609 & 608 HVAC Certified
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83' 300D Turbo - 300K + Miles
00' 1.9L TDI Beetle
85' 6.5L Turbo, GV-OD, GMC Suburban,
67' 2.5L Diesel NA - Land Rover Series IIA

Here's what you do if it's so cold your diesel fuel gels. Smear some on some toast and stay inside until it warms up outside.

417k on my diesel


stock engine (om602) with one headgasket (replaced at 380k)



NO major problems. I put fuel in, she keeps going.



(I would suggest a 124 over any 201)

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-1983 VW Rabbit LS Diesel (5speed, VNT/Giles build)

For a minute there I was trying to figure out how rust was causing problems with the local fish population...

-Jim

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1995 S350D, Green with black leather interior.
Bought January 2008 w/ 233,xxx miles.
I did 22,000 miles during the first year of ownership.

wow 400k is a lot of miles. Thanks all for responding, I'll keep looking for something with less than 150k.

Well the M119 you traded in was just about unkillable.

M119 vs OM606 hmm. Well they both will run until the car falls apart, they both sound sweet. The M119 burns a bit more fuel, and has a lot more power. But the 606 certainly has its own charm.

What did the E420 average? About 20mpg-22mpg? An E300D should get 30mpg-33mpg on the highway.

When you figure in that the car itself, and the transmission are the same; the maintaince costs for the car itself are a wash.

I wouldn't buy a 200k mile W210 unless it was cheap, it's going to need a $3k 722.6 soon and probably another $3k in the front end.

If I were W210 shopping today I'd look at E320's, 2000 and newer. Fuel consumption is a wash, and you can get a much newer lower mileage example with the gas engine. Unless of course you just want a diesel, dollars and cents wise its a wash.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

My 3 have a combined mileage of 735K. The most on the 240D with 264K which we took to Florida at Easter . Total of 2700 miles no problems , got 27.1 MPG never thought about the miles on the car , I have faith in it , It has never let me down. I'd take anyone of the 3 and head across country with only fluid checks and then head out. There bullet proof with the proper care.

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'83 240D 264k on 100% biodiesel/ 31mpg
83 300D 217K the $800 gem
'82 300D 267K the new WVO project car finished and driving for free
International tractor B275 on B100
Ford 555 backhoe on B100
Sargent 25 ton Rough Terrain crane on B50

Bought a 95 with 220 on the clock. Now has 222 ( ok its only been a month!)

I did it as an "experiment" and didnt want to drop alot of coin. Additionally, I didn't want computer controls, and the lack of turbo was fine with me.

So far, the tranny shifts fine ( new fluid in), the engine is in great shape mechanically, chains are tight ( judging by the spot on IP timing)

Car is in my garage right now as I'm redoing the pre-glow wiring harness.

I'll say this, if you;re not comfortable working on them, you best have one heckuva good indie mechanic and great cash flow.

Example, to swap out all the plastic fuel lines and R&R the injectors cost me around $400, and the bulk of that was new nozzles. I'm sure the job at a shop would have been well over $1000.

replacing the wiring harness is costing me $235 for the harness. Since I had to put a post up for help today, it isnt a snap for a shadetree mechanic like me, but doable. Job at the indies would be $800 I'd guess.

Ac works mint ( a break!), BUT the aux elect fans have an issue as to when they come on. Again, if taken to an indie ( which I might have to if I cant figure it out), it would be an expensive repair.

I would try to find one that has had the major work done, and was owned by a somewhat fastidious owner. I know there is at least one 1999 in theFor Sale section here I would encourage you to look at.

I only paid $5850 for mine, but if I was taking it to a mechanic for all this "freshening" I'd have burned through near 2G's by now... so.... keep that in mind.

Might consider a newer CDI, OR a Jetta TDI as well.

Check the for sale section here, there are two excellent later model diesels in there.

In twenty years we'll all be driving some sort of biodeisel hybrids I believe. So "jumping" on the bandwagon now is showing foresight. You might be luckier than me in that you can buy bio at a pump in CA. Well, my sister ran a 7x wagon on bio up north in Philo. Bought the fuel at the local biopump. I think they made it from hemp as growing MaryJane was the only economy up there I was told. Should have went up for a visit!

I'm going to need a lesson in brewing from Mark ( last post), although I wish I could just buy the stuff at the pump. In all candor, I'd rather be brewing BEER! But I do want to run the car on bio. I have also figured out that I could, very easily, rig the car to run on SVO as an aux fuel. Literally pouring a gallon of warm oil in somewhere under the hodd, which would take care of my daily commute. Cool stuff. Stuff of the future. We're going to ahve HUUUUUGGGGEE canola farms here one day, they'll be growing our fuel. ( At least Western NY is perfect for soy and canola growing)

Least that's what I reckon.

Here, 10K one owner ... 95 E300 Diesel

Here's POS's 95 ( I like the 95 alot btw) Gotta sell something! 1995 E300 Diesel

Two very good examples right there.

Good luck!

81k miles on my new '89 300TD wagon (Euro import).
Barely broken in..

Ah, that's akin to a new car!

Flyhere, if you are not in a rush shop for the lowest mileage MB diesel you can find......100K would be a real discovery! The diesel engines are so over-built that they should outlast 3 gasoline engines without a major overhaul.
"Diesel is the only way to fly!"

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FRED

Daily Driver: 98 E300TD 199K
Hobby Car: 69 Austin Mini
Past Diesels: 84 300SD, 312K
87 300SDL, 251K
94 Chev. K-1500 6.5Ltr.TD, 373K

I replaced the chip in the E420 (also shocks and flow-thru exhaust), it averaged 18-20 mpg, it was a great driver.

Yes, with petro-diesel at $3.30/gallon, bio-diesel at $3.35, regular at $3.25, and super at $3.55, it's a wash diesel vs gas. I started to look into diesel thinking about veggie-oil costing next to nothing to run, then I started reading up on bio-diesel, seems like a good idea. But I agree, a good mileage gas car would come out ahead moneywise, unless it's somebody who makes his own bio-diesel.

fly

Hey Fly:

I have a 96 E300 with 165K. It runs on a thined vegi oil blend, which I thinks is easier than the biodiesel process.

Last year I drove 5 months straight without going to the pump.

Mileage is no indicator whatsoever of the quality and longevity of a car.

What matters is condition. If that car has been up and down the motorway/freeway all it's life, doing 30,000 miles per year like that, then its going to be fine.

What you don't want are the cars that have medium to low mileages, which you know have been used to do the shopping and short commutes. Up and down through the gearbox, over potholes, stopping and starting, lots of cold starts, car park dings, etc. Avoid those.

If the car is rust free, has a nice interior, and a good service history, I wouldn't hesitate for one second to buy it, even with 200,000 + on the clock. There are examples in europe that have almost half a million miles, still on the same engine and transmission.

Condition - not mileage. Condition. I intend for mine to run up to about 400,000 miles and beyond before any major engine work is required. The OM606 engine is very very reliable.