Thanks, Jim! I do feel like I got a good example - the previous owner was obviously very meticulous with it as can be seen in the thick binder he passed on to me, which covers almost the whole car's maintenance life. From reading over it he was obviously very religious about having the 10,000 and 60,000 km services done, so it has actually just recently had a valve adjustment (and all manner of other maintenance items done).

Total mileage on the car right now is about 305,000km. I just went to my local M-B stealership last night and got the paperwork for my 250,000km high-mileage award completed! Yes!

The interior is near factory condition, a little wear here and there, but nothing that stands out at all. I still have the original M-B toolkit in the trunk. Some other things that are making me happy about it - he had the transmission overhauled in Dec 06, and changed his gear oil, power steering fluid, and tranny fluid at the same time. It's also had the rear suspension replaced a few years back and new tie rods. I'll probably have to do the front shocks eventually, but they still feel good - a bit softer than the rear, but not ojectionably so.

It semed like a rare find - a one owner car with such an extensive history, so I snapped it up! It's a nice day today so I will likely be taking some pictures.

I'll take your advice about the 4-way switch to heart and see how things turn out.

Again, wow! Thanks for all the great advice everyone. It's nice to find such a community for these cars.

my emergency blinkers were doing the same thing as yours- turn signals worked fine, but with mine, when i went for the hazards, all i got was a left turn signal...and that didn't work out so well when sitting on the side of the road. i replaced my relay in the centre console and its working fine now. i would suggest doing the same thing yourself, as it is not an expensive piece to replace and it's better to replace it now than to have it quit on you when you need it most!

__________________
"Mischief" - 1983 300D - troublemaker with a big heart.
Currently in storage due to a transmission that was never reconnected by a now deceased family member and a hole in the floor the seat is easing into.

Aha! Nice - I will just do that. I (just today) found a shop that specializes in OEM mercedes parts, so getting the right realy should prove to be totally trivial.

Also: I think I have a bad wheel bearing on my driver's side rear - I can hear an intermittent (but common) squeak that seems to originate there that is related to the speed I am driving. It's all I can think of, anyway. It has no relation to braking or not, so, yeah.

Also - wow do I love driving this car. I'm not in a hurry to get anywhere with it, but the torque is effortless and I feel stylish everywhere I go!

the best part is the complete crap gas mileage you get! 23mpg max
and then your neighbour gets 40mpg in a ricer on (cheaper) gasoline...
you really got to love these cars to keep them on the road. don't get me wrong, I do, but I'm considering a 318 manual...

Sounds like you've found yourself a really incredible Mercedes! Right along with it, you've found a really incredible site here at Mercedesshop. A great way to learn about your car (aside from going from stem to stern to become acquainted with it) is to go from stem to stern with it by using the search feature of this site. By entering key words and browsing the results, you can quickly pick-up a massive amount of understanding about your car. Some search terms that would be useful would be -

"W123", (your car's chassis number)
"W123 300D,"
"OM617," (you car's engine number)

To answer your question about the "banjo" bolt, you can have a look here:
http://www.dieselgiant.com/mercedesaldaboostsystemservi.htm

To bring you up to speed on "Diesel Purge:"
http://www.dieselgiant.com/injectorcleaning.htm

You can have a look at the rest of Diesel Giant's site here:
http://www.dieselgiant.com/mercedes_diesel_maintenance_tips.htm

If you are unsure of a specific part on your car, you can look it up here:
http://www.detali.ru/cat/oem_mb1.asp?TP=1&F=123132&VIN=

The site is in Russian, though it is pretty simple to navigate. 1. Find the system in the list on the first page, 2. Find the part in question in the picture that is displayed after clicking on that system, 3. Scroll down toward the bottom of the page to find the corresponding part number (generally, these numbers are still good), 4. Enter that number in the search box at Fastlane's site (see below). This is especially helpful if you are looking for something that Fastlane's site wouldn't normally display aside from the most commonly ordered parts.

As far as parts go, while you can find quite a number of service items such as brake components and the like from Autozone or most other local retailers, it's my preference to always try to use original equipment (OEM) parts when I can. The "Fastlane" parts shop (see "Buy Parts" link at top of this page) is your friend when it comes to that. Both Phil and Roy have something like 30 years of experience working with Mercedes parts. By shopping with Fastlane, you will find three main things: 1. The personal assistance when needed, 2. Very competitive pricing, 3. Your purchases help to support this forum. Also, There are VERY few things that are not available for the W123.

Again, congratulations on finding such a great car and welcome to Mercedesshop! Check-in often. Doing so will add value to the experience of owning your car.