I was thinking of replacing my 1984 365K Turbodiesel for a 120,000K 1989 300SE in very good condition. I looked at Edmunds.com reviews about the car, rates pretty high and favorable reviews. Can any one tell me more about this car? Engine reliabilty? Cost to maintain? Pros and cons, please! Can I run this cars on regular unleaded? Diesel is almost 3.70 here in So. California..... yippesss!! NEED your Wisdom and Knowledge...Gracias!

It'd probably cost about the same to fuel/maintain overall. The 300SE is a very reliable car and thats a very reliable/good engine. However, if you are looking to buy it to SAVE money vs. your diesel....I doubt it will make much difference. Gassers also have more electrical things to go wrong. And pumps, and relays, and (shudder) spark plugs. Etc....

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

I want a 300SE for my next W126. Decent fuel mileage, and the SWB W126 is much more nimble around town.

The only downside is the M103 rev's kind of high on the highway, but no more so than our diesels.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

i agree .. i have an 88 300se .. plan on doing a head gasket around 185,000 though ... not a hard job ..just time consuming .. fuel pumps can be a pain too but i managed to find a 13.00 one from a junkyard and its alot better than a napa pump .. solid cars .. and yes it seems like rpms are high when on freeway .. approx 4000 when cruising 80-85 mph .. they ride nice have pretty good power and very reliable engine