I'm jubilant today because I fixed my odometer and tachometer, then drove my 1983 300D long enough to measure fuel consumption. The car is new to me, so I had no idea what to expect. I see all kinds of wild claims out there.

In any event, the car has its original motor with about 175K on it. No oil consumption, a slight leak in the tranny, no blowby. So I drove it 260 miles pretty hard with a couple of 90 mph moments (on a scale of 1-10, my driving was a solid 8) and I got 28.4 MPG composite. I was thrilled. Clearly, 30MPG is attainable if I modify my driving style.

These are amazing cars. I've been driving Mercedes for years, but I've been missing out on the "cult of diesel." I'm hooked!