Hey all, was curious has anyone gotton a complete engine rebuild? Or a crate engine put in? I was thinking about that today. It would be so nice to know that I have a brand new engine under the hood and won't have any trouble in a long...long time. It would kind of even out because instead of buying a new car and having payments you have your same car with a problem free engine that's new. Back to 0 miles Although I mean you still have your shocks,axels ect but as a whole, the engine is most problematic, or at least for me...anyways.....thoughts?

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2007 BMW 328XI

Ask Craig about that exact issue............

You'll be putting $5000 into your car that you won't get back if the car is totalled.

Sixto
87 300D

Craig isn't on right now... I'll private message him I guess or maybe he'll see this topic. That's true about the car being totalled. I guess all I can do there is just not crash it..

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2007 BMW 328XI

I think it is an interesting idea, especially if you paid almost nothing for a car with a great body but a lunched engine. However, you have to plan on keeping it for a long time, since you will still have just an old car, new engine or not.

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

Don't rub it in.

I think I've talked to every clown in the country with a used engine to sell and I still haven't found an acceptable one. Earlier today, someone from NC tried to sell me a 617.912 from a euro '84 300D with a manual tranny by telling me it was a 617.952 turbo engine and that the turbo had been removed and sold separately. A $6300 metric long block is looking better and better every day.

I have gotten conflicting stories on dealer crate engines (617.952). About a year ago I had a dealer tell me they were available for $6700, recently my indy called his contact at another dealer and found out they were not available. Either way, metric is probably a better deal if you want a "new" engine.

I still don't know what I'm going to do with my 300D, it's sitting at my indy's shop. I'm about to head out of town for a few weeks and still have a broker looking for a decent used engine, I may eventually get tired of messing around with these idiots and just order a reman (which is what my wife has been telling me to do for a couple of weeks now). If I do buy a used engine and it breaks anytime soon, i will be hearing lots of "I told you so" and "that's what you get for being so cheap."

It really doesn't make economic sense to put a $6K reman in one of these cars, but it would be a lot less hassle than shopping for a used one, especially if you are going to end up paying another $2K to have it installed and buy all the required odds and ends. It's just one of those money v. hassle trade-offs, how much patience do you have?

I was actually looking at the metric engine too and it looks sweeeeet. My dad is telling me I should find a turbo engine that would fit the 240D but that's rebuilt. I wouldn't mind the metric one though. I called Mercedes up and asked how much a crate engine would be, and the representative on the phone started laughing when he saw the price. It ended up being 12,000. Although that engine is remade in Germany but I mean you could get a near mint 240D heck you could get a 2001 BMW 3 series for that. But I wouldn't mind the metric, the body on my 240D is in good shape and all she would need is a new engine and hot dog, I got myself a semi new car that I can trust 100% for less then buying a new car. I just need to dig up 6,000 out of the couch first.

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2007 BMW 328XI

If you are planning on keeping the car for the very long term, it will minimize your hassle. Also, what's the condition of your (automatic) transmission? I replaced my auto tranny with a rebuilt at about 275K miles, which isn't that unusual. If you put in a reman engine, you are eventually looking at another few $1000 for the tranny.

I was thinking of just going for another used one but then I thought it's just going to be the same thing over and over again.

When I got my first mercedes, which was my 86 300E in the 2 minutes of finally owning it, the alternator went out, along with over about 1,000$ worth of work it ended up needing over time. When I got this 240D the ignition broke and got stuck so I needed to replace that. Turns out the vacuum pump is possessed and I have a head gasket leak along with other little problems here and there in the engine department.

If I got another used one, I would probably end up doing the same exact thing with repairs all over again. The 300E worked perfect when we test drove it too. No problems at all, then as soon as we touched it it needed all this crap. Same situation with the 240D. Worked great when I got it, but then all these bits and peices started coming to the surface. I'd imagine just paying the 6K and knowing I have a brand new engine and have no worries for another 100,000 miles would be so much more worth it, you know?. I'd love that. Just to be able to be like "hmmmm I want to go to Silverton, Colorado this weekend" and know that I can fill er up and just go with no worries. I can't even trust my car at the moment to go to the store down the street due to the vacuum pump .

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2007 BMW 328XI

If I got the new engine, I'd probably get the new tranny. I'm really on it with maintnence scheduling and I don't know how the past owner kept the trani up. When we got it, it was overfilled 2 quarts and leaked huge puddles. So I guess a new trani is the way to go..With a new one, I could do my new trani fluid in 10,000 mile intervals. I don't dare touch the trani right now because of my past experiance with the 300. How much was your rebuild? 1000? I remember it was like 1,400 for the 300E when it needed one. I imagine it would be a bit less for the 240/300?

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2007 BMW 328XI

With 300K miles on your 240D it is a tough call. You can spend $1.5-2k for a head gasket and head but the bottom end may be getting weak (you really need to fix the vacuum pump either way). You can find a decent used 616 and install it, maybe $3000 if you pay to have the work done (but it's still a risk buying a used engine). Finally, you can buy a reman engine and have it installed which is likely to cost $7K by the time you're done.

My current approach is to find a low mileage used engine and try to make sure it's really good before it's installed (I plan on having my indy do a leak test, replace the major gaskets, check the chain, adjust valves, time the IP, etc.). I also need to replace my oil cooler and hoses. Even with a used engine I expect to pay about $4K; a reman would probably end up costing closer to $8K.

I think my reman tranny and torque converter ended up costing closer to $3K (mine wasn't worth trying to rebuild locally). I probably wouldn't replace the tranny until/unless it's needed (they usually give plenty of warning before they fail). I replace the tranny fluid/filter every 30K miles (mostly highway) on mine, that should be adequate.

Like you said, it's a tough call. I called one of the Mercedes repair shops out here earlier today and asked about a engine rebuild. He told me they have a 240D on site with a engine rebuilt not to long ago but the trani went out so the owner didn't want it anymore. He said he was willing to work out a deal.

How do I know if this engine is good or not? What are your methods in looking at used engines and determining weather they are any good? Yeah the vacuum pump needs immediate attention. If it decides to have an episode it cuts my brake booster and the trans won't shift out of second and the engine doesn't turn off. I have to manually stop it with that lever. Then when it feels like it, it goes back to normal 100% working fine like nothing ever happened. I can't test my vacuum pump because no one around here sells a mity vac

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2007 BMW 328XI

I would get a price on that rebuilt engine and then decide what to do, you might get a deal if he's trying to get rid of it. About the only thing you can do with a used engine is perform a leak test, make sure it turns smoothly, and look it over. I also ask for the VIN of the donor car and check carfax to make sure the claimed mileage is accurate. I'm trying to find engines with 150K miles or less to minimize the risk, but it's still a crap shoot.