In driving experience, I think the manual car actually "felt" slower than the auto....both cars I drove had good motors with under 200k on them, and ran good....with the manual you have to take a (brief) moment to shift, which loses you valuable time.... Its probably because you have to shift 3x to get to 60 (and then a 4th time once your at 60) and thats what makes it feel so slow....with the auto you just floor it and eventually it gets there. I'd never want a stick in city driving anyways.....I'd have to shift 400 times each way in my short 4.5 mile commute due to so many stop signs, traffic lights, and other hold ups along the way....I'd go crazy. And lurching along in backed up traffic with a clutch instead of a torque converter is just frustrating.

My dad swore them off, but I think I'd be willing to buy one for a winter car, imagine how powerful and fast my SD would feel come spring time! Once I have some extra $$ in the future I may invest in one as a spare car for my wife and I.....and it would probably be an auto, both of us can drive (and she does currently drive but hates) a stick.....but auto would be better.

__________________
-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 drive a stick '82 240D every day 84 miles round trip to work and back. This car was converted from an auto before I bought it and I believe it has a rear from a 300D, which it originally was, so it is even slower than stock. That said, I do OK, it takes a zen attitute to deal with the occasional bird flipper; but I have found that has reduced my overall anxiety level considerably. The problem is, you will notice that all stoplights are at the bottom of hills and that is where you have problems, you find yourself trying to get behind overloaded tractor trailers, rather than pass them, just to avoid blocking traffic. It has no trouble keeping up with traffic at 65, but my driving is in SE PA and south Jersey - flat to rolling hill country. It really depends a lot on terrain, road and traffic conditions. I know Bostonians are pretty aggressive drivers, and if you have to do a lot of merging with short acceleration lanes, accelerating up hills from a standing start and so on, you won't like it.

For snow - it is pretty good - what you want in snow is low power, so you don't spin your wheels. Good set of snow tires and you should be good to go.

240D with a manual trans is a great car, top end of around 80 or so. My buddy has one he was the reason I got into them.

A 240D with an automatic transmission is going to be slower than a horse.

The swap is straight over, I can do it easily in a day now (especially on the 240 so much more room). You will want the driveshaft, linkage shifter and pedal assembly.

Why the hell anyone would convert it *to* an auto is beyond me.

__________________
http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

The W115 diesel I believe has the 220 Diesel engine, so it sure won't be faster.

With the automatic, both the W123 and the W115 are so slow, the slight difference of one over the other, is honestly, a moot point.

We are talking way under 70 hp here.

You would be best served by buying one of these chrome license plate frames
that I have seen out here In Nor Cal that say:

"What's your hurry?"

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

There was a 240D W115 too. They would have similar acceleration to a W123 240D.

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

Unless you want to do the conversion the 300d would probably be your best bet - if he'll sell it to you for a similar amount of money. The fact that its already rusty just means you don't have to feel bad about driving it in the salt and slush!

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1984 300 Coupe TurboDiesel
Silver blue paint over navy blue interior
2nd owner & 2nd engine in an otherwise
99% original unmolested car
~210k miles on the clock

1986 Ford F250 4x4 Supercab
Charcoal & blue two tone paint over burgundy interior
Banks turbo, DRW, ZF-5 & SMF conversion
152k on the clock - actual mileage unknown

what would be a fair price for a 130k '85 with some moderate exterior rust? $1500 cash was going to be my offer if everything else checks out and there are no major problems right off the bat.

he wants more than 500 for it im sure. at this point he wasnt looking to get rid of it...but i think hes open to the idea.

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

i have a 220d with the 4 speed and i have no problem with it.it is very slow but it gets me around hear and if any one get behind me and is get MAD IS GETTING MAD I JUST PUSH IN THE CLUTCH AND SMOKE HIM OUT

85 240d?

__________________
http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

I think he meant that the 300D the guy also had was an '85.

'83 was the last year the 240D was sold in the US, wasn't it?

If you couldn't tell from my username, I've got an '83 240D 4 speed. It's definitely not a fast car. But I paid less than $600 for it with very little rust for a car that's seen 25 or 26 Iowa winters, it will run bio-diesel some day when I get the stuff together to start making it, and I only have a 5 mile commute through town, so I don't really need the speed.

One thing I was told by a mechanic was that there was a known (at least to him) problem with the throttle linkage. Basically, a small part can break off, at which point the pedal goes down almost half way before moving the throttle at all. MB had a replacement part that cost nearly $300, but his "Macguyver" was to put a small piece of vacuum hose over the linkage, and zip tie it in place. That snugged it up nicely against the throttle arm again. I noticed an immediate increase in power (obviously) after this "fix", and was able to hit 83MPH down a big hill.