I took my 300d in for a quick oil change the other day. I normally like to do it myself, but I was rushed and needed to get ready for a 600 mile round trip to St Louis and back. Needless to say when I got the bill including a $25 charge for the filter; I won't be going that route again.
The attendant who worked on the car had a rather thick European accent, and he was trying to tell me that a 300d with a auto tranny was very rare. Well I tried to tell him that the manual transmisions were very common on the 4 cylinder models, but many of the turbos had automatics. He insisted, and I left it at that, but it got me thinking about all the misconceptions about these cars that exist.
On a side note, I ran a quick mileage check when I got to MO, and came up with 29.88mpg, not too bad for a 26 year old car.

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'83 300D (220000 miles and counting)

Wow! That is really good mileage.

I have yet to see more than 22MPG with mine on B20. 22MPG is corrected for the speedometer/odometer error.

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AJ

1985 300D (SOLD)

someone once told me never to rev my motor
I have also heard that if your drive a 240D over 62MPH you'll kill it.

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1985 300TD Turbo Euro-wagon
1979 280CE 225,200 miles
1985 300D Turbo 264,000 miles
1976 240D 190,000 miles
1979 300TD 220,000

GONE but not forgotten
1976 300D 195,300 miles
1983 300D Turbo 175,000 miles

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...e485-1-2-1.jpg

The turbocharged models all had automatic transmissions from the factory.

If yours is a European model, then that probably explains why.

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http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7271/7...144c3fc1dc.jpg

Manual transmission 300D's are very rare here. All are either Euro cars or conversions. In Europe the manuals are more common, though I don't know if they constitute a majority.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

The mechanic forgets that he's no longer in Europe.

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1982 240 D, 308,000 - 321,127 miles (sold)
1982 300 TD,166,500 - 226,000 miles
1998 E 320, 120,000 - 144,000 miles
2005 C 230 K, 26,000 - 77,000 miles (sold)

Ok.... I'm a complete dumb ass. I have been tinkering with the car again and found that my actual mileage is around 25 to 26MPG and my Odometer is 20% off.

My rear end is in fact a 2:88 so my cluster must have been swapped out with a wrong unit (matched to a 3:07 at some point).

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AJ

1985 300D (SOLD)

To my knowledge Mercedes never offered the turbo 300D with a manual transmission.
All 300D sedans in Europe are N/A (non-US spec.) some TD's came with a turbo.
The exception may be in the G-class.

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1998 Mercedes E300TD

1983 Mercedes 240D Turbo, 131bar injectors, Cosworth intercooler and 63' Ford Falcon radiator, Ardic Parking heater, Headlight wipers, Best 38.6mpg.

1973 Saab 96 Rally Car, 1.8l V4 with all the race bits

Fixed that for you. Mercedes did as an option. Anything could be had as an option back then.

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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

No 617 turbos in the G-Wagon. If you see one, it is a retrofit.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13