I love my car.
 

Just wanted to say that.

Over the weekend I drove from Newington CT down to Southeast PA (for the meet) and back....then I drove from Newington to Bridgeport CT back to Newington and then from Newington to Ludlow Mass and back again.....612 miles on one tank of fuel and I still had a gallon left in the tank :cool: :D :cool: At no point during any of the drives was I at all tired, in fact on the way down to PA I thought it would be nice to stop for a morning coffee but I was just making such good progress and the ride was so good that I ended up driving to Chads in one straight shot. Now here is the amazing thing, with the exception of that last leg of the drive (From Ludlow MA to Newington) I was in no way on an eco-drive. Most of the time I was doing the normal steady 70-75 passing like normal and not being concerned about saving fuel and I had a decent amount of weight in the trunk.

On a normal week I average 550 miles per tank and my absolute record is 624 miles in one tank. The next time I go on a long highway drive i'm going to set to cruise to 65 and see just how must I can get out of a tank.

That's awesome, it's moments like these where you just stand back and appreciate the great engineering that went into these cars and how awesome they are.

I love trips in our old diesels, I can't wait to do another one to Arizona pretty soon!

yeah, the SDL is nice

I really like your car. I think our next MB will end up being an SDL. It's down between one of them or a 300D to finish my w123 set.:D

I love the color combo of your SDL, kinda makes me wish I had purchased one...

anywho

I seemed to have "more than normal" fuel consumption headed to chads...

i only got about 27.5 in the '87 300D... :confused:

oh well... I second your title. I LOVE MY CAR(s)... yep. end of story

that's it. i'm convinced. i'm swapping a w126 30 gallon tank into my 190e, just so i can do some eco-driving and get 1,000 miles per tank

anyone object?

23 gallons ;)

have fun with that. It wont fit into your narrow car.. The W126 tank is wider.The TDI guys can get into the 7-800 mile tanks.. very few have gotten to the 1000 range.

My 280CE is real road car, accleration is very swift at high speeds, although it does get 17mpg but thats OK.

Speaking of fuel tanks my 300D has a huge aux tank in the trunk that will allow it to travel 1000 miles.

Yeah the SDL's really are the cats meow.:D

I still think they are one of the best diesel cars Mercedes made in the last century. Most comfortable, exclusive, fuel efficient, and fastest up until those W210's...

Sometimes I wish i had a commute so I would have an excuse to drive my car :(

drive up to Cooperstown, give it a workout... I'll be here...

Drove the '85 from Boston to Wilkes-Barre PA and back this weekend. 700 miles. First miles on my totally rebuilt front end.

Loved it. Fingertip driving the whole time, smooth as can be.

The most underrated aspect of our cars is how comfortable the seats are. 5 hours + is no problem at all.






Be careful what you wish for...

haha, only kidding. the 16v has a couple of extra gallons on the tank over the non-twincam models though...

I know maybe I should stop ;)

How is that rebuilt front end? I need to do that eventually too. I got lost in Scranton on the way back form the GTG. Goofy town if you ask me.

It's incredible. It's tight, no clunking, wandering, drifting, screeching tires on turns, just effortless to drive. Responsive handling, commanding tracking of the road changing lanes. The car may be from 1985, but it now does not in any way shape or form feel old.

The car still tracks the crown in the road a little more than I would like (that is to say, in the left lane it wants to go sliiightly left, right lane it wants to go slightly right since roads in New England are ^ shaped). I may bring that up in another thread this week to see if I should talk to my alignment shop about it, but it really isnt a big deal.

Its a lot of hours on your back wrenching on old bolts to get the front end done (and some slightly harrowing spring compressor work if you havent done it before), but MAN the results are worth it.

I know exactly what you mean. The roads here are the same way. I have to compensate when I drive straight to keep going straight.

Mr. Matthew, I don't think it would be a smart idea having a convicted car felon driving my car :P

:eek:
not a felon.

i just... have a collection of love notes from officers... :o

Well make sure you tell us when you get your 100th ticket so we can throw you a party :D

I'm only at 6.... :D
2 written warnings for speed
1 written warning for rear fog on the SLK
1 verbal warning for window tint on the SLK

43 stops total.....


yikes!

Gotta admit that one was BULL.

Ok 100 stops total :rolleyes:

well how about the "you had your brights on"


um.... how about I was driving with my lows and fogs, and you just like profiling kids in benz with out of state plates and window tint.....

Awww ... I remember the good old days when Bodhi and I used to drive back and forth between Central Pa. and Delaware a couple times a month. That's actually how I fell in love with this car (and MBs in general). When my dad gave me the old Mercedes six years ago, to be honest, I wasn't real thrilled. It just seemed like an old car with high (hahaha) mileage and I was afraid it wouldn't be reliable (I knew ZERO about cars). Then I drove it up to college for the first time on a nice late-summer day, about 160 miles of mostly-open roads ... and the obsession was born. I drove home all the time ... was an even better (longer) drive when I moved to State College for a couple years. Almost got me in trouble a few times, since 100 mph is just way too comfortable in this car.:cool: My commute now just doesn't do it justice. Fortunately there are plenty of great roads to wing around on when I get some free time.:cool:

Sounds like a good reason to have a GTG!

Matt, regarding your 300D's mileage, do you still have the EGR plugged in? I meant to ask you that at the GTG because I think I saw it still connected.

excuse me? my what?!

LOL

ok, I'm going to need more than a flame suit.......

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

Oh man, do a search, you'll have enough reading material to entertain you for days. :D The EGR is a valve that reroutes dirty exhaust gasses back into the engine ... it's an emission thing. It soots up the intake something fierce and reduces your economy. It's very easy to disable ... just plug the hose with something. You're mpgs will improve plus you'll get a little more pep at part throttle, too! I'll try to post a pic of what you need to do if you don't find a good thread via search.

I like my XT more than my 300cd right now. I took my 300cd on a 500 mile drive and it did great. However when I brought it back home, the transmission now rapidly shifts through gears into fourth gear, ie 20 mph will be in fourth. The kickdown pedal makes the car upshift, not downshift. I assume a vacuum line got unplugged somewhere, the transmission fluid level is fine, it's had a fluid and filter service early this year with no noted problems or weird shifting before. I have no idea. :o

I can see why!

OK time to start trouble. I have a 420SEL (the one at Chad's GTG). My good friend (probably my best friend) has a 300SDL, both cars are '87's. And we've taken them both on long road trips.

There are so many things I love about the SDL, except this one thing: If you're not using the cruise, it's real hard to hold a consistent speed between 65 and 70. The turbo comes on, you get to your speed, then the turbo goes off and the speed drops faster than you can react...you've got to really press the go pedal far (it's got long travel anyway) to get things moving again and by that time you've dropped 5 mph or more.

It takes more concentration than necessary IMO. Above 70, no problem, the turbo is your constant friend. Below 65, for whatever reason, also not a problem. (We're fixing the cruise next, btw.)

We get around 26-27 mpg in the SDL, 21 mpg in the SEL. It's easier to cook on the SDL manifold, too. The SEL has some hot spots. (These were long road trips.)

Awesome! Amazing these HUGE cars are so cheap to travel in!
I love these bog boats!

gasp.. you're using your tilt sunroof... Last time I used it... it broke!

The part that busts is only $60 new from the dealer :)

-J

Ok I want to see some pictures of eggs being cooked on the engine.

I'll be honest...eggs are tough. My favorite is salmon. Here's how you do it:

Prep:

1. Sear or cut the skin off.
2. Dip the salmon in milk.
3. Coat with a mixture of Old Bay and flour (about 50/50, I can't measure things...I'm too ADD.
4. Dip in beat eggs.
5. Roll in finely crunched potato chip crumbs.
6. Mix pickle juice, fresh dill, mayo and a little stadium mustard together and put in small container.
7. Pack fish in zip lock bag, chopped red onion in zip lock, lemon juice and capers into a cooler for the trip.
8. About 60 miles from where you want to eat, sprinkle the fish with lemon juice, and put the capers and red onion on the fish. Double wrap in heavy duty aluminum foil and fold up the ends.
9. Cook for 60 miles.
10. Unwrap the fish, put on a plate with the dill sauce on top.

The potato chip crust has enough oil in it you don't have to fry the fish, and it keeps it moist.

You can also add a side dish of small redskin potatoes cut in half with butter, pepper and fresh rosemary in foil and cook for about the same time closer to the manifold.

If you're eating at your desination, a nice complement is a New Zealand Chardonnay from the Hawke's Bay region. If not, stick with water or green tea. I like the Lipton sugar free green tea.

Follow with your favorite cigar.

I've just started doing a 90 mile/day commute, and my W124 is just soaking it up. Such a comfortable and relaxing drive, and it might finally start making all this money I'm spending on the car worthwhile. I seem to have done about 270 miles on a bit less than half a tank with this driving style, so I'm predicting about 650-700 a tank, niiice.

Update...my friend just said he got 29 miles per gallon on the last tank in his 300SDL, not all highway miles. These cars are amazing!

That's the other thing I've noticed, the difference between city miles and highway miles is a lot more in the gas engine. City miles are a killer in the SEL, not a big deal in the SDL.

Do the 91s have bigger tanks or is your mpg just that much better than mine? On the highway I get about 480-90 miles on a tank, filling up when I hit the reserve ... usually put 15-16.5 gallons in (I don't top off). Guess I could stretch the tank out if I topped off and went farther into the reserve, but definitely not 700 miles.:o

I have a euro 250D, so one less cylinder, no turbo, 5 speed, no AC, its probably a hell of a lot lighter, and yeah I always top it off and drive well into the reserve, its enough for at least 50 miles after all!

Cool. Yeah I did once find out how big that reserve is, when I was somewhat lost in the wilds of N.Y. and couldn't find a diesel pump for love nor money. I went about 50 miles, didn't run out ... but I don't think I would want to test it much beyond that.:eek: Around here I usually just fill up when the light comes on out of habit ... I can still calculate mpg based on the amount I put in.

I solved that problem with mine by just going faster.:D

I would have, but I was in a school zone. 70 was pushing it.

In the last year ive driven to LA four times, Spokane WA once and Texas twice without a single problem on any of the trips. I made it from placerville to needles (border of AZ and CA) on a little more than one tank. On that trip I was able to get from placerville over the grape vine with half a tank left. My record is about 645 miles but I think i could get about 690-700 if I used every drop. These cars really are amazing on the highway



As for engine cooking I usually wrap precooked stuff in foul and jam it someone between injectors. Things like corn dogs and hot pockets. However my favorite place is on the exhaust. Right where the exhaust coupes to the turbo theres a set of bolts and a little area that can hold an average steel food can perfectly in place and gets it almost to the boiling point. Perfect for chilli

Coke for 60 miles :D:D:D I can only imagine how many tries it took to get that just right.